Rutherford's 1930 interview

Fatfreek

Check out your old issues of TIME. You may be surprised. Fats.
Religion
California Cults

From the archives of TIME
Mar. 31, 1930
Big, blue-eyed Judge Joseph Frederick Rutherford, 60, lives in a ten-room Spanish mansion, No. 4440 Braeburn Road. San Diego, Calif. Last week he deeded No. 4440 Braeburn Road, an adjacent two-car garage and a pair of automobiles to King David, Gedeon, Barak, Samson. Jephthae, Samuel and sundry other mighties of ancient Palestine. Positive is he that they are shortly to reappear on earth. Said he: "I have purposely landscaped the place with palm and olive trees so these princes of the universe will feel at home when they come to offer man the chance to become perfect."

Judge Rutherford's deed can scarcely be considered eccentric, for his conviction that the sunny boulevards of San Diego are soon to be trod by men with the light of ages in their eyes is presumably shared by the 1,000,000 members of the International Bible Students Association and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, of both of which Judge Rutherford is President. In 34 nations these members have read his declarations as editor of both the Watch Tower and Golden Age magazines.

Judge Rutherford was born on a Missouri farm, practiced law at Boonville, acquired a circuit judgeship, continued practice in St. Louis, Kansas City. He accompanied the late William Jennings Bryan on his first Presidential campaign tour, announcing him as "appointed by God to straighten out the problems of the world." Mr. Bryan's example inspired Judge Rutherford to wear habitually a black bow tie. In 1916 he succeeded the late Charles Taze Russell of Brooklyn, founder-president of the International Bible Students Association.

Members of this organization designate themselves as Bible Students. Their creed holds that Biblical prophecies govern all earthly events. By careful scrutiny of Holy Writ, the Bible Students have discerned that three periods of time, termed "cosmos," prevail in human affairs. Cosmos I began with Adam, ended with the Flood. Cosmos II began with the Flood, ended with the World War. Cosmos III, begun in 1914, will end in 2874, when "The Kingdom of God" will fill the whole world. An erroneous prophecy that the year 1928 would provide a cataclysm-- ''Nations will battle; the dead will be dung on the earth"--upset considerably the Bible Students' calculations, but the major tenets of their belief are as yet unshaken.

Newsmen last week asked Judge Rutherford whether he would not be troubled by bogus Davids applying for admission to consecrated No. 4440 Braeburn Road. Said he: "I realized the possibility of some old codger turning up bright and early some morning and declaring he was David. The men whom I have designated to test the identity of these men are officers of my societies. . . . They will be divinely authorized to know impostors from the real Princes." ...

TD

Fatfreek

Very good, TD, advertisements and all!

I loved the quote, "...Cosmos III, begun in 1914, will end in 2874, when "The Kingdom of God" will fill the whole world..."

That's the first I'd ever seen the 2874 date. Fats.

VM44

What a strange expression is on Rutherford's face in that picture!!

BTW, Rutherford would have been 61 years old in 1930, the year the article was published.

--VM44

Erich

Poor man.

E.

Hellrider

Welcome king David, here`s your limousine and driver. Where would you like to go?

Erich

He dont`t need a driver. The holy spirit instantly taught him to drive the car properly.

E.

Nathan Natas

It is curious that the reporter got Rutherford's middle name wrong. Here's a bit of background on the 2874 date:

". . . The last point to be mentioned is this: If Satan was bound about 1874, and if the period of his restraint is also to be a thousand years, he would be due to be set at liberty about 2874. On the other hand, a thousand years from 1915, when the world will have been fully turned over to Christ, will bring us to 2915, when the world will have been fully turned over to the Father. This would allow a period of about forty years as the "little season" when Satan is to bring upon the world the great and final test. But if the binding of Satan is to be reckoned from 1915 it would be difficult to see where the little

season, "when the thousand years were finished," would come in. From this standpoint these various Scriptures would be equally applicable to the individual Satan, and also to the satanic system. . ."
-- letter to C. T. RUSSELL from BENJ. H. BARTON, published in Watch Tower of August 1, 1910

So Rutherford was making an oblique reference to 1874 as the date of Christ's return in 1930. But wait! Jesus came in 1914, DIDN'T HE? ... and Jesus personally approved the WTB&TS in 1918, DIDN'T HE? How come TWELVE YEARS LATER the PRESIDENT of the WTB&TS indicated he had no awareness of these most significant events? If one didn't know better, one might think the whole idea was pulled out of Rutherford's cancerous ass years later.

luna2

Cult is right! What a mish mash of crazy dates, false prophecy and stupidity!

Erich said: He dont`t need a driver. The holy spirit instantly taught him to drive the car properly.

LMAO! That Holy Spirit is sure handy to have around!

TheListener

Does anyone know which William J Bryan campaign Rutherford worked on?

There were three:

1896 - beat by McKinley

1900 - beat by McKinley

1908 - beat by Taft

Rutherford's 1930 interview

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