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The Current Power Structure of the Organization
How is it all set up?
The organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses is structured hierarchically. At the highest level is the Governing Body, which is made up of about a dozen men (the number fluctuates). These men have deliberative and legislative authority in questions of theology, morals, and congregational discipline. They answer to no other humans apart from themselves, and they appoint whomever they desire to be members of this group. Below them are the Branch Committees, each of which is in charge of a certain region or zone of the world. The zones are divided into districts, and each district is headed by a traveling overseer, who makes sure that all that occurs in the district is in keeping with the guidelines created by the Governing Body and Branch Committees. The districts are, in turn, divided into circuits, and each circuit is headed by a traveling overseer, who answers to the district overseer. The circuit overseer visits all of the congregations in his circuit and makes certain that the elders in each congregation are doing their jobs as outlined by the Governing Body and Branch Committees. Each local congregation has a body of elders, and all elders are appointed by the Branch. The local elders and circuit overseer may make recommendations, but no congregation is autonomous. All congregation members, including ministerial servants, pioneers, and congregation publishers are expected to be obedient and submissive to the elders. The authority structure may be summed up as follows:
Governing Body
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Branch Committees
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District Overseers
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Circuit Overseers
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Elders
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Ministerial Servants, Pioneers, Congregation Publishers
Although the literature of the organization frequently refers to a “faithful and discreet slave class,” which is said to be made up of all those who are anointed (i.e., those with a heavenly hope), and claims that this class passes on spiritual information to the other members, the anointed ones as a group never confer together to make any sort of decisions about theology, morals, or discipline. The Governing Body claims to represent the slave class, but acts independently of it. There is no consultation with the rest of the anointed about any matters whatsoever. It is true that the Governing Body are all anointed, and some of the members of the other levels in the authority structure are too (though not all), but the vast majority of anointed ones fall into the bottom-most category and are just as much under the authority of the elders and higher levels as anyone else is. The “faithful and discreet slave,” therefore, is not at all a part of the authority structure.
The current system resembles more the authority structure of the Catholic Church then it does the first century Christian congregation. There is no evidence in Scripture of a standing Governing Body, which made decisions on matters of theology, morals, and congregational discipline. Acts 15 mentions only a special council that was called in Jerusalem, which all elders in the vicinity attended. There is no evidence of any other council until the post-apostolic period.
Generation change. Watchtower Nov 1st 1995
Reasoning on the “Generation” Change
Posted by Seeker on June 11, 1997 at 08:26:24
If you are curious to know where all my doubts began, it started when the Society made the change in our understanding of “generation” in the November 1, 1995 Watchtower. I remember reading that article, sitting on my couch, and thinking that this changes everything. They took away the one thing that lent any sort of time element to the time of the end. The implication of that was the end could literally be any time in the future. After all, if the “generation” referred to was the generation of people who see the sign of the end, then the end could be tomorrow, next week, next year, next decade, or hundreds of years in the future. There was no way to tell from the point of view of time. It would all depend on how long is “the time of the end”. From a human point of view, it could be very long indeed, barring any time element to say otherwise.
But aren’t there other time elements? True, there were other signs that seem to indicate a time element, but none of them held up to scrutiny.
Consider:
1. The anointed are dying off, therefore the end can’t be too far off.
True, most of the anointed are old and it would seem that this is a limiting factor. But have you noticed how the number of partakers is increasing in recent years? How is that possible? Clearly some are partaking that didn’t used to partake, but who? Certainly not new ones, as attendants at the Memorial are trained not to count such ones that are obviously not anointed. So it must be others who have been around the organization for a while and who the attendants must consider potentially worthy enough to be counted.
With that happening, theoretically the number of anointed ones might never die off, as long as more and more persons began to partake. After all, we now have members of the Governing Body who weren’t even in the organization in 1935, so clearly one can be younger than other anointed ones and still be considered true anointed ones too. That opens the door to a steady stream of anointed ones and the end of the time element for this factor.
Still, that seems far-fetched. Yet there is another reason for thinking that the time element is not a factor here. In recent years there have been several articles talking about “given ones” to assist the Governing Body. In the May 15, 1997 issue it clearly implies that all of the anointed will be taken to heaven before Armageddon is over, so they can be a part of the marriage of the Lamb. In those same articles the idea of the “given ones” is reiterated and enlarged upon. They are now implying that these ones could do just about everything in the future. They don’t say they could be part of the Governing Body and the Faithful and Discreet Slave, but that seems inevitable as the anointed ones die off. If I’m right, within a matter of years we will see a change to the teaching that only anointed ones can be part of the Governing Body. When that happens, the time element disappears for this factor.
2. Conditions on earth are getting so bad the end must be close.
If you think about it, you’ll see that’s not quite true. In fact, for every bit of pollution or war that gets worse, there seems to be another bit that improves. In my lifetime, I have seen the air quality in New York City improve dramatically, not get worse. Water pollution is much less today than it was 20 or 30 years ago. Some diseases are worse, some are better, but overall life expectancy grows longer, not shorter.
For example, the Society is always pointing out how severe the problem of famine is during our day, but is this really so? Note this quote on the subject of famine:
“Between 1961 and 1994, it says, “per capita food supply in developing countries increased by 32 percent and mass famines on the scale seen in the 19th and mid-20th century have not recurred.” The ranks of the hungry and undernourished have also fallen over the same period, from 35 percent to 21 percent.” [UN Commission on Sustainable Development January 1997]
So, is there famine in the world? Yes, of course there is. But is it steadily getting worse? No, in fact it is considerably better than it was a hundred years ago. Just because a few cases have been widely publicized, it doesn’t mean that overall conditions are getting worse. In fact, the percentage of hungry and undernourished is much smaller than it used to be.
I’m not saying there aren’t serious problems, as we all know there are. What I am saying is that none of the problems prevent this system from continuing for another 10, or 20, or 50, or 100 years. What realistic condition can you think of that would prevent mankind from surviving for another 50 years?
The next time someone suggests that the earth can’t last another 10 or 15 year, remember this quote:
“I know enough of what is going on to assure you that, in fifteen years from today, this world is going to be too dangerous to live in.” [Truth That Leads To Eternal Life, p. 9, 1968 edition, quoting Secretary of State Dean Acheson in 1960. Note that the 1981 edition deleted "in fifteen years from today" i.e. in 1975]
Oops, didn’t happen. We are now thirty-seven years from that date and in many ways the world is in better shape than it was then. Certainly pollution has been cut back considerably, war is minimal compared to what the sixties saw, civic unrest is nothing compared to that decade, etc. For all the problems that remain, the earth has been designed to bounce back remarkably well, no matter what the problem.
3. All of the signs of the end have been fulfilled, so the end must be close.
That is true, the signs have been fulfilled. The problem is you could say the same thing 50 years ago and the end is still not here. Oh sure, the preaching work is more advanced than it was in 1947, but couldn’t it advance far more if, say, China completely opened up? Just think of the growth if Gilead graduates could reach another billion-and-a-half persons! Might we not look back 50 years from now and say, my how the preaching work has advanced since 1997! Thus the time element disappears from the equation.
So what’s the point of this section? Just that all of this went through my mind as I read the change in “generation.” So what’s the problem? The problem is the Society continues to stress that we are urgently close to the end, yet they give no credible reasons for thinking that. Their arguments now center on points 2 and 3 above, but only in the most general terms. ‘The end must be close because the signs of the end are all fulfilled.’ ‘The end must be close because things are too bad on the earth to continue.’, etc. No in-depth discussion of these points, just a sentence thrown out there and we are expected to accept it.
The recent Question From Readers (w97 5/1) on this topic made things even worse. Illustrating the use of “generation” as being like saying “the soldiers of Napoleon’s generation”, they just made a bad situation worse. Consider the meaning of their illustration: Would you say that encompasses a period of, say, 100 years? Of course not, for that would stretch things into the 20th century. How about fifty years? Perhaps, but that would take things long past Napoleon’s lifetime and would seem to negate the meaning of “the soldiers of Napoleon’s generation.” Twenty or thirty years? Yes, that is the meaning you would get if you asked 1,000 people what they thought of by the phrase “the soldiers of Napoleon’s generation.”
So now we see the problem. They used an illustration that is even more restrictive in time than the old use of the word “generation”. They used to say anyone alive in 1914 counted. Now they use an illustration that carries, at most, 30 years of time, which is absurd! I know the point they were trying to make is that there is no time element, but the illustration they used absolutely does introduce a distinct, and short, time element.
So with all this in mind, I began to wonder why they were stressing the end being so close when there was no compelling evidence for thinking it has to be right around the corner. That’s what got me to begin researching, to see why the Society would say such things. What I found made the most sense of all: The Society has always said the end is imminent! They were just as convinced a hundred years ago that the end was just a year or two away as they are today. Consider the following quotes and see if it doesn’t sound like what the Society says today. Then ask yourself if the quotes were accurate for their time-period:
The very first issue of Zion’s Watchtower, July 1879, stated on page 1 that the object of its publication was to present, not theories, but facts:
“That we are living “in the last days” — “the days of the Lord” — “the end” of the Gospel age, and consequently, in the dawn of the “new” age, are facts not only discernible by the close student of the Word, led by the spirit, but the outward signs recognizable by the world bear the same testimony.”
Of course, they were not living in the last days in 1879, as we now know, yet Russell wrote that both the outward signs “recognizable by the world”, as well as studying the Bible and being led by God’s spirit indicated they were in the last days. He discerned it, but he was wrong. He obviously misinterpreted the outward signs he saw. He called them facts, but it was not true at that time. Naturally, if you had said he was wrong at the time, you would have been looked at as one who lacked faith.
This is a common theme, by the way. Looking at current conditions and saying ‘We must be at the end because of how bad things are’ is a statement that was being said over 100 years ago (actually, people have said that for the last two thousand years). Today we look back 100 years and describe that time-period as being so much better than today. We use this in service to show people how things have deteriorated since then, yet here we have Brother Russell saying things were so bad then that it must the end of the system!
Let’s consider some more quotations and see if that theme, that the end must be absolutely imminent, doesn’t show up throughout the history of the Society. I know there are a lot of quotes, but take the time to ask yourself how you would have reacted, at that time, to reading each quote. Then ask yourself if the quote turned out to be right or wrong:
“God’s Kingdom, the Kingdom of Jehovah’s Anointed… will be established gradually, during a great time of trouble with which the Gospel age will close, and in the midst of which present dominions shall be utterly consumed, passing away amid great confusion.
“In this chapter we present the Bible evidence proving that the full end of the times of the Gentiles, i.e., the full end of their lease of dominion, will be reached in A.D. 1914; and that that date will be the farthest limit of the rule of imperfect men. And be it observed, that if this is shown to be a fact firmly established by the Scriptures, it will prove:
“– Firstly, That at that date the Kingdom of God, for which our Lord taught us to pray, saying, “Thy Kingdom come,” will have obtained full, universal control, and that it will then be “set up,” or firmly established, in the earth, on the ruins of present institutions.” [The Time Is At Hand, Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II, pp. 76-77]
“Be not surprised, then, when in subsequent chapters we present proofs that the setting up of the Kingdom of God is already begun, that it is pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise of power in A.D. 1878, and that the “battle of the great day of God Almighty” (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth’s present rulership, is already commenced. The gathering of the armies is plainly visible from the standpoint of God’s Word.” [The Time Is At Hand, Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II, p. 101]
“Seventeen years ago people said, concerning the time features presented in MILLENIAL DAWN, They seem reasonable in many respects, but surely no such radical changes could occur between now and the close of 1914: if you had proved that they would come about in a century or two, it would seem much more probable…. Now, in view of recent labor troubles and threatened anarchy, our readers are writing to know if there may not be a mistake in the 1914 date. They say that they do not see how present conditions can hold out so long under the strain.
“We see no reason for changing the figures — nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God’s dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble. We see no reason for changing from our opinion expressed in the view presented in the WATCHTOWER of January 15, ‘92. We advise that it be read again.” [w1894, 7/15, p. 226]
“The Scriptures give unmistakable testimony to those who have full faith in its records, that there is a great time of trouble ahead of the present comparative calm in the world — a trouble which will embroil all nations, overthrow all existing institutions, civil, social and religious, bring about a universal reign of anarchy and terror, and prostrate humanity in the very dust of despair, thus to make them ready to appreciate the power that will bring order out of that confusion and institute the new rule of righteousness. All this, the Scriptures show us, is to come to pass before the year 1914 (See MILLENNIAL DAWN, Vol. II, Chapter IV)” [w1892, 1/15, p. 19]
“As we have heretofore stated, the great jubilee cycle is due to begin in 1925. At that time the earthly phase of the kingdom shall be recognized…. Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews chapter eleven, to the condition of human perfection.” [Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920 Edition, pp. 89-90]
“Based upon the argument heretofore set forth, then, that the old order of things, the old world, is ending and is therefore passing away, and that the new order is coming in, and that 1925 shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions of people now on the earth will be still on the earth in 1925. Then, based upon the promises set forth in the divine Word, we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die.” [Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920 Edition, p. 97]
“This is without question a fulfillment of the prophecy testifying to the “time of the end.” These physical facts can not be disputed and are sufficient to convince any reasonable mind that we have been in the “time of the end” since 1799.” [The Harp of God, p. 239]
“The indisputable facts, therefore, show that the “time of the end” began in 1799; that the Lord’s second presence began in 1874.” [The Watch Tower, March 1, 1922]
“Twelve hundred and sixty years from 539 A.D. brings us to 1799, which is another proof that 1799 definitely marks the beginning of “the time of the end.”" [Creation (1927), pp. 294, 295, 298]
“…. the second presence of the Lord Jesus Christ began in 1874 A.D. This proof is specifically set out in the booklet entitled Our Lord’s Return.” [Prophecy (1929), pp. 65, 66]
“We have no doubt whatever in regard to the chronology relating to the dates of 1874, 1914, 1918, and 1925. It was on this line of reckoning that the dates 1874, 1914, and 1918 were located; and the Lord has placed the stamp of his seal upon 1914 and 1918 beyond any possibility of erasure. What further evidence do we need?…. There can be no more question about 1925 than there was about 1914. The fact that all the things that some looked for in 1914 did not materialize does not alter the chronology one whit. Noting the date marked so prominently, it is very easy for the finite mind to conclude that all the work to be done must center about it, and thus many are inclined to anticipate more than has been really foretold. Thus it was in 1844, in 1874, in 1878 as well as in 1914 and 1918. Looking back we can now easily see that those dates were clearly indicated in Scripture and doubtless intended by the Lord to encourage his people, as they did, as well as to be a means of testing and sifting when all that some expected did not come to pass. That all that some expect to see in 1925 may not transpire that year will not alter the date one whit more than in the other cases.” [The Watch Tower, May 15, 1922]
“The chronology of present truth might be a mere happening if it were not for the repetitions in the two great cycles of 1845 and 2520 years, which take it out of the realm of chance and into that of certainty…. where the agreements of dates and events come by the dozens, they cannot possibly be by chance, but must be by the design or plan of the only personal Being capable of such a plan — Jehovah himself; and the chronology itself must be right.
“In the passages of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh the agreement of one or two measurements with the present-truth chronology might be accidental, but the correspondency of dozens of measurements proves that the same God designed both pyramid and plan — and at the same time proves the correctness of the chronology…. It is on the basis of such and so many correspondencies — in accordance with the soundest laws known to science — that we affirm that, Scripturally, scientifically, and historically, present-truth chronology is correct beyond a doubt. Its reliability has been abundantly confirmed by the dates and events of 1874, 1914, and 1918. Present-truth chronology is a secure basis on which the consecrated child of God may endeavor to search out things to come.” [w22, 6/15]
“…. all Europe is like a boiling pot, with the intensity of the heat ever increasing. If any one who has studied the Bible can travel through Europe and not be convinced that the world has ended, that the day of God’s vengeance is here, that the Messianic kingdom is at the door, then he has read the Bible in vain. The physical facts show beyond question of a doubt that 1914 ended the Gentile times; and as the Lord foretold, the old order is being destroyed by war, famine, pestilence, and revolution.
“The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures because it is fixed by the law God gave to Israel. Viewing the present situation in Europe, one wonders how it will be possible to hold back the explosion much longer; and that even before 1925 the great crisis will be reached and probably passed.” [w22, 9/1, p. 262]
“Question: Did the order go forth eight months ago to the Pilgrims to cease talking about 1925? 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?
“Answer:…. There was never at any time any intimation to the Pilgrim brethren that they should cease talking about 1925…. Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures, marking the end of the typical jubilees. Just exactly what will happen at that time no one can tell to a certainty; but we expect such a climax in the affairs of the world that the people will begin to realize the presence of the Lord and his kingdom power. He is already present, as we know, and has taken unto himself his power and begun his reign. He has come to his temple. He is dashing to pieces the nations. Every Christian ought to be content, then, to do with his might what his hands find to do, without stopping to quibble about what is going to happen on a certain date.” [w23, 4/1, p. 106]
“Let no one now be deceived by calculations as to just when the Lord will cease his work with the Church on earth. The year 1925 is a date definitely and clearly marked in the Scriptures, even more clearly than that of 1914; but it would be presumptuous on the part of any faithful follower of the Lord to assume just what the Lord is going to do during that year.” [w24, 7/15]
“…the scriptural evidence and the physical facts strongly indicate that such witness work is now almost done; and when it is done the universal war will begin. Universal war is absolutely certain to come and that soon, and no power can stop it… during the few remaining months until the breaking of that universal cataclysm the powers that rule the nations of the earth will continue to make treaties and tell the people that by such means they will keep that world peace and bring about prosperity.” [Universal War Near (1935), p. 3, 26, 27]
“…mark the words of Jesus, which definitely seem to discourage the bearing of children immediately before or during Armageddon…. It would therefore appear that there is no reasonable or scriptural injunction to bring children into the world immediately before Armageddon, where we now are.” [w38, 11/1, p. 324]
“Would it be scripturally proper for them to marry and begin to rear children? No, is the answer, which is supported by the scriptures…. It will be far better to be unhampered and without burdens, that they may do the Lords will now, as the Lord commands, and also be without hindrance during Armageddon…. Those… who now contemplate marriage, it would seem, would do better if they wait a few years, until the fiery storm of Armageddon is gone.” [Face the Facts (1938), pp. 26, 47, 50]
“The abundance of Scriptural evidence, together with the physical facts that have come to pass showing the fulfillment of prophecy, conclusively proves that the time for the battle of the great day of God Almighty is very near and that in that battle all of God’s enemies shall be destroyed and the earth cleared of wickedness.” … “Likewise today, all the nations and peoples of earth are face to face with the greatest emergency. They are being warned as God commands, that the disaster of Armageddon is just ahead.” [Salvation (1939), pp. 310, 361]
“The year 1940 is certain to be the most important year yet because Armageddon is very near. It behooves all who love righteousness to put forth every effort to advertise The Theocracy while the privileges are still open.” [Informant, April 1940, p. 1]
“The Kingdom is here, the King is enthroned. Armageddon is just ahead. The glorious reign of Christ that shall bring blessings to the world will immediately follow. Therefore the great climax has been reached. Tribulation has fallen upon those who stand by the Lord.” [The Messenger, Sept. 1940, p. 6]
“The prophecies of Almighty God, the fulfillment of which now clearly appears from the physical facts, show that the end of religion has come and with its end the complete downfall of Satan’s entire organization.” [Religion (1940), p. 336]
“Armageddon is surely near, and during that time the Lord will clean off the earth everything that offends and is disagreeable…. From now on we shall have our heart devotion fixed on The Theocracy, knowing that soon we shall journey forever together in the earth. Our hope is that within a few years our marriage may be consummated and, by the Lord’s grace, we shall have sweet children that will be an honor to the Lord. We can well defer our marriage until lasting peace comes to the earth.” [Children (1941), p. 366]
“Receiving the gift, [the book Children] the marching children clasped it to them, not a toy or plaything for idle pleasure, but the Lord’s provided instrument for most effective work in the remaining months before Armageddon.” [w41, 9/15, p. 288]
“The New World Is At The Doors… The time is short. Those who do not inform themselves and who do not now choose the new world which Higher Powers shall establish will never live to enter into blessings and glories.” [The New World (1942), p. 10]
“the disaster of Armageddon, greater than that which befell Sodom and Gomorrah, is at the door.” [Let God Be True (1946), p. 194]
“After almost six thousand years of human sorrow, suffering and death, at last permanent relief is near at hand and will be realized within this generation.” [New Heavens and a New Earth (1953), p. 7]
“in the light of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy it is becoming clear that the war of Armageddon is nearing its breaking-out point.” [You May Survive Armageddon Into God's New World (1955), p. 331]
“The apostle Paul was spearheading the Christian missionary activity. He was also laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century.” [w89, 1/1, p. 12 -- Note that the bound volume changed "20th century" to "day"]
Why do I include these quotes? It is not to get into the old 1975, or 1925 issue (in fact, you’ll notice I skipped from 1955 to 1989 above precisely to avoid the old 1975 issue). But it is to show that the Society has always been dogmatic about the end being absolutely imminent. They were just as certain in the 1920s as they are today, even though 70 years have passed. Their argument in defense of this is that they are just eager and so they sometimes make mistakes. Fine, but then why should we expect that the end is imminent in our day and not another 70 years hence? If you ask a Witness today if the end could be 70 years away, they wouldn’t even consider such a thought. But then, neither would a Bible Student have considered such to be possible back in the 1920s! Yet it happened. Eagerness does not always translate into accuracy, as the past has shown. They were wrong before so why can’t they be wrong again? In fact, looking at the above quotes, they were wrong a lot of times! How can we know that they are not wrong in our time? At every other point in the Society’s history they have been “overly eager” about when the end would come. Time and again they said things that they were convinced of, but turned out to be wrong. Regardless of motive, the facts are clear. So why not consider that they might be wrong again by saying the end is here?
In summary, what reason can you give for saying the end must be imminent? Not just a feeling or a belief, but “reasoning from the Scriptures” to show the end has to be very, very soon? If you can’t come up with a compelling reason, why does the Society continue to insist on it? Just to keep us from slowing down and losing out in the future? If that’s the case, why don’t they tell us they are just trying to keep us in line? Why insist the end is immediately in the future as they have been for over one hundred years? And if they believe the end is so close, why don’t they give compelling reasons for saying that, instead of dogmatically repeating what they have repeated for over a hundred years?
Revisionism About the Governing Body
Posted by Tom on January 23, 1999 at 22:09:37
The concept of a Christian “governing body” as taught by the Witnesses today holds that the first century Christians were governed not by a president or pope, but by a collective body of equal voices composed of the Apostles and older men in Jerusalem. (See for example The Watchtower, November 15, 1971 and December 15, 1971.) In keeping with this idea, it is understood that the various corporations which the original Bible Students and later the Jehovah’s Witnesses have formed are solely for the purpose of obtaining legal status and lawfully conducting business. The corporations themselves do not exercise control over the Christian brotherhood, and are in fact, just legal tools at the disposal of the governing body. The Society has on a number of occasions, presented the idea that the Governing Body arrangement has existed from its very earliest days. One of the most recent of these statements appears in the February 1, 1999 issue of The Watchtower, page 17:
“To give the Bible Students legal status, Zion’s Watch Tower Society was incorporated in 1884 in the United States, with headquarters in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Its directors served as a central Governing Body, overseeing the global preaching of God’s Kingdom.”
However this and similar claims that have been made in the last few years are not true. They are pure revisionism. The concept of direction through a collective body was an idea entirely alien to the organization for almost its first ninety years. To prove this, first note what C. T. Russell himself, in the April 25, 1894 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower had said:
“Having up to December 1, 1893, thirty-seven hundred and five (3,705) voting shares out of a total of sixty-three hundred and eighty-three (6,383) voting shares, Sister Russell and myself, of course elect the officers, and thus control the Society; and this was fully understood by the Directors from the first. Their usefulness, it was understood, would come to the front in the event of our death.” (p. 59)
Since in Russell’s own words, the utility of the Directors would come to the fore only in the event of his death, it can clearly be seen that Russell did not view them as a governing body along with himself. Russell was a man in complete control of the corporations.
In support of this fact, the March 1, 1923 issue of The Watch Tower said on page 68:
“We believe that all who are now rejoicing in present truth will concede that Brother Russell faithfully filled the office of special servant of the Lord; and that he was made ruler over all the Lord’s goods… Often when asked by others, Who is that faithful and wise servant? — Brother Russell would reply: “Some say I am; while others would say the Society is.” Both statements were true; for Brother Russell was in fact the Society in a most absolute sense, in this, that he directed the policy and course of the Society without regard to any other person on earth. He sometimes sought advice of others connected with the Society, listened to their suggestions, and then did according to his own judgment, believing that the Lord would have him thus do.”
Since one person who directs “without regard to any other person on earth” cannot be an equal voice in a collective body, the facts show that contrary to what the February Watchtower states, there was not even a semblance of a governing body at least up to 1916. (The year of Russell’s death.) For better or for worse, the organization was completely controlled by one individual.
Following Russell’s death, Joseph F. Rutherford was elected president at the annual corporation meeting in January of 1917. Early in his presidency, a power struggle erupted over how the organization would be run. This involved Rutherford and four of the seven Directors whom Russell had appointed (A. I. Ritchie, R. H. Hirsh, I. F. Hoskins, and J. D. Wright). Alexander H. Macmillan, who was an eyewitness to these events, summarized the attitude of these four directors like this:
“It isn’t good for Rutherford to control the management of the Society’s affairs. We’ll inform him that he can be the president; that is, he’ll just be a figurehead. He will go out on the road under our direction to lecture but, as a board of directors, we will manage the Society, direct its policies and look after all its affairs.” (Faith on the March, p. 77)
Rutherford could have (if he had believed in the concept of a “Governing Body”) acknowledged the objections of the majority of the Board and sought to make amends, because in point of fact, he had not recognized the Board of Directors and worked with it as a body. Instead, he had unilaterally taken actions, made decisions, allocated funds, assigned projects, and informed the board only afterwards of what he had done. As Marley Cole clearly put it:
“Four directors wanted a reorganization. In the first place, they wanted whatever Rutherford did to be subject to the Board’s approval [...] As things stood, the president was the administration. He was not consulting them. He was letting them know what he was doing only after it was done.” (Jehovah’s Witness: The New World Society, p. 87)
For example, Rutherford decided to publish a book entitled The Finished Mystery and present it as the posthumous work of Russell. Not only had he not consulted with the Directors about the writing of this book, they did not even know it was being published until the same day that Rutherford released it to the Bethel family on July 17, 1917. Further, after having previously consulted with, in Macmillan’s words, “a prominent corporation lawyer in Philadelphia,” Rutherford by presidential fiat had dismissed these four directors on that same day, replacing them with men who were more agreeable to his views (A. H. Macmillan, W. E. Spill, J. A. Bohnet, and G. H. Fisher). In the pamphlet war that ensued following their dismissal, Rutherford’s claim was that he was exercising rights granted to him under the People’s Pulpit Association charter which gave the president “the general supervision and control and management of the business and affairs of said corporation.” (Harvest Siftings, part I, p. 20)
The 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses on pages 91 and 92 gives what has become the standard explanation for Rutherford’s action:
“C. T. Russell had appointed those men as directors, but the Society’s charter required that directors be elected by vote of the shareholders. Rutherford had told Russell that appointees had to be confirmed by vote at the following annual meeting, but Russell never took that step. So, only the officers who had been elected at the Pittsburgh annual meeting were duly constituted board members. The four appointees were not legal members of the board. Rutherford knew this throughout the period of trouble, but had not mentioned it, hoping that these board members would discontinue their opposition. However, their attitude showed they were not qualified to be directors. Rightly Rutherford dismissed them and appointed four new board members whose appointment could be confirmed at the next general corporation meeting, early in 1918.”
It can be seen therefore that the entire concept of a collective Governing Body was completely rejected during the Rutherford presidency. Rutherford, like Russell before him, was a man in complete control over the organization and in point of fact, the corporate charter made it this way by allowing the President virtually unrestricted freedom. Further, the idea presented in the 1975 Yearbook, that fellow members of a Christian Governing Body can be dismissed based upon the legality of their status as Directors of a corporation that ostensibly is simply a legal instrument at the disposal of this body is absurd unless one truly believes that it is American corporate law and not the Bible that defines the makeup and procedure of such a body.
In 1942 J. F. Rutherford died and was replaced by Nathan H. Knorr. Rutherford’s final days are described in the 1961 book Let Your Name Be Sanctified on pages 335, 336:
“Rutherford was abed on the Pacific Coast when the United States of America was plunged into World War II Sunday, December 7, 1941. Two men of the anointed remnant (one since 1913 and one since 1922) and one of the “other sheep” (since 1934) were summoned from Brooklyn headquarters out to Rutherford’s bedside at the home called “Beth-Sarim,” San Diego, California. On December 24, 1941, he gave these three his final instructions [...] As viewed from our present time, it appears that there the Elijah work passed, to be succeeded by the Elisha work. It was as when Elijah and Elisha had crossed the Jordan River by means of a dividing of the waters to the east shore and were walking along, awaiting the removal of Elijah.”
This description of the passing on of the “mantle of authority” from the dying Rutherford with terms and prophetic parallels like these seems almost humorous in light of more recent claims that existence of a governing body extended through the Rutherford presidency clear back to Russell’s time. Commenting on the fact that N. H. Knorr, the new president of the Society, continued to exercise virtually unrestricted freedom Marley Cole states:
“That the president of the Society thereafter continued to exercise such unrestricted freedom may be seen by the following account of N. H. Knorr’s actions in relation to bringing forth a new Bible translation.” (Jehovah’s Witness: The New World Society, p. 8
As proof of this, Cole went on to quote the September 15, 1950 issue of The Watchtower, pages 315 and 316, which recount the presentation of the New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures to the Directors:
“Particularly since 1946 the president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society has been in quest of such a translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures. On September 3, 1949, at 8 a.m., at the Brooklyn headquarters (Bethel) the Society’s president convened a joint meeting of the boards of directors of the Pennsylvania and New York corporations, only one director being absent. After the meeting was opened with prayer the president announced to these eight fellow directors the existence of a “New World Bible Translation Committee” and that it had completed a translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures.”
With the exception of the Photo Drama of Creation, The New World Translation was quite probably the largest project the organization had yet undertaken, yet as this excerpt from The Watchtower shows, Knorr, like Rutherford before him, had ‘let the board know what he was doing only after it was done’. The New World Translation of the Christian Greek Scriptures, like The Finished Mystery, had been completed and was ready for printing by the time the board was informed of it. The Governing Body, as the idea is understood today, did not exist until the corporate reorganization of 1976, this in spite of the fact that the concept itself was being taught for a few of years prior to this. Up until this point, control over the corporations translated into control over the Society itself and administrative control over the corporations had rested exclusively with the president. Therefore, the organization for almost its first ninety years has been a monarchical arrangement. There was no “Governing Body”. Claims to the contrary are simply untrue and dishonest.
Generation & 1914
Jeffery M. Schwehm’s Letter to the Watchtower Society
Posted by Jeffery M. Schwehm on November 20, 1996 at 15:17:43
Dear Sirs:
I have read the information in the November 1, 1995 Watchtower that teaches that the “generation” that Jesus talked about at Matt. 24:34, 35 no longer refers to the “generation that saw the events of 1914″, but now “refers to the peoples of earth who see the sign of Christ’s presence but fail to mend their ways.” The same Watchtower adds on page 20 the following statement:
“Though we at no time have known the “day and hour”, Jehovah God has always known it, and he does not change.”
I have also been reading the May 15, 1984 Watchtower which has on the cover “1914-The Generation That Will Not Pass Away”. Starting on page 6 and continuing on page 7 this issue of the Watchtower says the following:
“Jehovah’s prophetic word through Christ Jesus is: “This generation [of 1914] will by no means pass away until all things occur.” (Luke 12:32) And Jehovah, who is the source of inspired and unfailing prophecy, will bring about the fulfillment of his Son’s words in a relatively short time.”
Another quote from the same page says:
“Just as Jesus’ prophecies regarding Jerusalem were fulfilled within the life span of the generation of the year 33 C.E., so his prophecies regarding “the time of the end” will be fulfilled within the life span of the generation of 1914.”
In addition to this, in the October 22, 1995 Awake! magazine and in preceding issues, the masthead on page 4 under “Why Awake! is Published” stated the following:
“Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator’s promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away.”
So, according to the October 22, 1995 Awake! and previous editions, the most important reason you had for printing the Awake! magazine was because you wanted to build confidence, not in any promise made by you, the Watchtower Society, but in the Creator’s promise that the new system would be here before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away.
Now, the November 1, 1995 Watchtower says that “Jehovah does not change”, but if you read the quotes from the May 15, 1984 Watchtower, it appears to me that Jehovah DOES change. Notice how the Watchtower says in the May 15, 1984 issue that it is “Jehovah’s prophetic word through Christ Jesus” that the world would end before the 1914 generation passes away. You even add the date parenthetically to the scriptural quotation. Also, if you read the two different Awake! masthead statements on why the Awake! magazine is published, it looks to me like the Creator has changed His promise to us.
So my questions are, how can you say that Jehovah does not change when it is obvious that His prophecy about the 1914 generation has changed? Or could it be that this prophecy about the 1914 generation was not from Jehovah? If the latter is true, what position does this put you, the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, in when you attribute a prophecy or teaching to God that He did not make or teach?
Another question that I have is about the new understanding of the parable of the sheep and the goats. You have taught for a very long time that the parable of the sheep and the goats was being fulfilled in our day since around 1914 and that individual Jehovah’s Witnesses were participating in the fulfillment of this parable by going from house-to-house. It is interesting to me that the October 15, 1995 Watchtower on page 22 says the following about the fulfillment of the parable of the sheep and the goats:
“Yet nothing indicates that at that time, or for that matter since, Jesus sat to judge people of all the nations finally as sheep and goats.”
So you teach now that the parable of the sheep and the goats will be fulfilled some time after the Great Tribulation. I was reading the December 1, 1981 Watchtower recently and there is an article in this issue entitled “The Light’s Increase In Modern Times”. In this article, you talk about how God has given you progressive light on understanding the Bible. On page 25 paragraph 15 under the subheading “Light on Prophecies and Parables”, you comment on the parable of the sheep and the goats. This is what you say:
“More accurate understanding of Jesus’ parables also resulted. An outstanding example involved the parable of the sheep and the goats, as recorded at Matthew 25:31-46. It had long been thought that this parable would be fulfilled during Christ’s 1,000 year reign. But then Jehovah’s Witnesses saw that it simply could not apply at that time. Among the many reasons was that during Christ’s millennial reign his “brothers” would not be upon the earth, let alone be in need because of being sick or persecuted. So, it must be fulfilled now, as the enthroned Jesus in heaven gathers the nations for judgment, and this is borne out by the observable facts in fulfillment.”
So, it is interesting to me that you have taught previously that the parable of the sheep and the goats is not being fulfilled now, but would be fulfilled after the Great Tribulation. Since this is the case, how can the information in the October 15, 1995 Watchtower be considered “new light”? It appears to me that you are just resurrecting very “old light”. Also, the October 15, 1995 Watchtower says that there is NOTHING to indicate that Christ began judging the people of the nations beginning in 1914 or since 1914. However, the December 1, 1981 Watchtower says that the parable of the sheep and the goats is being fulfilled now “as borne out by the observable facts in fulfillment.” My question to this is, what observable facts did you see in 1981 that you do not see now in 1995? Also, does this mean that you, God’s visible channel on earth, has been teaching a doctrine for the better part of this century based on NOTHING?
So, you can see that I am really confused about this and I would appreciate it if you could clarify these things.
The Governing Body
Notes on the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses
Translated and adapted from Aquila’s French pages
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John E. Barr (1913-)Born in 1913, in Aberdeen (Scotland), in a family of Bible Students. His grandmother Émilie Jewell was baptized in 1908 and the father was baptized in 1912. John Barr has a brother called James and a sister called Louie who are older than himself.They were the only Bible Students family in North Scotland. Sometimes Van Amburgh and A. H. Macmillan came from the headquarters in Brooklyn to visit them and stayed as hosts in the house of John’s family.Shortly after the end of the World War I, John’s mother and sister are the first Bible Students in that area who went from house to house. In 1927, John tells his father that he wants to go with him in the preaching work from house to house.
Finishes school in 1932 and is baptized as Jehovah’s Witness shortly after that. Becomes member of the Bethel family in April 1939. After that serves 3 years as circuit overseer and returns to Bethel in April 1946. On October 29, 1960 marries with Mildred Willett, a long time pioneer who had belonged to the 11th Gilead class and who was in Ireland. In September 1977 is called to the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses and from then on lives in the headquarters of the organization, in Brooklyn, New York, U.S.A. Source: w87 7/1 26-31 (French). |
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Samuel F. Herd (1935-)Samuel Herd was elder in a small congregation of Arkansas, U.S.A., and started as pioneer in 1958.From 1965 to 1997 was circuit and district overseer.Shortly after, he and his wife, Gloria, entered Brooklyn Bethel, where he worked in the Service Department and in the Service Committee.
On October 2, 1999, Samuel Herd was appointed to the Governing Body. He is the only Afro-American in the Governing Body. Source: w2000 1/1 29. |
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Geoffrey Jackson Announcement of his appointment to the Governing Body was made on August 24, 2005. |
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Theodore Jaracz (1925-)Theodore Jaracz was born in 1925. He was baptized sometime in the 40s.He frequented the Gilead school of the Watchtower (missionary school of Jehovah’s Witnesses) and then was sent to Australia, where he was circuit and district overseer. In 1951 Jaracz was appointed branch overseer of Australia.Sometime in 1955/1956, after having been in Australia for 5 years, he returned to the United States, where he made the circuit overseer service.
On November 28, 1974, he was appointed to the Governing Body. Sources: w75 5/1 284; w77 2/1 95; w96 6/1 25; yb83 103-105 (French). |
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M. Stephen Lett (1949-)Started as pioneer on December, 1966.From 1967 to 1971 served in Brooklyn Bethel. In October 1971 married to Susan and entered in the special pioneer service.From 1979 to 1998 served as circuit overseer.
In April 1998 was called to Brooklyn Bethel. On October 2, 1999 was appointed to the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Source: w2000 1/1 29. |
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Gerrit Lösch (1941-)Gerrit Lösch was born in 1941 (in Austria?).He was pioneer since November 1, 1961 and was circuit and district overseer in Austria between 1963 and 1976.In 1965/1966 he was invited to the 41th Gilead class.
In 1967 he married to Merete and sometime after that they entered to the Bethel in Vienna, Austria, where he stayed 14 years. In 1993/1994 was called to the world headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Brooklyn, where he worked for the Executive Committee and Service Committee. Lösch knows well the Watchtower activities in Europe and speaks German, English, Rumanian and Italian. On July 1, 1994 he was appointed to the Governing Body. Source: w94 11/1 29 (French). Photo: Aquila collection. |
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Anthony Morris Announcement of his appointment to the Governing Body was made on August 24, 2005. |
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Guy H. Pierce (1934-)Guy and his wife, Penny, started working as pioneers in April 1982, after they raised their children.Between 1986 and 1997, Pierce was circuit overseer (in the U.S.A.?)In 1997 Pierce and his wife were invited to come to the Brooklyn Bethel, where he worked as assistant of the Personal Committee.
On October 2, 1999, Guy Pierce was appointed to the Governing Body. Source: w2000 1/1 29. |
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David H. Splane (1944-)David Splane started as pioneer in September 1963.Belonged to the 42nd Gilead class and was missionary of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Senegal.After that, he was circuit overseer in Canada during 19 years.
In 1990, David and his wife, Linda, went to the Brooklyn Bethel, where he worked at the Service and Writing Departments. In 1998 he was appointed “helper” of the Writing Committee. On October 2, 1999 he was appointed to the Governing Body. Source: w2000 1/1 29. |
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Karl F. Klein (1906-2001)Karl F. Klein was born around 1906, in Southern Germany.In 1910 his family moves to the United States (Blue island, Chicago suburbs).In 1917, together with his younger brother, Ted, he meets the Bible Students for the first time.
Baptized in 1918. On March 23, 1925, enters to Bethel. In 1950 starts working in the Writing Department, where he does research and writes articles. After having been 38 years at Bethel as a bachelor, he marries in 1963 with Gretel Naggert, whom he had met 12 years before in a trip to Europe. On November 28, 1974, he was appointed to the Governing Body. Died January 3, 2001. Source: w85 5/1 20-27 (French). |
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Lyman A. Swingle (1910-2001)Lyman Alexander Swingle was born on November 6, 1910, in Lincoln, Nebraska. He was baptized in 1923.Enter Bethel in April 1930.On October 1, 1945 Swingle was elected to the Directors Board of the Watchtower.
On June 9, 1956, Lyman Swingle married Crystal Waldrop. Around 1984 he was appointed secretary-treasurer of the Watch Tower Society of Pennsylvania and Watch Tower Society of New York. Died March 14, 2001. Sources: w84 5/15 24; jv91; yb81 188 (French). |
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Milton G. Henschel (1920-2003)Born on August 9, 1920.He was baptized while adolescent and in 1939 was already Bethelite.Shortly after is appointed secretary of the Watchtower’s President, Nathan H. Knorr, and travels with him all around the world for several decades.
Milton Henschel is married to Lucille and has a brother called Warren Henschel. Was appointed to the Governing Body in 1976. On December 30, 1992 was selected to be the successor of Frederick W. Franz (who had died a week before, when he was 99 years old) in the Presidency of the Watchtower. Henschel was president of the Watchtower until October 7, 2000, when there was a reorganization in the leadership and Don Adams (not a Governing Body member) became the new President of the Watchtower. Died March 22, 2003. Sources: w77 7/1 394; yb80 112; w89 6/15 22; w89 9/1 26; w93 3/15 31 (French). |
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Albert D. Schroeder (1911-2006)Albert D. Schroeder was born on April 7, 1911 in Saginaw (Michigan, E.U.A.)His maternal grandmother, Elizabeth Darger, used to associate with the Bible Students during World War I. In 1923 Schroeder found the publications of the Bible Students.First he had the “earthly hope”, but after his baptism, in July 24, 1932, in Vandercook Lake, he decided he wanted to be of the “anointed”.
On September 13, 1932 he enters to Brooklyn Bethel. In 1937, when he was only 26 years old, Schroeder is sent by Rutherford to England, to ‘put order in the house’ among the Jehovah’s Witnesses. On May 6, 1942, the English government declared him persona non grata and expulsed him from the country. He then returns to the U.S.A., and Nathan H. Knorr, third president of the Jehovah’s Witnesses, appoints him as secretary and president of the Committee that will organize the Gilead Biblical School (training of missionaries of Jehovah’s Witnesses). The school is inaugurated in February of 1943. In 1955, at an assembly of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Europe, Schroeder met Charlotte Bowin (born 1920), who had belonged to the 1st Gilead class in 1943 and had been missionary in Mexico and El Salvador. They married in August of 1956 and had a son called Judah in February of 1958. On December 18, 1974 Schroeder was appointed to the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Died March 8, 2006. Sources: w83 3/1 10-17; w85 12/1 26 (French). |
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Daniel Sydlik (1919-2006)Daniel Sydlik was born in February 1919, near Belleville, Michigan (U.S.A.), where his family lived in a farm. Sydlik had a difficult childhood: his father, who belonged to the Bible Students, died when he was 3 years old and his mother had to raise the 6 children.At the end of the 1930s, Sydlik started to show interest for the Jehovah’s Witnesses. In September of 1941 he became pioneer and in 1942 became special pioneer in San Pedro (California, U.S.A.) and in Richmond (San Francisco, U.S.A.)In the Second World War, the government refused to give him the status of Christian minister. Sydlik is judged and in 1944 is condemned to 3 years of forced labor.
He is freed in 1946 and goes to Hollywood as a pioneer. Sometime after that, Milton G. Henschel (at the time secretary of President Nathan H. Knorr) invites him to Bethel. Sydlik accepts and starts service on October 20, 1946. At Bethel, he helps in the writing service for 20 years. He is appointed member of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York and Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. Sydlik is married to Marina, a young girl from Hebburn, England. On November 28, 1974, he was appointed to the Governing Body. Died April 18, 2006. Source: w85 6/1 21-26 (French). |
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Carey W. Barber (1905-2007)Born on the 4th of July 1905, in Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England.On April 18, 1921, when he was 16 years old, he is baptized in a small assembly of the International Bible Students Association, in Winniped, Canada.In April 1923 starts working at Bethel, together with his twin brother Norman.
In 1948 is appointed traveling overseer. In 1955 enters the 26th Gilead class, where he found Sydney Lee Brewer, a pioneer from Canada, with whom he marries on February 18, 1956. Appointed to circuit service in the Chicago Area, U.S.A. After 29 years as circuit and district overseer, he is called to the Brooklyn Bethel, to be a Governing Body member in the autumn of 1977. Died April 8, 2007. Source: w82 11/15 10-14 (French). |
Letter to Rutherford
Toronto, Canada
April 1, 1937Hon. J.F. Rutherford
4140 Braeburn Road
Kensington Heights,
San Diego, California
I wrote you on January 25th embodying an article which I believe proved by the Scriptures that our Lord has not returned and that the saints have not yet been resurrected. That Christ has not returned is proven clearly by His statement in Matthew 24 wherein, having outlined all the things to occur at the end of the age, including the great tribulation, He said: “When ye see ALL these things know that He is nigh even at the door.” Verse 33, Diaglott; and margin King James version. Mark well the Master’s words for He says even after ye see all these things He would not be present, but near, even at the door. Well did He warn His true followers not to be deceived by any man saying He was present when He was not?
I also suggested, that “the battle of that great day of God Almighty” is not necessarily “the battle Of God Almighty” but merely a mighty and final battle of Satan’s visible forces among themselves, in which God would put it into their hearts to destroy churchianity. The time of the battle is the day of God Almighty, just as one might say in the day of Shakespeare, and that would in no sense prove that God was going to fight any more than it would prove Shakespeare was going to fight. God’s act of destruction of Satan’s forces will be beyond Armageddon.
Two years ago last summer you made the statement to me and another that you had bluffed all your life. I believe that was one of the truest statements you ever made and I am now calling your bluff, and challenge you to answer the article above referred to point by point and prove from the Scriptures that Armageddon is the battle of God Almighty.
The premise of all the teachings of the Society’s publications which might be spoken of as spiritual teaching i.e., teachings which are supposed to be for the Lord’s people, is that Christ has returned and is at His temple for judgment. The burden of the Society’s message to the world is that God at Armageddon will destroy all the forces of Satan. If Christ has not returned, and I now believe He has not, and if Armageddon is not God’s battle, and I believe it is not, the light in that connection has come to us not through the WATCHTOWER but from another source, which, proves that the WATCHTOWER is not the channel through which God is feeding His people and not only so but that all the teachings presented therein since 1918 and based on these false premises are wrong!
So much for doctrine: now a word regarding what I feel constrained to state concerning the corruption otherwise of the Society.
As the scales by the Lord’s grace, have fallen from my eyes I have been astounded to see how blinded I have been to your actions, through a superstition that the WATCHTOWER was the Lord’s channel of meat in due season for the household of faith and that you as President of the Society were God’s chief servant amongst His people, and that you being responsible we should be submissive to whatsoever you required done, foolishly thinking that I had no responsibility in the matter and that anything you did that was wrong, or that I did as ordered by you, the Lord would overrule. It was with this thought in mind that I, at your orders would purchase cases of whiskey at $60.00 a case, and cases of brandy and other liquors, to say nothing of untold cases of beer. A bottle or two of liquor would not do; it was for THE PRESIDENT and nothing was too good for THE PRESIDENT. He was heaven’s favorite, why should not he have everything that would gratify his desires for comfort. True, I had a part therein for I partook of your hospitality, or shall I say the Society’s hospitality for it was the Society’s money but I partook, as above stated, being blinded with the idea the THE PRESIDENT was in charge and therefore responsible and not I. Today I see that the thought was absolutely wrong and that the squandering of the Society’s money in that respect was a mis-appropriation of funds, and I should have taken no part therein whatsoever. I confess my wrong before the friends and before the Lord and ask their forgiveness and His.
Often as I thought about this extravagance and waste and then thought of the lot of the pioneers I was puzzled, but my conscience was lulled by the belief that the Lord was using you to serve His cause and people and therefore I did not and dared not say anything that I thought would cause the friends to lose confidence in you as a servant of the Lord. True, I have humorously said to those whom I thought were our mutual friends things regarding your idiosyncrasies that all MEN between friends say one of another, just as you have said of me, which things I know have been traitorously (Matthew 24:10, John 16:1,2) reported to you not along out of their setting but so out of their spirit that none who wanted to know the truth would recognize them as the original statements, and before my God I can state I have never to my knowledge done anything intentionally to injure you, the work of the Society, or its interests, in my life. In that betrayal you joined hands - not that I mind in point of fact I thank God that He permitted it and assure you I would do good to any of the conspirators had I the opportunity.
While recognizing your position as President of the corporation I have always reserved the right to think. It has been well said, “A man who cannot think is an idiot, a man who won’t think is a fool, and a man who is afraid to think is a coward.” I absolutely refuse to have any person do my thinking for me. I could not do otherwise and be faithful to my God. I could not be a Russellite and be faithful to God; I could not be a Rutherfordite and be faithful to God; I could not be a Channelite and be faithful to God; and I could not be a Dawnite or any other Ite and be faithful to God. To be such, to my understanding of the Scriptures, would mean one was defiled with women (organizations) and subject to their will and not the will of God. (Revelation 14:4) “He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully (And not the deductions and sophistries of men” no matter what they may claim for themselves or their office - or organization with which they happen to be associated,) “Behold. I am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord…and cause My people to err by their lies, and by the lightness.” Jeremiah 23:28,42 . True, all these Ites or Iarns have some truth: some more, some less. Otherwise they could not deceive the people. It is with that very truth, together with the sophistries of men, that Satan blinds men; in fact the more truth they have when wrongfully used, the more deceptive they are. Each claim to speak with authority, some much more dogmatically than others. Paul well counsels, “Beware any lest man spoil your through philosophy.” - Col. 2:8.
The squandering of the Society’s money on liquor was only one thing I had cause to wonder over; there were other things. I could not help but contrast with the lot of the pioneers the luxury that you surrounded yourself with and the comfort that I enjoyed, and among these luxuries I cannot refrain from mentioning the following:
1. Now one but two 16-cylinder cars, one in California and one in New York. One would not suffice for THE PRESIDENT nor would a 6 cylinder car be big enough for THE PRESIDENT, but a 4 would do for a pioneer, or a bicycle or a hand-sleigh, or trudging along without any vehicle at all.
2. Your New York apartment, easily worth a rental of $10,000.00 a year. And its luxurious furnishings.
3. Your palatial residence on Staten Island, camouflaged as essential to the broadcasting station WBBR.
4. As though that residence were not sufficient, a further small place of seclusion in the woods of Staten Island where you can go and rest your weary body while the pioneers and others trudge from door to door.
5. Your further abode at San Diego, for which you yourself told me you were offered $75,000.00, but of course it could not be sold and the funds used to help the pioneers because it was deeded to David - what hypocrisy!
6. Commodious and expensive quarters in Magdeburg, Germany, for the convenience of THE PRESIDENT, to say nothing of the provision made for your comfort in London.
As what is your mental attitude toward all this? Why you glory in it and brazenly advertise it to the friends. “Who dares find fault therewith? Am I not THE PRESIDENT?” Yes, you glory in it, glorying in your shame.
Nothing is too good for THE PRESIDENT. He must have every comfort and every consideration, but he feels very sympathetic and so tenderly disposed toward the “dear pioneers.” Words are easy, but actions speak louder than words and I cannot imagine a more striking illustration, even as between the clergy class and laity, than between yourself and the pioneers as referred to be Jesus words when he said: “For they (the hypocrites) bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their little fingers…Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for ye devour widows houses…ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte. And love…the chief seats in the synagogues…and to be called by men, “Rabbi Rabbi” (some distinctive name). Truly the pioneers and others have had burdens heaped upon them that you would not move with one of your fingers. Truly the widows have been robbed at your suggestion, or rather I should say command, for your command to the friends is, “Take their last penny for a book; they need it more than bread.” What a spirit! And yet the friends submit to it. While a few will take the penny and as Paul says, “glory in their shame,” how the vast majority hate it, but feel they must obey - God is speaking. What sacrilege! What blasphemy! What trafficking in the name of the Heavenly Father! The friends have served you faithfully, they have unknowingly been your servants, robbed by you of everything even the word of God and his precious promises which you have made null and void by your vain babblings; trudging on day by day, wondering but without a murmur. My what faithfulness, and what a taskmaster! I feel sure many will have their eyes opened, for 7,000, at least at heart have not bowed the knee to Baal even though they have advertised your name more than that of God Almighty. I would that you had gone from door to door as the pioneers and others have, and you would then know what you are talking about.
I could go on at much length about the things I know considering your personal conduct and the contrast between yourself and the pioneers, but I choose not. My sole purpose in outlining my personal experience with you is with the earnest hope of awakening the friends to the fallacy of putting confidence in man above God’s word, or idolizing an office and putting confidence in that office above God’s word. A Christian must learn that to honor God he must put faith in God’s word and God’s word alone, making it his shield and his buckler and not a man or body of men or corporation, no matter what claim is made for that man, body of men or corporation, for soon we get into the paths of human reasoning and that invariably leads us to disaster as the wrecks all along the pathway of the Gospel Age bear witness to. One organization after another Satan has overreached and brought into subjection of his will. The clergy class being overreached by Satan tried to establish the Kingdom before its time and convert the world. Of course, they claimed they were not doing it but God was. So today Satan has overreached the Society and has caused the friends through the WATCHTOWER to believe the time has come to establish the Kingdom and gather together the great multitude before the time, claiming of course that they are not doing it but that God is. But God is not and they are therefore not getting nowhere as all honest brethren are now admitting and are asking the questions, “if the millions who will never die, constitute the great multitude, are being gathered, where are they? For they certainly are not coming in our town or city.” You know and I know, all who read the reports intelligently know, that despite all our stupendous effort - there are less than 50,000 associated with the Society in its work! If for the next ten years there should become associated an average of 50,000 a year, at the end of that time there would then only be 550,000. How long would it take at that rate to gather the “millions who would never die,” and if such must take their stand before Armageddon, as you teach, how far away is Armageddon? Well, someone will say, “Well, if that be true what are we doing now?” The Bible answers the question: “We have been with child, we have been in pain, we have as it were brought forth wind; we have not brought any deliverance in the earth; neither have the inhabitants of the earth fallen.” Isaiah 26:18. “Not everyone that saith unto me,’ Lord, Lord’ shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, “Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then I will profess unto them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” - Matthew 7:21-23. The Roman Catholic Church is doing a great work but in the name of the Roman Catholic Church. Likewise the Protestant systems are doing a great work in their names, and the Salvation Army is doing a great work in its name, but the Society is doing it in His most holy name (Jehovah). “In fact, Lord, we’re so busy with works we have hardly time to open our Bibles, let alone study them. You see, Lord we have our YEAR BOOK to study now and that tells of our wonderful works, and our PRESIDENT, too, is very busy writing books. And oh, Lord, he is so courageous and his faith in Thee so great that he gets behind four walls, or surrounds himself literally with an armed bodyguard, and bellows away his dreams (Jeremiah 23:31,82) [sic] and sends us out from door to door to face the enemy while he goes from ‘drink to drink,’ and tells us if we don’t we are going to be destroyed. But don’t misunderstand us Lord, we don’t do it from fear or for reward, but because of our great love for you, and therefore will not be disappointed if we get no reward, but our hope is we will spared through Armageddon. Our PRESIDENT, Lord, is really a very important man. Of course he says he is not even though he thinks he is, but then that you and it is not for us to reason why; ours is but to do and die; and ‘we love to have it so.’ Of course he says when he speaks personally it might not be correct to say he is speaking for you, but when he speaks as PRESIDENT or through the WATCHTOWER or books then you speak; is it not wonderful!”
In fact these publications, he says, contain your commands and we must obey. My, what a difference a little man-made office or a little paper and ink make. How authoritative one then becomes and just on a par with the Catholic priest who says bread and wine is just bread and wine but he blesses it, oh my, it is the actual body and blood of Christ!! How alike Mr. Rutherford (excuse me, I should have said ‘Judge’) is to Mr. Ratti, for does not Mr. Ratti say when he speaks personally it is nothing but when he speaks as the Pope, he speaks infallibly. “Oh,” some will say, “the Roman Catholic Church is the counterfeit of the true and the Society is the true church.” But the question might be asked is it not more reasonable to conclude that the Society is the counterfeit of the Roman Catholic Church even though the Catholic Church is not the true church, do not appear to be the work of the same potter? Note, the spirit of both: pride, arrogance, intolerance, bombast, to say nothing of the spirit of judging. Furthermore, Paul’s statement in 2nd Thessalonians 2:4,8 seems to have application to both organizations. These verses read: “…so, that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. (When we speak officially, God speaks commands. Beware!)…And then shall that Wicked be revealed, whom the Lord shall consume with the spirit of his mouth, and shall annihilate with the brightness of his coming!”
Now a word regarding the financial progress of the Society. You inform the friends and the public that the books and booklets are placed with the public at cost - they surely are and more!! You well know that the price to the pioneers until recently covered all costs including all appropriate overhead charges and even now the loss is only slight on some items, while on the other hand the price to the companies and public nets the Society at least 100%! What is this 100% if it is not profit? Poor gullible friends. How they believe everything you tell them!!! Where do they think the millions of dollars invested in buildings, machinery, stock, etc, at Brooklyn, Magdeburg, London, Toronto and other places, to say nothing of your own dwellings, etc, come from if not from profit on the books? You know and I know that the gain the Canadian Office alone during the past few years was a hundred thousand dollars. And at the time I was relieved of my duties there was not only a large sum in the bank as customary but also over $25,000.00 in cash was lying in the Society’s vaults at 40 Irwin Avenue and had for years, which could be used for the needs of the President or those whom he might designate in case of an international emergency - and the dear pioneers? Well, of course they could go hungry. Poor gullible friends!! My, were we not blind, and how blind the friends still are! And yet the annual reports tell of our great losses and how it is hoped the Lord will make it up. Well, it is said, “figures don’t lie, but liars do figure.”
From the article “Upon Our Lord’s Return” which shows it is a future event, which the vast majority of the friends now have, and which others may have upon application, they can choose between a “thus saith the Lord” as found therein and your bombast, bluff, and follow which they choose. Furthermore, from the above testimony, which is true before the Lord as you know it to be, the friends can determine whom you are serving. Many no doubt will decide, “I will remain with the Society until THE PRESIDENT himself through the WATCHTOWER tells me I must go.” Poor, deluded children, may God have pity upon them is my earnest prayer. They ultimately will be forced by the logic of events to realize their mistake even as I was forced to, blindest of the blind.
It seems strange that after our experiences of 1914 and 1925 we should still fail to draw a clear cut line of demarcations between deduction and a “thus saith the Lord”, and go on dogmatizing regarding the Lord’s presence, dogmatizing about the Lord being at His temple, and dogmatizing concerning what Armageddon will bring about. But there are “none so blind as those who won’t see” and they will go on prophesying false dreams until events themselves prove the folly thereof. And this, even though such false teachings bring dishonor to God and His word, for what is prone to dishonor God’s word more in the minds of people than testimony that is made with a declaration that it is based upon God’s word when that testimony is found to be false. One does well to take heed to Deuteronomy 18:21, 22, which reads: “If thou say in thine heart how shall we know the word, which the Lord hath spoken? When a prophet speaketh in the name of the Lord, if the things follow not nor come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord hath not spoke, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptously; though shalt not be afraid of him.” (An outstanding example, our nonsense concerning what God was going to do in the year 1925.) And again I quote Jeremiah 23:28-82 [sic] “He that hath my word, let him speak my word faithfully…Behold, I am against them that prophecy false dreams, saith the Lord, and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, and by their lightness.”
Up until the time I received the article “Upon Our Lord’s Return”, above referred to, I believe the Society was the Lord’s organization. That article shook my belief therein. I wrote you to see if the article could be answered. It has not been answered. I cannot be answered because it is the truth, and I now no longer believe the Society is the Lord’s channel of truth or that you are a servant of the Lord, whatever else you might be. As God is against the Society (Jeremiah 23:98-82) [sic] and every other adulterous woman that defiles men and makes them puppets or “yes men”, so must I be. I was active in the service work up to and including the “Jehovah of Hosts” testimony period and then was forced to the conclusion that such service was not only not of God but dishonoring to His Word and Name. Why, one may ask? I answer: because the message contained in the publications is largely based upon the false premise that our Lord is present, the He is at His Temple and that God at Armageddon will destroy Satan’s organization and usher in His Kingdom in power and glory upon the earth. The message is spoken presumptously and is based upon philosophy or deduction of man and not upon a “thus saith the Lord.” In other words, it is what the Lord speaks of as “false dreams” and He say He is against such and therefore I must be. Was the Lord please with our false dream concerning 1925 and the zeal of the friends in that connection? He was not. Was it a lie. It was. Did we learn any lesson therefrom and humble ourselves before the Lord? We did not but went right on presumptuously heralding broadcast our further dreams in His name. Will He be any more pleased this time with our dream and zeal than he was in 1925? He will not, and therefore it behooves a faithful child of God to courageously take a stand and “come out of her that he be not a partaker of her sins.”
But someone may ask, “if the Society is not doing the Lords work, what is the Lords work?” The answer to this question must stand until a later date. Suffice to say now that just as one required to see in a measure at least the corruption of Churchianity and be dissatisfied therewith before he could accept what truth the Society had, so likewise one must see in a measure at least the corruption of the Society and how far it has departed from a “thus saith the Lords” before he can receive the answer to that question. In the meantime, I would suggest that any who read this letter should read carefully and prayerfully 1st Corinthians 18 and Philippians 4:8, pausing after each sentence to think on what he has read.
While hardly related to the matter at hand, I could not help but think as I read a recent copy of the GOLDEN AGE of Paul’s word in Phil 4:8 which reads: “Finally brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, THINK OF THESE THINGS.” I wonder how one could read such blood-curling stuff and obscene language as the GOLDEN AGE contains and at the same time carry out Paul’s admonition. But I can hear some scoffer saying, “Oh that was only Paul and he said it long before the Lord came to his temple in 1918. Since then we are taught to be real “He” men, real “Christians” that know how to use strong language.
In all my twenty years association with you I always had a kindly feeling of love toward you in the Lord and have in sincerity always closed my letters to you giving expression thereto. Even upon this occasion I cannot refrain from saying that I would to God that you would awaken to your position and make full confession before Him, for I have no ill will toward you whatsoever; I pity you and would do you good if I could. Remember, God is a God of loving kindness and tender mercy; His mercy endureth forever!
As I survey the whole matter I am reminded of Jesus words in John: “This is the condemnation that (cometh upon you) lit is come into the world. And me (you) loved darkness rather than light because their (your) works were evil”, not truth but lies, false dreams, vain babblings. “Am I therefore you enemy because I tell you the truth?” Galatians 4:16
Sincerely,
W.F. Salter (signed)
WTBTS and Olin R. Moyle
***
On page 81 (soft-cover) of Apocalypse Delayed, Jim Penton makes this statement about Olin Moyle:
“Even though a teetotaler, Moyle can hardly be charged with being overly critical of the drinking habits of his brethren at Bethel, and he was quite accurate in his assessment of the judge’s self-righteous, choleric actions and breakfast-table tirades. Furthermore, he was simply eager to correct what to him were serious examples of unchristian conduct and to stress that Rutherford had an immediate responsibility to remedy the conditions which had caused his resignation and protest. But Rutherford, who sometimes had difficulty in distinguishing his own position from that of Jehovah or Christ Jesus, regarded Moyle’s letter as nothing short of apostasy itself.”
Does this sound familiar? It should!
Rutherford used the October 15, 1939 Watchtower (pages 316-317) to vilify Moyle:
“INFORMATION
“Being reminded that this is the time when God is removing from his organization everything that can be shaken, ‘that those things which cannot be shaken may remain’ (Hebrews 12:26, 27), the members of the board of directors of the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY, for the information and protection of those who are devoted to God’s organization, request that the Watchtower publish what follows:
“On the 21st of July, 1939, a paper written in the form of a letter, signed by O. R. Moyle, was left in the desk of the lobby of the Bethel Home addressed to the president of the Society. Because that paper involved the entire family at Bethel, it was properly brought before the board and before the family. The letter, being filled with false, slanderous and libelous statements, was vigorously condemned by the board, and by all the members of the Bethel family. The board unanimously adopted the following Resolution, which was also approved by the family:
‘At a joint meeting of the boards of directors of the Pennsylvania corporation and the New York corporation of the Bible and Tract Society held at the office of the Society at Brooklyn, N.Y., this 8th day of August, 1939, at which other members of the family were present, there was read to said boards and in the presence of O. R. Moyle a letter dated July 21st, 1939, written by said Moyle and addressed to the president of the Society.
‘For four years past the writer of that letter has been entrusted with the confidential matters of the Society. It now appears that the writer of that letter, without excuse, libels the family of God at Bethel, and identifies himself as one who speaks evil against the Lord’s organization, and who is a murmurer and complainer, even as the Scriptures have foretold (Jude 4-16; 1 Cor. 4:3; Rom. 14:4).
Note how Da Judge completely ignored what Moyle actually said, to wit, that (basically) the Judge was drunk and a cruel, heartless jerk. Da Judge’s reply elevated speaking against what HE did personally as being the SAME as speaking evil against the “Lord’s organization.” The man had an ego that wouldn’t quit.
[On a side note, a friend of mine recently sent me this true little gem: During the early 20s, the following sign was actually posted next to a billboard that was advertising Rutherford's "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" lecture: "Millions would rather die than hear Judge Rutherford speak."]
The article continues:
‘The members of the board of directors hereby resent the unjust criticism appearing in that letter, disapprove of the writer and his actions, and recommend that the president of the Society immediately terminate the relationship of O. R. Moyle to the Society as legal counsel and as member of the Bethel family.’
“Aside from the introductory paragraph announcing the writer’s purpose to leave Bethel at the fixed time, every paragraph of that letter is false, filled with lies, and is a wicked slander and libel not only against the president but against the entire family, and for that reason the letter has not been published by the Society. He requested “Consolation” to publish his letter, and Moyle, being refused, now causes his libelous paper to be published and circulated among certain companies of the consecrated, causing the same to be publicly read, and then by his own words which may be called ‘fair speech’, he pretends to be harmony with the Society, and thus further deceives the unsuspecting ones. His own possible purpose in further publishing is to justify himself and to ’cause division among the brethren’, both of which are condemned by the Word of God (Luke 16:15; Rom. 16:17, 18). For this reason the brethren should be warned. ‘The afore-mentioned letter’ being filled with lies leveled against the brethren, the same is hated by Jehovah; ‘Six things doth the Lord hate; yea, seven are an abomination unto him… a false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among the brethren’ — Prov. 6:16-19.
Note: once again, Da Judge does not specifically refute any charge Moyle made, but lumps everything Moyle said together as “wicked slander,” “libel” and “filled with lies.”
‘By inducing other to join with him in the circulation and publication of his slanderous letter among the consecrated he makes others party to his wrong. The slanderous paper, being opposition and against the interest of the Theocratic government, is pleasing only to the Devil and his earthly agents’
Note: the old “guilt by association” fear tactic. By pointing out that the TRUTH that the leader of this so-called “Theocratic government” was a drunk, a criminal and a cowardly bully, Moyle was pleasing to the “Devil.”
‘For four years Moyle was entrusted with the confidential matters of the Society, and then, without excuse, he assaults and maligns those who trusted him.’
Note: “How dare you! You weren’t SUPPOSED to tell everyone I’m a drunk, a criminal and a bully, Olin!”
‘Judas was entrusted by Christ Jesus with confidential matters, and Judas proved his unfaithfulness by furnishing to the enemy that which they could use and did use against the Lord.’
Note: “Yeah, Judge, but Jesus wasn’t a DRUNK who had a mansion and a number of other homes like you!”
‘He who maligns the brethren of the Lord maligns the Lord himself, and the end of such the Scriptures plainly point out. Having been warned, each one must choose to join the ‘evil servant’ and take the consequences (Matthew 24:48-51) or remain faithful to Jesus and his government by Christ Jesus.’
Note: In other words, “You can only remain faithful to Jesus and his government if you don’t tell anyone I’m a DRUNK and a CRIMINAL.” (Makes perfect sense to me!)
‘Choose whom you’ll serve.’
Note: does anyone smell a THREAT here?
‘[Signed]: Fred W. Franz, N. H. Knorr, Grant Suiter, T. J. Sullivan, W. P. Heath, W. H. Reimer, W. E. Van Amburgh, M. Goux, C. A. Wise, C. J. Woodworth. Approve for publication J. F. Rutherford, Pres.’
Epilogue: Moyle sued for libel and eventually collected $15,000 and court costs two years after Rutherford drank his last gallon of gin and croaked. Here are the case references for the trials.
- Moyle v. Rutherford et al., 261 App. Div. 968; 26 N.Y.S. 2d 860;
- Moyle v. Franz et al., 267 App. Div. 423; 46 N.Y.S. 2d 607;
- Moyle v. Franz et al., 47 N.Y.S. 484.
http://corior.blogspot.com/2006/02/wtbts-and-olin-r-moyle.html
Olin Moyle’s Letter to J. F. Rutherford
Olin Moyle was an attorney who was asked to come to Bethel in 1935 to help the Watchtower Society in its freedom-of-worship legal cases. He discovered that Bethel was anything but the “spiritual paradise” the Society claims it is. His letter of resignation is a very revealing one, particularly in light of the fact that when Jehovah allegedly pronounced that the Watchtower Society was in a “cleansed” condition and worthy of His selection as His sole mouthpiece, the one man in charge of everything done or said by of the Watchtower Society was none other than Joseph F. Rutherford himself. This letter reveals much about what kind of a man Rutherford was and what kind of an environment he fostered at the worldwide headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
This letter is written as dignified and reasoned tone that could be expected, considering what subjects it is addressing.
Rutherford responded to this letter in the October 15, 1939 Watchtower. Rutherford’s response in what was supposed to be a “Bible-based” religious journal further confirmed just what sort of man he was. Moyle responded with a lawsuit for libel. After Rutherford’s death he collected $15,000 plus court costs from the Society.
The letter as reproduced below was “Exhibit 4″ in the libel lawsuit against Rutherford and the board of directors of the Watchtower Society.
OLIN R. MOYLE Counselor
117 Adams Street. Brooklyn. New York
Telephone Triangle 5-1474
July 21, 1939
Judge J. F. Rutherford, Brooklyn, N. Y.
Dear Brother Rutherford:
This letter is to give you notice of our intention to leave Bethel on September 1st next. These reasons for leaving are stated herein and we ask that you give them careful and thoughtful consideration.
Conditions at Bethel are a matter of concern to all of the Lord’s people. Nowhere among imperfect men can there be perfect freedom from oppression, discrimination and unfair treatment, but at the Lord’s headquarters on earth conditions should be such that injustice would be reduced to the minimum. That is not the case here at Bethel and a protest should be made against it. I am in a good position to make such protest because your treatment of me has been generally kind, considerate and fair. I can make this protest in the interests of the Bethel family and of the Kingdom work without any personal interest entering into the matter.
Treatment of Bethel Family
Shortly after coming to Bethel we were shocked to witness the spectacle of our brethren receiving what is designated as a “trimming” from you. The first, if memory serves me correct, was a tongue lashing given to C. J. Woodworth. Woodworth in a personal letter to you stated something to the effect that it would be serving the devil to continue using our present day calendar. For that he was humiliated, called a jackass, and given a public lambasting. Others have been similarly treated. McCaughey, McCormick, Knorr, Prosser, Price, Van Sipma, Ness and others have been similarly scolded. They have been publicly called to account, condemned, and reprimanded without any previous notice. This summer some of the most unfair public reproaches have been given. J. Y. McCauley asked a question which carried with it a criticism of the present method of Watch Tower study. For that he was severely reprimanded. Your action constituted a violation of the principle for which we are fighting, towit, freedom of speech. It was the action of a boss and not that of a fellow servant. Securing an efficient mode of study with imperfect study leaders is no easy task, and no method yet produced has proved to be one hundred per cent perfect. You stated that no complaints had come to you concerning this method of study. If that be the case you have not had all the facts presented to you. There is complaint in various places that