How Rutherford used Bible Prophecy to Legitimize the Watchtower

by donuthole 1 Replies latest jw friends

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  donuthole

  When Rutheford took over the presidency he was faced with several schisms. One on side you had Bible Students loyal to Charles Russell and his teachings. On the Judge's side, you had those Bible Students loyal to the Watchtower and Rutherrford as president. Both Bible Students groups claimed the Trtuh and God's backing and were in many ways indistinguishable.

  I believe this was a motivating factor which lead to the Judge rebranding the religion as "Jehovah's Witnesses". It wasn't a mere name change, but a huge doctrinal change. In doing so Rutherford began to apply Bible prophecy that was previously understood as applying to Israel, to the group of Watchtower loyal Bible Students.
  
  The book "The Finished Mystery" was the first released under Rutherford and you can already begin to see this method at work. In the book the 1600 furlongs of Revelation 14:20 are understood to mean the distance from Scranton, Pennsylvania (where the book was written) to the Watchtower Headquarters in Brooklyn. Here the activities of the Society and Watchtower Headquarters are written into Bible prophecy, albeit in a crude, fanciful manner. ("The Finished Mystery" predates most of the schisms and is more generous to Charles Russell then later books would be. )

  Rutherford's later books followed this tactic of applying Bible prophecy to the Watchtower. For example the "seven bowls of anger" and "seven trumpets" from Revelation are applied to Watchtower tracts and conventions in the early 1900's. Similarly organization changes in the early 1940's were understood to be the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy about the Holy Place (Watchtower HQ) being restored. Here By applying prophecy to the Watchtower, he was making his religion the only truth amid various Bible student groups operating in that time. Only the Judge's Watchtower had the backing of God and was being used to fulfill Bible prophecy.

  However as this time period fades into history, these teaching become less impactful. Even 1914, the pivotal date used by the Watchtower, is past its sell by. The Organization is not afraid to adjust its understanding of prophecy, but the task of unchaining it from Rutheford's troubled reign might not be an easy one. It would require huge adjustments to their understanding of Bible books like Revelation and Daniel.
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  SAHS

  Well, “donuthole,” Pastor Charles Russell, as whacky as he was with all that pyramidology and numerology, was at least purportedly a champion of Christianity – namely, its main character, Jesus Christ. Just a glimpse of the year texts during Russell’s era confirms at least a basic respect and affinity for the Lord and Savior by including therein a name we don’t really see much of these days in JW land – the name Jesus Christ.

  But when that “judge” Rutherford guy came onto the scene – or more like craftily and forcefully stole the show, that name Jesus Christ began its steady disappearance from the WT literature, and not just the year texts. The thing is, Rutherford wanted to really go spiritually backwards in that he went from progressive Christianity back to the ancient Mosaic Law (i.e., no blood transfusions, etc.) and related everything to the ancient Israelites crawling around the desert under Moses.

  It certainly reminds me of where Jesus said at Matthew 23:2 (RNWT) that “the scribes and the Pharisees have seated themselves in the seat of Moses.” Since the Rutherford era, the “Governing Body” (now apparently comprising the entire “faithful and discreet slave” solely by themselves) has seen itself, not as servants directing people to Jesus, but, rather, as the modern-day “Moses” leading the modern-day “Israelites” into the future “Promised Land” of the New System (now just referred to as “Paradise”).

  Talk about anti-progressive thinking! And, of course, a large reason why the WTS wants to kind of distance itself from that poor Jesus fellow is because his message was indeed progressive and based on love. He was more focused on the essence of the Law rather than the petty legalities and technicalities.

  Ever notice how in all the scriptures used by the WTS, they seem to kind of skim, or even skip, over the gospel accounts relating to Jesus? I mean, sure they will give some (token) mention of it, such as the Sermon on the Mount, etc., but all in all they seem to really focus much more on the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), with all those fancy dos and don’ts and endless stoneable offences, and when they do cite the Christian Greek Scriptures (New Testament), they predominantly focus on that arrogant prick, the apostle Paul, with all his misogynist and Pharisaical crap. But the reason, I believe, that the WTS seems to just skim over the teachings of that Jesus fellow is that they just don’t quite lend themselves to, or jive with, all that other legalistic, Pharisaical stuff (i.e., Moses and the apostle Paul) which they keep thumping.

  So, now it’s all Jehovah, Jehovah, Jehovah, and more Jehovah – even in the New Testament, into which they methodically and compulsively insert to the max – as well as “the apostle Paul said this” and “the apostle Paul said that” and more Paul, Paul, Paul. That is because Moses and Paul lend themselves quite well to the WTS’ authoritarian regime, whereas Jesus lends himself quite well to, well, Christianity!

  So, that is why the noticeable change between the Russell and Rutherford eras. Simply put, Rutherford used and capitalized on fundamentalist backward thinking to bolster his own monarchical empire, . . . . of course with him at the top. And it’s been that way ever since, with the current pope committee (“Governing Body”) at the very top!