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Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions pp 1–3Cite as

Jehovah’s Witnesses in Colombia

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Statistics

2016 Jehovah’s Witness average publishers: 167,960. Congregations: 2572. Baptisms: 8168. Memorial attendance: 500,548. Preaching hours: 42.6 million

Early History

In 1887, the Colombian government entered a concordat with the Catholic Church which stated that Roman Catholicism was the state religion. More religious freedom was granted by the government in 1930, facilitating increased activity by Protestant groups and by Jehovah’s Witnesses. Colombia recognized full religious freedom in 1956.

Watch Tower Society literature was mailed to a man in Colombia in 1915 (Yearbook 1990). Heliodoro Hernández became the first adherent in the country in 1922 after reading copies of the Watch Tower magazine and the booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Dieand began to preach to others. Juan Bautista Estupifian learned of these teachings as a result of Hernández’s efforts, and the two preached in towns and villages of the northwest. In 1932, Hernández and Estupifian were baptized in...

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References

  • Tracy, Elizabeth. Our parents taught us to love god. Watch Tower Tract and Bible Society of Pennsylvania, 1 December 1999, pp 20–24

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  • 1990 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, New York/Colombia, pp 66–137

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  • (1993) Jehovah’s Witnesses – proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, New York, pp 438, 464, 666–668

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  • 2017 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, New York, pp 178–186

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Children’s Bone and Spine Surgery, Las Vegas, NV, USA

    David G. Stewart

Authors
  1. David G. Stewart
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David G. Stewart .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Sociology/Anthropology, Oakland Univ Sociology/Anthropology, Rochester, MI, USA

    Henri Gooren

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Stewart, D.G. (2018). Jehovah’s Witnesses in Colombia. In: Gooren, H. (eds) Encyclopedia of Latin American Religions. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_443-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08956-0_443-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-08956-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference Religion and PhilosophyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Humanities

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