H.W.A. Joosten - Zijn zij Gods getuigen?

H.W.A. Joosten - Zijn zij Gods getuigen? - Heiloo - Kinheim Uitgeverij - 1956 - 1st edition - [120] pp - Cloth binding with dust jacket - 15,5 x 21 cm.

Condition: Good - complete with the dust jacket. Ex-libris Henri de Greeve. See more info below.

Informative book about the teachings of the Jehovah's Witnesses, intended for Catholics. Illustrated with black and white photos and reproductions. With table of contents and foreword by C.F. Pauwels O.P. Hardback edition, the jacket features a man in a suit presenting the Dutch Watchtower (alongside Awake, the best-known publication of the Bible and Tract Society of Jehovah's Witnesses).

"Hun getuigenis is openbaar en opdringerig. Wij kunnen daaraan niet voorbij gaan [...]." (= "Their testimony is public and intrusive. We cannot ignore it [...].").

After World War II, the spread of the American based movement of Jehovah Witnesses took a leap in the Low Countries. The writer expected that the movement "like so many sects will disappear after a short heyday." But he underestimated the power of marketing and the need for fairy tales. From about 20,000 in the 1950s, the membership has been consolidated to about 30,000 since the 1990s.

¶ Quite scarce anti-JW literature. This copy comes from the library of Pater Henri de Greeve (1892-1974) with his ex-libris picture on the first pastedown (a knight on horseback and the text 'In mijn God spring ik over muren'). De Greeve was a priest, publicist and radio speaker, known for his radio talks at the KRO program 'Lichtbaken'.