Interesting that the same author alluded to 1928 as a failed prophecy:
An erroneous prophecy that the year 1928 would provide a cataclysm— ''Nations will battle; the dead will be dung on the earth"—upset considerably the Bible Students' calculations
Yet there is seemingly no trace of this in the literature as far as I can see. Has anyone ever really heard of a 1928 prediction? It's news to me. So was this a figment of the reporter's imagination? No! It took a lot of searching, but I think I found the basis for this date. In 1924, the book The Great Pyramid: Its Divine Message was published by David Davidson, and it claimed that the Great Tribulation would begin on 29 May 1928 and would end on 16 September 1936. These views were popularized further by Basil Stewart and D. Davidson in their book The Great Pyramid: Its Construction, Symbolism, and Chronology, published in 1927. On p. 65 they state that "the Pyramid warns us that these events are to take place between May, 1928 and September, 1936".
That similar ideas circulated among the Bible Students (at least those associated with PSL Johnson) is confirmed by a New York brother who wrote the following in a letter:
"I just finished reading a booklet given me by a brother in regard to the Pyramid; the author states that upon reviewing the measurements of the Pyramid he finds a few errors which make August 28th, which is now past, and also October 3rd as the final date for the big battle of Armageddon to begin. These two dates have passed and nothing has come to pass to substantiate the deductions" (Herald of Christ's Kingdom, 1 January 1929, p. 15).
It is curious that these dates do not exactly correspond to Davidson & Stewart's dates, and the reference to the "booklet" suggests that some other privately-printed publication circulated among the Bible Students that drew on Davidson & Stewart's work on the Great Pyramid. In 1925, the Bible Students associated with Johnsson abandoned the date 606 BC, refused to accept 1925, and looked forward to the the 1930s: "The reasonable deduction is that the great changes and events which we have heretofore expected to take place in 1914 would, in view of the foregoing, be logically expected to be in evidence somewhere around 1934" (Herald of Christ's Kingdom, August 1925, p. 14), so a date of 1936 fits pretty well in that scheme.
What is not known, since sources are so scarce, is whether these speculations got any airplay in the Golden Age. It is quite likely that the booklet in question circulated among Rutherfordian Bible Students as well, as there was a fair degree of literature swapping between the groups (this would largely cease in the 1930s when Rutherford gained further control, dismissed elders and ecclesias sympathetic to Russell, and portrayed the other Bible Students as the "evil slave"), and other literature being sent around through the mail. The 15 November 1927 Watchtower mentioned that a Bethelite named D. Chomiak mailed a pamphlet titled A Study to the entire subscription list, and Rutherford urged that "when the Society has anything to say it will say it officially through The Watch Tower....We suggest the friends disregard all private pamphlets or sheets that come through the mail, and wait for The Watch Tower" (p. 338, 351)
It is curious tho that Rutherford published the "Altar in Egypt" series of articles in the 15 November and 1 December 1928 Watchtower. These were the articles that rejected the belief that the Pyramid was a valid source of chronological information:
*** w28 12/1 p. 359 The Altar in Egypt Pt. 2 ***
[Satan] would turn the mind of such away from Jehovah and the wonderful unfolding of his prophecies at the present time. In this connection let it be emphasized that those who are devotees of the pyramid of Gizeh, and who are delving into its supposed secrets, are doing nothing whatsoever to bear witness against the Devil’s organization and for the name of Jehovah God.
The timing of these articles is interesting, as this was around the time when speculation was going around concerning 1928. Did Rutherford contribute to the speculation as the Time articles suggest? Or did the author rely on what other Bible Students were saying?
