Jehovah's Witnesses ,The Laymen's Home Missionary Movement & The Bible Students: Their Roots & History

A common misconception and been promoted, which is that Charlse T.Russell was the one who founded Jehovah's Witnesses. The fact of the matter is that Charlse T. Russell DIED in 1916, while Jehovah's Witnesses did not form offically untill 1931 at a convention in Ohio when then president of the Watchtower Joseph R. Rutherford offically announced that name change from Bible Students to Jehovah's Witnesses. The Bible Students were founded by Pastor Russell while JW's was founded by Joseph Rutherford.

The Conflicts & Breakoffs

So what happened after Russell death in 1916? Rutherford became President of the Watchtower publishing house. But HOW did he become president? The Christian Bible Students Associations states: Following his [Russell's] death in 1916 Joseph Rutherford forcibly seized controll of the Watch Tower." The Organization of Jehovah's Witnesses states from their book: "Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimer's of God's Kingdom", on page# 66, pargraph# 4: "Opposition soon mounted. Four members of the board of directiors of the Society went so far as to wrest admiimistrative CONTROLL from Rutherford's HANDS." Now is it not interesting that BOTH sides CONFIRM that Rutherford somehow GAINED CONTROLL of The Watchtower publishing house? Why is this? Espeically when Russell place all these 4 board directors in their place? Infact, the JW's book here confirms this stating on page# 67, paragraph# 4: "It turned out that the four opposing directors HAD BEEN APPOINTED BY BROTHER RUSSELL." But the JW's claim in this book that even though they were appointed by Russell, the founder of the Bible Students, that these '4' board members were: "not legal." What does this mean? If Russell was the founder of the Watchtower publishing house and HE appointed these '4' board members then why were these '4' board members postions upon the board to be questioned?

HOW DID RUTHERFORD BECOME PRESIDENT OF THE WATCHTOWER? AND HOW & WHY WERE THE '4' ORIGINAL BOARD DIRECTORS THAT RUSSELL APPOINTED CAME TO BE FIRED

The Christian Bible Students Association writes: "He [Rutherford] dismissed the majority of the Board of Directors, began to instill a revisionist theology and established dictional authority." What what does the JW's Proclaimer's books have to say on this? The Proclaimer's book page# 68, paragraph# 2 states: "On August 8, the disgrunted ex-directors and their supporters left the Bethel family; they had been asked to leave because of the disturbance they had been creating." A..say what? A little vauge here, don't you think? I think they answer to this question can be found on page#66, paragraph#4 where it quotes:"Four board directors of the Society went so far as to endevor to WREST CONTROLL FROM RUTHERFORD'S HAND." To prove this simply check the JW's Proclaimers book yourself! The Christian Students Association writrs: "Aggressive promotions by Rutherford resulted in a large increase in new members but generated opposition from the Bible Students remaining from Pastor Russell's era. In response to this opposition Rutherford embarked on a campaign from the years 1925 to 1931 to purge Pastor Russell's followers. Thus, by 1931, over three quarters of those associated with the Bible Student movement in Pastor Russell's day separated from Rutherford to remain faithful to the teachings promulgated by Charles Russell." In 1917 The Dawn's Bible Students was formed, and in 1918 The Laymen's Home Missionary movement was formed by Paul Johnson. In 1931 Jehovah's Witnesses was offically established by Joseph F.Rutherford. All these Bible Students groups still exist today.

Recommended Web sites:

Angelfire Home Pages
Free Web Building Help
Angelfire HTML Library
htmlGEAR - free polls, guestbooks, and more!