W2-15-62 Why the Name “Jehovah’s Witnesses”?
“WHAT’S in a name? That
which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet,” said Shakespeare.
True, but still it would need a name to distinguish it from other flowers.
Names are important.
Without them we could not properly identify specific persons, places or things.
A name, according to Webster, is “a word . . .
by which an individual or class of individuals (persons or things) is regularly
known or designated. . . . A distinct and specific
designation.” Among some very primitive peoples individuals are not
given specific names but merely identified by some physical peculiarity as to
height, size and suchlike. But what happens when two or more persons greatly
resemble one another? To try to do without names does present difficulties.
God, in his Word, the
Bible, repeatedly stresses the importance of names,
especially that of his own name Jehovah. That he also considers the
names of his servants important can be seen from the fact that at times he
himself changed their names: Abram to Abraham, Sarai
to Sarah, Jacob to
Acts 11:26
and when
he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. And for an entire year they met with the church and taught considerable numbers; and the disciples were
first called Christians in Antioch.
So long as the Christian
congregation numbered comparatively few thousands and the apostles were alive,
the name “Christian” was sufficiently distinctive and specific. All who
professed to be Christians but whose beliefs or conduct belied their claim were
forthwith excommunicated from the Christian community. In those days the name
“Christian” had an unequivocal, unambiguous meaning, for it was limited to the
sincere, enlightened, dedicated, genuine followers of Jesus Christ.
But after the death of
the apostles an enemy, Satan the Devil, sowed seeds of imitation Christians in
the field, and so before long it became a field of apostates and counterfeits,
yet bearing the name Christian, Christendom. (Matt.
DERISIVE NICKNAMES
This state of affairs
posed a problem for the Reformers when they appeared on the scene. What should
they and their followers call themselves, since the name Christian was used so
loosely? How could they distinguish themselves from the rest? Unwisely they
time and again followed the lines of least resistance by adopting the derisive
nickname their enemies gave them. How this came about in the case of the
Lutherans a historian relates:
“The term ‘Lutheran’ was
already used in Luther’s time. Luther objected to this term, certainly not as a
result of any special modesty, which he did not possess if his doctrine was at
stake, but just because he thought that his theology was the only right and
true Christian doctrine and that there was no way of being a real Christian
except by being a ‘Lutheran.’ If he needed a term for describing his followers
as distinct from Popish people (Papisten), he
preferred the word ‘Evangelicals,’ followers of the Gospel. Later, however, he
acquiesced in the use of his name, and he himself says: ‘We so-called
Lutherans.’”—The Theology of Martin Luther,
H. H. Kramm.
Other authorities give
further details. The name was used in derision by Roman Catholics, the first
ones to do so being the German theologian Johann Eck and Pope Hadrian VI. Among
the reasons given for the followers of Luther accepting the name “Lutheran” was
to distinguish themselves from the Protestants who followed the Swiss reformers
Calvin and Zwingli and with whose theology they disagreed. However, in
accepting this name they ignored the apostolic counsel: “When one says: ‘I
belong to Paul,’ but another says: ‘I to Apollos,’
are you not simply men? What, then, is Apollos? Yes,
what is Paul?”—1 Cor. 3:4, 5.
1 Cor.3:4
For when one says, "I am of Paul," and another, "I am
of Apollos,"
are you not mere men ?
1 Cor.3:5
What then is Apollos
? And what is Paul ? Servants through whom you believed, even as the Lord gave opportunity to
each one.
Those who joined the
eighteenth-century John Wesley in his reform movement while at the university
at
Another example is
furnished by the Society of Friends, more commonly known as Quakers. “The
epithet of Quakers was given in derision, because they often trembled under an
awful sense of the infinite purity and majesty of God, and this name, rather
submitted to than accepted by them, has become general as a designation.”—McClintock & Strong’s Cyclopædia,
Vol. 3, p. 668.
And then there are the
Baptists. At first they were derisively nicknamed Anabaptists, or rebaptized ones, because they required that all who had
been sprinkled in infancy be immersed upon accepting Christ due to their own
convictions. They themselves did not acknowledge this term but insisted that
they were to be known only as “Christians,” “Apostolic Christians,” “Brethren,”
and “Disciples of Christ.” But in the end they also accepted their nickname,
given in derision, as their proper name and called themselves Baptists.
THE BIBLE STUDENTS
The facts show that the
question of a name also faced those sincere Christian students of the Bible who
began to gather together for the study of God’s Word from about 1870 onward. At
one time they had been Baptists, Congregationalists, Lutherans, Methodists,
Presbyterians and Roman Catholics. But now by what name should they be known?
Thus at one of their early assemblies a former Presbyterian deacon got up and
told of having seen a goat in a shipping crate at a railroad station that could
not be sent to its destination because the goat had eaten up its shipping tag.
“Now folks,” he continued, “I’m like that goat. At one time I had a tag, but I
ate it up,” as a result of reading The Divine Plan of
the Ages, “and now I don’t know where I belong.”
True, they were
Christians and the Scriptures use the name “Christian,” but with literally
hundreds of millions claiming to be Christians, that name of itself could not
serve to identify them specifically. Besides, there is a particular religious
denomination that bears the name “The Christian Church,” as well as one known
as “The Disciples of Christ.”
Others had derisively
nicknamed them “Millennial Dawnists,” “Russellites,” “Rutherfordites,”
and “Watch Tower People.” Wisely they refused to give official recognition to
any such derisive nicknames. The truth about Christ’s millennial reign was but
one of their teachings; they were not following any human leader but only their
Master, Jesus Christ; the Watchtower magazine was merely one of the
publications they used to disseminate the truth of God’s Word.
For the time being they
kept referring to themselves as “Bible Students,” one of their international
organizations being known as the International Bible Students Association. But
was that name sufficiently distinctive, specific and adequate? No, it was not.
Why not? Because, on the one hand, they were not by any means the only Bible
students. There were all manner of Bible students who were still bound by the
various creeds of Christendom: Bible students who were Fundamentalists,
Modernists, and some who were Deists. Yes, all these made a study of the Bible.
More than that, there were some who had created divisions, such as those
referred to at Romans 16:17, and who had separated themselves and still referred
to themselves as Bible students. So the term Bible Student was far from being
specific, distinctive.
But, even more
important, the term Bible Students was not at all adequate. For one thing, it
had no Scriptural precedent. Then also, these Christians were not only Bible
students but they were Bible students who accepted the Bible as the inspired
Word of God; Bible students who had dedicated themselves to do God’s will and
follow in the footsteps of Jesus Christ; Bible students among whom every last
one was also a preacher of God’s name and kingdom.
JEHOVAH’S WITNESSES—WHY?
However, there was one
name in the Scriptures that God had applied to his servants, which name no one
else had taken, which name no one else wanted to take. It was a name that
uniquely fitted them, namely, Jehovah’s witnesses, based on
Isaiah 43:10, 12:
"You are My witnesses," declares the LORD, "And My
servant whom I have chosen, So that you
may know and believe
Me And understand that I
am He. Before Me there
was no God formed, And there will be none after Me.
"I, even I, am the LORD, And there is no savior besides * Me.
"It is I who have declared and saved and proclaimed, And there was no strange god among
you; So you are My witnesses,
" declares the LORD, "And I
am God.
Open LORD for ID
“‘You are my witnesses,’ is the utterance of
Jehovah, ‘even my servant whom I have chosen.’” “‘You are my witnesses,’ is the
utterance of Jehovah, ‘and I am God.’”
That the followers of Christ
were to be primarily a people for Jehovah God’s name, the Scriptures
unequivocally state. Thus the prophet Amos foretold that Jehovah God would
restore all those “upon whom my name has been called.” The apostle Peter
“related thoroughly how God for the first time turned his attention to the
nations to take out of them a people for his name.” And in the book of
Revelation the anointed Christians are repeatedly shown as having the name of
their God written in their foreheads, prominently displayed for all to
see.—Amos 9:11, 12; Acts 15:14; Rev. 3:12; 14:1; 22:4. Rev3-12-14.htm PLUS
Amos 9:11
"In that day I will raise up the fallen booth of David, And wall up its breaches; I will
also raise up its ruins And rebuild it as in
the days of old;
Amos 9:12
That they may possess the remnant of Edom And all the nations who are called by My name," Declares the LORD who does this.
Acts 15:14
"Simeon has related how God first concerned Himself about taking from among the Gentiles a people for His name.
Acts 15:17
SO THAT THE REST OF MANKIND MAY SEEK THE LORD, AND ALL THE GENTILES WHO ARE CALLED BY MY NAME,'
Then I looked, and behold, the Lamb was standing on Mount Zion, and with Him one hundred and
forty-four , * thousand, having His name and the name of His Father written on their foreheads.
Rev 22:4
they will see His face, and His name will be on
their foreheads.
Leaders of Christendom
assert that the true God, the Creator, the God of the Bible, does not need a
distinctive name. In this they err. Thereby they shut their eyes to the fact
that there are many false gods that men have set up as rivals of the one true
God and that he therefore needs a specific designation to distinguish him from
all the rest; even as the Scriptures clearly show: “On all the gods of
Isa.-42:8
"I am the LORD, that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven images.
1 Cor-8:5
For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords,
1 Cor-8:6
yet for us there is
but one God, the Father, from whom are all things and we exist
for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we
exist through Him.
But why
should it be necessary for anyone to witness to the one true God? someone might ask. For at least four
distinct reasons. In the first place, because Jehovah God is invisible;
no one can see him and live. (Ex. 33:20) 33:20 Visible creation does witness to Jehovah’s
existence and power and wisdom, but it cannot tell humankind what the Creator’s
name is and what his other attributes and purposes are. For making known these
things Jehovah requires human, intelligent witnesses. 33:20
But He said, "You cannot * see My face, for no man can see Me and live !"
Secondly, because of the
challenge of Satan the Devil to the sovereignty of Jehovah and the conditions
Satan has brought about on the earth that reflect unfavorably upon Jehovah, it
is necessary that He have witnesses to let all men know the truth about
himself.
—Gen. 3:1-6; 3:1 –open [In Context| Rev. 12:12. 12:12
Thirdly, in that Satan
boasted that he could turn all men away from Jehovah God; to prove Satan a
liar, God needs, perforce, to have faithful witnesses on the earth.—Job 1:6-12; 1:6 – open [In Context| Prov.
27:11.
And
fourthly, the time is rapidly approaching when Jehovah will once and for all
time vindicate himself as the Universal Sovereign by destroying all his foes
and delivering his people. Because of these facts witnesses are needed to sound
an urgent warning; so that lovers of righteousness can flee to safety and so
that the wicked will know why they are being destroyed when Armageddon comes
upon them.—
16:16
And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
Rev. 16:14, 16. 16:14
for they are spirits of demons, performing signs, which go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them together for the war of the great day of God, the Almighty.
And they gathered them together to the place which in Hebrew is called Har-Magedon.
From their early
beginnings the modern witnesses of Jehovah have witnessed to Jehovah’s name.
However, it was not until 1931 that they were specially moved by
the fact that the words of Isaiah 43:10, 12 43:10
- 43:11-43:12-, specifically apply to them, and so
in that year, at a convention, they officially went on record as accepting this
as their designation.
In taking that name,
Jehovah’s witnesses were not acting presumptuously. Had they not been
witnessing to that name and were they not determined to continue to do so? Most
assuredly! Others questioned whether the name would stick or not. Has it stuck?
It has, for, thirty years later, the third edition of Webster’s Unabridged
Dictionary states: “Jehovah’s witnesses: Members of a group that witness by
distributing literature and by personal evangelism to beliefs in the theocratic
rule of God, the sinfulness of organized religions and governments, and an
imminent millennium.”
Jehovah’s witnesses are
proud to bear their name and are concerned with measuring up to it at all
times, not only by witnessing verbally, but also by conducting themselves so as
to bring no reproach to Jehovah’s name. It is indeed a name that sets them
apart from all others professing to be Christians.