Then Rutherford rebukes Fink in response to Fink's Sept. 21st letter:
#28
J. F. Rutherford to zone servant Harvey H. Fink, 3 October 1939: "Your letter states that you called upon Moyle at a meeting of the company to state his position....Your action in this regard was entirely un-Scriptural. The Lord Jesus says: 'If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and IF HE REPENT forgive him" (Luke 17:3). You had no evidence whatsoever that he had repented. The statement in his letter was a gross libel and slander against the Family of Bethel, if false; and if true, then he could not have conscientiously said that he was in full harmony. You made no attempt to ascertain the truth of the matter. You preferred to take his unsupported statement of the truth of the matter, as against the Watchtower publications and you attempted to speak for the Lord, which you had no authority to do. You were presumptuous before the Lord in this entire matter. Your first duty was to inquire from the Society if you desire to know why this action was taken because the presumption must be indulged that the WATCHTOWER would not make such a statement about anyone unless it was fully supported by the facts.
In your letter of the 21st. you say that you took the position that if he was 100% wrong it was still your duty to help him, until his actions proved him to be a hypocrite...A slanderer of the Lord's organization, including the entire family, was a slander against the Lord himself. You were willing to pass that up as immaterial and at the same time agree in your own mind that the brethren should restore him. Your action only tended to cause division. Has he repented yet for his wrong doing? He had not on August 24th because on that date he addressed a letter to some others enclosing copies of his slanderous letter and asking the persons addressed to distribute them amongst the brethren. That is not much evidence of repentance. That is over his own signature....Says the Lord at Luke 7:4 that repentance is a condition precedent for forgiving a willful wrong-doer. He sinned against the Lord and against the Lord's brethren, and sinned against the light and it would be an insult to the Lord to forgive such a person who still persists in maintaining that his slander is right.... It is the privilege of the company at Milwaukee and elsewhere to endorse Moyle's slanderous and unfaithful action or to repudiate it. That privilege is yours also....
Brother Howlett was temporarily appointed zone servant as you know until you should have an opportunity to clear up the misunderstanding. Up to this time you have made no effort to rectify your wrongful action. Under the circumstances it would be improper for you to serve as the Society's representative and at the same time condone the action of one who has so grossly slandered the Lord's people, and who has attempted to cause division amongst them".
