Write the radio station to which you have listened, requesting., that it continue to broadcast Judge Rutherford’s lectures, and thus do your part in the interests of the truth and

free speech.

otte Golden Age

A JOURNAL OF FACT HOPE AND COURAGE

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in this issue

JUDGE RUTHERFORD’S OPEN LETTER TO THE CATHOLIC PRESS OF AMERICA ANSWERING

THEIR ATTACK ON RADIO STATIONS AND

HIS FAMOUS ADDRESS "EFFECT OF HOLY YEAR ON PEACE AND PROSPERITY’’

WHICH STARTED THE CONTROVERSY

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every other

WEDNESDAY

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July 30, 1933.

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jhc Golden Age

Brooklyn, N. Y., July 30, 1933

Brooklyn, N. Y., July 26,1933

To the Catholic Press and Specifically to the Editors of the Following Named Newspapers

[The citizens of America who love truth, fair-dealing, freedom of thought and freedom of speech, will read with keen interest the letter in this issue by Judge Rutherford addressed to the Catholic press in reply to the unwarranted and un-American attack upon him and radio stations which have broadcast his lectures. We are of the opinion that the American people are not yet ready to submit to any organized religious association the right to determine what the people shall hear.—Editorial note]

CATHOLIC UNIVERSE BULLETIN

Cleveland, Ohio

THE CATHOLIC BULLETIN

St. Paul, Minn.

THE CATHOLIC REGISTER

Kansas City, Mo.

CATHOLIC DAILY TRIBUNE

Dubuque, Iowa

THE PROVIDENCE VISITOR

Providence, R. I.

OUR SUNDAY VISITOR

Huntington, Indiana

THE INDIANA CATHOLIC AND RECORD Indianapolis, Indiana

THE CATHOLIC NEWS

New York, N. Y.

TIDINGS

Cleveland, Ohio

COURIER NEWS

Plainfield, N. J.

THE WITNESS

Dubuque, Iowa

Sirs:

Just now on my return from Europe I find that in my absence your papers have inaugurated a campaign to prevent the American people from hearing the truth of Jehovah God’s Word which it has been my privilege to tell them for some time. You make me the scape-

THE NEW WORLD

Chicago, III.

PAWTUCKET VALLEY DAILY TIMES West Warwick, R. I.

BALTIMORE CATHOLIC REVIEW Baltimore, Md.

WESTERN WATCHMAN

St. Louis, Mo.

THE CATHOLIC COLUMBIAN

Columbus, Ohio

THE COLUMBUS CITIZEN

Columbus, Ohio

THE CATHOLIC OBSERVER

Pittsburgh, Pa.

CATHOLIC UNION AND TIMES

Buffalo, N. Y.

THE CATHOLIC CITIZEN

Milwaukee, Wis.

THE REGISTER

Fresno, Calif.

THE SUNDAY WATCHMAN

St. Louis, Mo.

goat in order to thus deprive the people of the opportunity of learning at this time the very things that they should know, to wit: That Jehovah is the Almighty God; that Christ Jesus is His anointed King; and that the worship of man is an abomination in the sight of God; and that the kingdom of God under Christ is the only remedy for suffering humanity.

This letter I am addressing to you jointly and severally because the charges in your papers are similar and show that you are acting in concert. I have hopes that there may be at least one fair-minded editor among you who will publish this letter that your numerous readers may hear both sides of the case. Your failure to publish this letter will be unfair to the public and may compel me to get this information to the people in another way. Newspapers should publish the truth, if for no other reason than the fact that they accept money from the people for subscriptions upon the implied contract at least that they will publish the truth. The publication of only a small part of the truth is much more unfair than to make no publication at all.

EX-CONVICT STORY: You have attempted to belittle me in the eyes of your readers and thus to do injury to the message I have spoken by charging that I am an “ex-convict”, which charge is untrue. A convict is one who is guilty and is convicted of a crime. When the judgment of a law court is reversed and the case is then dismissed the man against whom the judgment was rendered is exonerated and he is therefore not a convict.

Briefly I refer to the facts that you may recall what you should already know: The clergy have hated me for years because I have followed the lead of the Lord Jesus Christ and told the people the truth only as He taught it. A number of those men wanted to kill me, and they attempted to find some legal means by which they could accomplish their wicked purpose. The World War seemed to furnish them an opportunity. Shortly after the United States entered the war a convention of clergymen assembled in Philadelphia, laid out a plan of action, and then selected and sent a committee to Washington to carry out their wrongful purpose. They presented a petition to a committee of the United States Senate demanding that the Espionage law be so amended that the trial of alleged offenders must be held before a military court and that the penalty to be inflicted must be death. President Wilson disapproved of their course and the Senate did not amend the law as the clergy desired. A general of the United States army, in the presence of two witnesses besides myself, told me the above facts and then added: “But they are going to get you at any rate.”

In the spring of 1918 the clergy and their allies “framed” a case against all the officers of our Society, including myself. I was charged with the publication of an objectionable paragraph in a book which I did not write and which was written and published before the United States entered the war and before the enactment of the Espionage law. Upon this and other illegal testimony, and at the direction of a prejudiced judge, and during the excitement of the war, a jury returned a verdict of guilty and we were sentenced each to eighty years in prison. A Catholic judge denied us the privilege of bail, which the Constitution guarantees we should have, and we were immediately landed in prison. My attorneys prepared a brief setting forth 125 errors in the record of that trial. When the case was presented to a justice of the Supreme Court of the United States upon an application for bail Justice Holmes immediately admitted us to bail. The case was then heard by the appellate court, and the judgment reversed and remanded. Because of the gross outrage practiced upon me and my brethren three United States senators and two other prominent American lawyers volunteered to defend me at the next trial. Shortly thereafter’ the Government dismissed the case and we were thereby exonerated.

But for the sake of the argument, suppose I were a convict according to your definition. Would that be cause to reject the truth of God’s Word which I am proclaiming? Jesus Christ, Jehovah’s greatest witness, was a “convict”, wrongfully charged and convicted of the crime of sedition, and His conviction and death were procured by the clergy of His time; and which wrongdoers find their counterpart in the clergy of the present time. I am delighted to be permitted to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and to be in the same class where the clergy placed Him.

Your papers try to convey to the public the thought that I attempted to hide the fact of this unlawful trial and that you had kept it alive by pigeonholing the facts at the time and now brought it forth. Y^Tou ought to know better than to try to put over such a falsehood on the people. The clergy thought that court experience above related would finish me for ever. But they were doomed to disappointment. Immediately following my release I visited every large city in America and by full-page advertisements in the largest daily papers invited the public to come and hear. The advertisements amongst other things said: “SENT TO PRISON FOR EIGHTY YEARS BY THE CONSPIRACY OF THE CLERGY —COME AND HEAR THE REASON WHY.” The people crowded out every great hall and theater where I spoke, thousands being turned away. That persecution by the clergy had much to do with advertising our work and enabled me no doubt to write and cause to be placed in the hands of the people more than 140 million books since that time, which books contain the message of God’s kingdom and which are published in 58 different languages. You are welcome to all the satisfaction you can get out of that “ex-convict” story.

RADIO: Because in a recent radio address I stated the plain truth for the benefit of the people, your papers, at the instance of Catholic clergymen, began a vicious campaign to “silence” me. Vigorously, you say, “Rutherford must be muzzled; he must be silenced; put him off the air.” With the hope of accomplishing that end you and your associates inaugurated a campaign of coercion against radio stations. You threatened to boycott these stations, to cause building contracts and paint contracts, and many other contracts, to be canceled, and to use every means within your power to injure the stations and their clients financially. All fair-minded men and women must and do condemn your course of action and your mode of procedure which is entirely un-American and unfair. The people are entitled to know the truth. If I have stated falsehoods against your organization, then it is your duty to show the people wherein the statements made by me are untrue.

It appears that the Catholic clergymen have no weapon of defense except a gag and a bludgeon. Every man who speaks the truth, which truth does not tingle the ears of the clergy, the Catholic clergy say should be gagged. Every one who publishes the truth contrary to their ideas of what is right the Catholic clergy say should be browbeaten, coerced and clubbed into submission. God and Christ Jesus never employed any such methods, and that of itself is most conclusive proof that men who resort to the gag and bludgeon method do not represent God and Christ. Such methods used to keep the people in ignorance and to blind them to the truth are the ones employed by Satan the Devil. (2 Corinthians 4:4) When a man, whether a clergyman or the editor of a newspaper, resorts to the gag and bludgeon method, whom then does he represent, God or the Devil? Judge ye!

The gag and bludgeon method employed by you and the clergymen of your organization frightened a few radio stations into submission and caused them to cancel their contracts. Out of the numerous radio stations in the United States used by me to broadcast the truth you succeeded in inducing ten stations to cancel their contracts. That is a rather good record in America for your method of procedure. If you had a Roman Catholic in the office of president of the United States now you would browbeat every radio station in the land into submission. Thank God your intolerant organization has never been able to place one of your organization in the office of president of the United States. The more the American people learn about you and your unjust methods, the more they shun you; and you know that to be true, and that is why you employ the gag and bludgeon. There are millions of good Catholic people who heartily disapprove of your unrighteous methods of suppressing the truth, and of tills I have positive knowledge.

SLANDER: You charge me with attacking men with slanderous speech. That charge is wholly untrue. Never have I delivered a radio speech or other public address in which I have attacked any man. I have called in question the doctrines men teach to the people; and if that is not permissible, then the people would be compelled to hear only what your side has to say, regardless of how untrue your statements are. That is another proof of your coercive and bludgeon methods. I have no quarrel with any individual, and no occasion to attack personally any man.

You claim to believe the Bible and to teach it, and therefore you are bound by what the Bible says. The Bible says that Jehovah is the only true God, and that Christ Jesus His beloved Son is King; that Satan the Devil is the opponent of God, and that the Devil resorts to fraud, deceit, coercion and bludgeon methods to blind the people to the truth. Men are either servants of God or servants of Satan the Devil, and by the fruits or doctrines which they carry to the people it is to be determined whom they represent. It is written in the Scriptures: “Know ye not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness?” (Romans 6:16) In harmony with this Jesus states: “Ue that is not ■with me is against me”; and that is true whether the one be a priest or a layman. (Luke 11:23) Again: “If any man have not the spirit of Christ, he is none of his.” (Romans 8: 9) Christ never employed coercive, gag or bludgeon methods to accomplish His purposes. When men employ such wrongful methods, contrary to Christ, then they prove that they have not the spirit of Christ, and that they are not His servants but that they are servants of the enemy of God and Christ.

It is true that the “spirit of Christ is love”, but that does not mean that He loved wickedness and that He stood by and saw pious-faced hypocrites proceed to deceive the people and remained silent because He might “offend the sensibilities” of the clergy or some of their allies. Read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew, wherein Jesus denounced the clergy of His day in the most scathing language that has ever been applied to any creatures. He was speaking to men then who posed before the people as the representatives of God, and He plainly told them that they were hypocrites. Love, which is the spirit of Christ, means an unselfish effort put forth to do good to others and to honor Jehovah God. It does not mean to consent to the name of Jehovah God’s being defamed. The mere fact that a man bears the title of clergyman or priest is no evidence that such a man represents God or Christ or that he speaks the truth. In proof of this, note the words of Jesus addressed to the clergymen and priests of His day who denounced Him for telling the truth. He said to them: “Ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth, which I have heard of God. . . . Why do ye not understand my speech? even because ye cannot hear my word. Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speak-eth a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar, and the father of it.” (John 8:40-44) The Scriptures then show that exactly a similar condition would exist at the end of the world, where we now are, and that clergymen would boast of their own goodness and greatness and defame God’s name and persecute humble men and women who attempt to tell the truth.—See John 15:19,20; Mark 13:9; 2 Timothy 3:1-6.

Why should the people be denied the opportunity of learning what God’s Word teaches, merely because those divine truths when uttered “offend the sensibilities” of certain men who are not in harmony with God? I agree that one man has no right to attack another man personally; but when any man brings forth a doctrine relating to God’s dealing with the human race and asks the people to believe that doctrine, then it is the right and duty of others who do not agree to call attention to the fact that such doctrines promulgated do not proceed from God but proceed from God’s enemy the Devil.

I have nothing against Catholics as men or women. I only take issue with the doctrines which that organization teaches. If the Catholic clergy want to be fair, why don’t they accept my proposition to publicly discuss these questions or doctrines and then let the people determine for themselves which is truth? The gag and bludgeon method can never make any of the people free, but, in the language of Jesus, “the truth shall make you free.” (John 8:32) You claim to speak for millions of Catholics; but I tell you that you do not speak for them. There are millions of good people in the Catholic organization who do not believe what you say. Why not let them all have an opportunity to hear both sides of the question discussed and then let them speak for themselves? You are not their guardians except by self-appointment.

THE POPE: Your papers say that I “slandered the Pope whose integrity is unquestioned by any reputable character”. You cannot cite a single word that I have ever uttered that is a slander of the man who occupies the office of pope of the Catholic organization. I have said nothing whatsoever against him as a man. What I did say is that no man, pope or otherwise, has any authority from God and Christ to declare any year a holy year. Neither Jehovah God nor Christ Jesus ever created the office of pope, and nowhere in the Bible does any such title appear. Neither God nor Christ Jesus ever appointed any man to the position of pope of the Catholic organization, and I call upon you to publish one word from the Holy Scriptures that even tends to prove to the contrary. The title of pope was never applied to any man until more than 300 years after the crucifixion of Christ. (See Volumes 6 and 22, Encyclopedia Britannica; McClintock & Strong’s Encyclopedia, Volume 8, page 403.) If God and Christ wanted the pope on earth to tell the people what they shall believe or not believe, then why does not the Bible, which is the Word of God, give some evidence of that fact ?

I have no personal antipathy to the man who at the present time holds the office of pope of the Catholic church. So far as I know, he may be a good man of the highest integrity, as that term is generally applied. I know nothing about him except that recently when I used a number of radio stations in Europe to broadcast the message of God’s kingdom I was informed that the pope had instructed all Catholics to refuse to listen to what I had to say. They did not obey him, however, because I had many letters of approval and commendation and best wishes from Catholics, which letters came from Holland, France, Austria, Spain, Italy and other places in Europe.

The fact that a man occupies the office of pope of the Catholic organization is no evidence that he speaks with divine authority or that he has the approval of God and of Christ. In proof of this I refer you to the historical facts concerning men of the past who have occupied that office. The records of many of these men are too bad to publish here. Some of them were exceedingly immoral and bad men, which proves that they were not servants of God and of Christ.

You speak of the pope as “the holy father”, and your sensibilities are shocked when others do not publicly agree with you. You do this in the face of the plain statement by Jesus, to wit: “Call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” (Matthew 23:9) Surely I should be permitted to quote the words of the Lord Jesus without offending honest men.

Since neither Jehovah God nor Christ created the office of pope and no mention is made thereof in the Word of God, and since God’s Word does not authorize any man or the officer of any organization to declare this a “holy year”, then I ask by what authority any official in any organization can declare this a 'Toly year”. Is it your desire to mislead the people and to induce them to believe that a man has the authority and power to make any year holy? When this year is past and the people look back upon the great amount of suffering they have endured, and upon the great amount of wickedness and injustice practiced both inside and outside of the Catholic organization, they will well know that this is not a holy year, regardless of all proclamations concerning the same. There are millions of people on earth who do not believe that the pope has the authority or power to declare this or any other year a holy year, and other millions of people have the right to hear the evidence, that they too may determine for themselves what they want to believe.

I suggest to you that no court or tribunal in America has ever yet decided (and I hope never will) that a man can be prevented from calling in question the doctrines or teachings of other’ men or organizations. If such a coercive rule as you advocate were adopted and enforced, then it would mean that the political party in power could successfully prevent the other parties out of power from calling attention to actions and policies falsely advocated and practiced upon the people. If you could have your way you would compel the people of America to acknowledge without question the doctrines of the Catholic organization, which doctrines the masses of the people do not believe to be true. Whenever the courts exercise the power to prohibit the criticism of doctrines or teachings of any organization, then the liberties of the American people are gone and the purpose for which the nation was organized has ceased to exist. You, the editors of newspapers, who claim that you are publishing your papers in the interest of the people, by calling upon the radio commission to bar any man from the air because he calls in question the doctrines of your organization, are thereby demanding that the courts or tribunals take away the liberties of the people and keep the people in ignorance of what God’s Word plainly teaches. Whom do you then represent in thus trying to blind the people to the truth of Jehovah God’s Word? (2 Corinthians 4:4) Surely you do not represent Jehovah God; and that being true, you must be the servants of the god of this world whether you know it or not.—Romans 6:16.

OTHER FALSEHOODS: Almost everything you have published about my radio speeches is false. You charge me with indulging in “vituperation”, which is entirely foreign to the facts. Your statement concerning the radio and its use in Canada is also untrue. There some clergymen, who did not want to hear the truth, protested to the Commission and the Commission stopped the broadcast. You did not publish the further fact, however, that immediately thereafter 406,000 citizens of Canada filed with the Canadian House of Commons a petition asking that my lectures be continued on the air.

The message which I and my brethren are proclaiming is not the message of any man, but it is Jehovah God’s message concerning His kingdom. You may be able to prevent radio stations from broadcasting the truth and the Lord may not interfere with you for a time, but His arm is not shortened and you will not at all retard the proclamation of His Word. Your opposition has only increased the desire of the people to hear more about God’s kingdom, and Jehovah has provided the ways and means. Already hundreds of transcription machines have been manufactured and placed in the hands of the people, with numerous records of speech, which are daily being delivered to the people and informing them concerning God’s kingdom. Every day the people are learning more and more that opposition such as you offer does not proceed from Jehovah, but that it proceeds from the god of this world, the Devil.

You say that these lectures are attacks on Catholics and insulting to Catholics. The people know that such statement by you is untrue. Every statement yet made in any of my lectures is fully supported by the Word of God, which is the truth. (John 17:17) No honest person could be insulted by God’s Word of truth. There are many honest persons in the ranks of the Catholic organization who have been held there because they had no opportunity to hear and to learn the truth. But they are learning it now. For keeping the people in ignorance in this manner the pastors and clergymen and priests and their allies are held liable, and God gives His Word that He will punish them for their wrong-doing.-See Ezekiel 34:1-20; Jeremiah 25: 33-36.

You charge that my words are seditious; and that is wholly false. Never have I uttered a seditious word against the Government. It was the clergymen and priests and their allies that falsely charged Jesus with the crime of sedition; and hiding behind the judgment of a false and wicked court, they caused His precious blood to be wrongfully shed. You may get my lifeblood and thereby hope to stop the proclamation of the truth; but be assured that the message of God’s kingdom will continue to be proclaimed just the same. I am but one of those of Jehovah’s witnesses who as a “voice in the wilderness” is crying out to the people that the kingdom of heaven is at hand and that this kingdom under Christ is the only hope of mankind. Your gag and bludgeon methods will not in any manner retard the proclamation of the message of God’s kingdom, which He is now sending to the peoples of earth.

JUDGMENT: Jehovah God has written His judgment against Satan and every part of his organization, both visible and invisible, and at the battle of the great day of God Almighty, led by Jesus Christ, that judgment will be executed and every part of the wicked organization shall go down to destruction. Then the Catholic organization as such will be no more; and only those honest Catholics who turn their hearts away from “man worship”, and who turn them wholly to the worship and service of Jehovah God and Christ, will survive. For this reason Jehovah now says to His people through His prophet: “Before the fierce anger of the Lord come upon you . . . seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment; seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord’s anger.”—Zephaniah 2: 2, 3.

God’s judgment is written against the pastors and the shepherds and clergymen who have taught and misled the people and who together with the principal of their flocks have coerced radio stations and others to refrain from proclaiming the truth of God’s kingdom. His judgment written shows that such opposers will find no way of escape at the execution of His judgment at Armageddon. Note Jeremiah 25: 34-36: “Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the Lord hath spoiled their pasture.”

You complain because I speak the truth concerning “purgatory”. For many years the Catholic organization has taught the people that their dead friends are conscious in a place called “purgatory” and that Catholic priests, who are merely imperfect men, can pray for the dead and benefit them and thereby shorten the duration of their punishment and in time secure their release from “purgatory”. You will not attempt to deny this as one of the doctrines preached by your organization, and this you have done and continue to do in the face of the scriptures which read that ‘all the dead are in the grave’ (John 5: 28); and, “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” (Psalm 115:17) “The dead know not any thing’'; “there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave whither thou goest.” (Ecclesiastes 9:5,10) You would have the people believe you rather than to believe God’s Word of truth. By your teaching of this false doctrine of “purgatory” you have induced many a poor person to give up his or her money to have prayers said for their dead ones who are supposed to be in “purgatory”. That is obtaining money by taking advantage of the ignorance of the people.

COMPARISON: In this letter I would have made no reference to personal deeds committed by men or organizations except for the fact that you have made it necessary. You could have opposed my speech without attacking me personally. In keeping w^Tith your fixed policy you have preferred the latter; therefore the comparison.

The best part of my life on earth and all my material substance has been spent in an honest endeavor to teach the people the plain Word of God’s truth and to turn the minds of men away from creature worship and turn them to the faithful worship and service of Jehovah God that they might gain eternal life in endless happiness. In that time you have been able to find but one so-called ‘black spot’ on my record, namely, the fact that I was imprisoned during the World War, and which imprisonment was procured by a cruel conspiracy formed and carried into effect by your organization.

The Catholic hierarchy has spent more than 1500 years in hiding the truth of God’s Word from the people and in turning the minds of men to the service and worship of creatures instead of the worship and service of Jehovah God. The work of that hierarchy has been and is done by selfish men concerning which the Scriptures say: “Men of corrupt minds, and destitute of the truth, supposing that gain [in numbers of followers and material wealth] is godliness: from such withdraw thyself.” (1 Timothy 6: 5) Every page of the history of the Catholic hierarchy is marked with black crime. It has employed the cruel Inquisition to compel the people to follow its doctrines and practices. It has in all those fifteen centuries resorted to coercion to silence everyone who has dared to call in question its doctrines. If your organization held and taught the truth you would welcome criticism and would gladly come forward and discuss the matter in the presence of the people, that they might exercise their own free will and determine for themselves what they wished to believe. Since you have no truth, and since your organization was ‘born in sin and shapen in iniquity’, you resort to cruel and oppressive methods to hide your sins and to deceive the people. Why don’t you hear and teach the truth and encourage others to do likewise? In the language of Jesus the answer is, Because “ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do”.—John 8:43,44.

Although you know that up to this time there is no law in America to prevent the free expression of opinion concerning the doctrines or teachings of others, yet you continue to browbeat, threaten to boycott and otherwise to coerce radio stations to prevent the broadcasting of the truth. You claim that you do this in the interest of common decency and for the good of the people; which claim is hypocritical in the extreme. You cry “intolerance” and “bigotry”, when in fact your organization is the most intolerant and bigoted one in existence.

Because I say to the public that no man, whether he be a pope or otherwise, can make a year holy, for the reason that only God can make things holy, you begin an intolerant campaign against me and my brethren, which campaign you carry on maliciously and without regard for the rights of the people. Simultaneously the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses starts in the continents of Europe, Asia and Africa. Did this happen? or is it the carrying out of an order from the headquarters of your hierarchy? You were the first ones in America to report the persecution of Jehovah’s witnesses in Bavaria ; and this for the very reason that it was incited and carried out by members of your intolerant organization.

It was at the instance of your organization that in June last twenty-nine innocent and faithful women citizens of New Jersey were arrested in Plainfield and thrown into prison, crowded into small and filthy cells, and required to stand up all night, and this because as Jehovah’s witnesses they were calling at the homes of the people in this time of distress, and seeking to comfort them by directing them to the study of God’s Word of truth. The arrest and imprisonment of those good and faithful women was not only intolerant, but was barbaric cruelty, wholly uncalled for in a civilized land. There was a time when the Protestant church organizations resented your oppressive methods; but in this evil day they have ceased to protest, and this makes you ever more bold in your persecution of the true followers of Christ Jesus.

APPROACHING STORM: From every quarter of the earth I see gathering together the hordes of Satan under the leadership of Gog, of which the Catholic hierarchy is the greatest visible part, and all of these marching on with the malicious purpose and intent to accomplish the destruction of Jehovah’s witnesses. I know that already your hierarchy is seeking some apparent legal excuse to kill all of Jehovah’s witnesses. I would be appalled and faint with sickness because of what I see is shortly coming upon the earth were it not for the fact that Jehovah has given His Word that He will smite the wicked oppressive organization and deliver His faithful people. Jehovah’s witnesses must and will finish the work God has assigned to them. That witness work may be about done for the present; and when completed, then there shall come upon the world, as the Lord Jesus declares, “great tribulation, such as was not [known] since the beginning of the world.”— Matthew 24:14-22.

The clergy of the Catholic hierarchy have assumed to be shepherds of the people and call themselves such, but they are not true shepherds; hence Jehovah now says to them: “Behold, I am against the shepherds; and I will require my flock at their hand, and cause them to cease from feeding the flock; neither shall the shepherds feed themselves any more; for I will deliver my flock from their mouth, that they may not be meat for them.” (Ezekiel 34:10) Jehovah then says that this shall be the plague wherewith He will smite those that have fought against His organization: “Their flesh shall consume away while they stand upon their feet, and their eyes shall consume away in their holes, and their tongue shall consume away in their mouth.” (Zechariah 14:12) Jehovah God will exercise His power in the interest of the poor and oppressed people: “He shall judge the poor of the people, he shall save the children of the needy, and shall break in pieces the oppressor.” —Psalm 72:4.

Now, gentlemen, I have said nothing here in malice, but have written these lines wholly in the interest of truth and righteousness. I have called your attention to the Scriptures as well as to the facts, and every one who honestly serves God wants to be judged according to the Scriptures and the facts. “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” (2 Corinthians 5:10) You have received notice, and when standing before that judgment seat of Christ, who is the great Judge, you can never be heard to say that you ignorantly opposed the proclamation of the message of God’s kingdom which is now being carried to the people by Jehovah’s witnesses. I think you have heretofore received a copy of the Kingdom booklet; but, that there may be no mistake, I am sending each of you a copy, under separate cover, with my compliments.

You and other clergymen whom you represent have declined my kind invitation to come forth in the open and discuss the truth, that the people might hear and judge. You have thus prevented them from hearing the truth. You prefer to resort to coercion, gag and bludgeon methods to thus keep them in ignorance. You have received fair notice. Now you must take the responsibility.

Respectfully,

(The Kingdom booklet which Judge Rutherford mentions above, presenting a copy thereof to each of the Catholic newspaper editors with his compliments, was served on all the clergymen, politicians, big business men and military and naval commanders of “Christendom”, and has had an unprecedented circulation among the general public in more than forty languages. The Kingdom the Hope of the World is but one of fourteen attractive booklets, of 64 pages each, containing select radio lectures delivered by Judge Rutherford. In consideration of a contribution of 55c to the work of spreading the Kingdom message the whole set of booklets will be sent you, anywhere; or six of them for 25c; or the Kingdom booklet alone for 5c. Address The Watchtower, 117 Adams St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

—The Publishers.)

Effect of Holy Year on Peace and Prosperity

THE peoples of the nations of “Christendom” have been told that this is a “holy year” and that it is hoped that by the combined efforts of the ruling factors ‘a tide of religion will rise and sweep the nations into peace and prosperity’, relieving them of their present burdens. All reasonable persons have a desire for peace and prosperity. Without a knowledge of how these desirable things can be gained the people are ready to grab at anything that seems plausible.

The people could do no better than to observe a “holy year” within the true meaning of that term. A year is not made holy, however, by a proclamation of men, nor by an occasional offering of prayer. A truly holy year is a year entirely devoted to Jehovah God and His kingdom, teaching the people and leading them in the light of God’s Word.

For centuries religionists have induced many to believe that a few men on earth rule by divine right and that whatsoever such men recommend the people should accept. That has resulted in keeping multitudes in ignorance. Millions believe that the year 1933 is a “hoiy year” because religious leaders have so decreed, and the principal of their flocks have joined in the proclamation of such decree. It is not my purpose to even attempt to convince the religionists and the principal of their flocks that they are wrong, because they have closed their ears to that which is spoken from the Word of God. Some will say that I am indulging in abuse and cruel criticism of religious leaders, but that is not true. I do not indulge in abuse of any man. I hold no personal animosity against anyone. My purpose and duty is to speak the truth for the aid and comfort of the people and to the honor of Jehovah’s name.

It is far better that the people of good will learn the truth now than to build a hope upon false testimony only to have that hope dashed to the earth at the end of the year. Is it not better that the truth be placed before the people and by them dispassionately considered, and each person given the privilege of deciding for himself what course he wants to take? I am not concerned about the men who have presumed to proclaim this a “holy year”, but I am concerned as to whether the people shall be deceived by the declarations of men and whether they shall hear the truth and have an opportunity to take their stand on the side of God and His kingdom.

WHAT IS TRUTH?

Christ Jesus, the greatest of all teachers ever among men, said concerning the Scriptures, which are the Word of God: “Thy word is truth.” Whatsoever is in opposition to the Scriptures is therefore false. The gentlemen who are responsible for this being designated as a “holy year” have invited all the people to pray to God “that we may be relieved of our burdens”; and by so doing they are estopped from denying that God’s Word is the truth. If you will act for your best interests you must return to the Bible and be guided by what Jehovah God has there expressed as His will. The Bible was written for this hour of distress, because therein it is stated that it was written for the admonition of the people upon whom the end of the world has come. (1 Corinthians 10:11) We have come to the end of the world and this scripture applies now. Those who disregard the Word of God and follow the advice and admonition of man, whether that be of pope, priest, clergymen, politicians or financiers, are certain to come to deep disappointment and sorrow.

In his inaugural address the president of the United States quoted a part of the 29th chapter of Proverbs, to wit: “Where there is no vision, the people perish”; and, according to the interpretation given by the public press, that means that unless the people have a vision of the political and commercial and religious affairs of this world they will perish. That Scriptural text has no such meaning, nor does it apply at all to this world. The entire text reads: “Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that keepeth the law, happy is he.” (Proverbs 29:18) The vision has reference to Jehovah God and His purposes, as expressed by and through His kingdom, and only those who now get an insight or vision of such truths and act in harmony therewith will escape at Armageddon. Truly, as the Scriptures say, those who have no vision perish; hence is magnified the importance of the people’s now hearing the truth of and concerning God and His kingdom. Note that this Scripture text shows that the happy one is he who keeps God’s law; and to keep God’s law means to do what He says, and not what imperfect men may say. In order for the people to keep God’s law they must have a knowledge of His law. Jehovah’s witnesses are now diligent in their efforts to inform the people, and it is those who name this a “holy year” that are trying to keep the people in ignorance of God’s law.

There are two gods before the creation of earth: one the true and righteous God; and the other the mimic or fraudulent god. The name of the true and righteous God is Jehovah. The name of the mimic or wicked god given him by the Scriptures is Satan, Serpent, and Devil. His name means ‘deceiver’, and by appearing through his representatives, and claiming to be an angel of light, he deceives those who do not learn of and rely upon God’s Word of truth. When I say that men serve the Devil I am not abusing men, but, on the contrary, earnestly pointing out that they are deceived by Satan, who is the enemy of all men. Since the days of Nimrod and the building of the tower of Babel on the plains of Shinar the Devil has caused the names of men to be exalted and the name of Jehovah God and Christ Jesus to be pushed into the corner. That is the rule followed today in the world. With all kindness and sincerity I remind you who listened to the “Holy Hour Service” held in New York on the 2d of April that the name of man was there exalted by frequently using and applying to men such terms as “Holy Father”, “Your Eminence,” and “Your Excellency”; whereas the name of Jehovah God, His King and His kingdom were not mentioned at all. No reference was made to God’s expressed purpose of dealing with the human race by and through His kingdom. Let all who desire to follow such course by bestowing high esteem and exaltation on men do so, but I am reminding you common people who are of good will that such a course is displeasing to Jehovah God, and this I do in order that you may give honor to God and His kingdom, and not to man. Jesus said to those who exalt men: “That which is highly esteemed among men is abomination in the sight of God.” (Luke 16:15) Satan has led men into his trap by exalting men and disregarding God. And why has he thus done? Because the policy of Satan is to turn men away from the true God and he resorts to subtle means of flattery to accomplish this unrighteous purpose. Keep in mind always that Satan long ago defied Jehovah God to put men on earth who would honor Jehovah and who would maintain their integrity toward Him. If all men understood that the Devil is the enemy of man there would be very few if any that would fall into Satan’s trap. Because they have no vision or knowledge of God and His kingdom the multitudes fall into Satan’s subtle trap and will perish.

The act of declaring this a “holy year” for the bringing in of peace and prosperity is a presumptuous sin before Almighty God. No man or company of men are running Jehovah’s business so as to enable them to “change times and laws”, and it is so stated in Daniel 7: 25. No man has the power and authority to use a golden hammer or any other instrument to break open a door and say to the people: “This symbolizes the entrance into the blessings of the Lord.” For the people to believe and follow such a leader means to walk on in darkness. No man or combination of men can make the year holy by merely declaring it so to be. The declaring of this to be a “holy year” is contrary to God’s Word and His will, and it would therefore follow that peace and prosperity would not come in answer to the prayers of those who inaugurated this year to accomplish their purpose. To those who commit such presumptuous acts Jehovah, at Isaiah 55:8, says: “My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways [of decreeing this a ‘holy year’] my ways. ’ ’ God does not follow the lead of men.

This year cannot be made holy, nor holiness gained, by visiting famous buildings called “churches” or “temples”, nor by making pilgrimages to shrines, nor by worshiping before men or going through outward forms of penance, nor by exalting men to high positions in a church organization. Exactly contrary thereto God’s Word says (Psalm 99:5, A.R.V.): “Exalt ye Jehovah our God, and worship at his footstool: holy is he.” Furthermore, Jesus said concerning the exaltation of men (Matthew 23:9): “And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven.” The question for the people to determine is whether they wish to follow what man says or will obey Jehovah God’s Word.

We are now in the last days because the time has come when Satan’s organization must shortly go down before the onward march of the great Conqueror, the Christ of God. The conditions which you observe today exactly fulfil the prophecies long ago written in the Bible concerning the end of the world or last days. I am calling attention thereto, and to the presumptuous acts of the mighty men of this world, not to ridicule them, but for the benefit of the people of good will who want to know the right way to go. The meeting together of men and declaring this to be a “ holy year”, and the going through certain forms of worship, is contrary to the will of God. The Lord foretold such in these words (2 Timothy 3:1,2,5): “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away.” The people are now being divided between God’s organization and Satan’s organization. Let everyone be free to take his own course; but bear in mind that only those who turn away from Satan’s organization, and take their stand firmly and honestly on the side of Jehovah God, and who are then guided by His Word, will be spared at Armageddon.

It may be said that the Catholic organization, headed by its mighty pontiff, the multitudinous divisions of the Protestant organizations headed by their wise and eloquent clergy, and the Jews led by their philosophical rabbis, this united religious multitude, supported by the professional politicians and financial giants, will present such an inspiring spectacle before the throne of God that even He will hear and grant their petitions that they may be relieved of their burdens and given more ease and comfort. The question is, Will Jehovah God hear and grant the prayers of such an unholy alliance? According to the words of the Scriptures, God answers, No!

The Scriptures declare that all men are by nature unrighteous and that righteousness can be obtained only by faith in and obedience to Jehovah and faith in Christ Jesus and His shed blood as the redemptive price of man. Prayer to Jehovah must be asked in the name of Christ Jesus, because God has thus commanded it. All Jewish rabbis entirely reject Jesus Christ as the Redeemer of man. All modernist clergymen do likewise reject Him and His precious blood, and the entire combination heretofore mentioned rejects Jehovah God’s provision through Christ and His kingdom to bless all the families of the earth with peace and prosperity, and, on the contrary, have given their allegiance to the League of Nations, which is a product of the Devil. The entire combination forms the visible ruling powers of this world, and concerning such it is written that the whole world lies in the wicked one, Satan. (1 John 5:19) Now what does God’s Word say about hearing and answering the prayers of such as give their allegiance to the wicked one and his organization and who therefore form a part of the world and hence are God’s enemies? Will the prayers of such bring prosperity and peace during this so-called “holy year’’? The following scriptures bear upon the point and are conclusive. Proverbs 15:29: “The Lord is far from the wicked; but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. ’ ’ Proverbs 28:9: ‘ ‘ He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination.” 1 Peter 3:12: ‘ ‘ For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” All prayers made during this so-called “holy year” for peace and prosperity will go unanswered, because God’s Word declares that there shall be no lasting peace and prosperity until the earth is rid of its oppressor Satan and of his wicked organization. It is vital that the people know this fact, in order that they may choose what course they will take.

Long ago Jehovah chose the Jews as a people for himself, established them at Jerusalem, and put His own righteous name there. Satan by means of fraud and deceit caused the Jews to fall away from their covenant and to indulge in idol worship. Time and again God warned them that He would punish them, and did punish them. The Jewish nation was a type of “Christendom”.

By and through Christ Jesus and His apostles there was established on earth the true worship of Jehovah God and which is properly called true Christianity. Within a short time an organization labeled “Christianity” grew to be a great organization and then fell an easy victim to Satan, and many of the nations now call themselves “Christian nations” but at the same time follow Satan’s lead. It is written, at 1 Corinthians 10:11: “ Now all these things happened unto [the Jews] for ensamples; and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come/’ Concerning what came upon the Jews that which is recorded in the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel applies specifically to “Christendom”, particularly at this very day. To some of these things I now refer.

Zedekiah, the last king of the Jews, and his official associates proclaimed a “holy year” at Jerusalem and led the people to believe that they should have peace and prosperity and freedom, and then they used that occasion as a scheme to bring the people into further subjection and serfdom. Then Jehovah God declared to the rulers that because of their hypocrisy and duplicity He would send His executioner and destroy Jerusalem, and within a short time Jerusalem was razed to the ground. (Jeremiah 34 : 8-22) The nations of “Christendom” are the counterpart or antitype of Jerusalem, because the Scriptures so declare. Now the Catholies, Protestants and Jews and the principal ones of their flocks form a confederacy with the ostensible and announced purpose, by their own efforts, to bring to the people peace, prosperity, liberty and relief from human suffering. The time to accomplish this they call a ‘ ‘ holy year ’ ’. The real purpose is an effort to keep the people quiet for a while by causing them to hope for better times to come. The scheme is hypocritical on the face of it. Of the leaders, the Catholics have no confidence in the Protestants, the Protestants have no confidence in the Catholics, and the Jews have no confidence in either Catholics or Protestants, and the politicians and Big Business men know that the whole crowd is insincere. The so-called “holy year” will not bring the suffering peoples relief, nor peace, nor prosperity. On the contrary, the end of the year will find the people in greater distress than they are now in.

Another striking illustration as to what shall come upon the nations of “Christendom” shortly is set forth in the 37th chapter of Jeremiah’s prophecy. Jerusalem, having become unfaithful to God, there pictures the present-day hypocritical “Christendom”. Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, and his army pictured Satan and his militant forces which now pretend to give aid to “Christendom”. The Chaldeans there mentioned picture Jehovah’s Executioner sent against “Christendom” to destroy it. Jehovah God sent Jeremiah His prophet to give warning to the rulers and to the people of Jerusalem that the Chaldeans would come again and destroy the city as His executioner. The Jewish clergy, the rabbis, who then claimed to be holy and acting as the spokesmen to the people, declared that there was no cause for fear and tried to prevent the people from hearing God’s prophet. The people were in doubt as to what they should do. Then God caused Jeremiah to prophesy these words to the Jews (Jeremiah 37:9): “Thus saith the Lord, Deceive not yourselves, saying, The Chaldeans shall surely depart from us: for they shall not depart.” God’s executioner did return, and destroyed the city of Jerusalem. God caused Jeremiah to utter the following words to the people of Jerusalem concerning those who were falsely prophesying peace and misleading the people (Jeremiah 6:13,14): “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealcth falsely. They . . . [are] saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.” Exactly that same thing is now taking place in “Christendom”, whose leaders have proclaimed this a “holy year”, and who try to prevent the people from hearing God’s truth.

There can not and will not be peace and prosperity sent to “Christendom” from Jehovah God as long as the unholy alliance of commercial and political oppressive power, with hypocritical religion, continues to exist. The prayers of such for peace and prosperity are a mockery; and “God is not mocked”. The petitioners and many people will be deceived, but God knows the secret intents of all. The mouthpieces of this hypocritical alliance continue to cry out, “Peace, peace,” while at the same time every one of these nations continues to heap burdens upon the people in order to prepare for war. Satan and his organization, pictured by the three frogs of Revelation, continue to croak and boast and bluster and to gather the nations together for the battle of the great day of God Almighty, and there “Christendom” shall fall.—Revelation 16:13-16.

Peace and prosperity are not possible under the present unrighteous world, because Jehovah has decreed that it shall be destroyed. The proof He has abundantly set forth in the prophecies of Ezekiel and Jeremiah. Another example in proof of this I now cite. God’s covenant people under the rule of Israel’s unfaithful king mixed politics and false religion with their outward claims of serving Jehovah. The exact counterpart of this is today found in “Christendom”. The leaders claim that these nations are Christian nations, and yet all of them mix politics with their outward claims of worshiping God. They attempt to unite all kinds of religion under one arrangement, even those who deny Christ and His precious blood, and expect God to hear their prayers. Jehovah sent His prophets to give warning to the Israelites, but that warning was ignored. Then Jehovah sent Jehu as executioner to execute His judgment against that unfaithful people. In that Jehu was a type of Christ Jesus, whom God will now use as His executioner of “Christendom”. Jehu proceeded quickly to his task; and the messengers of the rulers hurried out to inquire of Jehu and said, “Is it peace, Jehu?” and he said, 'What peace is there as long as the whoredoms of thy mother Jezebel and her witchcrafts are so many?’ (2 Kings 9:17-22) Now the Lord sends warning to the rulers of “Christendom” and they ignore His warning and reject His King. The Greater Jehu, Christ Jesus, is proceeding with His army to the war of Armageddon to execute Jehovah’s vengeance against all of His foes. The unholy alliance of ‘' Christendom” cries out, “Give us peace and prosperity,” and the great Executioner Christ replies: ‘What! Peace, when there is so much hypocrisy, political religion and Devil worship among you?’

Jehu then caused the people who supported the Devil worship to identify themselves, and then in the presence of Jonadab, who pictured the order-loving people of the present day, Jehu slew every one of the false religionists and defamers of God’s holy name. —2 Kings 10:15-25.

The Scriptures show that those who now form the unholy alliance and proclaim this a “holy year” will camouflage their real purpose, put on a bold front, and declare to the people that they have actually brought about peace and safety; and then mark what the Lord says shall come to pass (1 Thessalonians 5:3): “For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction eometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.”

The combined efforts of the big men of religion, Big Business, and polities cannot possibly now bring peace and prosperity to “Christendom”, because it is not God’s time and their prayers God will not hear. It is written in God’s Word (Ecclesiastes 3:1,8): ‘ ‘ To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. ... A time of war, and a time of peace.” The time for Jehovah God to force the war is nigh. It may not come this year, but it will not be much longer delayed; and no efforts of any creatures can stop it, because God does not change His purpose. Up to this time God has not taken a hand in the troubles that afflict the peoples of earth, but He declares that He will rise up at Armageddon and come forth and smite the nations of “Christendom” to the dust and that these shall fall and not rise again.

The public press quotes the pontiff of Rome as saying that the present suffering and distress of the peoples of the world are a punishment from God upon them because of their unfaithfulness to the church, and now he and his associates pray for peace and prosperity for the world. God is not at all responsible for the suffering of the people. In Revelation 12:12 the statement is plainly made that Satan tho Devil has brought this woe and suffering upon the peoples of the world. God has taken no hand in the trouble thus far, but He declares that soon at Armageddon He will smite Satan and all of his organization both visible and invisible.

Big Business, political rulers and big church men have joined hands together. It is that combine that has gained the control of the gold and other property of the world and as instruments of Satan have brought about oppression of the people, and it is because of such oppression that the people now cry out. This hypocritical combine prays for peace and prosperity, and to them Jehovah says (James 5:3-5): “Your gold and silver is cankered; and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire. Ye have heaped treasure together for the last days. Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth; and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth. Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton; ye have nourished your hearts, as in a day of slaughter.” Instead of the common people's joining this alliance and being guided by them, Jehovah says to the people of good will (Zephaniah 3: 8. 9): “Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the Lord, until the day that I rise up to the prey; for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. For then will I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, to serve him with one consent.”

Jehovah God gave His Word that Christ Jesus as King and Conqueror should redeem man with His own blood and then vindicate the name of the Most High. Jesus performed some of these prophecies in miniature when He was on earth 1900 years ago, and now He comes and performs them in completeness. When the time came for the man Jesus to offer himself as King and Blesser of the Jews He did not come carrying a golden hammer in His hand, with silver trumpets announcing His arrival, but He came meek and lowly, riding upon a jackass, magnifying the name of Jehovah God. He was then rejected by the clergy of that day and He pronounced desolation upon their house. (Matthew 21:1-43) In 1918 Jehovah, having installed Christ Jesus as the King of the world, presented Him to ‘ ‘ Christendom ’ ’ and furnished an abundance of evidence from the prophecies, and from the physical facts, that God’s time was here for His King to judge and to rule and it was the clergy of ‘ ‘ Christendom” that took the lead in rejecting Christ and His kingdom and accepted in its stead the League of Nations; and now at the temple of Jehovah Christ pronounces the judgment of desolation upon “Christendom”. Thus we see that Jerusalem and "Christendom” have parallel experiences. Concerning this very time Jehovah says' (Psalm 11: 4-6): “The Lord is in his holy temple, the Lord’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men. The Lord trieth the righteous: but the wicked, and him that loveth violence, his soul hateth. Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire and brimstone, and an horrible tempest: this shall be the portion of their cup. ’ ’

The temple of Jehovah is His righteous organization of which Christ Jesus is the Head. Jehovah has made Christ the judge of all things and has committed to Him the power to execute judgment. (Malachi 3:1-4; John 5:22-27) Now Jehovah speaks to the people of the nations that have taken His name and says (Habakkuk 2:20): “The Lord is in his holy temple: let all the earth keep silence before him.”

Instead of the leaders of the nations giving heed to God’s Word and advising the people to follow His instruction, a company of selfish men, bent on ruling the world in their own way, presumptuously declare this a “holy year” and call upon the people to follow them in their efforts to establish peace and prosperity in the world exactly contrary to the Word of God. They do not give honor to Jehovah God and to His kingdom, but bow before men and before images. Let the people who desire life and happiness no longer give ear to the false claims of selfish men. To you, through the prophet, Jehovah God says (Isaiah 45: 22-24): ‘Look unto me [Jehovah], and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God and there is none else. I have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, That unto me [and not alone to Jesus] every knee shall bow and every tongue shall swear . . . and all that are against him shall be put to shame.’ You, the people, must take your choice to follow the advice of men or to follow the words of Jehovah God.

For the past ten years Jehovah’s witnesses, by His grace, have declared the truth to the rulers of “Christendom”, and which truth the rulers have not only rejected, but they have connived at the persecution and hurt of those who brought to them the message of truth. Jehovah’s witnesses in themselves are not important, but as Jehovah’s anointed they are the apple of His eye on earth. Now His witnesses turn to you, the common people, and call your attention to God’s message written in Micah 1:2-4: “Hear, all ye people; hearken, O earth, and all that therein is: and let the Lord God be witness against you, the Lord from his holy temple. And the mountains [governments] shall be molten under him, and the valleys shall be cleft, as wax before the fire, and as the waters that are poured down a steep place.” The unholy alliance that has presumptuously declared this to be a “holy year” are not proper guides for you, regardless of whether you have been a Catholic, Protestant or Jew. The year will not bring peace and prosperity, but the end thereof will find you nearer to the end of Satan’s oppressive rule, and thereafter shall come real peace and prosperity.

Those who are against God’s kingdom under Christ are wicked, and concerning them it is written (Isaiah 57:21): “There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Those who have proclaimed this a “holy year” are against God and His kingdom; and this is proved by their actions. When Jehovah’s witnesses carried the Kingdom message in printed form into Italy recently the pontiff and his political allies stopped the distribution of that message and confiscated and destroyed the books containing it. England and Canada have prevented the message of God’s kingdom from being broadcast by radio. In the United States the clergy and their allies who are called “the higher ups” have given orders that the Kingdom message shall not be broadcast here over certain radio stations and have thus prevented the broadcasting of this message today. These opposers rejoice when Jehovah’s witnesses are arrested and imprisoned for speaking the truth. It is to be expected that it would be so, because the prophecy of Jehovah foretells the same. I call attention to these things that the people may see that God will not answer the prayers of this unholy alliance for peace and prosperity. Concerning them Jehovah says (Psalm 35:26,27) : ‘Let them be brought to shame and confusion [even during this so-called “holy year”] who rejoice at the hurt of my witnesses. ’

By His prophet Daniel Jehovah gives a brief history of the chief nations that have ruled from ancient Egypt to the present time, including the alliance that has declared this a “holy year”, and then says (Daniel 2:44): “And in the days of these [rulers] shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever.” In the face of this plain statement of Jehovah God the people will be foolish to expect a confederacy of men to bring in peace and prosperity. For your own protection I am pointing you to the Word of God that you may have an opportunity to take the only safe course. You may receive this message or reject it, as you see fit

The rulers have been told the truth and they have rejected it, and thus they identify themselves with the enemy of God. Those who are proclaiming this a “holy year” are conniving at the downfall of Jehovah’s witnesses and are fighting against God. Jesus foretold that when He said to His faithful followers (Mark 13:9): “But take heed to yourselves: for they shall deliver you up to [courts]; and in the synagogues ye shall be beaten: and ye shall be brought before rulers and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them,” Jehovah permits His witnesses now to be persecuted by the powers of “Christendom” that His witnesses may have opportunity to prove their integrity toward Him, and that the leaders of “Christendom” may convict themselves before Jehovah and meet their just fate at Armageddon. In Psalm 83 Jehovah foretold that those who proclaim this a “holy year” would form a conspiracy against His witnesses and that then He would tear off their mask and bring them to shame, and this He says Ho will do in order that all ‘men may know that God, whose name alone is JEHOVAH, is the Most High over all the earth ’.—Psalm 83:18.

The hole or door opened in a wall at the Vatican is not ‘a symbol of the way into the blessings of God’; and therefore the prophecy at the 118th Psalm has been misapplied. The ones who have opened the door at Rome and referred to it as ‘a symbol of blessings’ have rejected Christ as King, and Jehovah has rejected them. The words of the psalmist following apply to Jehovah’s devoted people, and God causes these faithful witnesses now to say (Psalm 118:19): “Open to me the gates of righteousness”; not the doorway into some building erected by men, but the way into God’s kingdom. The psalmist then shows that the religionists of “Christendom” have rejected Christ, the Head Stone of God’s kingdom, and continuing says (Psalm 118:20-22): “This [is the] gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter. I will praise thee: for thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. The stone [Christ the Redeemer and King] which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.” If the alliance that has proclaimed this a “holy year” had faith in God and in His kingdom under Christ they would tell the people what the Scriptures teach, to wit, that Jehovah is God. and that there is no means of salvation and blessing except through the blood of Christ Jesus, and His kingdom (Acts 4:12), and they would then assemble the people and use every means possible, including the radio, to teach them the truth of God’s Word. Instead of so doing they fight against God’s message of truth and connive to keep the people in ignorance and then have the temerity to say, “We will pray God to send us peace and prosperity.” They not only will be disappointed, but will be brought to shame.

Satan’s is the master mind that has organized a conspiracy against Jehovah and His faithful witnesses, and he then forms an unholy alliance to proclaim this a “holy year” in order to divert the minds of the people away from God’s kingdom. Jehovah’s witnesses do not expect to convert the rulers. Their divine commission is to speak the truth only as witnesses of the Most High. To you who have devoted yourselves to Jehovah God and His kingdom He now says: “I am the Lord thy God, . . . And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people. ... Ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am [Jehovah].”—Isaiah 51: 15,16; 43:12.

Today there are many in the church organizations who have had a great desire to see their church take a bold stand for God and His kingdom, but they have been greatly disappointed. These the Lord calls “prisoners” because they are held by the powerful influence of the political clergymen. You prisoners must now make your choice between Satan’s organization and God’s kingdom. To you Jehovah now says (Revelation 18:4): ‘Come out from the unholy alliance, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her punishments.’ Without a vision of the truth and affirmative action you will perish. To the people of good will Jehovah now says: ‘Know that I am God, and choose you this day whom ye will serve.’ Peace and prosperity cannot be brought to the earth by men, but will come by God’s kingdom under Christ.

Jehovah now bestows the high and great honor of His name upon His faithful anointed and sends them forth as His witnesses to declare to the people that He is God and that His kingdom is at hand. To you, therefore, as His faithful witnesses, He now says (Isaiah 62:10): “Go through, go through the gates [into the kingdom of God]; prepare ye the way of the people; east up, cast up the highway; gather out the stones; lift up a standard for the people.” This command Jehovah’s witnesses will now obey regardless of all opposition and persecution.

Lest the people perish they must now have a vision of Jehovah and His kingdom. No lasting peace and prosperity can come to the peoples of earth until Satan’s organization is completely destroyed. Following the battle of Armageddon Jehovah by and through Christ will bring to the peoples of earth a real holy period of a thousand years of everlasting peace and prosperity that shall surpass the fondest drcams of man. What boundless blessings the Kingdom will bring to the people it shall be my privilege, by His grace, to tell you at my next speech from this station.

Hear the truth and then choose whether you prefer to follow the leadings of imperfect men or whether you desire to know and to serve the great Jehovah God and His kingdom under Christ. Faithful men and women who are God’s witnesses are now coming to you with the printed information to aid you to gain the knowledge and the much needed vision of God and His purposes, and the blessings that He will bring to you by and through His kingdom.

Will They Dare Publish It?

Or will these Catholic newspaper editors publish merely disconnected portions of Judge Rutherford’s fearless letter to them and garble such excerpts or place their own construction upon them?

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