(Credit goes to Nova5--Germany) How Do We Know Rutherford Was Guilty? Doesn't a criminal "know what to expect"before he or she commits a crime and then gets caught? Absolutely! The criminal knows "before-hand" that if they commit a crime and get caught, they are going to jail and will be answering for their crime before a judge. Why don't we take some factors into consideration! Rutherford was an attorney knowing the law and "knew before-hand" that publishing certain negative kinds of material "during war-time" was against the law, and therefore, he could be arrested, convicted, and jailed for breaking this law. Rutherford also wanted to make a "martyr" out of himself and apply Jeremiah 36, 37, and 38 to himself! Rutherford wanted the end-result by "illegally" publishing "The Finished Mystery" to appear as a fulfillment of prophecy, and result in Rutherford appearing like Jeremiah when he was jailed. In a letter that was written "before" Rutherford went to the Atlanta prison the February 15, 1919 Watch Tower, reprint page 6392 said: "The following beautiful letter was written by our President, Brother J. F. Rutherford, on the night preceding the removal of our dear brethren to Atlanta. It was handed to a member of the Committee at the railroad station in New York in circular form to the various ecclesias. We also reproduce it in this issue of the Watch Tower in order to preserve it as a memorial of cheerful submission to the will of God." In this letter Rutherford writes: "We were arrested and haled into prison, charged with conspiracy and sedition, the evidence being that we published The Finished Mystery and aided our brethren concerning the draft. We knew what would be the result. God had foretold it long ago."(Jeremiah 36, 37, 38) Why was this letter withheld from being published in the Watch Tower until the 1919 issue? If Rutherford, being an attorney, "knew what would be the result" of his actions, before"The Finished Mystery" was published, then he knew he could be jailed for going through with his decisions. What is the subject matter of Jeremiah 36, 37, and 38? Is it not the account of Jeremiah being jailed? Jeremiah 37: 15-16 tells us: "And the princes began to get indignant at Jeremiah, and they struck him and put him into the house of fetters, in the house of Jehonathan the secretary, for this was what they had made the house of detention. (16) When Jeremiah came into the house of the cistern and into the vaulted rooms, then Jeremiah continued dwelling there many days." (NWT) Keeping in mind, that Rutherford wrote his letter "before" he went to prison in Atlanta, this indicates that Rutherford knew very well what to expect" and knew that he and the other members of the committee, were breaking the law by publishing the material contained in the banned book The Finished Mystery, and other published literature that was also banned. If Rutherford and the others of the Watch Tower committee "knew what to expect," then they were as much as admitting their own guilt by going ahead with their "illegal" publishing of this literature! Rutherford said: "God had foretold it long ago" remember? So, Rutherford knew the account of Jeremiah being jailed and wanted the same scriptural application to apply to him. Rutherford said in the June 15, 1918 Watch Tower: "This is the happiest day of my life." Rutherford got his way didn't he? He got to make a martyr out of himself and could then appear as the "persecuted Christ-like" head of the congregations and therefore be looked up to by all the Bible Students. Rutherford also said: "To serve earthly punishment for the sake of one's religious belief is one of the greatest privileges a man could have." After Joseph's prison sentence, Rutherford would there-after be regarded as one of the greatest examples of the Christian faith according to Watchtower history books. However, the fact remains, Rutherford "knew" he was committing a crime and "knew" even "before" The Finished Mystery was published, what to expect by carrying out its publication. Those who followed him were just as guilty as he was. At Matthew 15: 14 we read: "Let them be. Blind guides is what they are. If, then, a blind man guides a blind man, both will fall into a pit." (NWT) As in Rutherford's case, the very same result will be for Jehovah's Witnesses today who "blindly" go along with whatever comes forth from the Watchtower Society. They will be just as guilty as their "blind" guides! Nova5
