Twaddle and Malarkey in The Golden Age Magazine
Ken Raines
«Is The Watchtower a means or channel employed by God to transmit information to his people?.... No man can properly interpret prophecy, and the Lord sends his angels to transmit correct information to his people...»1«As Psychics and Common Sense noted; "More twaddle, misstatements of fact, predictions that fail, wrong names and dates, in short, general rubbish, has come via the ouija board than is easy to explain." The Source [...] No, neither God nor his loyal angels could possibly be responsible for such God-dishonoring messages. Who then are responsible?.... Which spirits could be the source of these messages? They are spirits, true, but of which kind?.... these are wicked spirits! Throughout the Bible they are referred to as demons.»2
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In reading and researching the Watchtower Society's [Jehovah's Witnesses'] publications for a few years now, I am continually struck by the abundance of statements which are completely false, erroneous, silly, and even dangerous. The Golden Age magazine in particular reminds one of the supermarket tabloids proclaiming such things as "I Had a UFO Baby." The material it published straight faced is beyond ridiculous and rivals The National Enquirer.
Some of this is simply laughable and harmless. Some of it however is not. The problem is that many Jehovah's Witnesses, not perceiving the erroneous nature of this malarkey, have risked their health, and in some cases, lost their lives following the uninformed articles and advice of the Watchtower Society. The more well known examples of this are their medical advice and positions through the years. Some lost their eyesight or their lives refusing organ transplants as these, the Society said, were cannibalism and forbidden by God.3 Their blood transfusion and vaccination prohibitions also led to the premature deaths of many of the faithful.4
All this coming through "God's channel of communication" on earth, His "visible earthly organization" put in charge of all his interests on earth! During the Rutherford period the information was "channeled" to the "remnant" of Jehovah's Witnesses by angelic spirits as the first quote above states and we have documented before.5
For the purposes of this series I will limit this article to mentioning material in The Golden Age magazines during the Rutherford period when the remnant were informed by angels. This is a cursory review of the material. I will concentrate mainly on material in two consecutive years of The Golden Age, 1926 and 1927, as I have recently read through these and the material is fresh in my mind. This is representative of Golden Age statements during its publication from 1919 to 1937. Believe me, there is much more I could document.
Is the Society a "channel of communication" between God and man? Or are they more like a ouija board -- giving false information, twaddle, predictions that fail, in short, general rubbish -- that could not have possibly come from God?
Twaddle
One dictionary defines twaddle as "to talk foolishly... silly, pretentious speech or writing" and malarkey as "nonsense." There are many instances in The Golden Age magazine of statements that fit those definitions. Are the following claims and statements true or nonsense? Are they facts or malarkey?
Angelic Interpretations of Scripture
Rutherford made the following claims about the literature he wrote:
It is sometimes suggested that I attempt to interpret the Scriptures. I do not attempt to interpret the Scriptures. Any man who attempts to interpret the Bible gets into trouble, whether he be a clergyman or a layman. The Bible is not of private interpretation.6
To feed or teach his people the Lord has used the Watch Tower publications.... No man is given any credit for the wonderful truths which the Lord has revealed to his people through the Watch Tower publications.7
This is proof that the interpretation of prophecy does not proceed from man, but that the Lord Jesus,... sends the necessary information to his people by and through his holy angels.8
The Golden Age said the following about understanding the Bible:
QUESTION: Why do you Bible Students understand new things in the Bible which were never dreamed of one hundred years ago?
ANSWER: Because it is now the due time for God to reveal to the righteous many things which were heretofore hidden.9
QUESTION: Will reading the Bible through,... give one a clear knowledge of the truth?
ANSWER: No.... The most valuable literature to assist one understand the Bible is published by the International Bible Students Association.10
With these claims in mind, let us read the material in The Golden Age explaining the Bible which we couldn't understand without their literature.
Rutherford offered the following interpretation of Scripture over the Society's radio station WBBR which was printed in The Golden Age:
It may not be out of place to ask: What became of the garden of Eden? Scriptural proof is that it was surrounded by very high mountains... that it is and was in the vicinity of Mount Ararat,... which has since been hidden under perpetual snow. It does not seem reasonable that the Lord would have destroyed Eden; but it seems more reasonable that the Lord would have preserved it so that in His due time He will exhibit it to man.
Through His prophet Job, God said: "Hast thou entered into the treasures of the snow?" (Job 38:22) Doubtless Eden is one of the treasures of the snow preserved by the Lord in perpetual snow and ice. The inspired writer of the Scriptures declares that with the second presence of the Lord He will bring to light the hidden things of darkness. (1 Corinthians 4: 5) The Lord Jesus himself said: "For nothing is secret that shall not be made manifest; neither anything hid that shall not be known." -- Luke 8: 17.
In the light of these scriptures it is reasonable for us to conclude that when God has restored man and brought the earth to an Edenic paradise,... then He will unseal the secret treasures of the snow and exhibit to restored man his original perfect home.11
That is one of the strangest examples of eisegesis I have read.
Don't Gimmie No 'Lip'
Another is the following (non-human) interpretation of Scripture (from angels?) about the tower of Babel Rutherford advanced over WBBR and had published in The Golden Age:
Here the record is that God came down to see their organization and their tower; and then, for the people's good, He changed their language. It will be noticed in the Hebrew (Genesis 11:1) that the people all had one lip. Their lip must have been shaped in the same general manner,...12
The Radio
Or how about this interpretation of Scripture under the title "A Prophecy Now Being Fulfilled":
Did you ever stop to consider how the radio is fulfilling a prophecy before our eyes today? When Jesus rode into Jerusalem.... [He] was asked to reprove the children and bid them be silent, Jesus said that if these should hold their peace "the very stones would cry out". Today the clergy, who claim to be the foremost children of God, should be proclaiming the presence of earth's new King. But they are silent, and the very stones are actually crying out. Ask any radio builder and he will tell you that galena is used in most radio receiving sets. Galena is nothing but a piece of stone, with metal fixed through it. When people tune in on WBBR or WORD, or other stations now being used to disseminate the message of Messiah's incoming kingdom, they are witnessing and hearing the fulfillment of this ancient prophecy -- the stones are being used to cry out and herald forth the presence of the King of kings, because the clergy of Christendom refuse to do so.13
Well,"for crying out loud!" A similar claim was made in another Golden Age:
One of the Lord's promises to His followers was, "That which you have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops." This prophecy is being literally fulfilled by the Bible Students today, every time they use the radio. Their message is spoken in the ear of the microphone; it is done in the closet or studio fitted up for the purpose; the aerials are fitted upon the housetops. It is all just as the Master said.14
Huh?
Here's a few examples of statements and advice printed in The Golden Age that make me scratch my cranium in befuddlement.
- Every bedroom should receive at least two hours of sunlight every day as this will "kill tuberculosis and other germs."15
- Radio may soon transmit "heat, light, vision, sound and power."16
- They claimed the sun will never run out of "electricity" as electricity is not exhausted with use. It probably "goes the rounds of the universe from solar system to solar system and returns." When stars and planets become "saturated" with electricity, they probably give off their "surplus" electricity to other solar systems; "and so it goes, from one to the other, until it completes the immeasurable circuit." They conclude from this that "a corollary of this theory is that all the planets have atmosphere and are probably inhabited."17
- God may soon cause a comet to be captured by the Earth. This may, they said, "bring about a radical change in earth's climatic conditions and transform the surface of our planet into a paradise, wherein disease and death will be no more."18
In another Golden Age they printed a "flight of fantasy" about the future on the subject of "Negative Gravitation." It was a speculative article on overcoming gravity by "negative gravity" which is a repelling force. The author said this was the newly discovered "radiant energy" or "radio-activity"! The following was said about how accidents could be avoided in the coming Golden Age with the use of a "negative gravity [radio-active?] device":
Many have wondered how accidents would be avoided during Christ's kingdom, since we are told that nothing shall then hurt or destroy. Most accidents are due to gravitation and its effects. Falling from airplanes... etc., may be avoided by an individual negative gravity device.
Scientists tell us that there is enough atomic energy in a finger-nail to propel a battleship. The people of the future may carry a little of this energy around with them, and if they fall down an elevator shaft they can let themselves down easy. Then they can turn a little more on and go back up. ... No danger of falling down stairs then.19
Quack! Quack!
The Golden Age warned its readers about the supposed "dangers" of medicine and doctors. The Society supported its own medical procedures, cures, doctors and devices that were questionable at best. They literally demonized the medical profession as a whole:
We do well to to bear in mind that among the drugs, serums, vaccines, surgical operations, etc., of the medical profession, there is nothing of value save an occasional surgical procedure. Their whole so-called "science" grew out of Egyptian black magic and has not lost its demonological character.... the medical profession,... sprang from... demon-worshipping shamans.... medicine originated in demonology and spent its time until the last century and a half trying to exorcise demons. During the past half century it has tried to exorcise germs.20
Readers of The Golden Age were told to shun all kinds of medical procedures that were fairly new at the time. They were encouraged not to have x-rays taken of them because one famous doctor said that "they are destructive and sure to harm the grandchildren of those exposed to them."21
Suicide was better than a tonsillectomy as far as one contributor to The Golden Age was concerned:
Tonsillectomy is called a minor operation. If so, getting well is a double major. If any overzealous doctor condemns your tonsils go and commit suicide with a case-knife. It's cheaper and less painful.22
Here's an example of a Golden Age reader (called 'I Sneeze') who took their articles on medical cures as the Gospel, supposedly with good results:
Ever since THE GOLDEN AGE began to be published I have been a constant and interested reader. I have marveled at the wonderful discoveries and progress made in the treatment of disease, as recorded in some of the articles therein.... One article appeared before my astonished gaze, "A Cure for Catarrah and Hay Fever.".... Then I turned to the GOLDEN AGE innovations, such as chiropractic and electronic [ERA!] treatments, only to meet with the same result [no cure for her hay fever]. But now I find a cure, and it must be so because a contributor to the GOLDEN AGE says so.... Shall I try it?.... I buy an ounce of powdered bayberry bark, which THE GOLDEN AGE tells me to get and sniff up my nose several times a day to get rid of my hay fever.... Surely this is no idle dream, because I saw it in THE GOLDEN AGE.... I quickly take a generous pinch of the bayberry... I place it up my nostrils and give a vigorous sniff. Ouch! Help!! Murder!!! What has happened? Did a mule kick me on the beezer or was I merely electrocuted? Anyway, all the constellations of the heavens soon quickly pass before my raptured gaze. My hair seems to have jumped off my scalp.23
'I sneeze' then says that after doing this for the prescribed two months, he/she didn't have hay fever that year. This may seem humorous to you as it did to me, but what of those who also believed what was published in The Golden Age regarding "cures," and followed their advice without positive results? What about those who stuck things up their nose or down their throat on the Society's advice and were harmed? Are all these Golden Age cures harmless? 'I sneeze' admitted he/she tried the ERA "electronic treatment" and didn't receive a "cure." He/she apparently didn't suffer any ill physical effects from that. The ERA may have produced negative spiritual effects if it was, as Goodrich believed, a glorified ouija board that could only work if operated by a spirit medium.24
The Golden Age admitted at times that taking their cures may cause at least minor discomfort:
Appendicitis. Take one ounce each of elder blossom, peppermint and yarrow and simmer in three pints of water... take a wineglassful every fifteen minutes.... Do not be afraid of the perspiration caused, or if you vomit. You will be better off with an empty stomach.25
That individuals may have suffered more severe and long lasting ill effects by following their advice is apparent if you read some of their statements such as their anti-vaccination tirades in The Golden Age. If these statements were followed, many could have suffered with diseases they shouldn't have contracted. The Society's condemnation of vaccination was irrational at best. They believed it was demonic and useless in preventing disease and, in fact, caused diseases:
Vaccination never prevented anything and never will, and is the most barbarous practice.... We are in the last days; and the devil is slowly losing his hold, making a strenuous effort meanwhile to do all the damage he can, and to his credit can such evils be placed.... Use your rights as American citizens to forever abolish the devilish practice of vaccination.26
Thinking people would rather have smallpox than vaccination, because the latter sows the seed of syphilis, cancers, eczema, erysipelas, scrofula, consumption, even leprosy and many other loathsome affections. Hence the practice of vaccination is a crime, an outrage and a delusion.27
The Society for some time rejected the germ theory of disease. An article in 1926 said that disease was actually caused by fermentation and heat, not germs. They said that it could not be proved that any disease was caused by germs.28 Fermentation by heat caused disease, they said, including the "so-called infectious diseases" of chicken pox and small pox.29
Malarkey
On the vaccination subject they made clearly false and dangerous statements. Since they believed that "vaccination never prevented anything and never will"30 they said that vaccination "has never prevented smallpox any more than serum injection has prevented typhoid.... smallpox is not prevented by vaccination."31 Other malarkey printed in The Golden Age are summarized below. These remind me of the tabloid journalism stories.
Human footprints seven feet long found in California. They were the "giants" mentioned in Genesis chapter six, they said.32
"Air baths" are good for preventing colds. What you do is strip naked mornings and evenings and then bob up and down for awhile.33
The current agitation over birth control is evidence that the "New Age" is at hand.34
The white rulers of Britain have superior mental and moral abilities. Blacks however, are gaining ground.35
One Golden Age implied that God wears clothes.36
The Flood may have been caused by all of the other planets being on one side of the earth at the same time. They said God may have inserted the "youngest" planet Neptune on the other side of earth to act as a gravitational corrective to make sure it doesn't happen again!37
In the future man will get his food directly from the sun.38
In the New World Abraham may be the ruler of New York City. Isaac may rule over Chicago and:
"Perhaps Jacob will be put in London. His father-in-law, Laban, was a diplomat,..."39
"Shortly we believe, Abraham will come forth from the grave..."40
Spaniards "and other backward races" under the influence of Rome they said came to settle in America.41
The Source
The Watchtower Society, like a Ouija Board, has a long and phenomenal history of twaddle, misstatements of fact, predictions that fail, malarkey and general rubbish. They claimed that they were enlightened by angels who transmitted information, including Biblical interpretations, into their minds. They still say they are "God's channel of communication." If the above and many other examples of malarkey printed in The Golden Age are the result of angelic channeling, what kind of angels were they?
No, neither God nor his loyal angels could possibly be responsible for such God-dishonoring messages. Who then are responsible? Which spirits could be the source of these messages? They are spirits, true, but of which kind?
Notes
1 The Watchtower, February 15, 1935, p. 52.
2 Awake!, June 22, 1968, pp. 6, 7.
3 For an example of this see, Free Minds Journal, Vol. 14, No. 2, March-May, 1995, p. 12.
4 Jerry Bergman, Blood Transfusions: A History and Evaluation of the Religious, Biblical and Medical Objections (Clayton, California: Witness, Inc.), 1994, pp. 1-18, 30.
5 JW Research Journal, Vol. 1, No. 2, Spring, 1994: Angelic Channeling. A review of Rutherford's claims will appear in the next journal.
6 The Golden Age, November 27, 1929, p. 152.
7 The Watchtower, December 1, 1933, p. 263.
8 J. F. Rutherford, Preparation, 1933, p. 28.
9 The Golden Age, June 29, 1927, p. 637.
10 Ibid., July 27, 1927, p. 700-701.
11 Ibid., March 9, 1927, p. 371.
12 Ibid., July 13, 1927, p. 663.
13 Ibid., December 1, 1926, pp. 157, 158.
14 Ibid., April 20, 1927, p. 457.
15 Ibid., July 1, 1927, p. 643.
16 Ibid., July 14, 1926, p. 644.
17 Ibid., August 11, 1926, p. 723.
18 Ibid., June 16, 1926, p. 583.
19 Ibid., March 24, 1926, p. 404.
20 Ibid., August 5, 1931, pp. 727, 728.
21 Ibid., September 23, 1936, p. 828.
22 Ibid., April 7, 1926, p. 438.
23 Ibid., January 26, 1927, p. 272.
24 See 'ERA Ouija Board, part 1' in the previous JW Research Journal.
25 The Golden Age, December 19, 1934, p. 187.
26 Ibid., October 12, 1921, p. 17.
27 Ibid., May 1, 1929, p. 502.
28 Ibid., August 25, 1926, p. 751.
29 Ibid., pp. 751, 754.
30 Ibid., October 12, 1921, p. 21.
31 Ibid., p. 14.
32 Ibid., January 13, 1926, p. 238.
33 Ibid., February 10, 1926, p. 310.
34 Ibid., April 7, 1926, p. 423.
35 Ibid., May 5, 1926, p. 483.
36 Ibid., May 19, 1926, p. 534.
37 Ibid., June 16, 1926, p. 583.
38 Ibid., October 5, 1927, p. 10.
39 Ibid., p. 26.
40 Ibid., October 5, 1927, p. 29.
41 Ibid., November 30, 1927, p. 141.
