Review The Facts If You Dare
How Many Times Can The Holy Spirit Be Wrong?
#2 Judge Rutherford seizes WB&TS
Russell + Rutherfords Teachings And Views
Adventist
past
At this point, a
chance encounter with Jonas Wendell, a Second Adventist preacher restored his
faith.
Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped into a dusty dingy hall in Allegheny, Pa., where I heard religious services were held, to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches. There, for the first time, I heard something of the view of the Second Adventists, the preacher being Mr. Jonas Wendell.
Zion’s Watch Tower, July 15, 1906 Page 3821 Society’s reprints
The Adventist movement and it teaching would influence the young Russell in the formation of his doctrines and teachings. The Adventist movement traces it roots back to William Miller a Baptist lay preacher who in 1816 began preaching Christ would return in 1843. His preaching attracted many from Baptist and mainline churches, close to 50,000 put their trust in Miller’s timing of prophetic events. When in March 1843 the Lord did not appear, the date was recalculated to March 1844 and then to October 1844. Miller and the Millerites were disappointed and a shattered people. Dr. Josiah Litch, a Millerite leader in Philadelphia wrote on October 24th,
“It is a cloudy and dark day here—the sheep are scattered—the Lord has not come yet”[3]
http://www.truthnet.org/Christianity/Cults/Jehovahwitness5/
Most of his followers returned to their churches before his death in 1849. Others kept the movement alive and formed into several sects. These “Adventist” groups included the Advent Christian Chruch, the Life and Advent Union, the Seventh-Day Adventist, and others which split to form the Watch Tower movement. David Reed, a former Jehovah’s Witnesses connects the dots between Russell and the “Adventist” movement.
The end of the Civil War in 1865 found former Millerites promoting new dates for the Second Coming. George Storrs of Brooklyn, New York, who published the Bible Examiner and was instrumental in forming the Life and Advent Union, focused his followers’ hopes on 1870, while a group headed by N.H. Barbour of Rochester, New York, looked to 1873 or 1874, and published their calculations in Barbour’s periodical the Herald of the Morning. ….Barbour and Storrs were among the Adventist leaders who shaped the thinking of a newcomer to the religious scene, teenager Charles Taze Russell.[4]
http://www.truthnet.org/Christianity/Cults/Jehovahwitness5/
Both Disagreed on Giza
The founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, Charles Taze Russell, also believed in pyramidology. He used it to supplement the Scriptures in predicting Christ's return. After Russell's death, Judge Rutherford took over their organization. He didn't care for pyramidology and moved the main body of Witnesses to reject it. This led to splits within their church.
[In 1928] Rutherford...openly condemned resorting to non-biblical sources in the attempt to discover the will and plan of God. He specifically mentioned the Great Pyramid as an example. This provoked violent criticism from older members of the movement who had grown up under Russell's teaching and many of them withdrew (Charles S. Braden, These Also Believe, New York: Macmillan, 1949, 362. See also Edward Charles Gruss, Apostles of Denial, Grand Rapids: Baker, 1978, 61-2).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Franklin_Rutherford
Rutherford stated...
Russell Practiced Mason Pyramidology
http://sixscreensofthewatchtower.com/2secrets2.html
The Source: http://sixscreensofthewatchtower.com/2secrets.html
Joseph F. Rutherford
This month's issue focuses on the second Watchtower president, Joseph F. Rutherford (1869-1942), one of America's most colorful and controversial religious leaders.
Rutherford's presidency was born in conflict. After founder Charles Taze Russell died, the majority of the WatchTower Bible and Tract Society's board members (who were personally appointed by Russell) strongly opposed Rutherford's leadership. Rutherford, who also served as the Society's attorney, used a legal technicality against the opposing board members. Declaring they were "not legal members of the board," Rutherford dismissed them, refused to allow them to speak at the next convention, and replaced them with his own loyal supporters (1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, pp. 91-92).
During his tenure, Rutherford introduced a number of important doctrinal and organizational changes in the Watchtower - most of which exist to this day. His most significant contribution, however, was a number of crucial false end-time predictions concerning the years 1918 and 1925. These organizational, doctrinal, and prophetic changes are reviewed in this month's issue.
Rutherford and Awake!
Although Watchman staff planned this issue over a year ago, the timing of this subject coincides with a recent cover story in the Watchtower's Awake! magazine, "The World's End How Near?" (22 March 1993). The lead article, "Why So Many False Alarms?" attacks several religious organizations for setting false dates for the world's end.
The article did not specifically mention any of the society's false predictions including those made by Rutherford. But in a surprise move the Watchtower Society did admit that, "Jehovah's Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus' second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect. Because of this, some have called them false prophets" (p.4).
The Awake! article criticized others who "make spectacular predictions of the world's end to grab attention and a following," but explained that the Watchtower itself is not a false prophet. The society argues that their failed dates should not be considered false prophecies because at the time they were "sincerely convinced that their proclamations [were] true" and because Jehovah's Witnesses are not claiming, "that their predictions are direct revelations from Jehovah" (Ibid).
Joseph Rutherford, however, did place his predictions on the same level as (or above) God's direct spoken word. In 1920 Rutherford predicted that "1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old" (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, pp. 89-90). In 1929 Rutherford even had a house built in San Diego, California for the tardy prophets who were already running four years behind schedule.
Concerning the 1925 date, in 1923 a Watchtower reader asked, "Have we more reason, or as much, to believe the kingdom will be established in 1925 than Noah had to believe that there would be a flood?" Under Rutherford's direction the Society's answer was, "As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had (so far as the Scriptures reveal) upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge." What did Noah have upon which to base his faith? He only had God's direct word (Genesis 6:13). Rutherford, it seems, placed the 1925 date, at the very least, on the same level as God's spoken word to Noah.
Is 1914 a "False Alarm?"
The recent Awake! article closes by asking "What, then, will distinguish the true warning from the false ones? For the answer please see the following article" (p.4). The next article advances various arguments for the current Watchtower theory that Christ's invisible second coming (or "presence") began in the year 1914. They base this on a "composite sign" theory that finds numerous similarities between the words of Christ (Matthew 24 and Luke 21) and the years 1914 and following.
The Awake! column teaches that their 1914 date is far more reliable than the "false alarms" of other religious teachers explaining: "When proclamations that the world's end is at hand are made on skimpy evidence, on just one or a few of the parts of the sign that are seen, false alarms are the result" (p. 5). They add, "there is Bible chronology that pointed to 1914 as the beginning of his presence. Jehovah's Witnesses published the date 1914 as a significant year in the development of Jehovah's Kingdom rule of earth, doing so in the Watchtower magazine of July 1879" (p. 10).
Did the Society point to 1914 as a "significant year?" Yes, but they did not teach that 1914 was the date of Christ's invisible second coming. Prior to 1914 they taught 1914 was "significant" because it was to be the date of the end of the battle of Armageddon (The Time Is At Hand p. 101).
The recent Awake! magazine selectively chooses carefully worded statements to put the Watchtower Society in the best possible light. They do not admit that in Rutherford's day (or Russell's), the Society taught that 1874 - not 1914 - was the date of Christ's invisible second coming. Using a similar "composite sign" theory, Rutherford taught that, "From 1874 forward is the latter part of the period of the `time of the end.' From 1874 is the time of the Lord's second presence, as above stated" (The Harp of God, p. 234).
Under Rutherford's leadership, the forerunner of Awake magazine, The Golden Age, reported: "The Truth that The Golden Age stands for is that Christ Jesus returned to earth in 1874. the Lord has used but one instrument totally to proclaim the presence of the earth's King and His kingdom. That instrumentality is the body of Christian people popularly known as the I.B.S.A., of which our Christian friend and brother, Judge Rutherford, successor of Pastor Russell, is the President" (25 March 1925, p. 407).
Can the Watchtower be acquitted from the charge of false prophecy on the grounds of sincerity? Did Joseph Rutherford teach that these dates were his or God's? How do yesterday's prophetic and doctrinal changes cast doubt on today's Watchtower "truths?"
The Watchtower. 9/15/1895.pg.216.
Rutherford Booze Picture
Did
you know Judge Joseph Rutherford (second president of the Watchtower) was
a bona fide alcoholic therefore furious about the United States liquor
prohibition?
From 1920 to 1933, the United States made it illegal to manufacture, sell, or
transport any intoxicating liquors within the United States and its territories
based
on Article 19 of the Constitution. According to M. James Penton in his book
Jehovah's
Witnesses and the Third Reich:
"For example the Watchtower president railed constantly
against prohibition and his agents illegally imported
liquor from the Canadian branch offices of the
International Bible Association in Toronto to
Watchtower headquarters in Brooklyn without blinking
an eye, even though the U.S. constitution prohibited the
production or possession of alcoholic beverages." pg.115
Did
you know the Watchtower Society once taught that Jehovah lives in the
Pleiades cluster on its brightest star named Alcyone? 
Studies in the Scriptures. Volume 7.pg.327.
In
the 1930's, Jehovah's Witnesses thought
Joseph Rutherford was receiving
information from Jehovah when he said
that God lives in the Pleiades cluster:
Apparently after Rutherford's death, Jehovah shed "new light" to let
His followers know that it is unwise to speculate where he lives:
The Watchtower. 9/15/1895.pg.216.
Beth Sarim 1929 Rutherford's Mansion - House Of The Princes
Beth-Sarim is the Watchtower mansion which was built in San Diego California in
1929. The Watchtower Society has never been clear in their explanations of the
purpose of the mansion. According to the 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, the
house was built for "for Br. Rutherford's use" because his doctor advised him to spend
his winters in a warmer climate away from New York. In contrast however, the 1939
Watchtower publication "Salvation" explains the house was built in the expectations
for the resurrection of the faithful men of old times. The Proclaimers book
ambiguously cites both reasons as the purpose for the mansion:
Rutherford Believed 1925 Was The Date Of The Resurrection of Abraham And Other Faitfull
Millions Now Living Will Never Die. 1920. pg.88
Source: http://sixscreensofthewatchtower.com/2secrets.html
Rutherford, from his mansion in San Diego, sent the followers door to door
with his damnation of all not Rutherford till Hitler's men were sent to harass
the JWs. Hitler didn't target the JWs for extermination as he did regarding
the Jews, but wanted the JWs to stop criticizing his political party and the
religions of many of his constituency. Basically, he just wanted Rutherford to
stay out of politics which shouldn't have been hard for someone that was honest-
ly politically neutral to do.Then Rutherford did something profoundly dumb in terms of both claiming the
righteousness of an elite 144,000 (p.1a) and of taking strategic care of his
followers. In Feb.9 and Oct.7, 1934 letters to Hitler, Rutherford at once both
tried to cozy up to Hitler's party and anti-Semitism, and threatened Hitler that
if He didn't call off his men, Rutherford would have messages that were critical
about Hitler in the JWs tracts sent door to door and Hitler would be destroyed
(see the "Timeline of JWs leaders in regard to human government, war, propagan-
da, and persecution" below).
KENSIGNTON-TALMADGE 1910-1985, by Thomas H. Baumann, San Diego, California (1984),
Page 734256 Ridgeway-Kensington Heights
This house was designed by the renowned architect, Richard S. Requa.
...
2nd option: 4440 Braeburn Road, San Diego, Ca. 92116,(Kennsington Heights).
I'm going to try to put a link in for one of Farkel(s) post on this subject.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/12954/1.ashx
Some of the other houses in Kensington that were designed by Requa: 4313 Ridgeway; 4440 Braeburn Road (Dr. Rutherford house); Middlesex and Marlborough (NE corner). The houses he designed in Kensington are Spanish Mediterranean style with large rooms and high beam ceilings in the living rooms. The artistic use of wrought iron and tile add to the beauty of the houses. Requa was the architect for many of the buildings in Balboa Park.
The 1911 telephone directory shows Richard S. Requa listed as an architect, Room 441; McNees Building; Main 4022. The McNees building was near 5th and Broadway.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/120813/1.ashx
Then Rutherford Said Satan Built The Pyramids
J. F. Rutherford Quotes on the Pyramid
(2nd Watchtower President)
1925 "The great Pyramid of Egypt, standing as a silent and manimate witness of the Lord, is a messenger; and its testimony speaks with great eloquence concerning the divine plan (Isaiah 19:19).. Arius .. Waldo .. John Wycliffe .. Martin Luther [were all] part of God's Organization." {WT May 15 1925 148-9}
1928 [Great Pyramid at Gzeh in Egypt was built under direction of Satan] {WT 1928 339-45/355-62} [compare with [God had placed the Great Pyramid of Gizeh in Egypt] {WR Sep 1883 525}]
1931 "We do well to bear in mind that among the drugs, serums, vaccines, surgical operations, etc., of the medical profession, there is nothing of value save an occasional surgical procedure. Their so-called 'science' grew out of Egyptian black magic and has not lost its demonological character.. we shall be in a sad plight when we place the welfare of the race in their hands." {GA Aug 5 1931 727} [Pyramids may have had the same source?]
http://myjava.netfirms.com/ctrussell1.htm
He said God would not use Jewish slaves to build a pyramid, this was Satan's Prophetic Calendar
Using the children of Abraham as slaves to build the Giza.
http://myjava.netfirms.com/russell+rutherford.htm
I don't believe that Jehovah's witnesses
are the chosen people of Jah.
They are the chosen people of JR Rutherford. "Joes Witnesses "
a reflection of his vision of the last days. and the conclusion of the system of things.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/120813/1.ashx
"a house in Kensington which he refused to accept as a gift, but which he agreed to hold in trust for David, Gideon, Barak and a number of "other faithful men "
He was still the owner of the house to all intents and purposes but he wanted to appear as a humble and poor person.
(I can't get rid of the highlighting from the quote)
Rutherford was NOT a judge. He was not a humble man, nor was he a sober and faithful man. But I guess if you tell a lie often enough, people will believe it.
I wonder if any of Rutherford's family is alive today, what would they think of him? I would be quite ashamed, for I pity him. I know other people feel stronger, and I agree. But I think wherever he is, he is being punished severely for his crimes.http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/120813/1.ashx
AnitarKENSIGNTON-TALMADGE 1910-1985, by Thomas H. Baumann, San Diego, California (1984), Page 73
4256 Ridgeway-Kensington Heights
This house was designed by the renowned architect, Richard S. Requa.
http://myjava.netfirms.com/jw2.htm
http://myjava.netfirms.com/jwfact-fiction.htm
He felt CT Russell was incorrect in his vision that the
Pyramid of Giza was Prophetic Calendar.
http://www.freewebs.com/glenster1/gtjbrooklyn6.htm
http://www.freeminds.org/history/rutherfd.htm