Jehovah's Witnesses Literature
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The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society produces a significant amount of printed and electronic literature, primarily for use by
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
. Their best known publications are the magazines, ''
The Watchtower ''The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom'', or simply known as The Watchtower, is an illustrated religious magazine, published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Jehovah's Witnesses distribute ''The Watchtowerâ ...
'' and ''
Awake! ''Awake!'' is an illustrated religious magazine published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. It is considered to be a companion magazine of '' The Watchtower'', and is distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The Watch Towe ...
'' ''Zion's Watch Tower'' was first published by
Charles Taze Russell Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 â€“ October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American Adventist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of the Bible Student movement. He was an early Christian Zionist. In July ...
, founder of the
Bible Student movement The Bible Student movement is a Millennialist Restorationist Christian movement. It emerged in the United States from the teachings and ministry of Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916), also known as Pastor Russell, and his founding of the Zion' ...
, in 1879, followed by the inception of the Watch Tower Society in 1881. Supporters adopted the name ''Jehovah's witnesses'' in 1931. Particularly since 2001, when referring to other Watch Tower Society publications their literature has typically stated that it is "published by Jehovah's Witnesses", though the edition notice identifies the publisher as the Watch Tower Society. Along with books and brochures, other media were also produced, including
CDs CDS, CDs, Cds, etc. may refer to: Finance * Canadian Depository for Securities, Canadian post-trade financial services company * Certificate of deposit (CDs) * Counterfeit Deterrence System, developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence ...
,
MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...
s and
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s. Internet downloads and
video streaming Video on demand (VOD) is a media distribution system that allows users to access videos, television shows and films digitally on request. These multimedia are accessed without a traditional video playback device and a typical static broadcasting ...
are still made available on the Watch Tower Society's official website. New publications are sometimes released at the Watch Tower Society's annual meetings.


Literature for preaching

Most literature produced by Jehovah's Witnesses is intended for use in their evangelizing work. Publications for preaching are also routinely studied by members, both privately and at their meetings for worship. Their most widely distributed publications are: * ''
New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures (NWT, also simply NW) is a Bible translations, translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; it is used and di ...
'' (NWT), a translation of the Bible published in whole or part in over 130 languages. This is the Bible translation primarily used by Jehovah's Witnesses. * ''
Awake! ''Awake!'' is an illustrated religious magazine published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. It is considered to be a companion magazine of '' The Watchtower'', and is distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses. The Watch Towe ...
'', published in over 100 languages once per year, a general-interest annual magazine covering many topics from a religious perspective. * '' The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom'', published in 413 languages annually, focuses mainly on
doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...
. When interested individuals are encountered, Witnesses offer a home Bible study course, using a current publication, such as ''Enjoy Life Forever!—An Interactive Bible Course'', which outlines their primary beliefs and interpretations of the Bible. The Witness then visits the student on a regular basis, generally considering a chapter on each visit. Students are requested to examine the material prior to the arrival of the Bible study conductor, using the questions at the bottom of each page, to "help prepare the student for the Bible study". Jehovah's Witnesses customarily read each paragraph aloud together with the student, and then ask the question(s) provided for that paragraph. Students are encouraged to read the scriptures cited in the material. Bible students are expected to be making progress to become baptized as a Jehovah's Witness by the time the course is completed. Jehovah's Witnesses previously offered their literature for a price determined by the branch office in each country, to cover printing costs. Since 2000, Jehovah's Witnesses have offered their publications free of charge globally. Printing is funded by voluntary donations from Witnesses and members of the public. Jehovah's Witnesses accept donations if offered by householders.


Literature for members

Some publications, such as the hymnal ''Sing to Jehovah'', ''The Watchtower'' Study Edition, and the textbook ''Benefit From Theocratic Ministry School Education'' are for use by those who attend congregation meetings. Others, such as the organizational manual ''Organized to Do Jehovah's Will'' and ''Watchtower Library'' (containing the ''Watch Tower Publications Index'' from 1930, issues of ''The Watchtower'' since 1950, and most other Watch Tower Society literature published since 1970), are intended for members. Certain publications are limited to members in appointed positions, such as the manual for congregation elders, ''"Shepherd the Flock of God"''. Some publications are typically distributed only to members, but may be supplied to other interested individuals on request or made available in public libraries. These include the Bible encyclopedia ''Insight on the Scriptures'' and Jehovah's Witnesses' official history book ''Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom''. Many of these publications are also available from their website in the ''Watchtower Online Library''.


Notable publications

In addition to Jehovah's Witnesses' widely distributed magazines, various publications have received attention from the media and other commentators.


Aid to Bible Understanding

''Aid to Bible Understanding'' was the first doctrinal and biblical
encyclopedia An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into article (publishing), articles or entries that are arranged Alp ...
of Jehovah's Witnesses, published in full in 1971. Raymond Franz, a former member of the
Governing Body A governing body is a group of people that has the authority to exercise governance over an organization or political entity. The most formal is a government, a body whose sole responsibility and authority is to make binding decisions in a taken ...
who left the organization claimed to have been one of the researchers. Research for the book led to new interpretations of some concepts, providing a catalyst for changes in
doctrine Doctrine (from , meaning 'teaching, instruction') is a codification (law), codification of beliefs or a body of teacher, teachings or instructions, taught principles or positions, as the essence of teachings in a given branch of knowledge or in a ...
. It was replaced in 1988 by ''Insight on the Scriptures'', which contains much of the original content from ''Aid to Bible Understanding''.


Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?

''Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation?'', first published in 1985, presents the Old Earth ( Gap and Day-Age)
creationism Creationism is the faith, religious belief that nature, and aspects such as the universe, Earth, life, and humans, originated with supernatural acts of Creation myth, divine creation, and is often Pseudoscience, pseudoscientific.#Gunn 2004, Gun ...
of
Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a Christian denomination that is an outgrowth of the Bible Student movement founded by Charles Taze Russell in the nineteenth century. The denomination is nontrinitarian, millenarian, and restorationist. Russell co-fou ...
, and their criticism of
evolution Evolution is the change in the heritable Phenotypic trait, characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. It occurs when evolutionary processes such as natural selection and genetic drift act on genetic variation, re ...
. Biologist
Richard Dawkins Richard Dawkins (born 26 March 1941) is a British evolutionary biology, evolutionary biologist, zoologist, science communicator and author. He is an Oxford fellow, emeritus fellow of New College, Oxford, and was Simonyi Professor for the Publ ...
criticized the book for repeatedly presenting a choice between
intelligent design Intelligent design (ID) is a pseudoscientific argument for the existence of God, presented by its proponents as "an evidence-based scientific theory about life's origins".#Numbers 2006, Numbers 2006, p. 373; " Dcaptured headlines for it ...
and chance, rather than
natural selection Natural selection is the differential survival and reproduction of individuals due to differences in phenotype. It is a key mechanism of evolution, the change in the Heredity, heritable traits characteristic of a population over generation ...
. The book was supplemented by the 1998 book, ''Is There a Creator Who Cares About You?'', and the 2010 brochures ''The Origin of Life—5 Questions Worth Asking'' and ''Was Life Created?''


The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life

''The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life'' was a Bible study textbook published in 1968 and revised in 1981 (now
out of print An out-of-print (OOP) or out-of-commerce item or work is something that is no longer being published. The term applies to all types of printed matter, visual media, sound recordings, and video recordings. An out-of-print book is a book that is ...
). The ''1975
Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a British reference book published annually, listi ...
'' included this book in its list of highest printings. According to the Watch Tower Society, by 1992, publication had reached 107,553,888 copies in 117 languages.


See also

* ''
The Photo-Drama of Creation ''The Photo-Drama of Creation'', or ''Creation-Drama'', is a four-part audiovisual presentation (eight hours in total) produced by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania under the direction of Charles Taze Russell, the founder o ...
'' – film produced by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society under
Charles Taze Russell Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 â€“ October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American Adventist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of the Bible Student movement. He was an early Christian Zionist. In July ...


References


External links


jw.org - Download of publications of Jehovah's Witnesses and official websiteWatch Tower publications listed
in Watchtower Online Library {{Jehovah's Witnesses navbox