Leolaia wrote:
It is no secret that Watchtower founder Charles T. Russell and his followers esteemed the cross as a symbol of Christ's redemption of mankind from sin, publishing the cross-and-crown image (a symbol of the Millennial Kingdom) on Watchtower covers and wearing it as a clothing pin. Carey W. Barber, later a member of the Governing Body, described the pin: "It was a badge really, with a wreath of laurel leaves as the border and within the wreath was a crown with a cross running through it on an angle. It looked quite attractive and was our idea of what it meant to take up our ‘cross’ and follow Christ Jesus in order to be able to wear the crown of victory in due time" (1975 Yearbook, p. 148).
Here is a picture of the cross-and-crown pin.
As Leolaia noted in her essay, this image of the cross-and-crown was used on the cover of the magazines until 1931. It is also carved into the faces of the 9-foot memorial pyramid found at Russell's grave site.
In an article in the May 1, 1989 Watchtower, the Society acknowledges that the early Bible Students wore the cross as a lapel emblem.
May 1, 1989 Watchtower pp. 3-5 "Babylon the Great—Fallen and Judged" "In the early part of our 20th century prior to 1919, the Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known, had to be released from a form of spiritual captivity to the ideas and practices of false religion. Although having rejected such false teachings as the Trinity and the immortal soul, they were still tainted by Babylonish practices." [...] "The cross was still prominent in their thinking. Some even wore a cross-and-crown lapel emblem, while others sought the respectability accorded Christendom. Then, in 1917, shortly after the death of Russell, a significant change began to take place."
Note that they say "some wore a cross-and-crown emblem" but they don't tell you that the cross-and-crown pins were sold by the Society.
I recently bought one of the older WT's on ebay. It's the November 1, 1927 issue of the Watch Tower. On page 335 there is a price list for the cross-and-crown jewelry sold by the Society.
The 5/8 inch cross-and-crown pin was $1.50. The 1/2 inch version was a real bargain at only $1.25. Cross-and-crown pendants, with and without chains, were also listed for sale. If anyone is interested, I'll try to scan in an image of the price list for the cross-and-crown jewelry.
The cross-and-crown image is also prominently displayed on the front cover of my 1927 magazine, as was the practice until 1931.
IMO, the May 1, 1989 WT article then goes on to imply that by 1919 the cross-and-crown image was no longer in use, which is not the case. After saying that some of the Bible Students wore cross-and-crown lapel emblems, the article states:
"Then, in 1917, shortly after the death of Russell, a significant change began to take place."
After several paragraphs about what happened in the years 1917-1919 in the organization, the section concludes with:
"False religion still continued to flourish and function, as it had done in ancient Babylon, but in relation to Jehovah’s Witnesses, Babylon the Great had fallen in 1919. They were free from Babylonish restraint!"
I think the average reader would read this article and conclude that "prior to 1919, the Bible Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known" were "still tainted by Babylonish practices." The cross was "prominent in their thinking" and "some even wore a cross-and-crown lapel emblem." But after 1919 "they were free from Babylonish restraint!"
Wouldn't the average reader take this to mean that after 1919 the cross was no longer prominent in the Bible Students' thinking and there were no longer any who wore the cross-and-crown emblem?
But, in actual fact, the cross-and-crown jewelry was still being offered for sale in the November 1, 1927 Watch Tower.
And, as Leolaia pointed out in her essay, the cross-and-crown image was used on the cover of the Watch Tower until 1931.
Speaking of Rutherford, Leolaia wrote:
He perceived the cross as nothing more than a pagan symbol, as a long-time Witness recalled: "This to Brother Rutherford's mind was Babylonish and should be discontinued. He told us that when we went to the people's homes and began to talk, that was the witness in itself" (Ibid.). It took Rutherford eight years to purge the Bible Students of the cross. His first move against it occurred in 1928, when he instructed his followers at a Detroit convention to discard the "objectionable" and "unnecessary" jewelry. Then in 1931 the emblem was removed from the Watchtower covers. At that point the cross symbol became non-biblical, non-Christian, and ungodly -- and was relegated to the forbidden trappings of Satan's organization.
Marjorie (edited because I can't get the formatting right.)