Rutherford's Hostile Welcome in New Zealand

by AndersonsInfo 9 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  AndersonsInfo

  http://watchtowerdocuments.org/hostile-welcome-new-zealand/

  Rutherford’s Hostile Welcome in New Zealand

  Posted on December 23, 2014 by Barbara on www.watchtowerdocuments.org

  

  When “Judge” Rutherford visited New Zealand in 1938 he met a mostly hostile reception. As Rutherford was driven to the Auckland Town Hall to deliver a lecture, “…his attention was drawn to a newspaper placard bearing a distortion of the title of a lecture he had given years earlier.” [Watchtower, March 1, 1985, p. 28]

  What was the name of that original lecture? What was the theme and promise that was part of Watchtower President J. F. Rutherford’s world famous public-speaking program that began on September 25, 1920 and continued for many years after?

  “Millions Now Living Will Never Die”

  In 1920, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society also published a booklet of the same name. On page 97 it stated:

  “…that the new order is coming in, and that 1925 shall mark the resurrection of the faithful worthies of old and the beginning of reconstruction, it is reasonable to conclude that millions now living will never die.”

  The passing of 1925 and the embarrassing failure of these predictions by the Watchtower under the direction of “Judge” Joseph F. Rutherford were well-known and remembered by many people living in 1938.

  The people of New Zealand were slow to forget or forgive. It was no wonder that on that newspaper placard displayed upon his arrival in Auckland it was written in big bold letters: Read what was written on that placard at http://watchtowerdocuments.org/hostile-welcome-new-zealand/

  And while you're at the website, look at the Rutherford video.
• 

  disposable hero of hypocrisy

  That's an interesting read, and the video is good too. Is there any documentary evidence of the placard anywhere?
• 

  Julia Orwell

  Love the Kiwis. A very sensible people.
• 

  steve2

  Thanks for the post Barbara. My 4 grandparents were JWs and my paternal grandfather was outspoken in his dislike of Rutherford but never to the point of being a concern to the brothers. I had not realized though that Rutherford had actually visited this country. To think that the organization subsequently grew relatively large in NZ - although there is no longer the rapid growth that occurred in thd immediate post world war two years or the early to mid 1970s.
• 

  AndersonsInfo

  I read about that placard while I was in Bethel while reading an article in the March 1, 1985 Watchtower and had to laugh. In fact, in the article, it said that Rutherford laughed at what he read on that placard. Recently, when looking through the 1985 Watchtower, I ran across that article once again. It was a personal story as told by Harold E. Gill. We have only his word that this event actually happened.

  When reading about the placard for the second time, I realized that although it was somewhat humorous, it couldn't have been funny to the people in the early 1920s who put faith in Rutherford's words, "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," which misled them into believing in something that turned out to be a lie when 1925 arrived and nothing happened.
• 

  joe134cd

  Yes very interesting Barbara. I never knew that he ever visited NZ. It's quite likely that my Great Grandfather could of heard that talk.
• 

  Juan Viejo2

  Barbara included Shazoolo's YT video in her article because it so clearly describes thoses days of Rutherford and bad prophecy...

  JV

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xQWARtRVQxs
• 

  Witness 007

  Thats great thanks....smart headline!
• 

  Heaven

  'Judge' Rutherfraud... what an a$$!
• 

  Terry

  A public talk titled "The World Has Ended; Millions Now Living May Never Die" was first delivered on February 24, 1918 in Los Angeles, California.

  Five weeks later, on March 31, 1918 the title was changed to indicate absolute certainty: "The World Has Ended; Millions Now Living Will Never Die."

  The public talk continued to be delivered under that same title until 1925. The material was published as a book in 1920.

  The prophecy failed, but the organization certainly got tremendous mileage out of the countdown clock

  of the generation policy.

  As that teaching slowly strangled and reincarnated into overlapping generations, the entire fraud can now be seen for what it was/is.

  _______________________

  http://jehovah.net.au/books/Millions_Now_Living_Will_Never_Die.pdf

  One book reviewer said this:

  "It's so funny. A hilarious book you just can't put down. Why? Because they were actually serious. It is the Plan 9 From Outer Space of the book world."

  _____________________________

  https://archive.org/details/MillionsNowLivingWillNeverDieRogerson