I asked a street cart attender where I could find older WT publications at the jw.org library. They had an elder contact me by e-mail. After further asking him for directions to these older publications I was sent the following e-mail.
Ready?
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Hi ____,
Thank you for your interest in
the history of Jehovah's Witnesses. Unfortunately the writings of
Russell and Rutherford have not been in circulation since the 1940's.
The only way to see them would be in our library headquarters in
Brooklyn NY. And at that they are not open to the public.
Sorry I could not be of any assistance to you in this matter.
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I replied with the following e-mail
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Hi ___.
Thanks for your effort. I did some further research and
found archive sites that have almost all of the scanned publications.
They are fascinating reading. This is the kind of thing we should be
sharing with each other. What a marvelous tool the internet is.
I will forward you the links from my home computer. Isn't it interesting to study history? So much to learn.
Have a productive day.-----------------------------------------------
I then sent the following e-mail
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Many are pdf files to make searching more efficient.
Regards,
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Well, that was three weeks ago and no reply. Wouldn't you think I would at least get a ' thank-you'?
January 1, 1994 issue
on page 21, stated;
For the past 114
years, The Watchtower, like a skillful lawyer has established itself as a defender
of Bible truth and doctrine .. it continues to be the principal instrument of 'the
faithful and discreet slave' and its Governing Body for announcing Jehovah's established
Kingdom and dispensing spiritual food 'at the proper time.'
Why is this lawyer like skillful defense of Bible truth and doctrine, in older publications, not made available to researchers?