The WEIRD obsession with demoting Jesus has been a hallmark of Watch Tower religion since about 1909 and in 1953 (I believe it was) the Charter was changed to snatch worship away from Him.
Cross and Crown - where art thou?
At the start of the magazine, the cover focused on Jesus until suddenly it was Jehovah instead. Along the way, more and more Bible Students split off (for various reasons)
and those splits were signal fires that were dealt with by attorney Rutherford by deflecting the focus on Christendom conspiracy theories.
Finally, it must be said that Jesus is not the Mediator for the Great Crowd has been taught but hardly any JW even knows about it for reasons (I suspect) of mental short-circuit along the lines of cognitive dissonance.
Posts by Terry
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22
Saving "mark" on forehead: A CROSS?
by Terry inezekiel 9:4.
“go throughout the city of jerusalem and put a mark on the foreheads of those who grieve and lament over all the detestable things that are done in it.”
in the script used during old testament times it was either in x shape or a + shape.
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Terry
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New Discovery at Mt. Ebal: the earliest historical instance of the name of God
by Terry in.
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https://youtu.be/guzbxzdpflo.
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Terry
We hardly ever stop and apply a simple rule of thumb to matters of history/Bible/doctrine which is to say: certain mental illnesses consist of
of obsessions, rituals, fixations of a highly aroused fixation on details.
The lack of moderation is a red flag.
What else is BigFoot and Elvis sightings, Virgin Mary grilled-cheese sandwich images, and Alien kidnapping but that?
In moderation, it can be a fun mystery. In excess, it goes off the rails and takes over your life!
FAITH and BELIEF by definition are mental states without evidence.
In other words, they are not at all different from Superstition and wishful thinking.
I was for many years a GOD-A-HOLIC and specifically a Jehovah-holic.
For the love of God (literally) I went to prison at the age of 20 when the actual LAW said I could work in a hospital instead!! But NO - the GB whispered in my ear: "It is a compromise."
When you try to find proof AFTER you believe and end up twisting everything in the exact shape of Jehovah instead of a corkscrew - you are addicted and compelled to let your life disintegrate around you while you try to roll 7.
ARCHEOLOGY and PALEONTOLOGY may well be digging up evidence of just how crazy people in the past misspent their lives risking everything on a promise never kept by a mental image of Bigfoot in the sky. -
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Ants and Jehovah's Witnesses: The Elite Death Spiral
by Terry inwhat creates an elite death spiral?claiming special privileges by virtue of having been selected among others french élite "selection, choice," "chosen person" define the term privilege.
“rights and priorities over and above others” advantage granted, special right or favor granted to a person or group, a right, immunity, benefit, or advantage enjoyed by a person or body of persons beyond the common advantages of other individuals"question: how are the privileges of the elite conferred and by what right are they exercised over others?special knowledge (insight into useful secrets and abilities unknown and unavailable to others).oracle: "a message from a god expressed by divine inspiration through a priest or priestess," in answer to a human inquiry, usually respecting some future event.prophet: "person who speaks for god; one who foretells, inspired preacher," "the function of a prophet; inspired utterance; the prediction of future events," test of a claim of special knowledge: what is it?.
conditions: 1. completeness: a. both parties must be honest b. both parties follow the rules2.
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Terry
As I've observed before, there is the frenzy of the compulsive Gambler Mentality about the Governing Body. They have a mental state which may well be neurotic obsessive/compulsive fixation and addiction to THE END!
They can't help themselves when it comes to tinkering with doctrine and predicting when the Great Trib and Harm my Geddon will pop.
They roll the dice shouting to heaven "Come on - just one time!" And crap out.
Neurosis and obsession are not healthy. Addiction ruins lives.
We were all very very fortunate to escape (or be tossed out) because we more or less became sane for a few seconds :) -
15
THIS MAN Changed your life - Did you know that?
by Terry inthis man changed your life - did you know that?.
our story begins 6 years later in 1782 in pittsfield, massachusetts.
there is a family of 16 children called the miller family.
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Terry
The Puritan mindset - in my opinion - attracted neurotics as obsessive/compulsive ritual-seeking persons in the grip of (if not mental illness) a crippling emotional disorder.
The TNT with a burning fuse was the lethal "God Approved" validation coupled with Bible interpretation and eagerness for an event that wipes the slate and REPAIRS the world (i.e. the nutty people).
Where else but in a religious environment could such folks prosper by nit-picking and endless gerbil-exercise-wheel evangelizing efforts.
END of the WORLD doctrines appeal to THAT mental state and it is addictive, compulsive, and sucks all the joy out of life - but that's okay because: look at the reward, eh?
EACH TIME A DATE SET FAILS, what happens? You lose the weak (i.e. "sane") and retain the strong (i.e. die-hard compulsive) which is a net gain in the long run.
We neurotics were sucked in because we were moths and the Jehovah Moon was a bright light to dazzle us. Heaven/Paradise is a horizon line (wholly imaginary) and you can travel fast or slow and never reach that crossover.
It's totally Los Vegas where it's not fun if you're not gambling away everything you own in order to hit it big ("Come on - just one time!")
The thrill of risking everything is a high and every once and a while they can't help themselves tempting JAH to "Come on- just one time" it with a real Armageddon event. -
7
Nightmare at Beth Sarim
by Terry innightmare at beth sarim(a one-act play)setting: beth sarim is a ten-bedroom mansion in san diego, california.
________curtain riseswe see the figure of j.f.
(the judge) rutherford.
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Terry
When Russell broke away from his family's church (Presbyterian) because of hellfire doctrine and tergiversated (good word!) to the Congregational church, he was asked to go door to door and ask for contributions.
HE HATED IT because he felt he was asking mostly poor people to contribute and that pressure to do so was humiliating.
From that attitude, I extract the following opinion...
Russell strikes me as an early example of an Asperger spectrum disorder highly-functioning neurotic obsessed with a puritanical lifestyle and fussy about details, rituals, and perhaps this temperament made religious fixation come natural to him.
Rutherford joined Russell two decades before the 1914 fiasco.
The Pastor got to know that man's temperament and character.
Wisely, Russell made no room for Rutherford in the administration on the Director level in his will. "The Judge" was a hammer and anvil legal arm to lean on in trying times.
Rutherford made a bold defense of Russell when lawsuits were flying, penning a pamphlet that is still worth reading.
( https://archive.org/details/AGreatBattleInTheEcclesiasticalHeavens )
I think CTR had a pretty good instinct about finances and he prudently refrained from exposing the flock to a rather overbearing man who was not beyond flashy wallowing in the donations of wealthy men handing out Cadillacs. -
15
THIS MAN Changed your life - Did you know that?
by Terry inthis man changed your life - did you know that?.
our story begins 6 years later in 1782 in pittsfield, massachusetts.
there is a family of 16 children called the miller family.
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15
THIS MAN Changed your life - Did you know that?
by Terry inthis man changed your life - did you know that?.
our story begins 6 years later in 1782 in pittsfield, massachusetts.
there is a family of 16 children called the miller family.
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Terry
THIS MAN CHANGED YOUR LIFE - did you know that?
Our story begins 6 years later in 1782 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts.
There is a family of 16 children called the Miller family. The firstborn male in that family was named William. He was born into a family of abject poverty.
Little wonder with all those children, you say? Not exactly.
Poor families needed to have lots of children to survive by working those kids' fingers to the bone to benefit the household as best as they could. The Miller family was no exception. William had little opportunity to better himself in the normal scheme of things other than a rudimentary education. Oh but - he was special, you see …William Miller was a very curious and bright lad who loved reading any and every book he could lay his hands on. He devoured them whenever he had a spare moment away from his backbreaking chores. Young Billy Miller learned as much as he could and became useful in his teen years to the community in which he lived, Low Hampton New York. He secured an important job.
Miller became the local scribe.
The Community scribe was vitally necessary at a time when a great many folks had been too busy at hard work to learn how to read or write. Non-reader desperately needed a secretary with these indispensable skills.William's parents made a strong impression on their son’s character.
William's dad had been an army captain in the American Revolutionary war.
His mother was deeply pious and a devout Baptist. His Grandfather and two uncles were ministers in the Baptist Church.
Can you imagine the questions a bright young man would raise at family gatherings? In a "Children should be seen and not heard" sort of world; how would this be tolerated?When he turned 21, Miller married a woman who proved to exert a profound influence on his thinking and his belief system. He married Lucy Smith and moved away from his family ties to Vermont in the town of Poultney.
As is often the case, once a young person leaves the familiar behind them and starts a new life on their own they are more inclined to become objective and idealistic than before.
Newly married William Miller saw behavior he disapproved nor understand in the hypocrisy of local Christians.
He asked many questions and could not abide the answers he was given by local ministers. His book-learned intellect began to create a skeptical attitude that gradually turned him inward. His once easy faith had now been damaged.
He questioned everything.
He formed a circle of new friends who were not as insular Baptists as before.
His new friends included educated, articulate and refined people who read the works and words of great thinkers such as Voltaire, Paine, and Hume.
The now “intellectual” Miller was irresistibly drawn to "rationalist" thinking and philosophy. He transformed from an unquestioning and humble believer to a rational Deist.
Whatever/whoever "God" was had created the universe and then wiped His hands of it - leaving mankind to fend for itself outside the rules of a mere book such as the Holy Bible. Mind you, he was not an atheist. He was seeing God as impersonal and distant to human affairs.While Miller's profession of faith changed, his outlook on what was ethical and moral remained firmly entrenched. He was not that of a libertine indulging the flesh. He remained steadfast and upright in his actions and was a leader in the local community well-respected for integrity. Miler served as Constable, Justice of the Peace, and even sheriff.
By the age of 30, Miller faced the War of 1812 as the Captain of the local regiment of infantry. He met the challenge of the British by facing off with his men at the Battle of Plattsburg. This proved to be a time of reckoning in his life.
Battles at that time were largely a matter of two things: how many soldiers there were handy to fight and how much advantage in terrain and experience were available. Miller's infantry was grossly outnumbered 3 to 1 and faced certain defeat.
Miller was smart enough to know this.
It was unthinkable they should win at such odds against seasoned troops such as the British brought to bear upon them.At that moment events transpired that dramatically seized upon Miller's sense of the divine. The battle commenced and by the time the last bugle sounded and the dust cleared something of a miracle had occurred.
The Americans won and the British retreated!!
The main cause was the defeat of the British Navy which was the support of infantry columns. British policy was to conserve forces. The British lived to fight another day by not squandering troops.
Miller chose to see things from the divine perspective and viewed it as proof positive that God was truly one who intervened in human history. Perhaps this intervention meant God had a specific purpose for Miller's life personally.It was a new William Miller reborn that day by unexpected events and an imagination fueled by his early belief system.
Let us stop for a moment and reflect!
William Miller is now a war hero, the natural leader of men, well-respected for his integrity, and much appreciated for his intelligence and curiosity.
In a world of deeply religious believers, many of whom came from Puritan families, such a man as Miller might seem remarkably blessed against the backdrop of this Epiphany of Belief!After the war, Miller moved his family back to Low Hampton and began life as a mere farmer. But, deeply troubled in his mind and soul he tried to reconcile his personal experiences with his religious upbringing. He sought solace in attending his Uncle's Baptist church.
Obviously, his family deeply longed to have William join them spiritually without reservation. His Uncle involved Miller in Bible reading before the congregation. The loving support of the crowds and their natural admiration and esteem for his community service keened him toward a tipping point of an inevitable crisis.
According to William Miller's own account, it was in the public reading of Isaiah 53 that it all came together. The focus of this scripture was expounded to explain what Miller had previously failed to see.
God did purposefully intervene in men's affairs to redound to their salvation!!
Miller was stricken at his failure to see this previously. He collapsed with emotion only to rise afterward with dramatic self-realization.Miller's journey was a small circle back to the starting point.
He simply became what he had been raised to be all along: a devout Christian Believer. But, now the full force of his intellect was brought to bear upon it rather than the weak and ineffective emotional succor he saw in others.What William Miller now threw himself into is predictable in hindsight. He simply did what he always did: he began reading and teaching himself from whatever books were available. Miller was what is called an auto-didact; a self-taught man.
Whatever views he might form would be according to his own personality, whims, and imagination rather than conforming to some rigor of schooling or the headmaster's influence.William Miller reinvented himself and the indelible mark of his theology would be proprietary to his self-educated viewpoint.
Psychologists today would label this a “confirmation bias”.
It is notable that what William Miller sought to do is done again and again every day by perplexed Christians and waffling non-believers alike. It is commonplace and rather naive to simply view it now for what it was.Miller started with the first book of the Bible and worked his way through to the end using a Bible concordance only so as not to taint his learning by the opinion of others.
Miller tackled the problem of language and interpretation and lack of resources with zeal. Yet, he was baffled by most of the difficult passages. There was little in the way of archeology, hermeneutics, documentary hypothesis, or analysis of any scientific structure available at that time. Even so, he slogged away for 2 solid years!
Miller concentrated on what interested him most: Prophecy and especially End Times. This was of the greatest interest to amateur ‘scholars’ because it concerned them personally with a kind of dramatic thrill of imminent proximity.
What happens next is most interesting.
Miller finished his studies in 1818 at the age of 36. He had bootstrapped himself into a theory about End Times that gave him much cause for urgency. Miller came up with the idea that ONLY TWENTY-FIVE YEARS REMAINED before Jesus would return to Earth and end human affairs!!The target year was 1843!
____________________________Let us stop and review.
Down through the centuries, plenty of sincere men of faith and intellect predicted speculative dates and explanations for when the world would end. They came and they went - always humiliated and deflated.
What made Miller's speculations any different from the others who proved themselves False Prophets?Nothing. It was William Miller’s spotless reputation and pristine character above all.
It would not exactly be the scholarship or explanation of William Miller that would set events into motion. It is the fact that Miller had credibility, respect, good standing in the community, intellect, high morals, and a strong connection with fellow Christians that should red flag what followed.
Miller had strayed from the faith and had COME BACK as a prodigal son which marked him as no flash in the pan. Miller had been a war hero with a story of Divine Intervention on his behalf that made him irresistible to other believers and even non-believers who might sympathize.Miller had Gravitas!
He was one heavy dude. Further, he had natural talent as an orator and preacher of spellbinding ability. He made people listen and he could convince you that pigs could fly so marvelous was his gift of speech.The disaster that followed was caused by people wanting a certain outcome in advance to be true! All it took was the suspension of disbelief.
Miller gave it to them in spades.Two things of note now follow.
Miller did something that no other preacher had done. Miller propounded the idea that ANY student of the Bible of normal intelligence could do what he, Miller, had done without being a graduate of a Theological Seminary. Miller became the first POPULIST preacher of note to move a vast crowd. He empowered the little people rather than making them feel stupid and passive.
Miller challenged Authority! It would not be the Church as an institution that would bring about the Millennium Reign of Christ--no! It would be a small band of True Believers unfettered by tradition or pomposity.
Miller produced an easy-to-understand system that anybody could grasp immediately. The past mirrored the future. The Bible prophecies of old were a mirror of fulfillment in present times. It was a matter of Dispensations or spans of time which matched present-day events that enabled believers to understand predictions of when the End was to come.
Miller produced 14 or 15 iron-clad arguments to persuade belief in his system. He used chiefly Daniel 8:14 and Daniel 9:24-27 to achieve his purpose.
Note: Modern denominations of Christianity are still using Miller’s failed system but moving dates around and jury-rigging explanations to make them dramatic and oh so near! As always, millions of people are persuaded and disappointed.
The best-selling non-fiction book of the 1970s was Hal Lindsey’s book,
THE LATE GREAT PLANET EARTH. (The book was first featured on a primetime television special featuring Hal Lindsey from 1974 to 1975 with an audience of 17,000,000.
He cited an increase in the frequency of famines, wars, and earthquakes, as major events just prior to the end of the world. He also foretold a Soviet invasion of Israel (War of Gog and Magog).
Lindsey’s predictions proved worthless but - undaunted - he repeated his error with a new book, Countdown to Armageddon, Lindsey predicted that "the decade of the 1980s could very well be the last decade of history as we know it".
We can all think of other religious groups who fell into the same trap of End Times fever. (The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life 106,486,735 copies in 116 languages) pointed to 1975 as “the end of 6,000 years of human history”, for example. It was reprinted in 1981 with all the embarrassing predictions removed.)
So many sects, cults, and mainstream churches have familiarized the "day for a year" and "weeks of years" arguments and reasonings. The only changes made today are small and inconsequential ones. The system hasn't been junked at all!
MEANWHILE - BACK TO WILLIAM MILLER …I mentioned to you how smart William Miller was, right? You must know, then, that he knew he was going to be in for a hailstorm of protests, arguments, and criticisms. So, he spent an additional FIVE YEARS perfecting his counter-arguments, explanations, charts, diagrams, and reasonings anticipating every critic in advance!!
Miller's theology was a refutation-based counter-attack strategy.
Meaning what? For every protest there was a reply; a counter-punch that took you back to scripture. The effect was like watching a fistfight between a professional boxer and a small un-trained amateur. It was always a dramatic knockout!As people now know, Miller's arguments suffered from two fatal flaws hidden from view: wrong assumptions that bedeviled his very premises and the interpretations of meaning in scripture.
In other words, it was what a computer programmer often says: GIGO GARBAGE IN = GARBAGE OUT.
However, be it noted here something very important. William Miller was an intellectually honest person. He was sincere. He was reluctant. He was not a charlatan nor a flim-flam artist. Read his own words:
"When I was about my business, it was continually ringing in my ears, "Go and tell the world of their danger...." I felt that if the wicked could be effectually warned, multitudes of them would repent; and that if they were not warned, their blood might be required at my hand."
This is a truly Christian sense of responsibility! Misplaced and falsified - but pure in motive.
Having no formal public speaking training, feeling too old, not a preacher by trade, Miller overcame his reluctance.
On the morning of Saturday, August 13, 1831, the fifty-five-year-old farmer promised God something that would go on to change his life and yours perhaps.
Read what it was:
"If I should have an invitation to speak publicly in any place, I will go and tell them what I have found."
As he made this very vow his own nephew was racing to his side to deliver an invitation for him to preach the very next day at the Baptist church in nearby Dresden!
Preparation met opportunity and the rest is history.
The result was a vast wildfire enthusiasm unlike anything known in the New World. Audiences went crazy with acceptance and motivation. Invitations galore took him from one church to another as the crowds grew larger and yet larger into huge mobs of quivering, wide-eyed yokels filled with dread, awe, and religious zeal.
Revivals broke out and thousands were throwing themselves at the altars embracing Salvation and baptism in preparation for THE END.
So successful did this make the local Baptist Churches that they granted him a special license to preach as a Baptist minister in 1833.An industry was begun with pamphlets, charts, and printed sermons. Illustrators sought to depict the events of Revelation soon to unfold on mankind as these publications flooded America like nothing before it. Like the Boy Who Cried Wolf, everybody took the warning seriously. But wait! No. Not everybody.
It wasn't long before half a million people stood nodding in agreement with the rendezvous with Armageddon Miller had foretold. How could it be otherwise? Leading ministers and preachers well-respected in their community came forth with public acceptance and approval of what Miller was doing and this more than triggered the final skeptics into jumping on the bandwagon with mad abandon.
One follower and admirer, Joshua V. Himes helped Miller to publish Signs of the Times and Midnight Cry.
Both influenced sectarian copycats to come along afterward...
Millerites is what his followers were eventually called by nay-sayers. After the fact, it is claimed only about 55,000 people to 100,000 were true followers of his movement and theology. But, his influence was infectious in many quarters. Miller’s methodology was popular no matter what conclusions were reached at the end.
As the dreaded date approached, these “2nd Adventist” watchers-of-the-end coalesced into a sect after sect of True Believers who could not accept that this might all be a non-eventful event.
Noteworthy are the following:
Millerites began characterizing other churches (who did not embrace their end-time speculations) as members of Babylon the Great!
Eventually, ALL other Christian Churches were seen as clinging to Satan's old world instead of preparing for the New World to come.
Christendom was attacked as the whore of Babylon who rejected the only true religion.
Followers began divesting themselves of personal possessions, dropping out of school, and selling their houses in preparation for the Great Day to come.
The unexpected appearance of a great comet in February seems a sure sign of what was certain to follow.
_______(***Spoiler Alert***)______
THE GREAT DISAPPOINTMENT
I'm sure you can guess!
To his merit, William Miller made a public apology:
"I confess my error, and acknowledge my disappointment."
He conveyed this retraction in May of 1844."Yet I still believe that the day of the Lord is near, even at the door."
179 years have passed since that fateful prediction flunked!
MONKEY SEE-MONKEY DOAfter Miller, do you think those thousands of disappointed believers shrugged and admitted they were duped?? NO WAY!
It started all over again. Psychologists have a term for this and it is called “cognitive dissonance.” A person fooled against their will is of the same opinion still.
Various persons tried date-setting chronologies and all of them got it wrong! Again and again!
One famous spinoff of ADVENTISM is Ellen White (who was knocked on the skull as a child). She had "visions". Those visions proved useful for 2nd Adventists. God was speaking to her directly!
What was Ellen White's PREMISE??
A bump on her head and subsequent "visions"!
And that’s not all, Folks!
William Miller’s flabbergasting failure sparked a grassfire among aroused Christians with a thirst, a passion, and an addiction to END TIMES date-setting doctrines.
THE BOY WHO CRIED WOLF ended badly for the ordinary villagers who believed the one making false cries because they stopped believing because of those failed warnings!
The moral of the story should be but is NOT clear!
The moral of the story is that liars will not be rewarded; even if they tell the truth, no one believes them.
Was William Miller a liar?
No. The Greek philosopher Aristotle gave us a clear definition of lying.
“To LIE is: To say the opposite of what one believes to be true.”
He was a self-deceived person of piety. But he wasn’t only self-deceived.
His self-deceit created a chain reaction that hasn’t stopped even to this very day.
William Miller’s false prediction brought reproach to God and the Bible as well.
Becoming a laughing stock under the auspices of God’s holy spirit is a serious sin!
In fact, it could well be UNFORGIVABLE because people who trust you are carried away in error. They warn others and so on - everybody looks like a fool and all in the name of Bible truth and God’s prophetic powers.
God describes a false prophet as one who “presumes to speak in My name anything I have not commanded…”
The penalty was - (drum roll, please) “They should be put to death.”
“Therefore this is what the Lord says about the prophets who are prophesying in My name: I did not send them…”
Speaking about End Times is like printing counterfeit money. As long as people accept the bills as legal tender the false prophet can spend and spend and spend.
Gullible True Believers are an easy mark as the story of William Miller proves.
He wasn’t even a liar. He was upstanding and admirable - until - he wasn’t.
What can we learn from William Miller? As the gypsy tells the man who was bitten by a strange wolf: "Even a man who is pure of heart and says his prayers by night can become a wolf when the wolfbane blooms and the autumn moon is bright." When it comes to END TIME's predictions, the 'wolfbane' is always in bloom. Don't let the Boy Who Cries Wolf near you! -
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Nightmare at Beth Sarim
by Terry innightmare at beth sarim(a one-act play)setting: beth sarim is a ten-bedroom mansion in san diego, california.
________curtain riseswe see the figure of j.f.
(the judge) rutherford.
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Terry
We could create a mighty list of APOSTATES:
Jesus was an Apostate from Judaism.
C.T.Russell was an Apostate 1st from Scottish Presbyterianism, 2nd from the Congregational church
J.F. Rutherford was an Apostate from Baptist faith
and so on .... -
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Nightmare at Beth Sarim
by Terry innightmare at beth sarim(a one-act play)setting: beth sarim is a ten-bedroom mansion in san diego, california.
________curtain riseswe see the figure of j.f.
(the judge) rutherford.
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Terry
I have often imagined a convention in which Russell, Rutherford, Knorr, Franz, etc. etc. appear at a round table discussion in the middle of a hall with onlookers from each generation of witnesses observing the debate. in the grandstands.
The BATTLE for the real TRUTH would be advertised on long banners flapping in the breeze.
Rutherford would, of course, win because his personality was tempestuous and overbearing aggression.
But - oh - what a debate it would be. -
7
Nightmare at Beth Sarim
by Terry innightmare at beth sarim(a one-act play)setting: beth sarim is a ten-bedroom mansion in san diego, california.
________curtain riseswe see the figure of j.f.
(the judge) rutherford.
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Terry
Nightmare at Beth Sarim
(a one-act play)
Setting: Beth Sarim is a ten-bedroom mansion in San Diego, California
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Curtain rises
We see the figure of J.F. (the Judge) Rutherford. (Rutherford heads up a Bible & Tract Society).Night has come to Beth Sarim's mansion as President Joe Rutherford (the "Judge") sits cleaning his pistol and sipping whisky from a flask on the edge of his silk sheets at bedtime.
There is a knock at the bedroom door.
____________"Come!" the Judge growls.
The finely polished door creaks open and into his bed chambers steps a newly resurrected Charles Taze Russell with a full beard (minus mustache).
He is naked as a jaybird.
(Russell is the founder of the Publishing Society. After his death, Rutherford inveigled his way to the Presidency, violating the terms of his Last Will and Testament.)Rutherford glances up. Startled, he spills his flask, dropping the pistol to the floor. The gun hits on the cocked hammer and a bullet whizzes through Russell's beard penetrating the oak door jam.
"Great Zion!, what's going on here?" The Judge roars as he woozily tries to leap to his feet.
"Oh, stifle it, Judge. I'm an Ancient Worthy returning to claim the mansion and I want you out now!"
Russell scratches the hole in his beard and saunters over to the chest of drawers next to Rutherford's bed and begins opening drawers."Ah, pajamas!" Russell grins.
"STOP! You...you zombie apparition...I'll have you arrested!"
The Judge screams but suddenly pauses in mid-breath to appraise the figure before him. It dawns on him quickly----the man really is Charley Russell!
Immediately his legs lose strength and he falls back on the bed. The whiskey flask catapults into the air and clunks him on the forehead with a "ping"."Oh, dear Lord...oh dear Lord..." this is terrible...just terrible..."Russell looks on with disdain, shaking his head.
"What's terrible about me returning, Judge? You told everyone at the assemblies the Ancient Worthies would return."
"No, it's not that", Rutherford groans, "I spilled whiskey all over the sheets. It was my last bottle till the new shipment comes in from Canada. Ohhhh ..."
Russell begins tugging on his pajamas one leg at a time.
"What's so bad about that, J.F.?"
"PROHIBITION, that's what's bad about it!
Congress prohibited alcohol 5 years ago. Those idiots made it illegal to buy or manufacture alcoholic beverages!!"
Rutherford sits up and rubs the bump on his head, then, slyly grins at the sight of Charles Taze Russell wearing his polka dot silk pajamas."You think I'm funny? I'm looking at an alcoholic so-called Saint. Now that's funny."
The Judge curls his lip."Heh heh, you are one scrawny sumbitch and ye always looked anemic to me." (His smile fades.) "Say, why don't you have a Perfect Body? Yer resurrected, aren't ye?"
Russell finds a chair near the bed and scoots it across the fine Turkish carpet and seats himself next to Rutherford's bed, and sits knee to knee.
"Judge, there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in your philosophy".
"Huh?" The Judge is taken aback.
"Shakespeare...I'd have thought a college boy would know it."
Russell begins absent-mindedly weaving the hairs of his beard into little Hassidic braids and then unwinding them as he speaks."Rutherford, listen to me. I speak in the name of our Lord as his Faithful and Wise Servant...."
The Judge interrupts."No, now just hold on a second. That's not kosher anymore. We changed all that. You aren't the mouthpiece of Jah---I AM!"
Russell glares and stands up looking down at Rutherford's bald pate.
He points a bony finger in his eye."You sir---are a common thief! You were NOT designated to take over the corporation in my will!! You are not my APPOINTED successor. By what right do you make any changes?"
The old voice is shrill and raspy and the eyes bulging from their watery sockets.Rutherford jumps to his feet and pushes the bony finger aside and walks past Russell to the doorway. He opens the door and points to the empty space in the hallway.
"Get out you grey-beard loony!"
Russell doesn't budge.He smiles and sits down on the whiskey flask- flinches- pulls it out of his behind and tosses it at Rutherford.
Rutherford closes the door calmly and sits in the chair where Russell had been sitting. He realizes the old man is not going to be bluffed by bluster.
"Now look, Charley, what I did was a sharp LEGAL and pretty damned clever move. I pulled a finesse. I razzled and dazzled.
Do you know what legal finesse is?
(Russell stares motionless). "I'll tell you what it is....it is an indication that I'm the one with the brains to get this religion into the mainstream on a paying basis. We've pretty much used up your personal fortune. Now it is time for the brethren to give back. I've given them work to do that generates some real cash flow!"Russell lies back on the cushy swan's down pillow and crosses his ankles staring up at the canopy over the bed. He purses his lips and then turns his head toward Rutherford.
"Racketeer would be more accurate than a thief.
You are a racketeer, Joe. I sent you away - remember? I gave you a loan so you could start your own law firm in Los Angeles.
You want to make a beautiful bunch of Bible Students into a racket---what did you call it? Ah yes, a 'mainstream" religious sect. Why? Why would you destroy my work like this? Just for the money?"Rutherford stands up and his eyes grow very large. He holds his index finger aloft and shouts, "Bingo!"
He climbs up on the chair and reaches into the light fixture. Pulling out a small flask of whiskey he yanks the cork and chugs back a gulp. "Ahhh."
"Now, what were you blathering about, Russell? I'm a what? A crook? A Racketeer? Pot calling the kettle black, if you ask me."He climbs down off the chair and takes another hit from the whiskey and replaces the cork.
"Follow me, old man!"
Rutherford exits the bedroom without looking back.
_______The two men reach the bottom of the stairs and Rutherford gestures broadly to Russell.
"You see all this? It isn't for you as an Ancient Worthy.
It is really for me. The boys at Bethel wanted to get me out of their hair. Why? Because I'm tough and foul-mouthed? No, because I don't put up with crap like YOU DID! You let your own wife make a fool out of you!"Rutherford leads Russell throughout the mansion stopping now and again to point out the valuables, antiques, carpets, silverware, and crystals as he speaks. Russell peers approvingly each time and nods in appreciation. His mind is busy working quietly.
"Pastor, you poured a King's Ransom into the Bible Students and what good did it do? No, don't answer--I'll tell you. You fed a lot of people a load of pyramid crap and nothing more. But, you did do one thing right. You got people busy. Busy Christians are valuable as an asset to the corporation".
They stroll into the garden area and the men pause in front of the various floral groups and hedges as they chat.
"Now Pastor, it doesn't really matter much that you got them all excited for nothing---I mean, Armageddon didn't come in 1874, did it? In 1914, did it? You thought it would and even insisted God told you it would--don't deny it! Do you know what year it is now?"
Russell shrugs. "Last time I glanced at the calendar - it was ... October, I916."
"Hahaha. No, you bewhiskered old pastor---it is 1929, You've been dead NINE years! And, guess what? There is STILL NO ARMAGEDDON! The Stock Market just crashed. And yet - somehow you managed to crawl out of your grave?? How?"
Russell, truly bewildered, begins to weep but no water comes out of his eyes. He sighs and shrugs.
"That cannot be true, Judge. It cannot be true. I am alive! That means the resurrection has happened if I was dead. No Armageddon? How?"
Rutherford motions for him to sit on a concrete bench in front of a flowing fountain. The evening air is turning brisk in Southern California. The stars begin to show in a clear sky. Somewhere a dog begins yapping at a noisy neighbor.
"Sit here, Pastor. Here, have a snort of rye whiskey. It will put whiskers on your balls!"
Russell turns his head disgustedly. He is a Pilgrim Puritan through and through.
"Fine, more for me then." Rutherford takes a slug of rye and wipes his lips.
"Here is how the cow eats the cabbage. Listen up and be quiet."
Rutherford stands and begins an impromptu lecture, as though he were in front of a jury of tired old businessmen."Your money is the only thing that carried you as far as you went, Pastor Charles. That money - and your wife, Maria! Without her writing, editing, and charisma - how far would you have gone? She exposed you as a phony and everything went downhill. All those lawsuits!"
Russell gives him a poisonous look and grunts in disgust.
"Stings you to hear it? Well, it is true. It was Maria who came up with the doctrine of Faithful and Wise Servant and she applied it to you. It is what made you a Brand Name if you will. You became the Mouthpiece of the Lord. Your money, your publishing company, and your colporteurs advertised the Pyramid nonsense and made it work. Ya got people all stirred up expecting dates that disproved everything. Don't deny it."
Russell opens his mouth to protest, thinks the better of it, and motions for Rutherford to finish with a wave of his hand.
"People love END TIMES. It is deliciously exciting.
They get themselves all in a lather about the coming of the Lord. Ya know why? I"ll tell you and you know in your heart it is true. People love to get worked up over the Armageddon business because it is the only damned thing that can make them actually FEEL something - even though it's FEAR."Russell leaps to his feet in a self-righteous zeal,
"Stop that blasphemy you contemptible cur! Don't speak about our Lord's revealed word in such a venal tone! He will strike you dead on the spot!"Rutherford makes a mocking face and smiles, "Okay, Strike me down now, Lord----if you are up there--out there, over there----umm, where exactly is the Lord this evening, Pastor?"
Russell pulls himself up to full height and tilts his head back in disdain.
"MY Lord is watching you and weighing every word that falls from your blasphemous lips. You have been weighed in the balance and found lacking!"Judge Rutherford pulls back his smoking jacket and points to his cummerbund with the holster.
"See this pistol, Pastor, that is the only word of the Lord that can speak around here."Russell points to the empty holster. "As empty as your soul."
"Oh!" The Judge mutters with surprise. "I forgot I wounded your beard with it. Sorry about that. You startled me."
_______Russell beckons for the Judge to sit beside him in a gazebo near the center of the flowered walkway. The Pastor speaks quietly building up a head of steam as he goes.
_________"I sincerely believed every word I wrote or spoke in my lifetime. You wouldn't understand that, would you? No, you are a lawyer. A lawyer is all about getting a thing done regardless of it being right or wrong. A judge, in fact, is the one who decides what is right and wrong--does he not? You speak it---and it is now a legal truth. That has obviously become a habit in your thinking. Well, showing off doesn't make you anything but a lout."
Rutherford burps.
Russell continues..."Judge, you are an ambitious and ruthless fellow who saw a good thing with certain potential and you found a ... for want of a better word..." legal" way of stealing it. Yes, I said STEALING. I specified in my will who should succeed me and you invalidated my wishes. The corporation was mine, bought with my money and hard work---and you have destroyed my life's creation."
Rutherford sneers at this.
"Ho ho ho, I see you admit it is YOUR creation and none of the Lord's doing. Nothing you predicted was true."Russell turns defiantly.
"Nobody knows - okay? But William Miller and I turned a spotlight on the arrival of our Master. The Lord used me as his instrument to prepare the way for his Kingdom. I prepared people and made certain their attention was on His coming. I pointed the way like John the Baptist did for Christ the first time around.""Ha!"
Rutherford spits the words out of his mouth along with a sip of whiskey.
"Ha! You were wrong about everything you thought you were CERTAIN about and you were right about absolutely nothing. You said 1914 was not the beginning of the end - but the END. Armageddon. That World War in Europe only momentarily made you look plausible."Russell, aghast, can only shake his head painfully. He knows nothing about a World War or its end in Armistice.
______
A chill flows through the garden and the gazebo begins to move slightly as a breeze catches the leaves and flowers. Rutherford continues.
_____
"You sponsored the most convincing fanatics with their charts, timelines, chronologies and then copied what you liked and peddled it along with pyramidology. Do you know why? Well, I do. It was because your Mother coddled you too much. She filled your head with Presbyterian Hellfire fears! Right? She then died burning up with a fever and it marked you for life!
Your father's business success taught you how to organize people to work for you. SELLING - SELLING- always selling the "No Hell" brand of Adventist razzle-dazzle."______
Russell is shivering in the cold now, half-distracted.
He sticks out his lower lip and reaches for Rutherford's whiskey bottle.
The Judge passes it approvingly to the old Pastor and watches with a fatherly smile as the old man chokes down a warm glow of Prohibition Booze.
______"You didn't know my mother. She'd had so many miscarried babies and finally - me. Sure, she was over-protective. But it was Victorian times and children were reared strictly as possible. I couldn't swallow Presbyterian hell. I turned Congregational and finally gave up on the Bible for a long while. But the Adventists knew something worth checking out. Sure I paid money for their teachings. I published them. I listened, learned, and took the best of what they offered. Why shouldn't I follow my heart in the matter?"
_____Rutherford takes the bottle back and corks it.
"You smuggled that Pyramid horse dung into all of it. Tomfoolery is sold as God's witness in stone. Shame on you!"
He pauses to gaze up at the night sky that looks now like spilled talcum powder on a black suit. Shaking his head to clear it, he continues in a moderate tone of assured confidence.
_____"You built religion with a Jesus who didn't scare you . The invisible Jesus who rules now is a real twist of genius. But, you fumbled it badly Pastor, you really dropped the ball. You became convinced by that Wife of yours that your writings were
the whispers of God.You didn't know any more than anybody else did. Faithful and Wise Servant was her idea and when you allowed it - you lost your soul."
Russell stood shaking his head miserably."Oh stifle, Judge. Just stifle." The pastor replied meekly. His face was troubled and drawn.
"Ha! Maria figured you out pretty quick. You were not a husband in the bedroom with her and she caught you with that young girl---your adopted daughter--what was the name?"
"Rose Ball. That was Paternal love. That was evil rumor and nothing more."
"Right, Pastor, and I'm not a drunken Judge either. But, I digress ... your mismanagement of the Miracle Wheat fiasco brought you into court and exposed you as a phony scholar on the witness stand. You were unable to read simple Greek sentences - you blew your authenticity. You lost a lot of those Bible Students, right?"
"Well," the Pastor began, "the Lord saw fit to take me unto him. I am resurrected. That must mean something!"
"What?" Rutherford looked mockingly quizzical. "Is this place heaven and am I the Lord?"
"I - I," the Pastor halted. "I... I just don't know."
Rutherford beamed brightly.
"You never did 'Know', you old poseur. You just THOUGHT you knew."
_____The two men slowly rose and walked back into the house out of the night air. They settle in at the vast kitchen area at the dining table. Rutherford pours them each a thick shot glass full of rye and they begin smoking long cigars from Cuba.
Thoughtfully, Russell begins to muse...
"Yes, I was convinced the Lord was speaking directly through me as his mouthpiece. It was the look in the eyes of the brethren when I met with them and spoke to them face to face. They looked at me AS THOUGH the Lord were speaking through me. Do you know what that feels like to a man like me? IT IS EVERYTHING!" He cooed wonderingly.Rutherford snorts dismissively.
"Oh, I see that myself. Those people are idiots. I'd rather do what Machiavelli said. "I'd rather be feared and obeyed than loved." It works better than your method. I wear a pistol and I have bodyguards. I have a chauffeur and a flask of whisky. Do you know who my enemies are? The big-shots with all the fame, glory, and money. I put myself right up there on their level ...You know how? I put myself HIGHER MORALLY than they are. I condemn them! It works, Pastor, it works. They fear me and hate me. I wear the badge of Faithful and Wise Sheriff."Russell shakes his head and tugs his beard causing the few braids to fall out.
"It's all about you, then, Judge? The Lord is nowhere to be found?"Rutherford looks straight into Pastor Russell's watery eyes.
"It is all about POWER!
I'm working on a brand name to top the current bestsellers: Baptist, Methodist, Catholic - no - my idea is better. You have to have a brand name, you see, to advertise and promote your goods. I want people to fear the LORD HIMSELF. I'll have to demote Jesus from the number one spot, of course.""Disgusting!" Russell frowns and closes his eyes in pain. He rubs his temples and heaves a long sigh.
"My new brand name will be revealed eventually when I work out the kinks in the theology of it all. It will contain the divine name. A real attention-getter. We'll get lots of publicity each time our side doesn't salute a flag, don't say the pledge, don't celebrate a birthday, don't go for Christmas and Easter, or serve in the armed forces. We'll get free publicity everywhere because...we'll make everybody mad, we'll be mistreated, arrested, jailed. That will prove to the world we are persecuted for our faith."
Russell can stand no more. He jumps up and pushes the dining chair back away from the table.
"You must be stopped, Judge. You are dangerous. You've wrecked everything I ever stood for. I'm going to stop you."
______
Rutherford scowls craftily and beckons for Russell to follow. They climb the stairs. Re-entering the bedroom, Rutherford reaches down on the floor and picks up his pistol. He checks the cylinder to determine how many bullets remain.
______"Pastor Russell, I misjudged you. Which is ironic for a man called JUDGE, is it not?"
Rutherford chuckles out loud having a good laugh, then continues."I buried you and your faithful and wise servant image. We're in the process of scuttling the Great Pyramid teachings. We are replacing your work with a real campaign of door-to-door work that will bring Christendom to its knees. Paradise and Heaven are the CARROT and Armageddon is the STICK. When the brethren get sluggish or backslide I'll pull out the stick you used inadvertently: DATE SETTING! That will shock and scare them back to the fold. When the date comes and goes without anything happening---well, I'll do what you always did: I'll be humble and show how eager we were for Christ's promises to come now. I'll even turn it back on them if they get surly about it. A certain amount of turnover is to be expected in every business...um, I mean, Religion."
Russell, aghast, reaches for the telephone...but, Rutherford points the pistol at his face and shakes his head from side to side menacingly.
"I wouldn't do that, Pastor. You only live twice, you know."Russell decides the Judge is bluffing and picks up the receiver anyway.
"Last chance, Pastor, I mean it. I don't know how you came back to life or why you are here, but, I can't let you stop my success from happening. I'm a mover and a shaker and things are starting to move. People will believe ANYTHING you tell them if you put fear behind it."
Russell turns to leave.
"I can't listen to any more of this. You are obviously quite insane."As Russell reaches the door, the sound of three loud blasts shakes the windows and echoes against the wood paneling. Russell falls to the floor with a loud thump and groans once ... then twice ... and a death rattle brings only silence.
Rutherford watches impassively as the gun smoke swirls in curlicues around him. He reaches for the tug cord and summons the help. Perhaps his chauffeur can lift this old man into a gunny sack and dump him in the Pacific Ocean before sunrise. After all, it wasn't murder per se. You can't be convicted of killing an already dead man.
Rutherford takes another long swig on the bottle and lays down on the bed to rest for a moment as the sound of footsteps running up the stairs is heard.
"Sir? Sir? Judge, sir? You rang for me, sir?"
The voice wakes Rutherford from a deep and troubled slumber."Huh, the hell you say?" Rutherford's eyes open like a newly born kitten.
"What are you blubbering about?""Sir, you summoned me. Did you have another of your nightmares sir? If I might caution you, sir, Homemade booze has poisoned many people. It is in the papers. Really, sir, you should be more careful. Wait for the shipment to come in from Canada."
Rutherford pushes the man away. "Remove the body, will you? Before sunrise?"
"What body, sir?"
The two men stand for a long while - each staring at an empty spot on the floor.
Rutherford swallows hard and stares at the bootleg moonshine and tosses the bottle out of the window.
"Nevermind. My daddy used to warn me about a guilty conscience when I was a boy. He said to me these words.
"There is a destiny that makes us brothers; none goes his way alone. What we send into the lives of others will come back into our own."
Bootleg hooch just kicked me in the ass."
Curtain falls
_________
