Was Abel the First Jehovah's Witness?

If we were to take the opportunity to simply grab a parallel between any two objects that share something in common it would actually be amazing what we could come up with.

A fantastic illustration of this is seen in Jehovah's Witnesses. I've argued as to a relatively big problem that the Watchtower Society faces in that their religion began in the 1800s. Specifically, with Charles Taze Russell after he founded the Zion Watchtower Tract Society in 1884.¹

I'm at least a little pleased to see an attempt to provide a meaningful response from the JW's (even though evidence of their late blooming society is hard to go against). However, they have sadly engaged in extreme parallelism in a vain attempt to provide a rebuttal.

The statement that is presented is to first quote Hebrews 12:1, which we will do so:

"Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. (Hebrews 12:1 NAS95)

Here's where the parallel is created. Since the Watchtower Society calls themselves "Jehovah's Witnesses" and since Hebrews 12:1 uses the word "witnesses", clearly this is a biblical passage talking about them. 

What is also then clear is the fact that Hebrews 12:1 references all the members of the faith hall of fame of Hebrews 11. Therefore David, Gideon, Moses, Noah and yes even Abel were Jehovah's Witnesses. 

Then the case becomes closed and my argument has successfully fallen flat on it's face. Abel was the first one to be a Jehovah's Witness. 

Right?

Actually, beside the fact that the law against eating blood hadn't been given yet and thus Abel couldn't have had a misinterpreted theology regarding abstaining from blood transfusions, Michael hasn't been revealed yet and couldn't be mistaken for Jesus Christ, and a slew of other issues that wouldn't be present with Abel, there is one significant fact that clearly demonstrates that Abel wasn't the first Jehovah's Witness. 

When the Watchtower Society was founded, they didn't originally consider themselves Jehovah's Witnesses. 

Notice:

Russell was succeeded in 1917 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford. Rutherford gained absolute control over the Watchtower Society, and in 1931, following Isaiah 43:10, he renamed the movement Jehovah’s Witnesses. He also denounced all organized religions and fostered a tone of hostility toward Christianity. Rutherford built on the teachings of Russell and became an even more prolific writer.²

So how is it that Abel could actually be the first Jehovah's Witness when the movement wasn't even called that until 1931?

Clearly the simple answer is Abel was not the first Jehovah's Witness. 

On a closing note, the parallel wouldn't even be created if the Watchtower society (at least represented in Santa Fe) didn't have the presupposition that their religion must have existed as far back as Abel.

Notes:

1).James P. Eckman, The Truth About Worldviews: A Biblical Understanding of Worldview Alternatives, 96
2). Ibid.

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