by vienne 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Recent to B's history blog, an article explaining that N. Pierson, a Russell associate, built cottages for his soon to be resurrected relatives. Fascinating. He hated Rutherford, but still ...
https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/
Scroll down to the entry of April 14, 2025.
enjoy.
Annie
Curious, looks like he fell for the 1925 Millions-Now-Living spiel hook line and sinker
Actually, this persisted into Rutherford's day with the building of Beth Sarim in California. From the Proclaimers book “House of the Princes” page 79
"Brother Rutherford had a severe case of pneumonia after his release from unjust imprisonment in 1919. Thereafter, he had only one good lung. In the 1920’s, under a doctor’s treatment, he went to San Diego, California, and the doctor urged him to spend as much time as possible there. From 1929 on, Brother Rutherford spent the winters working at a San Diego residence he had named Beth-Sarim. Beth-Sarim was built with funds that were a direct contribution for that purpose. The deed, which was published in full in “The Golden Age” of March 19, 1930, conveyed this property to J. F. Rutherford and thereafter to the Watch Tower Society.
Concerning Beth-Sarim, the book “Salvation,” published in 1939, explains: “The Hebrew words ‘Beth Sarim’ mean ‘House of the Princes’; and the purpose of acquiring that property and building the house was that there might be some tangible proof that there are those on earth today who fully believe God and Christ Jesus and in His kingdom, and who believe that the faithful men of old will soon be resurrected by the Lord, be back on earth, and take charge of the visible affairs of earth.”
A few years after Brother Rutherford’s death, the board of directors of the Watch Tower Society decided to sell Beth-Sarim. Why? “The Watchtower” of December 15, 1947, explained: “It had fully served its purpose and was now only serving as a monument quite expensive to keep; our faith in the return of the men of old time whom the King Christ Jesus will make princes in ALL the earth (not merely in California) is based, not upon that house Beth-Sarim, but upon God’s Word of promise.”
[Footnote]
At the time, it was believed that faithful men of old times, such as Abraham, Joseph, and David, would be resurrected before the end of this system of things and would serve as “princes in all the earth,” in fulfillment of Psalm 45:16. This view was adjusted in 1950, when further study of the Scriptures indicated that those earthly forefathers of Jesus Christ would be resurrected after Armageddon.—See :The Watchtowers, November 1, 1950, pages 414-17.
Thanks Annie.
Beth Sarim,, lol
For the resurrected ones. LoL
A more recent post-resurrection idea being promoted is that the Ramapo Video Production facility (it that ever comes to pass) will serve as a Teaching Center. As Anthony Morris III said in one of his last talks before his departure..."These videos could be....or..may well be...used to teach Ressurected Ones!". Some Watchtower illustrations have shown brothers instructing the resurrected using tablets and video screens.
It is difficult to conceive of a religious movement more embarrassingly entangled in the ruins of its own failed prophecies than the organization now known as Jehovah’s Witnesses. One of the most striking and frankly bizarre illustrations of this is the construction of literal houses for the physically resurrected dead—yes, actual buildings, real estate, complete with addresses and deeds—built on the unfounded expectation that long-dead biblical patriarchs would soon knock at the door. Such was the spectacle of Watchtower eschatology in the 1920s and 30s.
In 1925, a devout Russellite, Andrew N. Pierson, built cottages in Cromwell, Connecticut, for his deceased family members, believing they would be resurrected imminently in fulfillment of C. T. Russell’s prophetic speculations. That this man loathed Rutherford, Russell’s dictatorial successor, did not prevent him from absorbing the same delusional timetable. Pierson’s misguided piety was a microcosm of a broader movement that replaced sacred tradition and doctrinal continuity with apocalyptic guesswork and speculative theology.
But the greater scandal lies not with Pierson’s personal folly, but with Rutherford himself, who took the failed prophecy of 1925 and used it as a pretext for constructing a mansion in San Diego—Beth Sarim—which he claimed was built for Abraham, Moses, David, and other ancient “princes.” Yet as the world reeled from the economic devastation of the Great Depression, this Watchtower president lived in ostentatious luxury, chauffeured in a 16-cylinder Cadillac and enjoying a ten-bedroom palace with palm-lined grounds, under the flimsy excuse that he needed the warm climate “for his health.”
And who paid for this absurd house supposedly built for resurrected patriarchs? According to official Watchtower publications, it was a “gift” from unnamed “friends”—a nebulous phrase that conveniently shields the organization from financial transparency. The irony is grotesque: while Rutherford’s followers were selling their homes and livelihoods to finance the Watchtower’s publishing empire and door-to-door campaigns, their leader was sipping wine in California, awaiting King David to arrive and claim the guest suite.
Let that sink in: during a time of worldwide economic collapse, when real human beings were suffering hunger, eviction, and joblessness, a man who claimed to be "God’s mouthpiece" built a mansion—not for the poor, not for missionaries, not for widows or orphans—but for dead men who never showed up. When 1925 passed without resurrection, the mansion remained. When Rutherford died in 1942, the “princes” still hadn’t come. The house was quietly sold in 1948, the prophecy conveniently “adjusted,” and the faithful instructed to move on as if nothing happened.
This is not biblical faith. This is cultic absurdity, a form of religious theater that builds houses for the dead while ignoring the gospel of the living Christ. Real Christianity teaches the resurrection of the body—but it never required building vacation homes for the saints. The Church venerates the patriarchs of old—but never taught they would return to govern from San Diego. Real Christianity proclaims Christ crucified and risen—not date-setting fantasies and eschatological real estate.
Beth Sarim stands as a monument not to hope, but to hubris. To a false prophet who refused to repent of his errors, who manipulated sacred Scripture to justify personal comfort, and who mocked genuine Christian faith with theatrics better suited for a charlatan than a shepherd. It is a physical, historical witness against a system that continues to demand unquestioning allegiance, while rewriting its past every time reality fails to conform to its expectations.
Those who trust the promises of Christ do not build mansions for the dead. They build the Kingdom of God in love, in truth, and in fidelity to the Church that He founded. No Cadillac, no mansion, no failed date of resurrection can compete with that.
