Adapted from
THE KINGDOM
OF THE CULTS
by
Walter Martin
(1997)
…
Throughout the years
following Russell’s death,
Rutherford rose in power and popularity
among the “Russellites,”
and to oppose him was tantamount
to questioning
the authority of “jehovah” himself.
…
An example of this one-man sovereignty
concerns the friction that occurred
in the movement when Rutherford
denounced Russell’s pyramid prophecies scheme
as an attempt to find God’s will
outside the Scriptures (1929).
…
Many followers of Russell’s theory
left the Society as a result of this action
by Rutherford, only to be witheringly blasted
by the vituperative Judge,
who threatened that they would
“suffer destruction” if they did not repent
and recognise “jehovah’s”
( Rutherford’s ) will
as expressed through the Society.
…
Rutherford also approached at times
the inflated egotism of his predecessor Russell,
especially when in his pamphlet
Why Serve “jehovah”?
he declared in effect that he was
the mouthpiece of “jehovah”
for this age and that “god”
had designated his words
as the expression of “divine mandate”.
…
AND “god” did.
The god of this World
has Blined the minds
of them that Believe Not.”
…
It is indeed profitable to observe
that Rutherford,
as do all would-be “incarnations of infallibility,”
manifested unfathomable ignorance
of The One and Only True
and Living JEHOVAH GOD ALMIGHTY’S
Express Injunctions,
especially against the preaching of
“any other gospel”
(Galatians l:8–9).
…
It was under the leadership of the “judge”
that the Russellites adopted the name
( Judge ) “jehovah’s Witnesses” (1931),
partly to distinguish Rutherford’s group
from the splinter groups that arose
after
Russell’s death and Desent
into Eternal Hellfire
( by his own testimony,
regarding his lifelong
Denial of The Son of God.)
…
Fear of retaliation or rebuke
was never characteristic of Judge Rutherford,
and quite often he displayed
complete contempt for all “religions”
and their leaders.
…
Lashing out against the “persecution”
of the Witnesses in 1933,
Judge Rutherford challenged
all of Christendom,
especially the Roman Catholic Church,
to answer his charges of
“religious intolerance”.
…
Needless to say, he was ignored.
…
“Judge jehovah” Rutherford
also battled against
the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in the U.S.,
and even offered to pay half the time cost
for a radio debate
on the subject of persecution.
…
When ignored, Rutherford abated for a time.
…
Few things, however, were allowed
to dampen the judge’s vociferous thundering,
and even a term in
Atlanta Federal Penitentiary,
for violation of the “Espionage Act” in 1918,
failed to silence the judge’s attacks.
…
Rutherford was released from Atlanta
in March 1919
and returned to the Witnesses’ fold
“a martyr-hero”,
a complex readily appropriated
by all Witnesses upon the slightest pretext,
WITHOUT ANY RATIONAL MERIT,
BUT SIMPLY AS CRIES
of THE LOST.
…
THEY SHOULD CRY,
“What Will it profit me,
if I gain the whole world,
and lose my own soul ?”
…
Indeed they greatly
enjoy playing the role of persecuted saints,
AS LOST HERETICS CRYING.
…
CRYING,
“Woe is me! for I am undone;
because I am a man of unclean lips,
and I dwell in the midst
of a people of unclean lips”…
AND
TURNING TO JESUS CHRIST
THE LORD GOD of THE UNIVERSE,
IN: Repentance and Faith, because:
SPIRITUAL REPENTANCE
FLOWS from Love to God
and of Righteousness
and Holiness and
from an Hatred of sin.
…
THERE WILL BE A TIME
WHEN IT IS SAID of THE LOST
that
JESUS CHRIST
WILL JUDGE THEM:
“And the sea Gave Up the Dead
which were in it;
and
Death and Hell
Delivered Up the Dead
which were in them:
and
they were Judged every man
according to their works.”
Revelation 20:13
…
One only regrets that
some of our less prudent administrators
have so obligingly accommodated
their Crocodile Tears
and CRIES of HERETICS,
WHEN THEY SHOULD
PREACH JESUS
TO THESE LOST SOULS,
BEFORE
JESUS CRIES TO THEM:
“And then Will I
( JESUS )
Profess to them,
I Never Knew you:
( in the Spiritual Intimacy
of Eternal Salvation )
Depart from Me,
( JESUS )
you that work iniquity.”
( Matthew 7:23 )
…
Blessed are they that Mourn
OVER THEIR SINS
in a SPIRITUAL
TURNING FROM THEIR SINS
in REPENTANCE TOWARDS GOD !
…
The person of J. F. jehovah Rutherford, then,
in the light of these facts,
cannot be ignored in any true evaluation
that seeks valid data
concerning the Society’s history.
…
The great personal magnetism
and the air of mystery that surround the man
account most probably for his success
as a leader,
for he was almost a legendary figure
even during his lifetime.
…
The judge jehovah shunned photographs,
although he was most photogenic
and presented both an imposing
and impressive figure
when attired in his familiar wing collar,
bow tie, and black suit.
…
Reading glasses, which hung on a string
across Judge jehovah’s portly profile,
accentuated the illusion
of dignified importance,
along with the title of Judge, which,
contrary to popular opinion,
he did hold from the days
of his early legal career,
when he was a special judge
of the Eighth Judicial Circuit Court
of Boonville, Missouri, though being
“the mouthpiece of jehovah”,
HE WAS NOT.
…
“But whoever
will deny Me before men,
him will I also Deny
before My Father
which is in Heaven.”
( MATTHEW 10:33 )
…
Rutherford also possessed a deep,
powerful voice, which
was capable of holding large audiences
with its crescendo-like effect—
but he seldom appeared in public
and lived a closely guarded private life.
…
Toward the end of his life,
Rutherford’s reign was not overly smooth,
notably when the deposed
head of the Witnesses’ legal staff,
Mr. Olin Moyle, sued Rutherford
and several members of the Watchtower’s
Board of Directors in 1939 for libel
and won his case, a judgement of $25,000,
in 1944, two years after Rutherford’s demise.
…
In comparing Russell and Rutherford
it must be noted that the former
was a literary pygmy
compared to his successor.
…
Russell’s writings were distributed,
some fifteen or twenty million copies
of them, over a period of sixty years,
but Rutherford’s in half that time
were many times that amount.
…
The prolific judge jehovah
wrote over one hundred books and pamphlets,
and his works as of 1941
had been translated into eighty languages.
…
Thus, he was the Society’s
AND SATAN’S
second great champion who,
regardless of his many failings,
was truly an unusual man by any standard.
…
“And no marvel;
for Satan himself
is transformed
into an angel of light.”
2 Corinthians 11:14
…
Russell and Rutherford
are the two key figures in the Society’s history,
and without them it is doubtful
that the organization
would ever have come into existence.
…
But conjecture never eliminated a problem,
and Jehovah’s Witnesses are now a problem
with which THEIR LOST VICTIMS
and every Christian must cope.
…
The next president
of the combined organization
was Nathan Homer Knorr,
who was elected president
immediately after Rutherford’s death.
…
Knorr was responsible for
the Gilead Missionary Training School
in South Lansing, New York.
…
He followed diligently in the footsteps
of Russell and Rutherford,
and under his tutelage
Christianity saw much opposition.
…
Knorr died in June of 1977,
and Frederick W. Franz, a long-time leader
and then vice-president of the Society,
was elected president,
and piloted the Watchtower
in the pattern of his predecessors.
…
With each succeeding president,
the control of the Society grows stronger.
…
One of the most distressing traits
manifested in the literature and teachings
of ( JUDE 4 ) Jehovah’s Witnesses
is their seemingly complete disregard
for historical facts
and dependable literary consistency.
…
At the same time, however,
they condemn all religious opponents
as “enemies of God” 6
and perpetrators of what they term
“a racket.” 7
…
For some time this author
has been considerably disturbed by
( JUDE 4 ) Jehovah’s Witnesses’
constant denial of any
theological connection whatsoever
with “Pastor” Charles T. Russell,
their admitted founder and first president
of The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
…
Since Russell was long ago
proven to be a perjurer under oath,
a sworn adversary of historical Christianity,
and a scholastic fraud,
it is obvious why the ( FALSE ) Witnesses
seek to avoid his influence
and memory whenever possible.
…
However, some light should be thrown
on the repeated self-contradictions
that are committed by
the ( FALSE ) Witnesses
in their zeal to justify their position
and the ever-wavering doctrines
to which they hold.
…
It is my contention that they are
following the basic teachings
of Charles T. Russell
in relation to many biblical doctrines
that he denied,
and from their own publications
I shall document this accusation.
…
In their eagerness to repudiate
the charge of “Russellism,”
the Witnesses dogmatically say:
“But who is preaching the teachings
of Pastor Russell?
Certainly not Jehovah’s Witnesses!
They cannot be accused of
following him,
for they neither quote him as an authority
nor publish nor distribute his writings. 8
…
This is the statement of
the ( FALSE ) Witnesses’ magazine.
…
Now let us compare this with history,
and the truth will be plainly revealed.
…
Historically, Jehovah’s Witnesses
have quoted “Pastor” Russell numerous times
since his death in 1916.
…
The following is a token sample
of what we can produce as concrete evidence.
…
In 1923, seven years after
the “pastor’s” demise,
Judge jehovah J. F. Rutherford,
heir to the Russellite throne,
wrote a booklet
some fifty-odd pages in length,
entitled
World Distress: Why and the Remedy.
…
In this informative treatise,
the new president of
THE ABOMINATION:
The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society
and THE BLASPHEMOUS:
the International Bible Students
quoted “Pastor” Russell
no fewer than sixteen separate times;
referred to his books Studies in the Scriptures
at least twelve times;
and devoted six pages
at the end of the booklet
to advertising these same volumes.
…
Further than this,
in a fifty-seven page pamphlet
published in 1925, entitled
Comfort for the People,
by the same jehovah Rutherford,
“Judge jehovah,” in true Russellite character,
defines clergymen as “dumb dogs (DD),”
proceeds to quote “Pastor” Russell’s
prophetical chronology (AD. 1914), 9
and then sums up his tirade
against Christendom universal
by recommending Russell’s writing
in four pages of advertisements
at the back of the book.
…
The dark specter of historical facts
thus begins to creep across
the previously happy picture
of a “Russell- free” movement.
…
As a matter of fact,
the ABOMINABLE: Watchtower,
its followers, and its publications
have never been “Russell-free.”
…
Jehovah’s Witnesses have been forced openly
to acknowledge Russell,
owing to the effect
of my book Jehovah of the Watchtower,
which gave the true history
of Russell’s infamous doings,
thus necessitating an answer
from the ( FALSE ) Witnesses,
even if their response was unreliable
in many respects and highly colored.
…
The historical series was run
in The ABOMINABLE Watchtower
for some months and was entitled
“A Modern History of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
…
It was a very weak apologetic.
…
Another history,
( JUDE 4 ) Jehovah’s Witnesses
in the Divine Purpose,
was published still later
and gave high praise to Russell as well.
…
The Society’s debt to Russell as founder
and to his teachings as foundational
is still acknowledged
in ABOMINABLE Watchtower publications
such as ( JUDE 4 ) Jehovah’s Witnesses
in the Twentieth Century. 10
…..
Aware of The Godhead 