Golden Age Goodies

by Leolaia 279 Replies latest watchtower scandals

Leolaia

Of all the various things I've posted so far, this is the one that really made me laugh out loud.
It has to take a very fertile mind to think that a drought in Spain has anything to do with Rutherford's ability to make a speech in the country, and that either has anything to do with an obscure prophecy in Zechariah. I mean, what does the one have to do with the other? LOL
I think this gets back to Rutherford's ego and the desire to see Bible prophecy everywhere. Today, this is a forgotten drought over 80 years ago that was of no consequence, yet at the time it was a stirring "remarkable" fulfillment of Bible prophecy. And as far as the ego is concerned....Mr. Rutherford fulfilling stupendous divine prophecies by the itinerary of his talk schedule! How prosaic. I'm having trouble again seeing what it has to do with the drought. I suppose I'll have to picture Rutherford as Elijah declaring, "If thou shalt not permit me to talk in your country, Jehovah shall stop the rains for seven months until repentance comes unto thee." And it was so.
BluesBrother

Are these relevant? Yes.
1) The Golden Age was not just a general interest mag. It was the writing of the F& DS (so called) . They claim to be "Spirit Directed" and anything they say is to be viewed as "Food at the right time" from Jehovah. Therefore we can rightly expect a higher level of editor care then in a normal Mag.
2) These are mainly quotes from a third party source. They pick up things from other journals. Does that excuse them of responsibility ? No, because they chose to publicise them wit a favourable comment. They know that that the faithful will swallow it hook line and sinker and not tell the difference between these items and other stuff they publish
Agreed that many dubs today would also chuckle at what was said - they have the cognitive dissonance to ignore past mistakes while still believing that it is the Organization of God. But it raises a question "Would any spirit directed organization allow such rubbish to be printed in its name?
Jeffro

while the whole of Central Europe is complaining about a miserable summer, no rain has fallen in Madrid

Sounds more like a blessing.
Jeffro

Sistab_b said:
Why are you indulging in the past?
Why indeed should we reflect on the past? Why was it important to make the 'Stand Firm' video? Apart from the self serving issues of 'poor us', and 'look how resilient we are', it is important because the past should be known, so that the same mistakes are not made, and so that there is candid transparency, so people can judge for themselves whether a group should be trusted.
rassillon

sista_b

I believe this quote from the KM will help you to see the importance of looking at these items.

*** km 2/94 p. 6 How Beneficial to Recount What Jehovah Has Done! ***

12 Take Time to Think About What You Read: What is going to be your objective as you read? Merely covering pages-completing the book-should not be your aim. The Proclaimers book contains a record of your spiritual heritage. You ought to know it well. Take time to think about the implications of what you read. As you review the activity of ancient witnesses of Jehovah, consider how you can imitate their faith. (Heb. 12:1, 2) When you read about the development of the great apostasy, take special note of the pitfalls that ensnared those who turned away, with a view to safeguarding your own spirituality. And as you review our modern-day history, observe the spiritual qualities of those who were used by God, how they demonstrated that the doing of God's will was the most important thing in their lives, and how they reacted to situations-some of them very difficult-that God permitted.-Heb. 13:7.

It is our spiritual heritage!!

We can't cherry pick things from our history that we like and ignore the things we are ashamed of.

It is like hiding a retarded brother in the basement when company comes over.

Remember the Goonies, the retarded brother came back to get them in the end.

-r
johnny cip

in the jan 1 or 15 1996 wt first couple of pages. this wt is declaring , what was printed in the golden age mag. as INCONTRVERTIBLE FACTS.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! just a small sampling of golden age mag's prove . the writers of this 1996 wt article . are nothing more than liars. plus there are many wt's that tell you to read old wt publication . to get the great spritual food they contained. thanks to joe-hover. . these guys in the writing dept. know . they are decievers, false teachers, false witnesses. and STRAIGHT OUT LIARS. THEY KNOW . AND THEY DO IT IN THE NAME OF GOD. WHAT A SHAME.
johnny cip

I WANT to let everyone know . alot of the stuff that is posted on this thread. about 1920's wt publications. golden age ( god's bible in stone {pyramid} 1924 " color and character" early 20's ga. MILLION NOW LIVING WILL NEVER DIE" 1920 "THE WAY TO PARADISE" 1924 ETC. ARE ALL ADVAIBLE AT LULU .COM for about $10 each AS ACCURATE REPRINTS. GREAT READING FOR ANY SERIOUS RESEARCHER. just the knowleldge you will will gain from any of these reprintes. will easily let you prove to your ignorant jw family. that jesus never choose the wt in 1919. order a few copies , to have a study with your rabid jw. friends. and watch their heads spin. remember the jw's will be studing the rev. climax book soon again . and they could show how smart they are . by producing quotes from the 1920's wt's to prove , the proper spritual food. from that time the wt so heaviely promotes , at the tuesday night study.. i hope some here will give the link. to LULU. SO more jw's can order these books the kingdom hall took off the shelves of the hall library. to learn why they were removed. funny out of HUNDREDS OF JW'S I've QUESTIONed ABOUT THE REV CLIMAX BOOK'S REFERENCE TO "millions now living will never die" not one of them has ever read it. i always offer them a copy and a free study. on this ,as the climax book " calls a rev. from jehovah. john
Leolaia

*** km 3/05 p. 1 pars. 2-3 More Emphasis on the Bible! ***
The magazine The Golden Age was published to show people that the real solution to mankind’s problems is Christ’s Millennial Reign, which will truly usher in a golden age for humankind. .... From its beginning, this magazine has contributed mightily to the great witness that has been given since 1919. (Matt. 24:14)...Since its first issue back in 1919, the magazine successively known as The Golden Age, Consolation, and now Awake! has played a major role in the preaching work.
*** w00 7/1 p. 17 Sowing Seeds of Kingdom Truth ***
After removing several boards, he discovered that behind the wall, mice had stowed away shredded papers, empty walnut shells, and other debris. There, in the midst of it all, lay a copy of The Golden Age magazine. Robert was particularly interested in an article on the subject of raising children. He was so impressed by the clear, Bible-based direction given in the magazine that he told Lila that they were going to join "the religion of The Golden Age." Within just a few weeks, Jehovah’s Witnesses came to their door, but Robert told them that the family was interested only in "the religion of The Golden Age."
*** yb88 pp. 75-76 Ireland ***
The Witnesses demonstrated this same courage when distributing issues of The Golden Age that contained outspoken messages indicting the clergy for their part in suppressing the truth and persecuting true Christians. Brother Oliver recalls vividly one illustration in a special issue of The Golden Age—a clergyman wielding a dagger with blood dripping from its point. The caption was the message from Jeremiah 2:34 (King James Version): "In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents."
*** w87 3/1 p. 13 par. 13 ‘Upon the Watchtower I Am Standing’ ***
On October 1, 1919, a new magazine appeared on the world stage: The Golden Age. The watchman class would use this instrument as an associate to The Watchtower. Although its articles would not delve into Bible subjects as deeply as those in The Watchtower, it would alert mankind to false religious teachings, the coming destruction of the present wicked system of things, and the new earth of righteousness to follow. Yes, it too would champion the truth!... In this connection we would suggest that just at the time the publication of The Golden Age started there was a printers’ strike in Greater New York. Only a few days before, a contract had been made for the publication of The Golden Age and the men who were operating the presses which take the kind of paper and cover used in it did not go on strike. It thus seemed providential that the character of cover and paper had been selected, for the reason that had any other been selected it would have been impossible to start the magazine at all. Thus the Lord seemed to favor the infant publication.
*** w83 9/1 p. 9 Moving Ahead With God’s Organization ***
We moved a few miles away to Mountain View, close enough to San Jose to attend the meetings of the ecclesia there again. My father operated another store, and I worked in it full time, never receiving any wages but just helping him. Dad subscribed to The Watchtower and The Golden Age (now called Awake!), and how I especially enjoyed the The Golden Age! I felt that I was getting more information from it than I would have received had I remained in high school.
*** w83 8/1 p. 13 A Full Life in Jehovah’s Service ***
It all started years before and 9,000 miles (14,500 km) away in California, U.S.A., while I was studying to become a chiropractor. There, I had borrowed a magazine called The Golden Age (now known as Awake!) from my landlady, Mrs. Bright. What I read in that magazine started to change my whole view of life. I had been raised in Hawaii in a Roman Catholic home, but neither that religion nor all the others that I investigated seemed to be the truth. They all left an empty feeling inside me. But what I read in that issue of The Golden Age began to fill the emptiness.
AuldSoul

Excellent point, in that last post, Johnny Cip...had to skip the one above it with the large lettering. It hurt my head, no offense intended .
If the talk/book "[...] Millions Now Living Will Never Die" is referred to as follows as recently as 1988 (publication date), 1996 if you consider when it was last studied in the congregation Book Study, and will be referred to again sometime during the 2006-2007 Revelation Climax book study, it is clear that the publications from that era are not seen as unimportant simply due to their publication dates.
*** re chap. 20 p. 120 par. 3 A Multitudinous Great Crowd ***
3 There were, however, other associates of the anointed Christians who later became most zealous in the preaching work. They had no aspirations of going to heaven. Indeed, their hope was in line with the title of a public talk featured by Jehovah’s people from 1918 to 1922. Originally, this was “The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living Will Never Die.” Soon thereafter, the Watch Tower magazine of October 15, 1923, explained Jesus’ parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46), stating: “Sheep represent all the peoples of the nations, not spirit-begotten but disposed toward righteousness, who mentally acknowledge Jesus Christ as the Lord and who are looking for and hoping for a better time under his reign.”
"Originally," the title of the talk/book was an out-and-out lie. The world had not ended. But they were still proclaiming that 1914 was the end of the world and that its end was invisible. They were proclaiming this up to and beyond 1925 (a year that figures prominently in the talk/book).
*** re chap. 23 p. 152 par. 12 The Second Woe—Armies of Cavalry ***
12 From 1918 to 1922, the John class began to hold out to distressed humanity the happy prospect that “millions now living will never die.” In 1923 it was also made known that the sheep of Matthew 25:31-34 would inherit life on earth under God’s Kingdom. A similar hope was held out in the booklet Freedom for the Peoples, released at the international convention in 1927. In the early 1930’s the upright Jehonadab class and the ‘men sighing and groaning’ over Christendom’s sorry spiritual condition were shown to be identical with the symbolic sheep having earthly life prospects. (Ezekiel 9:4; 2 Kings 10:15, 16) Directing such ones to the modern-day “cities of refuge,” The Watchtower of August 15, 1934, stated: “Those of the Jonadab class have heard the sound of God’s trumpet and have heeded the warning by fleeing to God’s organization and associating with God’s people, and there they must abide.”—Numbers 35:6.
The "happy prospect" was an out-and-out lie. By very reasonable estimates (according to the Population Reseach Bureau), if every single person living today who was "alive" (at least born) in 1918 (when the talk/book started its journey) survived Armageddon alive there would be roughly 10,000,000 survivors. If you say they had to be at least ten-years-old the numbers change significantly, to about 320,000 survivors. But, according to Jehovah's Witnesses, only baptized JWs will survive alive (without being resurrected).
So, going with an estimate that is in the favor of Jehovah's Witnesses, let's say all publishers will make it through alive (even though we know that is not doctrine). There is roughly 1 publisher per 1,000 non-JWs. So currently, at the OUTSIDE, there are only 10,000 JWs who were at least born by 1918. Of those born by 1908, there are only 320, maximum. Far short of "Millions" and it makes a lie of the happy and hopeful prospect being held out to people of that time. They SUCKERED people into believing a lie. They admit to having done so. They congratulate themselves for having done so.
*** re chap. 26 p. 173 God’s Sacred Secret—Its Glorious Climax! ***
Highlights of Jehovah’s Trumpetlike Judgment Proclamations
1. 1922 Cedar Point, Ohio: A challenge to Christendom’s leaders in religion, politics, and big business to justify their failure to bring peace, prosperity, and happiness. Messiah’s Kingdom is the panacea.
2. 1923 Los Angeles, California: The public talk, “All Nations Now Marching to Armageddon, but Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” called on peace-loving “sheep” to abandon the death-dealing sea of humanity.
3. 1924 Columbus, Ohio: Ecclesiastics indicted for self-exaltation and refusal to preach Messiah’s Kingdom. True Christians must preach God’s vengeance and comfort mourning humanity.
4. 1925 Indianapolis, Indiana: A message of hope contrasting the spiritual darkness in Christendom with the bright Kingdom promise of peace, prosperity, health, life, liberty, and eternal happiness.
5. 1926 London, England: A locustlike plaguing of Christendom and its clergy, exposing their rejection of God’s Kingdom, and hailing the birth of that heavenly government.
6. 1927 Toronto, Canada: An invitation, carried as by armies of cavalry, calling on people to forsake ‘organized Christianity’ and give heart allegiance to Jehovah God and to his King and Kingdom.
7. 1928 Detroit, Michigan: A declaration against Satan and for Jehovah, making plain that God’s anointed King, enthroned in 1914, will destroy Satan’s evil organization and emancipate mankind.
Armageddon was due to come in physical reality (to make real the foreshadow that was the invisible end in 1914) in 1925. This is classed as one of the trumpetlike judgment messages. It was a lie, the talk was chock full of prophecies that never came true. Confidence inspiring? Yes. Is that the objective of the judgment messages, or is the objective to bring actual resolution after announcing the judgment?
So they would have us believe that God, through his spirit-directed channel on earth, directed lying outrightly to millions of people (tens of thousands of whom believed) as a means to trick them into the true religion. What utter nonsense!
*** re chap. 32 p. 221 God’s Anger Brought to a Finish ***
“Into the Earth”
The John class has publicized Jehovah’s wrath against “the earth” with statements such as the following:
“After centuries of effort, political parties have proved their inadequacy to meet the present conditions and to solve the distressing problems. Economists and statesmen, studying the question diligently, find that they are able to do nothing.”—Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920, page 61.
“There is not a government on earth today that satisfies any reasonable proportion of the world. Many of the nations are ruled by dictators. The whole world is practically bankrupt.”—A Desirable Government, 1924, page 5.
“Bringing an end to this system of things . . . is the only way to rid the world of evil and make room for peace and righteousness to flourish.”—“This Good News of the Kingdom,” 1954, page 25.
“The present world arrangement has distinguished itself by increasing sin, unrighteousness and rebellion against God and his will. . . . It is unreformable. Therefore, it must go!”—The Watchtower, November 15, 1981, page 6.
That book had a lot more to say than just this. It was filled with lies, from cover to cover. It was filled with misrepresentation of secular information, perverted Scriptural viewpoints, and always, always the invocation of God's certain deliverance of this information to his servants. It is clear that the origins of this organization live on in its dogma. Clear to anyone who cares about the truth, that is.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul
Leolaia

Hey, I just did some checking and found the issue referred to in this artircle:
*** yb88 pp. 75-76 Ireland ***
The Witnesses demonstrated this same courage when distributing issues of The Golden Age that contained outspoken messages indicting the clergy for their part in suppressing the truth and persecuting true Christians. Brother Oliver recalls vividly one illustration in a special issue of The Golden Age—a clergyman wielding a dagger with blood dripping from its point. The caption was the message from Jeremiah 2:34 (King James Version): "In thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents."
This cartoon is contained in the 29 September 1920 Golden Age, p. 713. This was a special issue all about how Rutherford et al. were thrown into prison in 1918, how they have been mercilessly been persecuted by Catholics, etc. In the photo I provided above of part of the "stash", it was this issue:
And here is the cartoon:
Apparently this issue of the Golden Age caused a stir at the time. The following article shows that some in the congregations had problems with this issue:
*** yb75 p. 126 Part 2—United States of America ***
In time Golden Age No. 27 made its appearance. "It was the September 29, 1920, issue, detailing the persecution and abuse of the brothers and sisters during the period of oppression," writes Roy E. Hendrix, who had part in distributing it. Amelia and Elizabeth Losch add: "It exposed the ungodly persecution heaped upon the International Bible Students during World War I by the religious clergymen of Christendom and their allies, political and military. . . . Nine in the congregation refused to participate in this work and signed a petition not to do so. They lacked faith in the ‘faithful and discreet slave.’ As a result, we, along with three others, maintaining faith, distributed 25,000 copies in only two weeks. The end of the campaign saw us tired but happy, knowing we were faithfully walking in the light of God’s Word." Four million copies of Golden Age No. 27 were printed. These were given away free or were placed on a voluntary contribution of ten cents a copy. Principally, distribution was from house to house.

Golden Age Goodies

Share this