Use of symbols in the history of the Jehovah’s witness religious organization

authors: Ivan Ostashchuk, Mariia Ovchar

Urgency of the research. The topic of religious symbolism is relevant among many Christian denominations. While in traditional churches symbolism is given great importance and sacred meaning, Protestant churches attach less importance to it, but use certain attributes, in particular the cross. At the same time, Jehovah's Witnesses, who do not associate themselves with any main direction of Christianity, have their own attitude to symbolism.

Target setting. Jehovah's Witnesses today use certain emblems and symbols not for a sacred purpose, but for the purpose of spreading their views. The most famous is the JW.ORG logo - the website address of this religious organization. However, there is a gap in scientific coverage of the problem of the attitude of Jehovah's Witnesses to their own religious symbols throughout the history of the development of this denomination.

Actual scientific researches and issues analysis. The question of the use of religious symbols in the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses was covered mostly among the apologetic works of various denominations. To the greatest extent, this topic was highlighted by F. Springmeier, who tries to connect this organization with the symbolism of Freemasonry, but the conclusions of his research cannot be considered completely objective and unbiased.

The research objective. To investigate the use of symbolism in the history of the religious organization Jehovah's Witnesses, based on the analysis of the transformation of the front pages of the Watchtower magazine.

The statement of basic materials. The main official periodical of the Bible Students movement, which in 1931 received the name Jehovah's Witnesses, was the Watchtower magazine. Throughout the history of this publication, the title page of the magazine reflected the essence of the name and its purpose. An invariable attribute of this title page was the image of a watchtower. At the same time, in 1931–1951, more attention was focused on the meaning of the heavenly chariot depicted on the cover. An important place in the first decades of the history of this religious movement was occupied by the emblem of the cross and crown, which was on the cover of the magazine until 1931. In addition, this emblem was worn by the believers of the organization in the form of a badge or pin as a sign of their religious identity. However, starting from the end of the 1920s, this sign ceased to be revered and eventually disappeared from the cover of the Watchtower.

Conclusions. As a result of the research, it was determined that religious symbolism had a place in the history of Jehovah's Witnesses. However, it did not have a sacred meaning, but mostly served to help spread its beliefs. The evolution of the Watchtower cover design philosophy points to a subtle understanding of the ability of visual symbolism to attract and hold the attention of readers, thereby facilitating a deeper engagement with the magazine's content.

Keywords: Jehovah's Witnesses, Bible Students, religious symbols, JW.ORG logo, Watchtower magazine, crown and cross emblem

 

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