This religion and JW can be traced back to the area of New York called the burned over district and or the influences of Charles Finney. It’s interesting that most of modern religion in America is influenced by this man.
I think the JW movement had more root in Millerism.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MillerismProbably so. The greater point is that the revivalist movement was not Christian in any way shape or form. Finney denied original sin, justification through Christ and taught a works based Christianity that has permeated almost every denomination in America. The Burned Over District and Finney’s influence were the seedbed for most of the “new Christian denominations” that have plagued Christianity. America has nothing to be proud of in this contribution.
I'm not going to defend Finney, but the raw truth is that heresy and divergent teachings started right at the very beginning in the first century. This is clear from the Bible itself, the early Church fathers and all of Church history. satan started immediately and has not stopped.
