Information on how to download the 1928 Messenger in PDF will be given at the bottom of this post.
The Messenger was the name given by the Watchtower Society for an occasional Watchtower publication that reviewed conventions for Bible Students/Jehovah's Witnesses in the 1920s to 1940s. There were issues published for (not a complete list) 1928, 1931, 1938 and a couple other years. (Perhaps someone else could give a complete list for us?) This Messenger covers the convention the Bible Students had that year in Detroit, Michigan. (Later Watchtower publications would consider this convention as fulfilling part of the Bible book of Revelation.)
The 1928 Messenger was actually released in 5 parts and is filled with many pictures. Since the year before had seen the construction of the Watchtower's first factory (117 Adams St.) and a major extension of the Bethel home, these Messengers give pictoral tours of the new faciltities. There's even a picture of Rutherford's suite on the 7th floor of the old 124 building. (I remember seeing this room in the mid 70s and it then belonged to a Bethelite by the name of Stan Ford. It was the only Bethel room complete with a fireplace.)
There's a lot of text to these Messengers that has not appeared elsewhere. A couple stand out for historical researchers. One is the complete text of Rutherford's meeting with the elders. As is well known, at this time Rutherford and congregational elders were not getting along famously. So, here's JFR's comments to them. One of the other items that stands out for me is the "new light" on the Great Pyramid. This was the assembly where JFR first rejected the prophetic signficance of the Great Pyramid. I had read one of Morton Edgar's letters where he referred to Rutherford speaking out against the Great Pyramid at the Detroit convention, but I never knew how he did so. I imagined he presented some sort of lecture then. This Messenger tells how it happened. I'll quote the Messenger article (page 46 of the PDF -- excuse formatting issues, please!):
In unfolding the teachings of the Scripture regarding the place of safety, the Judge, at one point,
laid down his manuscript and in the most matter of fact way in the world said, in substance, "When the Lord spoke of hiding his people in his secret place he was not talking about any chambers in the pyramid, built by the Devil himself." Now that is just as if a Free Methodist should arise in a prayer meeting and tell his brethren that they are all walking sidewise or backwards or upside down on the Hell question. Your Free Methodist feels that he is an authority on hell. It is one of his specialties, and there are Free Methodists who, if they lost their Hell, would be out of luck altogether. They would have nothing left. And, by the way, some of them have even admitted that very thing. The Bible Students have been free from fear of eternal torture by an infinitely wise and just and loving God for so long that they have and to pinch themselves to realize that they ever believed or tried to believe such nonsense.
But some of them have been strong on the pyramid. "Why," when the speech was over, one of the ex-pilgrims said, with a sickly grin, "I have been giving speeches on the Great Pyramid for thirteen years." It is a safe bet that that pilgrim will now have to get up a new lesson. All over the Fair Grounds knots of Bible Students were discussing the new point. Some were saying, "I wonder what the Judge meant by that"; others, "I can not see what is wrong with the Pyramid"; and others, "I never did see much in the Pyramid anyway, and I believe the Judge has it right."
Their interest stirred, the staff of Tlte Messenger asked for a further word, pending the explanation which is sure to come in the Tower in due time. The Judge smiled and said: "We have been taking it for granted that in two or three passages the Bible had something
to say about the "Pyramid," but when we come to examine the context closely we find no reason to think God has mentioned it it ail, nor is there any reason to think such a structure was necessary. The Word of God is sufficient, that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished to every good work.
The idea that the Great Pyramid is in some way identified with the British Government, preserving its inches and other measurements, though even then requiring to be scaled down one-tenth of one percent, is suspicious in itself, for it can not be denied that Britain has been and is the cruelest as well as the strongest power in history, and much more like the Devil than China itself where the Devil is an object of worship.
When we consider the millions of human beings that must have slaved to erect the Great Pyramid we can see that a God of Love would not have resorted to such means to bring honor to his name." That satisfies us. That will do for now, until the Judge can get time to tell all that
is in his mind and in the Bible against the idea. But it sure did set the tongues wagging at the Fair Grounds and resulted in another overhauling of the old trunk wherein are kept a few choice relics of what, until recently, we honestly believed the Bible teaches.
So, Rutherford just did an aside from a prepared manuscript lecture denouncing the Pyramid and that was it! No reasoned lecture, no preparation for the surprised conventioneers. You can imagine the shock! Can you imagine a Governing Body member today putting down his prepared speech and saying something like, "When Jesus said he was coming again, I hope you realize he meant he will come visibly, not invisibly," and then continue on with his speech giving no other explanation? Or, what if today's Governing Body member said off the cuff something like, "The laws against eating blood in the Bible have no application to blood transfusions," and then said nothing more?
But, this shows how much Rutherford had managed to take control of the Bible Student movement by 1928. Whatever, he said was so, was so.
As an aside, when I first got to Bethel in the 70s I was told a story by Ciro Aulicino who was the elder who was my table head in the Bethel dining room. It involved a Bethelite who was a keen supporter of the Great Pyramid symbolism who was overcome with shock when JFR "did away with the pyramids." This Bethelite was in stupor for several days and one day walking to the factory for work he carelessly walked in front of a car and was killed. Ciro didn't think it was suicide. This brother, apparently, was so shook up by the sudden change he just wasn't watching what he was doing.
Those interested in reading the Messenger PDF for 1928 can download it from this filesharing site:
http://www.filesend.net/download.php?f=96360cdbe5615621d6a3e7dcb404ad83
It's about 36 MB and about 40 pages of text. The pages are tabloid size, so all pages are split in half (top and bottom), so there's about 80 pages in the PDF. The file is also indexed and searchable.
