Randy Watters made reference to the 1,177 rules (not 1,777) in his resignation letter to the GB.
"[Albert Schroeder] holds up the Branch Organization Procedure book and pointed out it's 1,177 rules and regulations, knowing full well what Romans 7:6 says about Christians following sets of 'spiritual rules'. Then he actually admits that the beliefs of those dismissed were not an apostasy from the Bible, but from the organization! There IS a difference, isn't there?"
This is in the 9th paragraph of the letter, located here,
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