“Bible Students” was the original name of the group, which was started by Charles Taze Russell in the 1870s. Russell established the organization’s publishing house, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which publishes their version of the Bible, the New World Translation.
While the Witnesses claim their source of authority is the Bible, the New World Translation alters the Bible’s teaching in some important areas, notably in the divinity of Jesus, which Witnesses deny. The Witnesses are, true to their name, very evangelistic.