trapped in the watchtower
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Trapped in the WatchtowerTRANSCRIPT
b y M o n t e W o l v e r t o n
well-scrubbed young men indark slacks, white shirts and ties,each carrying Bibles, magazinesand other literature. You alreadyknow they are either Mormonsor Jehovah’s Witnesses. Eitherway they are selling religionand you don’t want any.
You open the door. “Sorry—not interested—we already havea church.”
As you begin to close thedoor, the more earnest-lookingof the two pleads, “Sir? We havesomething we’d like to leavewith you that we think youmight find thought-provoking.”He thrusts a Watchtower maga-zine toward you as the otheryoung man chimes in, “I seethat you’re watching the news,sir. You know, conditions in theworld are getting worse andworse—if you read this, you’llfind the answers!”
“To what question?” you re-tort cynically as you take themagazine and gently but firmlyshut the door on their disappointed faces. You watchthem through the peephole as they return to thesidewalk. You feel a little sorry for them, and a littleguilty that you were brusque. They try so hard, andthey are probably rebuffed at most homes. Even so,you toss the magazine in the waste basket and re-turn to your recliner and the newspaper. The lasagnaand garlic bread are starting to smell really good.
Thankfully, for the time being, most people aremore interested in lasagna than the WatchtowerSociety. But that may be changing if the movementcontinues to grow at its alarming pace. With a current worldwide membership of 6 million (13million including families and non-member atten-dees), conservative estimates place Watchtowermembership by 2090 at 195 million. It is, accord-ing to some scholars, the fastest growing religiousmovement in the Western world.
Watchtower missionaries, a volunteer army ofsome 40,000 men and women are, in fact, not re-buffed at every home. They are invited in for a discussion—the Watchtower magazine gets read—the ideas find fertile ground—the families become part of the Watchtower organization—andhusbands, wives and children find themselves inducted into that army, knocking on doors and“witnessing”—promulgating the bizarre religiousstylings of one Charles Taze Russell.
A Cult Is BornCharles Taze Russell was born in 1852, in Allegheny,Pennsylvania. In Russell’s early teens, his father
JULY/AUGUST 2007 19
You are comfortably settled in your recliner behindthe sports section of the newspaper, and halfwaywatching world news on T.V. Your wife, whose turnit is to cook tonight, is in the kitchen preparing
your favorite dinner of lasagna, caesar salad and garlicbread.
The doorbell rings.Annoyed, you drag yourself out of the recliner, walk to
the door and look through the peephole. Outside are two
You feel a little sorryfor them….They try
so hard, and they areprobably rebuffed at
most homes. Evenso…the lasagna and
garlic bread arestarting to smell
really good.
made him apartner in his men’s
clothing store. Raised as a Presby-terian, Russell was preoccupiedwith religion. He joined the Con-gregational church at age 13. In hislate teens, challenges to his faithled him to investigate other reli-gions and philosophies such asBuddhism, Hindusim, Taosim andConfucianism.
In 1870 Russell heard an Adven-tist preacher, who convinced himthat the return of Christ was immi-nent. Russell’s subsequent studiesled him to sell his clothing businessand use the money to further hisreligious ideas, helping to financethe publications of Millerite Ad-ventist minister Nelson Barbour.Russell and Barbour asserted thatthe Rapture would occur in 1878.The Rapture, of course, did notoccur that year, yet Russell believed
that Jesus had actually come invis-ibly as early as 1874. In 1879, Rus-sell parted ways with Barbour andbegan publishing Zion’s WatchTower and Herald of Christ’sPresence. In 1881, he formed Zion’sWatch Tower Bible And Tract Soci-ety. Determining the exact timesand events involved in Russell’searly prophetic chronology is confusing, as he revised, reinter-preted and re-spun so many of hispredictions.
As Russell cranked out his pub-lications, tracts and books, thenumbers of his followers swelled. He relocated his headquarters toBrooklyn, New York. In 1903 hissermons began syndication innewspapers worldwide, with an estimated readership of 12-15 mil-lion in the United States alone.
He was not without detrac-tors. Many Christian leadersregarded his teachings asheretical—but the more con-troversy he encountered, the more famous he be-came.
Russell’s private life was no lesscontroversial than his theology. Hehad married in 1879, agreeing to a“mutually celibate” relationship sothat he and his wife could devotetheir energies toward preaching the“gospel.” In 1897 they separatedand later divorced, with implied allegations of sexual improprietieson Russell’s part with a Watchtowerstenographer (who was also theirfoster child).
After Russell’s death in 1916, hissuccessor, Joseph Rutherford,changed certain doctrines, restruc-turing the society into the form ittakes today. He coined the term“Jehovah’s Witnesses” and central-ized organizational authority. Hispredictions rivaled those of his predecessor in sheer oddness (in-cluding the return of Abraham,Isaac and Jacob and other prophetsto govern the earth in 1925—heeven built a palatial home forthem in San Diego, and then livedthere himself when the patriarchsdidn’t show up).
In spite of the failed predictions ofits past, the society has continuedto flourish. Currently, the organi-zation brings in an annual revenueof around a billion dollars, much ofwhich goes into its massive pub-lishing operations.
Biblically Deviant TeachingsTheir success in numbers not-withstanding, The Society’s teach-ings run contrary to biblicallybased histori-
1870C.T. Russell along with Millerite
Adventist ministers, begins astudy of popular Christian doctrineand end-times chronology, findingwhat he believes to be significanterrors and discovering what he
believes to be new truth.
Charles Taze Russell
Millerite prophetic time chart from1843, about the prophecies ofDaniel and Revelation.
Thankfully, for the timebeing, most people are moreinterested in lasagna thanthe Watchtower Society. Butthat may be changing if themovement continues to growat its alarming pace.
This timeline highlights key developments, events andpredictions related to the Watchtower organization up
to 1975. It is not comprehensive, but is intended tohelp our readers gain a perspective on the origins and
history of the Watchtower Society.
1823John Aquila Brown interprets Seven Timesof Daniel 4 to mean 2,520 years, beginning
604 BC and ending in 1917, marking the“full glory of the kingdom.”
1844End of the 2,300 days of
Daniel 8 and return of Christ,according to John Aquila
Brown. This idea, adopted byAdventist movement founderWilliam Miller, proves to bewrong when Christ does not
return this year.
William Miller, founderof Adventist movement
Selected Events in Watchtower History
Dramatic growth of Jehovah'sWitness membership 1945-2005
�
John Aquila Brown
usually does not react well whenits authority is challenged.
The Society has withstood its share of such internal reformmovements—where a group with-in the organization attempts tochange the status quo. Sometimesthese events are driven by thosewho have recognized unbiblicalteaching or flawed biblical interpre-tation. One such challenge occurredin the mid-1980s when variousWatchtower leaders began ques-tioning some long-held beliefs.
In his book Crisis of Conscience,Raymond Franz, a former writer andeditor for the organization’s publi-cations and a member of the Governing Body of the WatchtowerSociety, recounts his experiences asit became clear to him that manyWatchtower teachings were unbib-lical.
Franz had spent most of his lifein the service of the WatchtowerSociety. For years, he took a seriesof foreign missionary assignments
cal Christianity. In addition totheir always incorrect and often revised end-time schedules, theyteach (or have taught) the follow-ing:
• The Trinity is satanic.• God the Father is the “supreme
God” whose real name is Jehovah.• Christ is not Jehovah, but
rather a created being (known orig-inally as Michael the Archangel)who received his divinity after thecross.
• The Holy Spirit is merely thepower of God—not a divine person.
• Jesus rose only spiritually, notbodily, from the dead.
• Christ’s second coming occurredspiritually in 1879 (or 1914—takeyour pick). He will not physicallyreturn.
• Pyramidology plays a key rolein end-time prophetic calculations.
• Humans do not have an im-mortal soul—most dead humansare unconscious—awaiting a resur-rection either to eternal life or thethe second death.
• Eternal life in heaven is limitedto 144,000 special saints. The restof the faithful await resurrection toeternal life on earth.
• There is no ever-burning hell.Unrepentant sinners are destinedfor a one-time annihilation in theLake of Fire.
Additionally, Russell was one ofthe earliest preachers to promotethe idea that the establishment ofa state of Israel was essential in
the fulfillment of “end-times”prophecy.
The Watchtower Society has created its own version of theBible, the New World Translation,necessary to support its various un-orthodox teachings.
Yet this short synopsis of the his-tory of the Watchtower Societyand a list of its doctrinal aberra-tions does not give a sense of theculture of the group—what it is actually like to be a member—where all family, friends, time, effort, thought, worldview andsense of self are engulfed, regulatedand controlled by a single mono-lithic organization.
Raymond Franz—A Leader WhoTried to Reform the WatchtowerMost Christians enjoy the personalfreedom of being able to decidewhen and where they will worship,or with whom and how they willmeet. If they don’t like a particularchurch or fellowship, they canwalk down the street to another.They can even attend church onthe Internet if they prefer. Butmembers of the Watchtower Society and similar “Christian” cul-tic groups believe they have nosuch choice. They are either mem-bers of the “one true church” orthey are not. If they are dissatisfiedwith something, their only recourse is to attempt internal re-form. This doesn’t happen veryoften, however, as cultic leadership
1873Adventist N.H. Barbour
adopts John Aquila Brown’sinterpretation of Daniel 4,
changing the starting pointto 606BC, ending in 1914.Barbour predicts Jesus will
arrive in 1874. Barbourbegins publication of
periodical The MidnightCry, later called Herald of
the Morning.
1874Jesus arrives, but “invisibly.”Beginning of Jesus’ “invisiblepresence,” and beginning of
“harvest of the saints” (to end in1914). C.T. Russell is rebaptized
by Millerite Adventist minister.
1876C.T. Russell meets N.H.Barbour, accepting hisprophetic chronology,
slating 1878 as the dateof the the Rapture.
Russell sells hisbusiness, to pursue
ministry full time.
1877C.T. Russell finances
Barbour’s book, ThreeWorlds; or Plan of
Redemption, marking1914 as end of the“Times of Gentiles”C.T. Russell also
publishes his own book,The Object and Mannerof ourLord's
Return.
1878Rapture does not occur.
Russell becomes assistanteditor of Herald of theMorning. According to
Russell this year marks the“Fall of Babylon the Great”
and the beginning ofChrist’s “Kingdom Rule.”
1879Russell and
Barbour disagreeover why the
Rapture failed tooccur. Russell
launches his ownpublication, Zion'sWatch Tower and
Herald ofChrist's
Presence.Russellmarries.
1881Russell founds Zion's
Watch Tower TractSociety (chartered in
1884). Resurrection toheaven begins for
“anointed” Christianswho lived from time of
Christ onward.
The Jehovah’s Witness missionary who knocks on your door and interrupts your evening dinner may seemconfident, sincere and free. But in reality, he or she is a prisoner….
Charles Taze Russell,founder of Watch
Tower Tract SocietyNelson H. Barbour
Charles & Maria Russell
Zion’s Watch Tower,first issue 1879
where he and his wife lived inmodest conditions, braving perse-cution, political violence and disease to help proclaim what hethought was the gospel. In 1965 hewas brought back to the society’sheadquarters in Brooklyn to writefor the publications.
In 1966, as Franz settled into hislabors in the Writing Department,the leadership of the Society issueda startling prediction. After years ofre-examining and revising theirchronology, they set a new date forthe beginning of the Millennium—1975. This year, they asserted,would mark the end of 6,000 yearsof human rule and the start of thethousand-year Sabbath—the mil-lennial reign of Jesus Christ.
But this kind of prediction wasnothing new for the Watchtowerorganization. When earlier predic-tions had failed, the leadership engaged in revisionism and blamedthe “brothers”—the rank-and-filemembers—for misunderstandingthe predictions. Yet in every case,the published version of the predictions was dogmatic and absolute. Members had been disfel-lowshipped for questioning theseteachings.
Would 1975 be any different?That same year, Society presidentNathan Knorr embarked on aworldwide speaking tour, warningmembers of the difficult monthsimmediately ahead before the anticipated apocalyptic events.
Of course, the apocalyptic eventsdidn’t happen. Headquarters wassilent. No explanation was forth-coming until 1980, when it fell toRaymond Franz to write an explana-tion of the failed prediction—witha positive spin.
The Governing Body, which hadrecently taken on most of the pow-ers wielded by the president, hadto deal with fallout from the failedprediction of 1975. Membership ofover two million was beginning todecline. Leaders were concerned.
Additionally, the culture of the‘70s was rubbing off on some Jehovah’s Witnesses. Memberswere beginning to think freely—to study their Bibles and talkamongst themselves. Longstandingassumptions and doctrines werebeing questioned. The reaction ofthe Governing Body was to tightencontrol, beginning at their Brook-lyn headquarters. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, special committeeswere appointed by the GoverningBody to investigate reports of“heresy” and “apostasy.” This,ironically, in an organizationwhose core doctrines are hereticalby the standards of historicalChristianity.
Franz’ book describes how mem-bers were subjected to stressful inquiries and interrogations—how they faced “judicial commit-tees” and vainly attempted to defend themselves—how theyspent sleepless nights waiting to
hear a verdict, and how they werefinally given the sentence of disfel-lowshipment.
Franz continued to fulfill his responsibilities, to sit on the Gov-erning Body, to visit regional offices and to speak as a represen-tative of Brooklyn headquarters,until his turn came to be put ontrial for holding views that werecontrary to the teachings of the So-ciety. As a result, he chose to resignfrom Watchtower employment.Several months later, living in Al-abama, he was disfellowshippedfor having shared a meal with aperson who had voluntarily leftthe fellowship.
Trapped by the Watchtower As I read these accounts I foundmyself asking, “Why put up withall this nonsense? Why not justleave?” The answer (as I very wellknow from my own background inan authoritarian religious group) is that members of such groups are so deeply connected to and de-pendent on the organization thatit would cause major emotionalpain for them to step outside thegroup into the freedom that Christoffers.
Raymond Franz’ story is not dis-similar to the stories of hundredsof thousands of people who havehad the traumatic experience of leaving a cult. Why classify the Watchtower Society as a cult?
1896Russell
separates fromhis wife in
dispute overcontrol of Zion’s
Watch Towerpublication.
1906Russell’s wife
sues fordivorce.
1914Beginning of Kingdom ofGod on earth does not
happen. Russell explainsthat Jesus has come
“invisibly,” changing hisearlier dates (either 1874
or 1878) for thisoccurrence. WatchtowerSociety will later mark
this year as thebeginning of “last days,”the end of the “Times of
Gentiles,”and the beginning of the“harvest of the saints.”
1916C.T. Russell dies.
1917Joseph F. (Judge)
Rutherfordelected president
of WatchtowerSociety. He moves
some propheticevents that hadbeen slated for1914 to 1918.
1918This year is
marked for thecomplete
establishmentof God’s
Kingdom. It isalso the revised
date of theresurrection to
heaven of“anointed”
Christians wholived from time of
Christ onward.
1919Events slated for1918 moved to
1920.
1920Rutherford slates 1925
as date for return ofAbraham, Isaac, Jacob
and other O.T.“worthies” to help
prepare for Millennium.
1925Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob fail to show up.
1930Palatial
“Beth-Sarim” housebuilt in San Diego,California, to house
Abraham, Isaac,Jacob wheneverthey do arrive.
Rutherford latermoves in to occupy
this house untilancient “worthies”
arrive.
Charles Taze Russell in 1911
Joseph F. Rutherford
Beth Sarim “House of the Princes”
“Why put up with all this nonsense? Why not just leave?” ...members of such groups are so deeply connected toand dependent on the organization that it would cause major emotional pain for them to step outside the group...
Three reasons:False doctrine: Its doctrines are
contrary to the core historical, bib-lical doctrines of the Christianchurch.
Authoritarianism: It exercisesextraordinary control and micro-manages people’s lives, demandingnothing less than complete confor-mity among its members.
Religion: It advocates human effort and religious observance toattain salvation—over the com-pleted work of Jesus Christ.
The Jehovah’s Witness mission-ary who knocks on your door andinterrupts your evening dinnermay seem confident, sincere andfree. But in reality, he or she is aprisoner in a religious hell-hole.Sadly, there is nothing you cando or say to release them fromtheir captivity. There
is no doctrinal argument that youcan present that they have notbeen programmed to answer.
The good news is that God isable to work (and is working) inthe lives of many such cult mem-bers, just like he worked in the lifeof Raymond Franz. It is God whogives people the ability to have a “Crisis of Conscience”—to havethe capacity to think, to questionand eventually to wake up to therealization that they are religiouscaptives.
Those of us who live in the freedom of Christ can help, as op-portunities arise, by planting seedsof the real gospel—even seeds ofdoubt and questioning—in the
minds of such people. We can alsopoint them toward sound apolo-getic resources, publications andwebsites where cultic teachings are confronted. And we can equipourselves to better understand dif-ferences between cultic teachingsand the core doctrines of historicalChristianity. ❑
For more information on cults and biblical Christianity, write forPTM’s free booklet, Contending forthe Faith (item K191). For evenmore resources and inspiring stories ofpeople who have been rescued fromcults and religious legalism, visit“First Aid for Legalists” at http://www.ptm.org/legalism/.
In recent years, there has been a movement in Evan-gelical Christianity to invite representatives of culticgroups such as Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons to
participate in Christian conferences. In a related developmentover the last decade, Jehovah’s Witnesses and especiallyMormons have begun to use Christian terminology.
For example, 30 years ago, Mormons would have been reluctant to identify themselves as Christians, because theywanted to be distinct from conventional Christianity. Yet now,Mormon missionaries will insist that they are Christian, eventhough they believe in a markedly different Christ. Their defini-tions of such basic words as gospel, salvation and sanctificationare also very different. Apologists observe that both Mormonsand Jehovah’s Witnesses have recently made a deliberate effort to polish their image among Christians.
Are Christian leaders falling for a clever public rela-tions ploy? One Christian pastor tours the country with aMormon, dialoguing and promoting good will. Prominentevangelical leaders have apologized publicly to Mor-mons for misrepresenting their beliefs or opposing them(and of course it is probable that Mormon beliefs havebeen misrepresented). One well-known Baptist leader,who included Mormons in his pastor’s training programs,asked “Why Be Divisive?”
Perhaps such evangelical leaders believe that creat-ing a friendly dialog with cultists will afford a betterchance for the true gospel to penetrate cultic defenses.Is this true, or will Christians of the next century findthemselves a minority in the shadow of groups formerlyregarded as cultic? Time will tell.
Chart showing end would comein 1975—Watchtower Society’s
magazine Awake!—in1968.
Raymond Franz,author of Crisis of Conscience
1975The Millenniumdoes not begin.
1966Watchtower vice-president FredFranz suggests (citing the 6,000year, day-for-a-year model) that
the Millennium will begin in 1975.
“Why Be Divisive?”
1950The return of
Abraham, Isaac andJacob is officiallyabandoned in a
speech byWatchtower vice-
president FredFranz.
1941Rutherford tellsyoung people to
postponemarriage until the
return of theancient“worthies,” whowill direct theselection of
mates.
1942Rutherforddies. Beth
Sarim housesold. NathanKnorr elected
president.
Fred Franz
Nathan Knorr