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    00:00:09 We were always just called the Bible Students, 00:00:11 and Brother Russell kind of encouraged that. 00:00:16 He said we didn’t want to be known 00:00:20 by any distinctive name 00:00:21 but just Bible Students, 00:00:23 and I appreciated his viewpoint on that. 00:00:26 But the trouble was that people 00:00:28 began to call us Russellites and Rutherfordites, 00:00:32 and not only that but the term “Christian” itself 00:00:35 became a misnomer. 00:00:36 Many people said they were Christians, 00:00:39 and they didn’t have any idea as to what being a Christian meant. 00:00:42 Their identity would be considered 00:00:45 at a seven-day convention 00:00:47 held in Columbus, Ohio, in 1931. 00:00:51 Attendees received programs 00:00:54 with the puzzling letters “JW” on the cover. 00:00:58 Speaking on Isaiah 43:10, 00:01:01 J.F. Rutherford presented a resolution. 00:01:08 We have great love for Brother Charles T. Russell, 00:01:11 and we gladly acknowledge that the Lord used him 00:01:15 and greatly blessed his work, 00:01:18 yet we cannot consent 00:01:20 to be called by the name “Russellites.” 00:01:23 The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society 00:01:26 and the International Bible Students Association 00:01:29 are merely names of corporations. 00:01:33 We are servants of Jehovah God 00:01:36 commissioned to do a work in his name. 00:01:40 Henceforth, may it be known that we 00:01:44 are Jehovah’s Witnesses. 00:01:59 Early editions of Zion’s Watch Tower 00:02:01 reveal that the Bible Students 00:02:03 had already known God’s name. 00:02:07 But now, 00:02:09 their new designation would remind these Christians 00:02:12 that knowledge brings responsibility to bear witness. 00:02:18 It just identified us. 00:02:20 But it was far more than a label though. 00:02:22 You represent the Most High God, Jehovah. 00:02:25 So you have to get out in this preaching work, 00:02:27 and you also have to have conduct 00:02:29 that supports the fact that you do worship this true God. 00:02:33 So at that particular time, 00:02:35 we went from being a vague group of persons 00:02:39 who were joined together 00:02:41 by a common interest in studying the Scriptures to being 00:02:45 a Scriptural identity that we could stand up and be proud of.