How many JWs has there been until now ?

[Jwanon]

We are 8,686,980 today

 

If we add all those who have lived prior to this number, how many would we be ?

[jwhess]

1 hour ago, Jwanon said:

We are 8,686,980 today

 

If we add all those who have lived prior to this number, how many would we be ?

Br. Jason it would be difficult to count.

Are we talking about only those who bear the JW name since 1931 (when we took the name)?

Are we talking about all whom Jehovah called "witnesses" in Isa 43:12?

Are we talking about baptized or do we include unbaptized?

 

You could look at the number in 1931 and add all of those baptized in each year that followed.  But we tracked "publishers" not baptized in those days. We have no way of knowing how many left the Truth in each year. Some were baptized more than once in the old days.

[Jwanon]

from 1870 onwards

[Brother_Bliss]

2 hours ago, Jwanon said:

from 1870 onwards

 

We would have to add up the number baptized each year from 1870 to the present.

[cme]

2 Samuel 24 comes to mind.  I believe Jehovah knows the count.  However, we certainly are a nation!

[Qapla]

11,639,772

 

Spoiler

          not that we can actually arrive at the actual number ... but this is as good a guess as any other number for the reasons others have already stated

 

[Dages]

I guess we will know in Paradise the very precise number.

[jwhess]

5 hours ago, Brother_Bliss said:

 

We would have to add up the number baptized each year from 1870 to the present.

Br. Bob, finding the totals would be a problem.  In years past we concentrated on literature production and those publishing (baptized or not).  It is difficult to locate baptism numbers prior to World War 2.  Most yearbooks did not list them in the years details.  One year in the 1940s that I checked only used the word "baptize" (or any related word like baptism) 5 times in the whole book.  I have included a picture of the 1935 yearbook page.

 

 

[Jay D]

Millions. But don't think too deeply, many brothers and sisters have lived a long time during the last days, others have fallen away so in reality some figures have remained similar for a few decades. I would safely estimate 10-12 million, but that's only a guess.

[Michał]

That’s a good question. While we can’t know now for sure I’d like to estimate the number of all Gods servant with Earthly hope. It would make a bit easier to polish my helmet of hope (imagining the New World)