A number of splinter groups have separated from

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 ...

since 1931 after members broke affiliation with the

Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in Warwick, New York. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, administer, and disseminate ...

. Earlier group defections from the Watch Tower Society, most of them between 1917 and 1931, had resulted in a number of religious movements forming under the umbrella term of the Bible Student movement. After 1931, some isolated groups of Jehovah's Witnesses came to distrust instruction from outside the local area. Some preferred their autonomy even after persecution and isolation abated, such as in Germany following

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

following the overthrow of

Nicolae Ceaușescu Nicolae Ceaușescu ( ; ; – 25 December 1989) was a Romanian politician who was the second and last Communism, communist leader of Socialist Romania, Romania, serving as the general secretary of the Romanian Communist Party from 1965 u ...

, and in the former

USSR The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

following the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

Britain

Jesse Hemery was appointed overseer of the Watch Tower Society's British Isles branch office by

Charles Taze Russell Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – 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 ...

in 1901, holding that post until 1946.Willis, Tony. ''A People for His Name: A History of Jehovah's Witnesses and an Evaluation.'' 2007. p. 268. Hemery founded the Goshen Fellowship after he was removed by Nathan H. Knorr in 1951.

Germany, postwar

Scholars estimate that during the Nazi regime, about half of all Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany were incarcerated in prison or concentration camps, where they were exposed to "sadism marked by an unending chain of physical and mental tortures, the likes of which no language in the world can express." At the time, they were represented by several geographical Bible Students Associations, each of which considered itself affiliated with the Watch Tower Society despite little contact with their US headquarters in Brooklyn. When contact was re-established, a minority of German Jehovah's Witnesses either preferred their autonomy or disagreed with the doctrinal changes that had occurred in the meantime. Some disassociated themselves from the Watch Tower Society and some individual members established contact with non-Jehovah's Witness Bible Student groups.

Romania

In 1948, the

n government imposed a ban on Jehovah's Witnesses that lasted until 1989. Many Witnesses were arrested and sent to prison or labor camps, and members of the denomination had limited communication with other Witnesses and studied largely from older books and magazines.2006 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, page 112-116. In 1962, ''The Watchtower'' altered its doctrine on the meaning of the phrase "superior authorities" in Romans 13:1, identifying them as human governmental authorities rather than God and Jesus Christ as formerly thought. Many Witnesses in Romania rejected the change, and some suspected it was a communist fabrication intended to make them subservient to the state. In 1989, after the Romanian ban was lifted, members and representatives of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses were able to meet thousands of long-separated Romanian Witnesses. Some Romanians still rejected certain changes and preferred their autonomy, forming The True Faith Association of Jehovah's Witnesses in 1992.

Sierra Leone

In 1956, Watch Tower Society representatives visiting

Freetown Freetown () is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Sierra Leone. It is a major port city on the Atlantic Ocean and is located in the Western Area of the country. Freetown is Sierra Leone's major urban, economic, financial, cultural, e ...

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone, officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered to the southeast by Liberia and by Guinea to the north. Sierra Leone's land area is . It has a tropical climate and envi ...

, encountered a splinter group called the "Ecclesia of Jehovah's Witnesses" that had formed several years prior.

USSR

When the Watch Tower Society changed its interpretation of the "superior authorities", some Jehovah's Witnesses in the

suspected that the change came from the

KGB The Committee for State Security (, ), abbreviated as KGB (, ; ) was the main security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 to 1991. It was the direct successor of preceding Soviet secret police agencies including the Cheka, Joint State Polit ...

instead. This led to the formation of the ''Theocratic Organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses'', which discontinued the use of Watch Tower Society publications printed after 1962. The group has a presence in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, and

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

, and claims to seek contacts with Witnesses in other countries. The group does not publish any statistics regarding the number of congregations or adherents and has little or no public presence.

References

External links

The True Faith Jehovah's Witnesses Association
{{Jehovah's Witnesses navbox, state=collapsed Bible Student movement History of Jehovah's Witnesses Lists of Christian denominations Schisms in Christianity