Konden Smith, a professor specializing in American religious history:Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they are not reformers but “restorers of the true first-century Christian church.”

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Konden R. Smith

Konden Smith, a professor specializing in American religious history at the University of Arizona, said the emphasis on missions stems from the belief of Jehovah’s Witnesses that theirs is the true faith. Unlike Protestantism, which grew out of a reformation of Catholicism, Jehovah’s Witnesses believe they are not reformers but “restorers of the true first-century Christian church,” Smith said.
 

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SOME OPINIONS ON JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

? The Jehovah's Witnesses "insist upon a high moral code in personal conduct." -- The New Encyclopædia Britannica 

? "Many people don't know them well enough, or maybe we are all simply too quick to judge. I know I was. And I found out I was wrong;" -- Jounalist Cecile Feyling - Jydske Vestkysten 

? Jehovah's Witnesses teach their children moral qualities to respect the authorities, other individuals and their property and to be law abiding citzens" -- ed. The History of Relgion in Ukraine, Professor Petro Yarotskyi 

? A "dedicated people" -- Archdeacon of Cheltenham, Church of England (The Gazette, Gloucester Dioceses) 

? "An orderly religion. They know what worshipping God means" -- Comercio de Franca 

? "Perhaps the most notable thing about the Witnesses is their insistence upon their primary allegiance to God, before any other power in the world,” -- Dr. C. S. Braden in These Also Believe. 

“The Witnesses offer a wide range of practical advice . . . on marital relations, moral issues, the rearing of children, and other practical matters. [They] have a great deal to offer by way of firm advice substantiated in Holy Writ and integrated into a coherent philosophy of life.” - Professor Bryan Wilson of Oxford University

? "‘You [Jehovah's Witnesses] are doing the work that we should do’," -- *Pope Benedict the XVI The Canberra Times vol 21.08.2005 

QUESTION What kind of people are Jehovah's Witnesses? 

** “the key factor for [Jehovah's Witnesses] peaceful attitude is the idea to follow already now the principles revealed in the Bible.” -- Professor Wojciech Modzelewski, Warsaw University in Poland 

**Professor Bruno Bettleheim, in his book The Informed Heart (1960), in telling of his experiences in a German concentration camp describes the Witnesses as “. . . the only group of prisoners who never mistreated or abused other prisoners.” 

**In a survey of 377 of the Witnesses in Tokyo, Professor Wilson, Oxford University, England asked what it was that first attracted people to this religion, typical replies were the following: 

- “The KINDNESS of the Witnesses.” 

- "The WARMTH of the Witnesses attracted me"

- The people were LOVING and KIND; and they enjoyed the meeting, and they sincerely tried to apply Bible principles in their lives.” 
- “The love and warmth among Jehovah’s Witnesses.” 

An article in the Des Moines Register, Iowa, in describing the “Sacred Service” Assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in that city during the summer of 1976, had this to say: 

“An observer who had been conditioned by a lifetime of negative comments about [Jehovah’s Witnesses] attended the recent gathering of some 8,000 Witnesses [...] He was impressed by such happenings as: 

? The total racial equality and deep sense of communion among people from all walks of life. 

? The friendliness and warmth of Witnesses who, though convinced they had the truth and the only truth, sought lovingly to convince rather than condemn."