Vol. 10, No. 5, 1993

Joseph F. Rutherford

This month's issue focuses on the second Watchtower president, Joseph F. Rutherford (1869-1942), one of America's most colorful and controversial religious leaders.

Rutherford's presidency was born in conflict. After founder Charles Taze Russell died, the majority of the WatchTower Bible and Tract Society's board members (who were personally appointed by Russell) strongly opposed Rutherford's leadership. Rutherford, who also served as the Society's attorney, used a legal technicality against the opposing board members. Declaring they were "not legal members of the board," Rutherford dismissed them, refused to allow them to speak at the next convention, and replaced them with his own loyal supporters (1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses, pp. 91-92).

During his tenure, Rutherford introduced a number of important doctrinal and organizational changes in the Watchtower - most of which exist to this day. His most significant contribution, however, was a number of crucial false end-time predictions concerning the years 1918 and 1925. These organizational, doctrinal, and prophetic changes are reviewed in this month's issue.

Rutherford and Awake!

Although Watchman staff planned this issue over a year ago, the timing of this subject coincides with a recent cover story in the Watchtower's Awake! magazine, "The World's End How Near?" (22 March 1993). The lead article, "Why So Many False Alarms?" attacks several religious organizations for setting false dates for the world's end.

The article did not specifically mention any of the society's false predictions including those made by Rutherford. But in a surprise move the Watchtower Society did admit that, "Jehovah's Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus' second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect. Because of this, some have called them false prophets" (p.4).

The Awake! article criticized others who "make spectacular predictions of the world's end to grab attention and a following," but explained that the Watchtower itself is not a false prophet. The society argues that their failed dates should not be considered false prophecies because at the time they were "sincerely convinced that their proclamations [were] true" and because Jehovah's Witnesses are not claiming, "that their predictions are direct revelations from Jehovah" (Ibid).

Joseph Rutherford, however, did place his predictions on the same level as (or above) God's direct spoken word. In 1920 Rutherford predicted that "1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old" (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, pp. 89-90). In 1929 Rutherford even had a house built in San Diego, California for the tardy prophets who were already running four years behind schedule.

Concerning the 1925 date, in 1923 a Watchtower reader asked, "Have we more reason, or as much, to believe the kingdom will be established in 1925 than Noah had to believe that there would be a flood?" Under Rutherford's direction the Society's answer was, "As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had (so far as the Scriptures reveal) upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge." What did Noah have upon which to base his faith? He only had God's direct word (Genesis 6:13). Rutherford, it seems, placed the 1925 date, at the very least, on the same level as God's spoken word to Noah.

Is 1914 a "False Alarm?"

The recent Awake! article closes by asking "What, then, will distinguish the true warning from the false ones? For the answer please see the following article" (p.4). The next article advances various arguments for the current Watchtower theory that Christ's invisible second coming (or "presence") began in the year 1914. They base this on a "composite sign" theory that finds numerous similarities between the words of Christ (Matthew 24 and Luke 21) and the years 1914 and following.

The Awake! column teaches that their 1914 date is far more reliable than the "false alarms" of other religious teachers explaining: "When proclamations that the world's end is at hand are made on skimpy evidence, on just one or a few of the parts of the sign that are seen, false alarms are the result" (p. 5). They add, "there is Bible chronology that pointed to 1914 as the beginning of his presence. Jehovah's Witnesses published the date 1914 as a significant year in the development of Jehovah's Kingdom rule of earth, doing so in the Watchtower magazine of July 1879" (p. 10).

Did the Society point to 1914 as a "significant year?" Yes, but they did not teach that 1914 was the date of Christ's invisible second coming. Prior to 1914 they taught 1914 was "significant" because it was to be the date of the end of the battle of Armageddon (The Time Is At Hand p. 101).

The recent Awake! magazine selectively chooses carefully worded statements to put the Watchtower Society in the best possible light. They do not admit that in Rutherford's day (or Russell's), the Society taught that 1874 - not 1914 - was the date of Christ's invisible second coming. Using a similar "composite sign" theory, Rutherford taught that, "From 1874 forward is the latter part of the period of the `time of the end.' From 1874 is the time of the Lord's second presence, as above stated" (The Harp of God, p. 234).

Under Rutherford's leadership, the forerunner of Awake magazine, The Golden Age, reported: "The Truth that The Golden Age stands for is that Christ Jesus returned to earth in 1874. the Lord has used but one instrument totally to proclaim the presence of the earth's King and His kingdom. That instrumentality is the body of Christian people popularly known as the I.B.S.A., of which our Christian friend and brother, Judge Rutherford, successor of Pastor Russell, is the President" (25 March 1925, p. 407).

Can the Watchtower be acquitted from the charge of false prophecy on the grounds of sincerity? Did Joseph Rutherford teach that these dates were his or God's? How do yesterday's prophetic and doctrinal changes cast doubt on today's Watchtower "truths?"

This month's Watchman Expositor seeks to explore these questions by examining the background of current Jehovah's Witness thought and the impact Joseph Rutherford had on this movement. It is hoped that this issue will provide historical insight in light of recent claims in current Watchtower literature and that readers will be provided with useful tools for evangelism and apologetics.