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Millions Now Living Will Never Die: a Study of Jehovah's Witnesses

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Millions Now Living Will Never Die: a Study of Jehovah's Witnesses . I ILLIONS NOW LIVING M WILL NEVER DIE ~ A study of Jehovah's Witnesses by Alan 'l\Egerson ~ Constable London First published in 1969 by Constable & Co Ltd, 10 Orange Street, WCz Copyright © 1969 by Alan Rogerson All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain by The Anchor Press Ltd, Tiptree, Essex SBN 09 455940 6 Contents Introduction page 1 1 The Founder - Charles Taze Russell 2 The Second President - Judge Rutherford 32 3 The Modern Organisation, '932-'968 58 4 The Witnesses' View of History 77 5 The Basic Beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses 85 6 Doctrines for the End of the World 101 7 Life as a Jehovah's Witness 124 8 Beyond the Congregation· '43 9 The International Organisation of Jehovah's Witnesses 154 10 The People Who Believe '74 Postscript 189 Appendix A. Further Details of Pastor Russell's Chronological Beliefs '9' Appendix B. Russell's Time Chart '92 }Jotes '93 Bibliography 207 Index 213 Introduction Who are Jehovah's Witnesses? My impression is that most people outside the movement and many in it are unable to answer this question satisfactorily. For most people the only contact with the Witnesses seems to have been a brief encounter on the doorstep where they may have politely or impolitely dosed their door, engaged in some furious and fruitless argument or perhaps bought two Witness magazines (never to read them). I have questioned many outside the movement about their impression of the Witnesses and it seems to be one of a 'cranky' but sincere people who persist in calling from house to house at the most awkward times; their history is shrouded in mystery and their beliefs appear to be very peculiar. Whether the Witnesses like it or not (and they do not!) this seems to be their public image in Britain. National newspaper coverage of their movement is small and only concerns the sensational aspects - conscientious objec­ tion, mass baptisms and, of course, their refusal to have blood transfusions. While it is true that the Witnesses capture a limited amount ofgood publicity with their massive conventions, the news­ papers on the whole confirm the image of a 'weird religious sect'. The situation is different in the United States where the move­ ment began. America does not have anything akin to our national church and the religious atmosphere there is more personal and less institutional. America has been the melting-pot for all the religions of the West and it has given birth to many sects of its own - in particular Jehovah's Witnesses who are a part (albeit a small one) of the American way of life. In that land of unusual sects the Witnesses have made their mark by their highly organ­ ised methods of preaching and their 'fringe' beliefs such as baptism of adults by total immersion. The Witnesses have points in common with the Christadelphians, the Mormons, Unitarians, Seventh Day Adventists and Pentecostals: they are a non-con­ formist group who have not yet achieved the respectability of the Methodists or Congregationalists. Despite resemblances with I • Introduction other sects, the Witnesses do not believe in interfaith but regard themselves as the sole possessors of the truth. They are fond of referring to the 'jangling' creeds of the rest of Christendom but as far as outsiders are concerned Jehovah's Witnesses are just one more jangle that adds to the din. In addition to the prevalent ignorance outside the Witness movement - there is much ignorance within it. It will soon become obvious to the reader that the Witnesses are an indoctrinated people whose beliefs and thoughts are shaped by the Watchtower Society whose headquarters are in New York. This is not meant to be a melodramatic statement: most modem sects do not thrive on a diet of reason and logic, and the Witnesses are not unique in being told what to believe by those in charge of their organisation. Ii The result of this mutual ignorance is a huge mental impasse I between Jehovah's Witnesses and the rest of the public. In this book I have tried to remedy both of these states of ignorance. ,j For the non-Witness I have presented the facts of the Witnesses' , history from its beginnings in 1874 through the periods of office of the three presidents of their Sociery: Charles Taze Russell, Joseph Franklin Rutherford and Nathan Homer Knorr. This is followed by a detailed discussion of the beliefs of Jehovah's Witnesses and finally (and perhaps most important) I have devoted four chapters to the organisational and personal frame­ work of the Witness movement today. For the Witnesses them­ selves I have quoted numerous facts concerning their history of which most of them are unaware. Many Witnesses, although they do not know it, are in a real state of ignorance about the origins of their organisation and are also in a state of mistaken knowledge about their place in the world and what exactly the world thinks of them. This book is an attempt (as far as I have read the only attempt) to dispel this mutual ignorance and to present to the world and to the Witnesses a complete answer to the question: who are Jehovah's Witnesses? In order to do this I have consulted all the original records available - especially the books and Watchtowers printed from 1874 onwards. The testimony of these sources is often contra­ ~ I dicted by the Witnesses (as well as their opponents) and where I possible I have cited and quoted my source of information. I have tried to make my viewpoint unbiased as I have no strong personal feelings for or against the Witness movement. My aim throughout • Introduction has been to present a full and complete account of the Witnesses incorporating all the significant incidents and facts; where I have discussed certain events or ideas the factual basis for the discussion is also presented so that readers are free to draw their own con­ clusions. At least one inevitable bias is present in the text­ certain writers have distorted the facts either for or against the movement and it has been necessary to emphasise points that have been deliberately misused in the past. Consultation of primary sources has revealed that most of the full-length books previously written about the Witnesses are un­ reliable or at best inadequate. There is a need for an authoritative work in this field and this gap has encouraged me to tty to fill it. Of the books written about the Witnesses special mention must be made of four (see the Bibliography for brief details of the others): Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose is the Witnesses' own account of their history and although it suffers from the strong bias present in all the Witnesses' literature, it contains a lot of useful factual information. The Jehovah's Witnesses by H. H. Stroup is an interesting and impressive book from which I have occasionally quoted - unfortunately the book is now quite out­ of-date. Jehovah's Witnesses: The New World Society at first sight appears to be a valuable source of information but the author, Marley Cole, highly favours the Witnesses and gives a very mis­ leading account of the movement in which journalistic jargon abounds. The fourth book is the notorious Thirty Years a Watch­ tower Slave by W. J. Schnell which gives a unique (I) picture of the events during the presidency of Rutherford. I have quoted some interesting parts from this work but I believe Schnell is wrong both in his conception of the Society as it is and in his peculiar theories about its past. More could be said on this subject but I hope that readers of Schnell will take many things he says with a pinch of salt. The above has, I hope, illustrated the sort of literature the Witness movement attracts: objective but sometimes badly in­ formed works, highly favourable accounts written by Witnesses and virulent attacks written by ex-members of the movement! For myself, I was brought up as a member of this sect but found it impossible to accept the Witnesses' beliefs and left the move­ ment. I believe former membership, however, is a vital pre­ requisite for adequately describing the Witness movement. 3 I 1. The Founder - Charles Taze Russell EHOVAH'S WITNESSES have their origin in the life and beliefs of one man - Charles Taze Russell. In his lifetime JRussell was well known as an author, as a preacher and as the 'Pastor' to a group of people known as 'Bible Students'. Many of his followers virtually worshipped him and at his death there was no one who could adequately replace him. Several rival organisations grew up - each claimed to be his successor. One of these groups retained control of his magazine and legal corporation and became the Witness movement of today. Russell was born of Scottish-Irish parents in Allegheny, Pitts­ burgh, Pennsylvania, on 16th February I8p. Little is known about his childhood. He was educated first in the state schools and then by private tutors. He did not attend college. His mother died when he was nine and this may have deepened Russell's already keen religious sense. The story is often quoted of his chalking up Bible texts in the street to warn men of the serious­ ness of HeIl- this at the age of fourteen. He was brought up a Presbyterian but changed to the more liberal Congregational Church; he was active there and in the Y.M.C.A. At the age of fifteen he went into partnership with his father, a draper, and together they expanded their business and formed a chain of stores later valued at a quarter of a million dollars.
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