Jesus Christ: Electron Man!
Ken Raines
As documented before in this Journal, the Watchtower Society was one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the "electronic reactions of Abrams" or ERA from the early 1920's through the 1940's.1 Albert Abrams, the founder of the diagnosing and healing method, is considered one of the most notorious medical "quacks" of the century by conventional (science based) medicine. To the New Age and various "alternative" medicine proponents, he was a great, persecuted founder of a new paradigm in healing.
The Society ended their endorsement officially with several 1950's and 1960's articles that appeared in The Watchtower and Awake!. They now claim that radionics, medical radiesthesia and the like are occult and psychic based spiritistic phenomena.2
The Electron Theory and Health Through Electronic Vibrations
Abrams developed his ERA theory, methods, and devices as the "electron theory" began to take shape.3 This held that all matter is composed of atoms which are composed of a nucleus of neutrons with electrons orbiting the nucleus. Differences in substances, etc., were due to the number of electrons in their atoms which were connected to the "atomic weight" of elements.
The basic theory behind the ERA was that diseased tissue were at rock bottom composed of molecules and atoms which were composed of electrons. Each disease had its own electronic "vibratory rate," the rate of motion, etc., of its electrons. These electrons emitted radio-like waves or "electronic" vibrations. Disease could be seen as an out-of-balance condition of the vibration of the electrons. Normalizing the abnormal vibrations of the electrons would restore health. This was done by transmitting back the same vibratory or radio waves at the disease that the disease emitted, cause an "interference" between the electronic vibrations or waves and destroy the disease vibrations. Abrams' first machine to accomplish this was his oscilloclast.4
About Electrons
In accepting this approach, Bible Students connected with the Watchtower Society in the 1920's began to speculate that it could explain a variety of occult and psychic phenomena such as "woman's intuition" and telepathy.5 Women and others were able to pick up the radio-like "vibrations" of others and sense their thoughts or character. They even speculated that Jesus Christ Himself probably healed people using the same radiesthesic principles the ERA was based on.
In the article, "About Electrons," S. E. Ranger presented this idea. Ranger quotes from The ABC of Radio by an unnamed author, William Hudgings' book, Introduction to Einstein and Relativity, as well as comments on the "Vallian theory" by C. T. Russell as background support. Ranger quotes the ABC book as saying everything is composed of electrons, and that:
"[...] Electricity is composed of electrons. Therefore matter and electricity are one and the same thing. [...] All substances may be deprived of electrons or may receive more than their proper share, and when that occurs the substances are electrified. If a body has fewer electrons than its proper number, we say that it is negatively charged."6
Ranger then quotes Russell on the Vallian theory that the Flood was caused by a ring of water surrounding the Earth that fell upon the globe. An electrical ring still exists around the Earth. Ranger says this is now moving from the poles to the equator indicating it is about to fall. This idea was well known to International Bible Students and repeated numerous times in The Golden Age. The falling of the electrical ring to Earth was viewed as having the opposite effect as the water ring deluge: the Earth would be transformed into a paradise by the positive effects of electricity. Crops would grow better, germs and insect "pests" would be destroyed, and man would then begin to live forever in perfect health.
Jesus Christ: A Radiesthesia Healer and Walking Oscilloclast
Ranger then quotes the ABC again to the effect that every hot object emits electrons and negatively charged electrons naturally flow toward a positively charged cold piece of metal. With all this as background, he then made the following bizzare comments:
Jesus said: "My flesh I give for the life of the world." It is written of Him that "virtue went out of Him and healed them." We have seen that even human bodies are composed of electrons; and that electrons from a negative pole will flow towards a positively charged pole, providing the two poles are in tune. The human race is dying -- they have not enough electrons -- they are thus positively charged. Jesus was a perfect man and, speaking in scientific language, had an abundance of electrons. [...] Thus the woman with an issue of blood was in tune with Jesus -- she had faith -- and touching the hem of his garment, virtue -- electrons -- went out of Him and she was healed.7
Even though Jesus was perfect and had an abundance of electrons, He didn't have an inexhaustible supply. Thus, Granger said, after three and one-half years of depleting His generous electron supply in this manner, He became nearly exhausted and could not, for example, carry His cross.
Granger ended the article by saying what Jesus did was simply a foregleam of what will happen in the coming Golden Age when the "Sun of Righteousness shall arise with healing in its wings."
Q. How Shall the Earth Be Subdued?
A. By the gods from the Pleiades
The July 18, 1923 Golden Age contained a follow up article. The article basically took up where Granger left off. It discussed how the Earth would be "subdued" according to the Genesis command by those who have "dominion." Since in Bible Student theology, this referred to the 144,001 Christ class or god squad sent from the Pleiades, it would be fulfilled by them during the Golden Age or Millennium. They would then, as the Sun of Righteousness, restore the lost dominion to those who became perfect in the flesh during the New Age.
The anonymous author states that Adam lost "dominion" over the Earth and thus the right and ability to "subdue" it. To subdue the Earth meant to control both animate and inanimate things. Genesis, the author said, stated that Man was to have dominion like "Ours," meaning Jehovah and the Logos. Thus they are to have dominion just like those gods, and since the 144,000 are to share the same nature as these gods and thus be gods themselves, this should come as no surprise.
Since Jehovah controls many things in nature by "laws" of nature such as gravity, to have dominion as Jehovah does means to control the forces of nature like Jehovah and as Jesus did when He walked on water and performed other "miracles." The Christ class will be Christ, Messiah, Lord and Savior just as much as Jesus, be just as perfect as Jesus, and so on, so they will do as Jesus did -- only more.
Thus, under the subheading "The Power of Perfect Men," the author stated:
Mr. Ranger in his article, "About Electrons," suggests that it was not superhuman power that Jesus used in healing the sick, but simply the flowing of electrons from one who had an abundance to one who had too few, thus equalizing the supply in each, healing the one and weakening the other. If this thought is correct, then any perfect man could have done the same. [...] During the Golden Age, now dawning, The Christ will take the millions now living, as well as all who are in their grave, and by processes of a gradual restitution of all bring them back to the perfection of being lost by Adam, and restore to them the old, lost dominion.8
The author speculated that this will include having control over the forces of nature such as "the ability to produce rain (moisture) as needed."
The Universe is Electronic
The author then returns to the electron theory and the idea that everything is made of electrons which is the same as electricity. The author quotes from William Hudgings' book on relativity on this (Hudgings was a Bible Student who also wrote the pro-ERA book, Abrams and the Electron Theory). The author stated:
Thus all forms of matter, all known substances, are composed of electrons -- electricity. Everybody knows what a handmaiden to man is electricity. It is used to make heat, power, and light. [...] More recently we have the Radio. [...] Then there are radium pads, radium glasses, and radium belts. What are these? They are simply different ways of applying radioactive energy to healing. When man is perfect, regains the dominion, and gets a perfect knowledge of electricity, he may ride in noiseless electrically propelled vehicles over earth and sea and through the air, thus doing away with the smoke. [...] He may sit under electric light; have electric heat; use electric sweepers; electric irons; use electrons to keep him well; destroy insects, germs and weeds by electrical energy; vivify plant and animal life, and converse to earth's most remotest bounds by using the same invisible energy.9
The Society in The Golden Age magazine, which was devoted to promoting this coming New Age, frequently discussed how the Earth would be made new by The Christ class from the Pleiades. Much of it had to do with medical radiesthesia, the restoring of perfect health to Mankind through various "invisible energy," waves and particles (electrons, etc.). The Golden Age, they said, would be inaugurated gradually, beginning in 1874 when Jesus returned (also invisibly) to Earth (the return date was changed in the 1930's to the current date of 1914).
The Sweet Influences of the Pleiades
The Bible Students believed that the "Golden Age is now dawning" and that inventions and discoveries were paving the way for the Millennial reign of The Christ on Earth and the "restitution of all things." The Christ class would soon join Jesus in returning invisibly to Earth. They speculated that The Christ complete would be stationed near the Earth and they could, like the angels of old, materialize in human bodies on Earth at will or remain invisible while on Earth, popping in unnoticed upon the Earthlings at night in their bedroom to check up on their spiritual progress to make sure they don't sin.
In preparation for the Golden Age, Jehovah was beaming forth from the Pleiades healing and other rays, waves and vibrations to Earth to help restore mankind. This included the "holy spirit" force, which, like radio waves were transmitted over vast interstellar distances to Earth. During the Millennium, the Christ would use this radiesthesic force or waves on people. These were the "sweet influences of the Pleiades" (where God lived).
Thus for example, when Cosmic or Millikan Rays were discovered, they said that these were emanations of divine power, the sweet influences of the Pleiades that the Prophet Job mentioned, providing the energy or life force for human cells. This was another evidence that the Golden Age was dawning. Jesus when He was praying in the Garden before His crucifiction, was "soothed" by the sweet influences of the Pleiades (holy spirit or other forces/waves/vibrations beamed by Jehovah).
This should give some inkling of some of the things the coming JW Research Journal issues on "JWs and medical radiesthesia" and "The gods of the Golden Age" will cover. An incredible amount of bizarre material will be documented from Watchtower history that you have never heard before (and may not want to hear about).
It should also give you an idea why I've been going nuts at times researching The Golden Age and other Bible Student/Jehovah's Witnesses literature.
Notes
1 JW Research Journal, 3:2 (Spring, 1996).
2 Ken Raines, "Quack Cures and Radionic Ouija Boards," JW Research Journal, 3:2 (Spring, 1996), pp. 21-25.
3 O. W. Richardson, The Electron Theory of Matter, Cambridge, 1914.
4 Ken Raines, "Dr. Albert Abrams and the ERA," JW Research Journal, 3:2 (Spring, 1996), pp. 4-11.
5 Watch Tower Reprints, p. 5204; The Golden Age, February 25, 1925, pp. 332, 333; Ken Raines, "The Power of the Mind," JW Research Journal, 3:2 (Spring, 1996), pp. 12-14.
6 The Golden Age, December 20, 1922, p. 177.
7 Ibid. Faith, apparently, is a substance of an electron/electric nature. Perhaps the Faith movement teachers were subscribers of The Golden Age as young boys!
8 The Golden Age, July 18, 1923, p. 669.
9 The Golden Age, July 18, 1923, p. 669.
