* 1933 – Nazi Germany begins its persecution of Jehovah's Witnesses by shutting down the Watch Tower Society office in Magdeburg.

On this point, their publishing organisation, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, prefers the translation: " should be born from above ".

Their publishing company, Watch Tower, and official position magazine, The Watchtower, have asserted: " Ever since The Watchtower began to be published in July 1879 it has looked ahead into the future ... No, The Watchtower is no inspired prophet, but it follows and explains a Book of prophecy the predictions in which have proved to be unerring and unfailing till now.

One example is The Watchtower's assertions that the end of the " Gentile times " or " times of the nations " would occur in 1914 ; even prominent Watch Tower representatives such as A. H. Macmillan incorrectly concluded and overstated their expectations.

** Frederick William Franz, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and 4th President of Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society ( b. 1893 )

* August 9 – Milton G. Henschel, a member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses and 5th President of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society ( d. 2003 )

* Hayden C. Covington ( 1911 – 1978 ), legal counsel for the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

Prominent Bible Students A. H. Macmillan and J. F. Rutherford were both appointed pilgrims before they joined the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania ; the IBSA later adopted the name Jehovah's Witnesses and renamed pilgrims as traveling overseers.

Beginning in July 1879 he began publishing a monthly religious journal, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence.

In 1881 he co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society and in 1884 the corporation was officially registered, with Russell as president.

) The Watch Tower Society officially states that it ceased publication of Russell's writings in 1927, though his books continue to be published by several independent groups.

Later in his career he accepted without protest that many Bible Students viewed him as the " faithful and wise servant " of Matthew 24: 45, and was described by the Watch Tower after his death as having been made " ruler of all the Lord's goods ".

Those who maintained fellowship with the Watch Tower Society adopted the name Jehovah's witnesses in 1931, while those who severed ties with the Society formed their own groups including the Pastoral Bible Institute in 1918, the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement in 1919, and the Dawn Bible Students Association in 1929.

Russell blamed the marriage breakup on disagreements over Maria's insistence for a greater editorial role in Zion's Watch Tower magazine, though a later court judgment noted that he had labelled the marriage " a mistake " three years before the dispute over her editorial ambitions had arisen.

The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures ( NWT ) is a translation of the Bible published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1961 ; it is used and distributed by Jehovah's Witnesses.

As of 2012, the Watch Tower Society has published 174 million copies of the New World Translation in 110 language editions.

In October 1946, the president of the Watch Tower Society, Nathan H. Knorr, proposed a fresh translation of the New Testament, which Jehovah's Witnesses usually refer to as the Christian Greek Scriptures.

... We heartily recommend the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, published in 1950 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

* List of Watch Tower Society publications

The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and its precursor organization, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, considers the Great Apostasy to have properly begun before the death of the last Apostle, along with the warning signs and precursors starting shortly after Jesus ' ascension.

The Tour du Guet ( Watch Tower ), situated in Calais Nord on the Places d ' Armes, is one of the few surviving pre-war buildings.

Disfellowshipping follows a decision of a judicial committee established by a local congregation that a member is guilty of a " serious sin ", including " fornication, adultery, homosexuality, greed, extortion, thievery, lying, drunkenness, reviling, spiritism, murder, idolatry, apostasy, and the causing of divisions in the congregation "; Watch Tower publications cite sexual immorality as the most common reason.

Members are expected to participate regularly in evangelizing work and attend all congregation meetings, as well as regular large-scale conventions, which are highly structured and based on material from Watch Tower Society publications.

Watch Tower publications describe house-to-house visitations as the primary work of Jehovah's Witnesses in obedience to a " divine command " to preach " the Kingdom good news in all the earth and ( make ) disciples of people of all the nations ".

Witnesses are frequently instructed through Watch Tower Society publications, and at meetings and conventions, to increase the quality and quantity of their preaching efforts.

Watch Tower Society publications suggest that endurance in public preaching is the means by which Witnesses attain salvation, and that evangelizing frees them from blood-guilt regarding individuals who might die at Armageddon without having heard about God's kingdom.

Watch Tower Society publications teach that Witnesses are engaged in a " spiritual, theocratic warfare " against false teachings and wicked spirit forces they say try to impede them in their preaching work.

Watch Tower publications define the " world " as " the mass of mankind apart from Jehovah ’ s approved servants " and teach that it is ruled by Satan and a place of danger and moral contamination.

" Watch Tower Society publications rule out the celebration of Mother's Day because of a claimed link with pagan gods and concerns that giving " special honor and worship " to mothers is a form of " creature worship " that could turn people away from God.

Watch Tower Society publications note that the only birthday celebrations explicitly mentioned in the Bible are those of an unnamed Pharaoh and Herod Antipas, and that both were associated with executions, and neither celebrant was a servant of God.

Along with their Pennsylvania and New York based corporations, Watch Tower publications since 1914 have stated: " All three of these corporations were organized for identical purposes and they harmoniously work together.

* List of Watch Tower Society publications

* HRW. org, Human Rights Watch publications on East Timor

The religion's doctrines surrounding 1914 are the legacy of a series of emphatic claims regarding the years 1799, 1874, 1878, 1914, 1918 and 1925 made in the Watch Tower Society's publications between 1879 and 1924.

Watch Tower publications also say that unfulfilled expectations are partly due to eagerness for God's Kingdom and that they do not call their core beliefs into question.

In 1925 he gained full control over what doctrines would be taught in Watch Tower Society publications, overruling the refusal by the five-man Editorial Committee to publish his article, " Birth of the Nation ", which contained significant doctrinal changes.

* List of Watch Tower Society publications

* List of Watch Tower Society publications

From 1944, Watch Tower publications had made occasional references to a governing body, identifying it with the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.

Individuals who attend meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses but are not involved in preaching are occasionally referred to in Watch Tower Society publications as " associates " or as being " associated with the congregation ".

Privatization Watch is another of the Foundation's privatization publications that is published three to four times per year.

There are various groups and publications called Democracy Watch throughout the world, including:

# REDIRECT List of Watch Tower Society publications