Jehovah’s Witnesses consider the distribution of their magazine a public service. This usually takes place in the form of door-to-door ministry and, occasionally, if the doors are opened, interpersonal ministry. Magazines are also distributed by approaching people in public places. The Watchtower Society discourages Jehovah’s Witnesses from placing magazines in postboxes or in large stacks in public places. Many owners of such postboxes discourage this practice too.
According to the official Jehovah’s Witnesses website, the religion originated from a Bible study group started by Charles Taze Russell in the early 1870s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Russell met Nelson H Barbour and adopted his doctrines and prediction of the return of Christ in 1873. When Christ failed to return, Barbour tailored his prediction to 1874, giving the Messiah a generous twelve months to appear. After the second disappointment, he, and subsequently his group, decided that Christ had in fact returned to Earth in 1874, but in an invisible form.
In July 1879, Russell broke with Barbour and published his own magazine, Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. This publication became known as The Watchtower and has a suitably more concise masthead than its predecessor.
He became known as “Pastor Russell” and formed The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania in 1881, currently headquartered in New York City. As president, he wrote the six-volume series Studies in the Scriptures and predicted that
Armageddon would culminate in 1914. But modern science has shown us that it didn’t.

Not even invisibly.
Russell died on 31 October 1916 and his last will and testament declared that an editorial committee of five must supervise the writing of The Watchtower magazine. In 1917 Josef Franklin Rutherford (also known as “Judge Rutherford”) became the second president of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. During 1933, it was decided that 1914 was the beginning of Christ’s presence on earth and not the year of the Apocalypse as was originally decided. The “Last Days” were imminent and during the beginning of the end, Rutherford disbanded the editorial committee and assumed control of the publication. Under the editorial pen of “Judge Rutherford”, Jehovah’s Witness membership grew from approximately 21 000 in 1917 to 115 000 in 1942, the year of his death.
Various references that Christ’s thousand-year reign on Earth might begin in 1975 were made in Jehovah’s
Witness literature. This resulted in a drop in membership from 1975 to 1980 after the failure of this prediction. In 1980, the Watchtower Society admitted that they were responsible for building up the expectations of readers. Since the postponement of Christ’s reign on earth, a governing body was elected in 1976 to make doctrinal and organisational decisions and to supervise the writing of The Watchtower.

Today, The Watchtower is published twice a month and is printed in 158 languages. According to this issue of 1 May this year, the average print run of The Watchtower is more than 25 million. The Watchtower is printed in Braille and video messages in sign language are also distributed. This way, the disabled also stand a chance of making the final 144 000 residents in the afterlife.
Articles primarily deal with Bible topics and their interpretations. News of the organisation and biographies of prominent Jehovah’s Witnesses are also included. From the beginning of 2008, the first issue of the month will be available to the general public. The second issue will be strictly for Jehovah’s Witnesses, focusing on congregational study articles and other inter-organisational information.

Regular sections in the magazine include “Life Story”, “Questions from Readers” and “Would You Welcome a Visit?”(presumably a rhetorical question). “Do You Remember?” appears once every four months to summarise information from recent issues in case the
reader did not answer the doorbell last month. These articles reflect The Watchtower’s emphasis on interactivity with the reader, embodying the dynamics of interpersonal ministry. Every November issue lists the many ways in which donations can be made to the Watchtower Society. A writing committee researches, develops and edits all of the articles in The Watchtower.
Writing committees from branches across the world submit their articles.
Women are allowed to write articles for The Watchtower, as long as they are not of a spiritual kind. The names of authors are never published in the magazine, except in the case of first-person life stories. Randall Watters of Free Minds Inc, a non-
profit organisation that is “keeping a critical eye on The Watchtower”, wrote in a news letter, “… since The Watchtower is a strong hierarchical system, run by several old men in Brooklyn who grew up long before women’s lib affected our modern society, it is not surprising that many of their attitudes towards women would be passed off to others in the organization, especially those who have a proclivity towards ill-treatment of women.”

Other publications include Awake!, a general interest magazine with a religious perspective on science, nature and geography. Awake! is published monthly, printed in 81 languages and boasts a total worldwide circulation of over 30 million. Earlier titles for the magazine were The Golden Age and the aptly-named Consolation, presumably released after another Apocalypse was delayed or aimed at the Jehovah’s Witnesses that aren’t included in the 144 000 that will receive immortal life in heaven with Jesus, as prophesised in previous editions. The Watchtower and Awake! were traditionally sold for a small fee. However, on 17 January 1990, the Supreme Court of the United States declared all sales of religious literature subject to taxation. This meant that the Watchtower Society would have to pay tax on the prices of magazines. From 1 March 1990, Jehovah’s Witness journals were distributed at no cost and only on a “freewill donation policy” in the United States. The sales of The Watchtower around the world gradually faded and The Watchtower is now distributed freely across the world, with its printing costs covered by voluntary donations.

According to the official website for Jehovah’s Witnesses, the door-to-door distribution of The Watchtower is inspired by the Gospel: “The apostle Paul taught in public places, in the marketplace, and from house to house. We follow [his] example. Other religions have
acknowledged the Christian obligation to preach in public places and from house to house, although this is often left to a limited group of missionaries or clergy to fulfil.”
In 2001, the not-for-profit publisher of The Watchtower, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, was one of New York City’s largest revenuegenerating companies, with an annual revenue of $951 million.

The official website for Jehovah’s Witnesses media insists that the shipping and printing of all Jehovah’s Witness publications are funded by donations. The website adds, “It is a personal decision to donate, whether toward local expenses, worldwide expenses, or both. Financial reports are regularly given for the information of the entire congregation.”

With such a thriving industry, it is no wonder that the date of the next Apocalypse is yet to be confirmed. But if history repeats itself, do not be surprised if you see a man in your doorway with the latest edition of The Watchtower - a month after the world’s expiry date. SMF