page_title: End time
section_title: Jehovah's Witnesses
hierarchical_section_title: End time / Linear cosmology / Abrahamic religions / Christianity / Restorationism (Christian primitivism) / Jehovah's Witnesses
caption_attribution_description: Dansk: Hovedkontor af Vagttårnets Bibel og Traktat Selskab, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. English: World headquarters of the Watch Tower Bible &amp; Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Deutsch: Weltzentrale der Wachtturm Bibel- und Traktat-Gesellschaft, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Italiano: Sede centrale mondiale della Società Torre di Guardia, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Nederlands: 1Hoofdkantoor van het Wachttoren-, Bijbel- en Traktaatgenootschap van Pennsylvania, Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Subtly modified by Fiorellino with the permission of the author.
context_page_description: The end time is a future described variously in the eschatologies of several world religions, which teach that world events will reach a climax.
  The Abrahamic religions maintain a linear cosmology, with end-time scenarios containing themes of transformation and redemption. In Judaism, the term "end of days" makes reference to the Messianic Age and includes an in-gathering of the exiled Jewish diaspora, the coming of the Messiah, the resurrection of the righteous, and the world to come. Some sects of Christianity depict the end time as a period of tribulation that precedes the second coming of Christ, who will face the Antichrist along with his power structure and usher in the Kingdom of God.
  In Islam, the Day of Judgement is preceded by the appearance of the al-Masih al-Dajjal, and followed by the descending of Isa. Isa will triumph over the false messiah, or the Antichrist, which will lead to a sequence of events that will end with the sun rising from the west and the beginning of the Qiyamah.
  Non-Abrahamic religions tend to have more cyclical world-views, with end-time eschatologies characterized by decay, redemption, and rebirth.
context_section_description: The eschatology of Jehovah's Witnesses is central to their religious beliefs. They believe Jesus Christ has been ruling in heaven as king since 1914 (a date they believe was prophesied in Scripture), and that after that time a period of cleansing occurred, resulting in God's selection of the Bible Students associated with Charles Taze Russell to be his people in 1919. They also believe the destruction of those who reject the Bible's message and thus willfully refuse to obey God will shortly take place at Armageddon, ensuring that the beginning of the new earthly society will be composed of willing subjects of that kingdom.
  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. Claims about the significance of those years, including the presence of Jesus Christ, the beginning of the "last days", the destruction of worldly governments and the earthly resurrection of Jewish patriarchs, were successively abandoned. In 1922 the society's principal journal, The Watchtower, described its chronology as "no stronger than its weakest link", but also claimed the chronological relationships to be "of divine origin and divinely corroborated ... in a class by itself, absolutely and unqualifiedly correct" and "indisputable facts", while repudiation of Russell's teachings was described as "equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord".
  The Watch Tower Society has admitted its early leaders promoted "incomplete, even inaccurate concepts". The Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses says that, unlike Old Testament prophets, its interpretations of the Bible are not inspired or infallible. Witness publications say Bible prophecies can be fully understood only after their fulfillment, citing examples of biblical figures who did not understand the meaning of prophecies they received. Watch Tower publications often cite Proverbs 4:18, "The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established" (NWT) to support their view that there would be an increase in knowledge during "the time of the end", as mentioned in Daniel 12:4. Jehovah's Witnesses say this increase in knowledge needs adjustments. 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.
caption: Former Watch Tower headquarters in Brooklyn. The society made a number of emphatic claims of impending last days and ensuing chaos between 1879–1924.
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