The History of Watchtower: From Origins to Failed Prophecies<br>

1. History . . . • The Watchtower . . . • The New World Translation . . . • Failed Prophecies . . . • Doctrine . . . • Admirable Characteristics . . . W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

2. Their book “Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose” asserts that “Jehovah's witnesses have a history almost 6,000 years long, beginning while the first man, Adam, was still alive," that Adam's son Abel was "the first of an unbroken line of Witnesses," and that "Jesus' disciples were all Jehovah's witnesses [sic] too." (pp. 8-9) • However - their origins can be traced back to the nineteenth century Adventist movement in America. That movement began with William Miller, a Baptist lay preacher who, in the year 1816, began proclaiming that Christ would return in 1843. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

3. Charles Taze Russell was born February 16, 1852, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. • Originally raised a Presbyterian, Russell was 16 years old and a member of the Congregational church in the year 1868, but he had begun to doubt not only church creeds and doctrines, but also God and the Bible itself. • At this critical juncture a chance encounter restored his faith and placed him under the influence of Second Adventist preacher Jonas Wendell. • For some years after that Russell continued to study Scripture with and under the influence of various Adventist laymen and clergy, notably Advent Christian Church minister George Stetson and the Bible Examiner's publisher George Storrs. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

4. Charles Taze Russell Aligned himself with and helped fund “The Herald of the Morning,” an Adventist magazine published by Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, • Russell and Barbour believed and taught that Christ's invisible return in 1874 would be followed in the spring of 1878 by the Rapture-the bodily snatching away of believers to heaven. When this expected Rapture failed to occur, Mr. Barbour, came up with "new light" on this and other doctrines. • Russell, however, rejected some of the new ideas and persuaded other members to oppose them. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

5. Finally, Russell quit the staff of the Adventist magazine and started his own. He called it “Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence” and published its first issue July, 1879. • Also in 1879, he married Maria Frances Ackley, and organized some thirty congregations from Ohio to the New England coast. He was considered by these groups as their “pastor.” • Inevitably, Russell's increasingly divergent teachings forced his followers to separate from other church bodies and to create a denomination of their own. • Russell went farther out on a limb in 1882 by openly rejecting the triune nature of God. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

6. By the time of his death , Charles Taze Russell had traveled more than a million miles and preached more than 30,000 sermons. He had authored works totaling some 50,000 printed pages, and nearly 20,000,000 copies of his books and booklets had been sold. • Followers had been taught that Russell himself was the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45 and "the Laodicean Messenger," God's seventh and final spokesman to the Christian church. • He lived to see the failure of various dates he had predicted for the Rapture, and finally died on October 31, 1916, more than two years after the world was supposed to have ended, according to his calculations, in early October, 1914.. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

7. According to instructions Russell left behind, his successor to the presidency would share power with an editorial committee and with the Watch Tower corporation's board of directors, whom Russell had appointed "for life." • But vice president Joseph Franklin ("Judge") Rutherford soon set about concentrating all organizational authority in his own hands. • Rutherford was a skilled lawyer who had served as Russell's chief legal advisor and used a loophole in their appointment to unseat the majority of the Watch Tower directors without calling a membership vote. • After securing the headquarters complex and the sect's corporate entities, Rutherford gradually replaced locally elected elders with his own appointees, W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

8. Rutherford managed to transform a loose collection of semi-autonomous democratically-run congregations into a tight-knit organizational machine run from his office. • Some local congregations broke away, forming such Russellite splinter groups as the Chicago Bible Students, the Dawn Bible Students, and the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement, all of which continue to this day. • But most remained under his control, and Rutherford renamed them "Jehovah's Witnesses" in 1931. • Rutherford tried his hand at prophecy and predicted that biblical patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob would be resurrected in 1925 to rule as princes over the earth. (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 1920, pp. 89-90) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

9. “The world headquarters of Jehovah's Witnesses is in New York. Located there is the Governing Body, a central group of experienced elders who oversee the worldwide congregation. There are also over 100 branch offices around the world.” http://www.watchtower.org/ W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

10. JW’s say that God personally set up this organization to advance His truth on the earth. (Mat 25:45) • According to the Watchtower Society people are unable to ascertain the true meaning of Scripture without its vast literature. (Acts 8:30,31) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

11. "The Lord has graciously provided for the publication of his message in the form of books, that the people may be informed of the truth.... those books do not contain the opinion of any man." (Riches, 1936, p. 384, 385) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

12. Hence, besides individually possessing God's Word, we need a theocratic organization. Yes, besides having God's spirit of illumination, a Christian needs Jehovah's theocratic organization in order to understand the Bible. (The Watchtower; 6/15/1951; pp. 375) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

13. Unless we are in touch with this channel of communication God is using, we will not progress along the road of life, no matter how much Bible reading we do"(Watchtower, December 1, 1981, p. 27). W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

14. . . . Let us face the fact that no matter how much Bible reading we have done, we would never have learned the truth on our own. (The Watchtower; 12/1/1990; pp. 19) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

15. Vice President Nathan Homer Knorr inherited the presidency upon Rutherford's death in 1942 but left doctrinal matters largely in the hands of Frederick W. Franz, • The organization itself was virtually personified, and readers were directed to "show our respect for Jehovah's organization, for she is our mother and the beloved wife of our heavenly Father, Jehovah God." (The Watchtower, May 1, 1957, p. 285) • Knorr's training programs for proselytizing, plus Franz' apocalyptic projections for 1975, combined to produce rapid growth in membership, the annual rate of increase peaking at 13.5 percent in 1974. All of this pushed meeting attendance at JW Kingdom Halls from around 100,000 in 1941 to just under 5 million in 1975. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

16. During the 1970's changes took place at Watchtower headquarters in regard to presidential power. • The 7-member board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania expanded the Governing Body in 1971 to a total of eleven members, including the seven Directors. • But in actuality Nathan Knorr continued to rule Jehovah's Witnesses until 1975, when Governing Body members began insisting on exercising the powers granted to them in theory but that had never really been theirs in practice. • Over the objections of Fred Franz the Body actually began governing, so that when Nathan Knorr passed away in 1977 Franz inherited an weakened presidency. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

17. The hitherto fast-growing sect actually began losing members for the first time in decades, as people who had expected Armageddon in 1975 became disillusioned. • Franz and the conservative majority on the Governing Body initiated a crack-down on dissidents in the spring of 1980, breaking up the independent Bible study groups at headquarters, and forming "judicial committees" to have those seen as ringleaders put on trial for "disloyalty" and "apostasy." • This resulted in the forced resignation and subsequent excommunication of the president's nephew and fellow Governing Body member Raymond V. Franz. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

18. Those who left were denounced as disloyal and were ordered shunned, former friends forbidden to say as much as "a simple 'Hello'" to them. • Frederick W. Franz served as the sect's chief theologian for some fifty years-from the start of Knorr's presidency in 1942 until his own death on December 22, 1992- • The fact that he outlived his failed prophecies by more than fifteen years required him to impose a mini-Inquisition on the membership in order to keep his doctrinal and chronological framework in force for the remainder of his lifetime. • Milton G. Henschel was selected as the fifth Watchtower president on December 30, 1992, W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

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20. It would be helpful if you were familiar with: • Criticisms of the Translation. • Major changes in the Translation. • Examples of how the translation has mistranslated key passages. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

21. Criticisms of the Translation: • Dr. Julius Mantey, author of A Manual Grammar of the Greek New Testament, calls the NWT “a shocking mistranslation.” • Dr. Bruce M. Metzger, late professor of New Testament at Princeton University, calls the NWT “a frightful mistranslation,” “erroneous,” “pernicious,” and “reprehensible.” • Dr. William Barclay asserted that “the deliberate distortion of truth by this sect is seen in their New Testament translation….It is abundantly clear that a sect which can translate the New Testament like that is intellectually dishonest.” W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

22. Criticisms of the Translation: • Dr. Robert Countess, who wrote a doctoral dissertation on the Greek of the NWT, concluded that the translation “has been sharply unsuccessful in keeping doctrinal considerations from influencing the actual translation…It must be viewed as a radically biased piece of work. At some points it is actually dishonest. At others it is neither modern nor scholarly.” • British scholar Dr. H.H. Rowley asserted, “From the beginning to end this volume is a shining example of how the Bible should not be translated.” Rowley also said this translation is “an insult to the Word of God.” W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

23. The Translators Not Qualified : • The WS resisted identifying members of the translation committee. • When high-level defector Raymond Franz, in his book Crisis of Conscience, finally revealed the identity of the translators—Nathan Knorr, Frederick Franz, Albert Schroeder, George Gangas, and Milton Henschel – Four of the five had no Hebrew or Greek training whatsoever. • Frederick Franz – claimed to know Hebrew and Greek, but in a court of law in Edinburgh, Scotland, he failed a simple Hebrew test. He dropped out of college early. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

24. 1 In [the] beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god. 2 This one was in [the] beginning with God. 3 All things came into existence through him, and apart from him not even one thing came into existence. [John 1:1,2 NWT] [1] In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was in the beginning with God. [3] All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. [John 1:1-3 (NKJV)] W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

25. Col. 1:15-20 (NKJV) [15] . . . the firstborn over all creation. [16] For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. [17] And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. [Col. 1:15-20 NWT] 15 . . . the firstborn of all creation; 16 because by means of him all [other] things were created in the heavens and upon the earth, the things visible and the things invisible, no matter whether they are thrones or lordships or governments or authorities. All [other] things have been created through him and for him. 17 Also, he is before all [other] things and by means of him all [other] things were made to exist, W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

26. [Col. 1:15-20 (NKJV)] [18] And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. [19] For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell, [20] and by Him to reconcile all things to Himself, by Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven, having made peace through the blood of His cross. [Col. 1:15-20 NWT] 18 and he is the head of the body, the congregation. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that he might become the one who is first in all things; 19 because [God] saw good for all fullness to dwell in him, 20 and through him to reconcile again to himself all [other] things by making peace through the blood [he shed] on the torture stake, no matter whether they are the things upon the earth or the things in the heavens. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

27. John 8:58 (NKJV) Jesus said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I AM." John 14:17 (NKJV) the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. [John 8:58 NWT] 58 Jesus said to them: “Most truly I say to YOU, Before Abraham came into existence, I have been.” [John 14:17 NWT] 17 the spirit of the truth, which the world cannot receive, because it neither beholds it nor knows it. YOU know it, because it remains with YOU and is in YOU. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

28. Matthew 25:46 (NKJV) And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.“ Romans 10:13 (NKJV) For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord [kurios,] shall be saved." [Matthew 25:46 NWT] 46 And these will depart into everlasting cutting-off, but the righteous ones into everlasting life.” [Romans 10:13 NWT] 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of Jehovah will be saved.” kolasis,kol'-as-is; from Greek 2849 (kolazo); penal infliction :- punishment, torment. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

29. Early in its history the WS argued that it was right to worship Jesus (1880; 1892). • Yet, in 1959 the Watchtower Society magazine changed its story and warned: “Do not erroneously conclude that Christians are to worship Christ; that is not what he taught.” • In 1964, the WS dogmatically stated that “it is unscriptural for worshipers of the living and true God to render worship to the Son of God, Jesus Christ.” • In 1961 the NWT rendered Hebrews 1:6 with the term “worship” but in 1971 the NWT removed the word worship. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

30. Hebrews 1:6 (NKJV) But when He again brings the firstborn into the world, He says: "Let all the angels of God worship Him." Hebrews 1:6 (1950 NWT) But when He again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: “And let all God’s angels worship Him." Hebrews 1:6 (1971 NWT) 6 But when he again brings his Firstborn into the inhabited earth, he says: “And let all God’s angels do obeisance to him.” W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

31. 1877 'The End Of This World; that is the end of the gospel and the beginning of the millennial age is nearer than most men suppose; indeed we have already entered the transition period, which is to be a time of trouble, such as never was since there was a nation Dan. 12:3." (N.H. Barbour and C.T. Russell, Three Worlds, and the Harvest of This World, p. 17). • 1894 "We see no reason for changing the figures - nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble." (Watchtower July 15, 1894, p 266; p 1677 reprints) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

32. 1916 We see no reason for doubting, therefore, that the Times of the Gentiles ended in October, 1914; and that a few more years will witness their utter collapse and the full establishment of God's kingdom in the hands of Messiah." (Watchtower Reprints, VI, Sept 1, 1916, p. 5950) • 1917 'No doubt Satan believed the Millennial Kingdom was due to be set-up in 1915...Be that as it may, there is evidence that the establishment of the Kingdom in Palestine will probably be in 1925, ten years later than we once calculated.' (Studies In The Scriptures, Vol 7, The Finished Mystery, p. 128) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

33. 1924 "No doubt many boys and girls who read this book will live to see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Daniel, and those other men of old come forth in the glory of their better resurrection, • 1927 Prophecy can not be understood until it has been fulfilled or is in the course of fulfillment. From 1874 to 1914 the prophecy concerning the Lord's coming was being fulfilled and could be understood, and was understood, by those who were faithful to the Lord and who were watching the development of events, but not by others. (Creation; 1927; p. 290) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

34. 1968 "The immediate future is certain to be filled with climatic events, for this old system is nearing its complete end. Within a few years at most the final parts of Bible prophecy relative to these last days will undergo fulfilment resulting in the liberation of surviving mankind into Christ's glorious 1000 year reign!" (Watchtower, 1/5/1968) • 1968 "Just think, brothers, there are only about ninety months left before 6,000 years of mans existence on earth is completed... The majority of people living today will probably be alive when Armageddon breaks out, …” (Kingdom Ministry, March 1968, p. 4 [note: 1968 + 90 months = 1975]) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

35. 1968"Are we to assume from this study that the battle of Armageddon will be all over by the autumn of 1975, and the long-looked-for thousand-year reign of Christ will begin by then? Possibly, but we wait to see how closely the seventh thousand-year period of man's existence coincides with the sabbathlike thousand-year reign of Christ. . . . It may involve only a difference of weeks or months, not years." "Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?" in The Watchtower of August 15, 1968, pp. 494-501. (p. 499) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

36. 1979 Things published were not perfect in the days of Charles Taze Russell, first president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society; nor were they perfect in the days of J.F. Rutherford, the succeeding president. The increasing light on God's Word as well as the facts of history have repeatedly required that adjustments of one kind or another be made down to the very present time. But let us never forget that the motives of this "slave" were always pure, unselfish; at all times it has been well-meaning. (The Watchtower; March 1, 1979; p. 24) W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

37. Deut. 18:22 (NKJV) when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not happen or come to pass, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

38. Deut. 18:20 (NKJV) But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in My name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet shall die.' W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

39. God's name is Jehovah – added in the NWT NT 237 times • Christ is God's Son and is inferior to Him – Denying His Deity • When man dies – his soul dies – (1 Sam 28:11-20; Lk 16:19-31) • Christ died on a stake, not a cross • Christ was raised from the dead as an immortal spirit person • Christ's presence is in spirit – Every eye will see him?? – Rev 1:7 • Earth will never be destroyed or depopulated – (2 Pet 3:10-13) • Judgment day is 1,000 years long – (some wicked will be raised) • Only a little flock of 144,000 are born again as spiritual sons of God and go to heaven and rule with Christ – (this number was sealed in 1935)– • Cannot take blood into body through mouth or veins - ? ? ? ? W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

40. Resurrection of the Men of Sodom • 1879 - They will be resurrected. • 1952 - They will not be resurrected. • 1965 - They will be resurrected. • 1988 - They will not be resurrected. • The 'Lord' in Romans 10:12-16 • 1903 - 'Lord' refers to Jesus. • 1940 - 'Lord' refers to Jehovah. • 1978 - 'Lord' refers to Jesus. • 1980 - 'Lord' refers to Jehovah. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

41. 'Higher Powers' of Romans 13:1 • 1916 - 'Higher powers' refers to governments. • 1943 - 'Higher powers' refers to Jehovah God & Jesus Christ. • 1964 - 'Higher powers' refers to governments • Separating 'sheep and goats' (Matt. 25:31-46) • 1919 - will take place after the time of tribulation. • 1923 - is taking place now, before the tribulation. • 1995 - will take place after the tribulation. W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

42. The principle of being separate from the world is emphasized . . . • The need of indoctrination . . . • Loyalty to what they believe . . . • Zeal in evangelism . . . W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

43. History . . . • The Watchtower . . . • The New World Translation . . . • Prophecies . . . • Doctrine . . . • Admirable Characteristics . . . • From men . . . • Wrong authority . . . • Perverted the scriptures • Failed . . . • Gross Error . . . • True with most false religions . . . W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005

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46. WHAT JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES BELIEVE W. 65th St church of Christ - 12/18/2005