Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses

George D. Chryssides is currently an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Birmingham, and York St John University. He has published extensively on new religious movements and he is the author of Historical Dictionary of Jehovah's Witnesses (2008) and Historical Dictionary of New Religious Movements, Second Edition (2011). He is currently president of the International Society for the Study of New Religions and Co-Vice-Chair of Inform (Information Network on New Religious Movements), based at King’s College London.

• Editor’s Foreword Jon WoronoffPrefaceAcknowledgmentsAcronyms and AbbreviationsChronologyIntroductionTHE DICTIONARYBibliographyAbout the Author

No one is more qualified to write a dictionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses than Chryssides (Univ. of Birmingham and York St. John University, UK). He has written several books on the Jehovah’s Witnesses and new religious movements, and his Jehovah’s Witnesses: Continuity and Change (2016) is noteworthy as the most objective social science analysis to date of the denomination. Chryssides's expertise shines in this contribution to the "Historical Dictionaries of Religions, Philosophies, and Movements" series. The volume opens with a long introduction that could serve as the foundation for readers who want to learn about the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This section is followed by a chronology, the dictionary proper, and a bibliography. The bibliography will prove to be especially useful to novice learners, since the literature on and by Jehovah’s Witnesses is so voluminous. Dictionary entries cover biographies, themes, and terms that are part of the Jehovah’s Witnesses vocabulary. Each entry also includes see references. This second edition is 100 pages longer than the first (2008), and many of the entries are new or are revisions of entries in the previous edition. Even those who own the first edition should consider purchasing this one. This dictionary is a distinguished introduction to a denomination that is well known but little understood.Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates through faculty; general readers.