Russell was succeeded as president in 1917 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford (Judge Rutherford; 1869–1942), who changed the groups name to Jehovahs Witnesses in 1931 to emphasize its members belief that Jehovah, or Yahweh, is the true God and that the Witnesses were his specially chosen followers.

What is the original name of the Jehovahs Witnesses?

Church of Christ The Bible is our only standard, and its teachings our only creed. He added: We are in fellowship with all Christians in whom we can recognize the Spirit of Christ. Two years later he said the only appropriate names for his group would be Church of Christ, Church of God or Christians.

Who wrote Jehovah Witness Bible?

Charles Taze Russell Charles Taze Russell, born in 1852, grew up in a devoutly Presbyterian family in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. At the age of 16, however, he found himself losing faith in his church, the Bible, and God.

What do Jehovahs Witnesses call their God?

Witnesses teach that God must be distinguished by his personal name—Jehovah. The name is a common modern Latinized form of the Hebrew Tetragrammaton, or four-letter name, transliterated as YHWH.