Hi
Who do you think are the best historian/historians about the history of Jehovahs Witnesses?
regards
Paul
Top Jehovahs witnesses Historians
by Paul Bonanno 19 Replies latest jw friends
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WingCommander
The late great James Penton wrote the most scholarly, academic, and most works cited historically accurate book on the JW's.
Apocalypse Delayed: The Story of Jehovah's Witnesses
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Paul Bonanno
Yes, I agree that the late Prof. James Penton produced one of the best scholarly work on the history of the JWs. I have also read A Separate Identity: Organizational Identity Among Readers of Zion’s Watch Tower: 1870-1887 by Schulz and de Vienne. Right now, I’m more focused on finding out who has the largest collection of books and documents from this organization and who is considered among scholars as the authority on this topic.
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Nathan Natas
They haven't published a book (yet) but Paul and Jeff at the YouTube channel Watchtower History certainly deserve to be included in this group.
Other I would add would be William "Watchtower Slave" Schnell,
Tony "A People for His Name" Wills,
Barbara "Visions of Glory" Grizzuti Harrison,
and as minor illuminaries (in my opinion),
Jerry "The Mental Health of Jehovah's Witnesses" Bergman
Duane "www.witnessinc.com" Magnani
At the time of this writing I do not know if Mssrs. Bergman and Magnani are still active.
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slimboyfat
Zoe Knox, Emily Baran, and Detlef Garbe
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WingCommander
Dr. Jerry Bergman is 79 years old. (still alive and kicking)
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Balaamsass2
Barbra Anderson's site;
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vienne
Mom (R.M. de Vienne, Phd) and Uncle B (Dr. B. W. Schulz, FRHistS) wrote three books relevant to Watchtower history: Nelson Barbour: The Millennium's Forgotten Prophet; Separate Identity, vol 1 and vol 2. (Each of them also wrote unrelated middle grade/ young-adult novels. Fun books)
The blog associated with the books is Truthhistory.blogspot.com. It's a marvelous resource though focused primarily on Russell era history.
Not noticed much but important are books by Alan Whitby. He's written Grave Matters (about the Watchtower cemetery); The Ross Libel Trial: The history of a 1913 legal case (includes transcripts); and The Hudson Davidson Debate (1896) (The first known debate involving a Watchtower representative.) His books deserve a wider circulation than they've had.
Harrison's Vision's of Glory is not on my recommend list. It's a personal narrative, and as that it might have some value. Her comments on Russell are "off" historically speaking.
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vienne
An excellent access to original sources is through worldcat.org. Also, a surprising amount of material is on books.google.com or the 'archives' site.
Consult your local library about interlibrary loan.