Question by toing: Who are the Jehovah’s Witnesses and what are their beliefs?
The sect known today as the Jehovah’s Witnesses started out in Pittsburgh, PA, as a Bible class started by Charles Taze Russell in 1870. Russell, then 18 years old, named his group the “Millennial Dawn Bible Study.” Charles T. Russell began a series of books he called “The Millennial Dawn” which stretched to six volumes before his death and contained much of the theology Russell espoused and the movement believed. After Russell’s death in 1916, Judge J. F. Rutherford, Russell’s friend and successor, wrote the seventh and final volume of the “Millennial Dawn” series, “The Finished Mystery,” printing it in 1917.

The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was founded in 1896 and quickly became the vehicle through which the “Millennial Dawn” movement began distributing their views to others. The Watchtower Bible and Tract society was moved to Brooklyn, New York, in 1908. This became the home base of the “Russellites.” They would be referred to by this name until 1931.

This seventh volume of the “Millennial Dawn” series caused the movement to split into two groups. The larger group followed Judge Rutherford and the smaller group, calling itself “The Dawn Bible Students Association,” went its own way. In order to distance themselves from the dissenters, Rutherford changed the name of his group. In Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, the group was renamed the “Jehovah’s Witnesses.” The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society remained the organizational headquarters for the newly-named Jehovah’s Witnesses. Ever since their introduction into Brooklyn, they have immensely increased their possessions, especially their printing facilities.

Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford died in 1942. He was succeeded by Nathan Homer Knorr, who died in 1977 and was succeeded by Frederick W. Frantz, who died in 1992. Milton G. Henschel was elevated to president upon Frantz’s death. Both Frantz and Henschel were vice presidents of the Governing Body which regulates all affairs for the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. The Millennial Dawn Bible Study which started in Pittsburgh in 1870 has now grown into a worldwide movement with great publishing capabilities and a presence around the world.

So what do they believe? Close scrutiny of their doctrinal position on such subjects as the Deity of Jesus, Salvation, the Trinity, the Holy Spirit, the Atonement, etc., shows beyond a doubt that they do not hold to orthodox Christian positions on these subjects. In other words, they are not really a Christian denomination. Jehovah’s Witnesses are members of a religious cult that rejects many positions held sacred by biblical Christians.

Walter W. Martin’s book “The Kingdom of the Cults” is an excellent source that documents the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ position on many topics, as taken from their own literature. For example, as Dr. Martin says in his book, “Thus, the history of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the product of Charles Taze Russell, who, because he would not seek instruction in the Word of God, dedicated his unschooled talents to a lone, vain search without the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This attempt has produced a cult of determined people who are persuaded in their own minds and who boldly attempt to persuade all others that the kingdom of God is “present” and that they are Jehovah’s Witnesses, the only true servants of the living God” (The Kingdom of the Cults, Martin, p92).

Jehovah’s Witnesses are readily shown to be a cult that is only loosely based upon Scripture. Watchtower bases its beliefs and doctrines on the original and expanded teachings of Charles Taze Russell, Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford, and their successors. The Governing Body of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is the only body in the cult that claims authority to interpret Scripture. In other words, what the Governing Body says concerning any Scriptural passage is viewed as the last word and independent thinking is strongly discouraged. “Avoid independent thinking … questioning the counsel that is provided by God’s visible organization …. Fight against independent thinking” (The Watchtower, January 15, 1983, Pp 22,27 as quoted in The Kingdom of the Cults, Martin, p97).

Summing up the beliefs of the Jehovah’s Witnesses is to say that they are definitely not Biblical Christians. All of their interpretations of Scripture are determined by the Governing Body of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which strongly discourages any independent thought. This is especially true where the Scriptures are concerned. This is in direct opposition of Paul’s admonition to Timothy (and to us as well) to study to show yourself approved of God, a workman that need not be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of God. This admonition, found in 2 Timothy 2:15, is a clear instruction from God to each of His individual children in the Body of Christ to be like the Berean Christians and search the Scriptures daily to see if the things they are being taught line up with what His Word has to say on the subject.

This freedom to search His Word with the Holy Spirit as our guide is discouraged by Jehovah’s Witnesses. In their minds, only the Governing Body has this privilege. Thus we see that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are really a cult who must follow blindly the teachings of their leaders without question or debate.

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Answer by stellry
They are not allowed in many countries.

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