Where it all went wrong for the WT - JF Rutherford

by LoveUniHateExams 68 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Sea Breeze

  I found this exchange while under oath on pages 16-19 very revealing as to Russell's character:

  But now what are the facts as they were brought out by the examination on March 17th, 1913? As to his scholastic standing, he had sworn that what was said about it was not true. Under the examination, he admitted that, at most, he had attended school only seven years of his life, that of the public school, and that he had left school when he was about fourteen years of age.....

  "Do you know the Greek"? Asked the Attorney. "Oh, yes," was Russell's reply. Here he was handed a copy of the New Testament in Greek, by Westcott & Hort, and asked to read the letters of the alphabet as they appear on the top of page 447. He did not know the alphabet. "Now," asked Mr. Staunton, "Are you familiar with the Greek language?" "No," said Mr. Russell, without a blush.

  When he saw that he was caught, then he admitted that he knew nothing about Latin, and Hebrew and neither had he ever taken a course in Philosophy, Systematic Theology and neither had he ever attended any of the higher schools of learning. A trap had been set for him at every one of these points, and having been caught in the first, he thought it best for him to "own up before he was shown up." As it was, he was shown up.

  This is the man who goes about claiming that he alone has the proper understanding of the Scriptures, condemning the translators of the Bible and denouncing all ministers and teachers of the Word except himself... as ignorant, empty-headed and deceitful. Russell has made quite a free use of the dead languages in his books, but this is evidently not done by himself, but another, with the end in view of misleading the ignorant, and trying to catch the educated. He has familiarized himself with a few big Greek terms which have become Anglicized, such as "Apocalypsis, Epiphaneia, parousia, parak- letos," etc., puts his own meaning into them and then goes about using them before his audiences, and those who do not know any better think him a highly-educated man. This is the man also who condemns all books and papers except those written by himself or published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

  Now as to his ordination. Remember that the self- styled "Pastor" is still under oath and that he says, "The oath is sacred." It is indeed sacred to him. "Is it true that you were never ordained?" asked his counsel. "It is not true," replied Mr. Russell, But my counsel takes him in hand and being wileful, it is difficult to keep the arch-heretic to the point. His Worship, the Magistrate, was appealed to and Russell is informed that he must answer yes or no.

  "Now," said Mr. Staunton, "You never were ordained by a bishop, clergyman. Presbytery, council, or any body of men living." After a considerable pause and his eyes fixed on his feet in the witness box, he said, "I never was." He was caught again! and he was not abashed.

  This is the gentleman that gives himself forth all over the world as a fully accredited minister of the gospel. What a low standard of morals he must have! What a seared conscience he must possess. He swore he would tell the truth, all the truth and nothing but the truth, and that under the eyes of Almighty God. But how artful he is even under oath in devising falsely! In other words, what a fabricator.
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  Anony Mous

  Note that the WTBTS / JW religion was split between Rutherford and Russelites (who are still around) after Russell’s death. It is notable that Russel himself split the religion from the Bible Students before him.

  The JW were the result of I believe a third or even fourth schism (if you include Barbour’s Zion’s Watch Tower) of the original WTBTS/IBS and approximately 3/4 of the group did not follow Rutherford in the last schism.

  There is sufficient evidence to show that he was a con-man (selling things like Miracle Wheat) and he had serious issues with the ladies resulting in his marriage and he liked to undercut and cheat his business associates out of money every turn he could. There are plenty of books to find on archive.org that talk about Russell’s dealings and ministry, he claimed, like the JW today to have knowledge of Ancient Greek, Latin and other languages but basically rip off other translations and put their own meanings in it. I remember he was put on trial for something and presented with a piece of a Bible fragment in an ancient language and neither recognized it nor could translate it. That is well described in court documents which one could look up if they were so inclined.
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  Sea Breeze

  There is sufficient evidence to show that he was a con-man (selling things like Miracle Wheat) and he had serious issues with the ladies resulting in his marriage and he liked to undercut and cheat his business associates out of money every turn he could.

  Exactly, which is why I can't understand SBF's caricature of Russel as a spreader of "peace and hope" . Positioning yourself as appointed over all the things of God ie. "belongings", (God's mouthpiece) is not spreading peace and hope. Well, I guess you could say he was spreading a message of peace and hope about himself.

  Jesus said many will come in my name and deceive many. It is quite curios how Russell's caricature of a kindly 'old grandfather type could have endured all these decades, even among exjws. My own mother told me once: "I have been told he was a very dignified man".

  Bottom line is : He was a sixth grader (educationally) in an adult body that knew how to act dignified, self-important, humble & dare I say "holy". He was a very BIG Liar... which is common in some televangelism today; but he was one of the original pioneers.
  
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  Nathan Natas

  Let the record show that the two-headed Knorr/Franz beast was hand-picked by Rutherford.
  
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  Earnest

  Sea Breeze, a little bit of background to the pamphlet you are quoting is probably in order.

  Wikipedia reports that Rev. J. J. Ross first published and distributed a four-page leaflet titled, Some Facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell (of Millennial Dawn Fame) in June 1912. He alleged that Russell was involved in questionable business practices, had defrauded his estranged wife, and denounced his qualifications, legitimacy and moral example as a Pastor.

  At that time Canada had two laws governing libel. Under the one the falsifier may be punished by the assessment of damages and money. Under the other, criminal libel, he is subject to imprisonment. Russell entered suit against Rev. Ross under the criminal act, at the advice of his attorneys, because as Ross had no property, a suit for damages would not stop him. The lower Court found there was a case to answer and committed Ross to appear before the high court to answer an indictment. But when the case went to the high court the Judge called up an English precedent and told the Grand Jury "Unless the jury finds that this alleged libel would cause a breach of the public peace in Canada then no indictment should be returned, but the parties should resort to civil suit for damages." As Russell lived in New York and would not breach the peace anyway, the jury returned "no bill". Russell did not resort to civil action for damages as he was advised that it would be useless as Ross was financially irresponsible and could not be compelled by a civil action to publish a retraction.

  With this as background, Ross then published the pamphlet which you quote from, knowing that Russell was unlikely to go through the whole rigmarole again. What did Russell actually say during cross-examination? According to the Wikipedia article, he said that he had attended public school for seven years, having left when he was about fourteen years of age, after which he received instruction through private tutors. He said that he was versed in Latin terms "to an extent" but did not know Hebrew or Greek, that he had never been ordained by any bishop or minister, and had never attended a theological seminary or any schools of higher learning.

  Clearly, then, Ross leaves out the fact that Russell received instruction through private tutors after he left school at fourteen, which was not uncommon in those days. Ross says that the Attorney asked "Do you know the Greek"? In fact, the Attorney asked "Do you know the Greek alphabet"? And as for ordination, anyone who has been a JW understands that Russell was claiming ordination, or authorization to preach, came from God not any body of men. In short, Ross was a terminological inexactitudiner.
  

  Those interested can read Rutherford's account of the trial in A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, pp.31-37 and Russell's comments in the Watchtower of September 15, 1914, pp.5543-5544,
  
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  Sea Breeze

  He alleged that Russell was involved in questionable business practices, had defrauded his estranged wife, and denounced his qualifications, legitimacy and moral example as a Pastor.

  Yes, he sounded the alarm, as did others. We are lucky that Russell was made to testify for two hours. Now, his lies are confirmed and irrefutable, a matter of record.

  Anyone claiming to be a type of Christ is a threat to everyone he meets. If we don't warn others about that.... what should we ever warn our neighbors about? Six generations of my family have been horribly damaged by this man. It is nice to have his words on record, and I APPLAUD the men who took the time to expose him on his lies and try and warn people.
  
  Russell just out-printed his adversaries.... but not before being exposed and getting it on record.
  
  
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  Disillusioned JW

  Thank you slimboyfat and Earnest for disproving many of the hurtful lies from long ago about Charles Taze Russell which were repeated in this forum topic about J. F. Rutherford.

  Regarding Russell's degree of education, anyone who has read any of Russell's books can see that Russell's knowledge of English vocabulary and English language proficiency went beyond that of a sixth grade formal education. Even if the a person's formal education did not exceed that of sixth grade and even if that person did not receive any tutoring, that person could receive further education by informal means, including by extensive reading and by personal study. Such could have been the case of Russell. Furthermore, Russell received some knowledge of theology by his personal reading of the theological writings of others.

  I'm not saying that Russell was correct in all of his theological teachings. He was in error in much of what he taught, but he also was correct in some of what he taught. For example, when he taught that the Bible teaches that the human soul dies and when said what he thought the Bible claims is the nature of the human soul, he was largely in agreement with what a number of biblical scholars had said the OT Bible teaches and of what the early Hebrews believed. Furthermore, a number of currently living biblical scholars (including Bart Ehrman) teach largely the same on those matters as Russell did.
  
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  Earnest

  Sea Breeze : Now, [Russell's] lies are confirmed and irrefutable, a matter of record.

  What is noteworthy is that the reporters in court never picked up on any accusations approaching perjury. Any reference to Russell's ability to read Greek, be it letters or language, was so peripheral it didn't merit comment in the newspapers. In their minds the accusations made by Ross focused more on Russell's marital difficulties and ordination - subjects already raised by newspapers such as the Brooklyn Eagle, from where Ross's original booklet admitted he had obtained most of his material. And crucially, the newspapers of the day explained that Ross was not found guilty on the technicality I described in my earlier post. If Russell had brought a civil (rather than criminal) action against Ross there would likely have been a different result, as there was in his civil actions against the Washington Post and Chicago 'Mission Friend' where both cases were decided in his favour.

  Further, the full transcript of the key hearing where Russell was cross-examined by George Staunton is not a matter of record as neither Staunton's copy nor that of Rev. Ross seems to have survived. So the only unbiased sources are those newspaper reports which did not have a stake in the game.
  
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  Sea Breeze

  Unlike Joseph Smith, Mary Eddy Baker, and other false teachers, Russell did not rely on visions or other extra-biblical revelation. Rather, he simply misinterpreted the Bible and was an accomplished liar when characterizing other Christians like in his world tour vacation to "investigate" missionaries.

  He set the framework and tone for people like Rutherford, who just followed in his footsteps.

  While claiming to be a Christian who was restoring the faith of the New Testament, he denied many key Christian doctrines including the tri-partite nature of man, the triune nature of God, the existence of the Holy Spirit, Russell held that the soul simply ceases to exist after death.

  As with Arius centuries before, he held that Jesus was a created being, and was actually Michael the Archangel in disguise. He taught that Jesus rose only spiritually rather than physically. He denied the divinity of Jesus.

  These flip flops about Jesus as Mediator are documented by JW Facts:

  Russell appears to have been thoroughly confused about the role of mediator. At times he felt that the 144,000 were not under the new covenant, at other times that they were under the New Covenant. When he taught that they were not under the New Covenant it followed that they did not need a mediator and that they (along with Jesus) played role of mediator for mankind.

  • Up to 1880 Russell taught that Jesus and the body of Christ (the 144,000) mediated for mankind, so the 144,000 were not included in the New Covenant.

  "It should be remembered that we are in him heirs of glory, not under the new covenant, which is still future, but in the Abrahamic covenant." Zion's Watch Tower 1880 Feb p.72

  • Russell changed his mind and from 1881 to 1907 said the Church is included in the New Covenant

  "In a sense, the operation of the new covenant begins with the Gospel church and lifts us from the plane of degradation and sin-to a justified or reckoned perfect condition, from which we can go forward in the narrow way, becoming heirs of the first covenant." Zion's Watch Tower 1881 Sep p.151

  • In 1907, Russell re-introduced his teaching that the new covenant is not made with the church at all.

  "It was very inconsistent for us to quote in one breath the Apostle's statement that we are members of the Isaac Seed, the children of the old, original Covenant, and then in the next breath to class ourselves as beneficiaries of the New Covenant." Zion's Watch Tower 1909 Jan 1 p.12 (See also Zion's Watch Tower 1909 Apr 1 p.110)

  ------ end quote -----

  The significance of these heresies cannot be overstated. They directly affect a persons' salvation.

  1. Scriptures says if we deny Jesus' bodily resurrection, then we have no hope.

  2. If Jesus was really Michael the Archangel, then somebody has false faith in the wrong Jesus.

  3. If Jesus isn't our Mediator, then we cannot be Justified (declared righteous)

  I always wondered where the outcry and pushback was from the Christian community when Russell started publishing his heresies. Scriptures are clear like in Gal. 1: 8-9 that if anyone preaches a different gospel than what the apostles preached, that they are double cursed in the bible.
  
  A lot of exjws don't know that the elder/pastor/deacon requirement of being "a husband of one wife" is taken quite literally and quite seriously, even today, by many churches. You simply cannot hold one of those offices if you have been married more than once. So, the divorce was just another point on which to inform the public.
  
  Early Christian leaders were discipled directly by the apostles. Then, early schools were set up in Antioch and Alexandria to make sure the faith was not perverted as it passed from one person to another. Usually Christian leaders studied under someone or some institution that could vouch for their orthodoxy. But Russel just popped up and announced that everyone except for himself was a fraud and that people had no hope unless they listened to him.

  Rutherford, other WT presidents, and all JW's today preach the EXACT SAME THING just as Russell taught.

  Russell, Rutherford and the WT organization as a whole perfectly fit the description of a false Christ (Savior).
• 

  LoveUniHateExams

  
  

  I don’t know that Bible Students attended other churches. Is there a source for that? - I read it in a yearbook.

  You and others make some good points/corrections to my OP, but I think the gist of my OP still stands. Russell, compared to Rutherford, was fairly mild.

  The turning point, for me, came when Rutherford seized power.

  Another thing I forgot to mention is shunning. Under Russell, shunning wasn't so severe as it became under Rutherford and later WT leaders.