what would happen if rutherford didn't take over in the 20's?
JF Rutherford
by dustyb 5 Replies latest jw friends
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run dont walk
we all might of had normal lives !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Russell actually wasnt the problem, his beliefs were nowhere near todays beliefs, infact the only thing Russell and the Watchtower have in common is the Watchtower magazine.
Rutherford was the one who started, the paradise earth, 144,000, generation will not pass away, calling god Jehovah, the name Jehovah's Witnesses etc.
If there was one person i could go back in time and shoot myself, he would be it, no, he'd be 2nd, hitler would be first.
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RR
Russell actually wasnt the problem, his beliefs were nowhere near todays beliefs, infact the only thing Russell and the Watchtower have in common is the Watchtower magazine.
Not even that my friend, When Russell published the magazine it was called "The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence." It was changed to "The Watchtower announcing Jehovah's Kingdom"
So even the name of the mag was chnaged.
RR
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talesin
Interesting ...
Was Rutherford a driving force? Or was he a figurehead? A partyer, subject to the 'pleasures of the flesh' (or so it appears). Maybe his importance has been magnified by the attention placed on him. Remember, WTB&TS is an 'organization'. Could someone else have played this role if it was more convenient?
... just a thought
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gitasatsangha
Probably not intitially, no. Rutherford had the background and the wherewithal to make a bid at a hostile takeover of a small obscure little sect and turn it into what he wanted. Along the way he surrounded himself with assitants to his little pseudo government.(i.e. Fred Franz as his Goebbels). There are certain JW-Nazi Party parallels.
Another parallel: Soviet Leadership and Watchtower Leadership. . Stalin rules as a dictator, then is succeeded by Kruschev (Knorr) who makes certain reforms, however basically everything is much the same. Slowly power returns to the politburo, enough that by the time of Brezhnev (Franz), the man in charge is largely a figurehead of the Central Committee (Governing Body). After the death of Brezhnev, official leadership passes hands though a couple of more geezers waiting their turn (Andropov, Chernenko) until things just have to change.
The last step was preempted for the Watchtower by setting up shadow leadership commitees which took all effective control from the Governing Body. No Gorby for Brooklynn.
In Short, I think Rutherford had real iron control over the watchtower, and it's still his baby, long after he's just a pile of dirty alcohol soaked bones.
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Amazing
Dustyb,
I have wondered this myself ... this piont is on my schedule for my Governing Buzzard series. Essentially, the JWs may not have grown as much or as fast ... and we may have more closely resembled the Dawn Bible Students of today ... in fact when I attended a Dawn International Convention, it was like being at a JW Convention, ecept it had all the good stuff and none of the bad ... none I could see that is ... and I recall thinking to myself that this is what we were supposed to have been had Rutherford not screwed things up ... my Buzzard series will deal with what I call ... The rest of the story.
Jim W.