God's Channel of Communication

Norman Hovland

As I documented in the article Was the Watchtower Society Chosen by Jesus in 1919?, the Watchtower Society was never at any time chosen by Christ in 1919, naturally because there was no such inspection. This claim is just as far-fetched and ridiculous as similar claims made by other religious charlatans. The problem Rutherford faced when he took over after Russell, were the ruins of a totally hopeless "chronology" which had failed completely in all respects. The record shows that Rutherford chose to continue the lies and cheating. And the present leaders, which were his pupils, have continued in his tracks to this day. It is interesting to notice the incredible dishonesty with which the Watchtower Society treats their own history.

There seems to be no hesitation and qualm about laying the ultimate responsibility for all their false prophecies on Jehovah or Jesus. I will in the following document some clear examples of this. As demonstrated in the article Was the Watchtower Society Chosen by Jesus in 1919?, absolutely all of the prophecies the Watchtower Society has presented have failed. Still many years after these failures, with the full knowledge about what they were, the Society still tells us that these prophecies originated with God. Take a look at this example:

"Flashes of Light -- Great and Small (Part 2)
The Bible book of Revelation has intrigued Christians from early times. It provides a fine example of how the light of truth grows ever brighter. In 1917, Jehovah's people published an explanation of Revelation in the book The Finished Mystery. It fearlessly exposed Christendom's religious and political leaders, but many of its explanations were borrowed from various sources. Still, The Finished Mystery served to test the Bible Students' loyalty to the visible channel Jehovah was using." (The Watchtower, May 15, 1995, p. 21)

As late as 1995 the Watchtower has the nerve to call something so totally insane as The Finished Mystery book, "light of truth". Of course they know full well that no Jehovah's Witnesses today have ever read it, and so they can get away with such an outrageous claim.

Just for the record I can present you with an example of the incredible "light" this book presented:

"14:20. And the winepress. -- The Seventh Volume of Scripture Studies, the work that will squeeze the juice out of the "Abominations of the earth".

By the space of a thousand and (six) TWO hundred furlongs. -- This can not be interpreted to refer to the 2100 mile battle line of the world war. A furlong or stadium is not a mile and this is without the city whereas the battle line is within the city. See Rotherham's translation.

A stadium is 606 3/4 English ft.; 1200 stadii are, mi., 137.9

The work on this volume was done in Scranton, Pa. As fast as it was completed it was sent to the Bethel. Half of the work was done at an average distance of 5 blocks from the Lackawanna station, and the other half at a distance of 25 blocks. Blocks in Scranton are 10 to the mile. Hence the average distance to the station is 15 blocks, or ............ 1.5 mi.

The mileage from Scranton to Hoboken Terminal is shown in time tables as 143.8 and this is the mileage charged to passengers, but in 1911, at an expense of $12,000,000, the Lackawanna Railroad completed its famous cut-off, saving 11 miles of the distance. From the day the cut-off was completed the trainmen have been allowed 11 miles less than the time table shows, or a net distance of ................. 132.8 [mi]

Hoboken Ferry to Barclay Street Ferry, New York, is ................................ 2.0 [mi]

Barclay Street Ferry to Fulton Ferry, New York, is 4,800 feet or ................. 0.9 [mi]

Fulton Ferry, New York, to Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, is 2,000 feet or .............. 0.4 [mi]

Fulton Ferry, Brooklyn, to Bethel, is 1,485 feet or ....................................... 0.3 [mi]

Shortest distance from place where the winepress was trodden by the Feet Members of the Lord, Whose guidance and help alone made this volume possible. (John 6:60, 61; Matt. 20:11)......................... mi.,137,9" (The Finished Mystery, 1917, pp. 229, 230)

This book is chock full of this kind of "light". But in spite of writing such insane drivel as this the Bible Students remained loyal to "the visible channel Jehovah was using", according to the above quoted Watchtower from 1995. Good grief!

When you read through the various Watchtower magazines, you will very soon realize that Brooklyn is counting on the average Witness limitless ignorance about what was actually printed in these highly priced publications from those years. Anybody who has ever read the booklet "Millions Now Living May Never Die", would be horrified by the fact that the Watchtower would claim to be under "divine guidance" when Rutherford spouted all the incredible nonsense about 1925, and the resurrection of the "ancient worthies". What kind of God do they worship in Brooklyn? Anyway look for yourselves:

"Worship of the One True God Already Being Exalted
So, under divine guidance, on Sunday, February 24, 1918, amid World War I, the then president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society gave a well-advertised talk in Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. His subject was a startling one but was in line with the meaning of the momentous times as viewed from the Bible standpoint. The subject was "Millions Now Living May Never Die." (The Watchtower July, 15, 1981, p. 20)

Equally astonishing is the amnesia of all the people that get their "stories" printed in the Watchtower, under the most ludicrous titles. Just take a look at this example:

"Over Half a Century of Satisfying Service
Few people today realize what a fight had to be put up in those days to maintain the right to preach the Bible's message. J. F. Rutherford's famous lecture "The World Has Ended, Millions Now Living Will Never Die," seemed like the prelude to very exciting times, especially for colporteurs. My companion and I had the joy of being able to work right up to the end of World War I. Imagine the joy we got, too, out of the marvelous, hope-inspiring conventions at Cedar Point, Ohio, in 1919 and 1922. Never will I forget the call to advertise the Kingdom and the zeal of the assembled throng!" (The Watchtower, August 15, 1969, p. 508)

One wonders what the "Millions" book has to do with the "Bible's message". This person claims: "Never will I forget the call to advertise the Kingdom", and yet he has apparently completely forgotten to tell us that the main point in this campaign was that this "Kingdom" would arrive in 1925! How odd, wonder why?

Another example of the general amnesia among old Witnesses we can see here. This time it is the famous Konrad Franke:

"Jehovah Is My Shepherd. I Shall Lack Nothing
As told by Konrad Franke
One rainy summer day in 1920 my father invited me to accompany him to a meeting being held by the "Earnest Bible Students". [...] What we heard was truly good news. [...] Some weeks later an opportunity presented itself. The outstanding public meeting campaign featuring the talk "The World Has Ended, Millions Now Living Will Never Die" had reached into our neighborhood. What a joy it was to invite people to attend this lecture!" (The Watchtower, March 15, 1963, p. 180)

To call a false prophecy "truly good news" is of course what can be expected from loyal Witnesses. This next example however seems to reach a hitherto unparalleled level of stupidity. It is so braindead that I leave it without further comment:

"In Step with the Faithful Organization
However, there were some problems to face. During the years from 1918 to 1922 there were many tests of faith. Many voices were being heard, all claiming to be God's channel of truth. It was the time for the sifting process that accompanied the coming of Jehovah to his temple for judgment. (1 Pet. 4:17, 18) Earnestly I prayed to Jehovah for guidance. How great the relief when I saw clearly who the "faithful and discreet slave" is! (Matt. 24:45-51) Then the second president of the Watch Tower Society, J. F. Rutherford, came to Liverpool to deliver the lecture "Millions Now Living Will Never Die." What an exhilarating experience it was to see the hall packed out, with thousands more on the outside!" (The Watchtower, April 1, 1963, p. 218)

Do you know who was really behind the "Millions" lecture? "Booze" Rutherford? Wrong mate. As usual the Watchtower knows:

"Jehovah Is in His Holy Temple
Stirring up increasing interest in them, Jehovah caused to be preached from 1918 onward the startling public message "Millions Now Living Will Never Die"". (The Watchtower, November 15, 1955, p. 698)

Imagine that! Jehovah himself was behind the "millions" campaign advertising the end in 1925! Jehovah was actively promoting a false prophecy! I bet you didn't know that. And what make the whole thing far worse is that this statement is made in 1955, when the Watchtower Society knew full well that what they claim is that "Jehovah caused to be preached" a totally false message!

As late as in 1987 the Watchtower actually writes stuff like this:

"For decades before that date, Jehovah's anointed ones published Biblical truths, such as in the famous series Studies in the Scriptures (1886-1917). They also distributed many informative booklets and tracts. During World War I, there came opposition, testing and sifting, and a slackening of their activities. But in 1919 the anointed remnant went forth with renewed zeal to proclaim Bible truths. As Jesus in 30 C.E. could say that he was anointed to preach "a release to the captives and a recovery of sight to the blind," so could these modern-day anointed ones. After a thrilling convention September 1-7, 1919, they vigorously surged ahead in preaching truths that liberated countless people. -- Luke 4:18. Consider, for example, the Bible study aid The Harp of God (1921), which presented vital truths as if they were ten strings on a harp." (The Watchtower, January 1, 1987, pp. 24, 25)

Today the Watchtower Society wouldn't print and sell any of the books in the "famous series" Studies in the Scriptures. If any Jehovah's Witnesses today went out and promoted the stuff printed in those books he would be disfellowshipped before he could say "apostate"! Not even the present leaders of the Watchtower Society today view these books as "Biblical truths", so why write such blatant drivel? Have any of you actually read The Harp of God? If not, I will recommend it, particularly the earlier editions. Did you know that aluminum, combined harvesters, and sewing machines were signs of the end? To top this, the above article even mentioned Millions Now Living Will Never Die as an example of "Biblical truths" published by "Jehovah's anointed", in a footnote. It is quite clear that the guys in Brooklyn are very well acquainted with the average Jehovah's Witnesses' knowledge of Watchtower history. The Jehovah's Witnesses must be among the most thoroughly screwed and cheated people in the world, and to judge by the apologists here on H2O, some of them are more than willing victims.