watchtower: intolerance by j. f. rutherford, 1933

8/20/2019 Watchtower: Intolerance by J. F. Rutherford, 1933

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Intolerance

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expl ined n

Two ib le Treatisesby

J F RUTHERFORD

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Page

SPrefaceIntr oduction

RellgtonsIntolerance Why

4 Value ofKnowledge and

nderstanding


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In one year alone 19 33 Judg e Ruth-erford's books reached the astonishingtotal of 24 074 401 copies distributed.In this year of world depression whenthe nations are n y i n to recover fromthe continua l downward trend, Jud geRutherford's books are in greaterdemand becau se they bring to the peo-ple the only hope for tIle world . Hislecture on Religious Intolerance hasa l r eady been placed in million s ofhomes

. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ~ .

COPYRIGllTED 1933AND PUBLISHED BY

WAT C H TO W E RBIBLE '\ 'i1D TRACT SOCIETY

In tcrnntional Bible Students AssociationBrooklyn, tN . Y., U. S . A.

Made n the United States of America

BRANCH OFFJaEs:

L ondon Mngclcburg Paris,Toronto Strathfic ld CapeTown Berne Copen ha gen Stockholm and other cities.


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PREFACE

HOV H made man a free agent, holdinghim responsihle for his intelligent acts. Je-hovah never prevents man from expressing

Jlis milld . Intolerance does not at all appJy toJehovah and those who faithfully obey him.Satan the enemy has at all tilnes b eld men in

darkness and attempted to compel them to be-lieve and practice what selfish men have taughtthem. Satan the Devil is the author and pro-moter of all intol erance. Whenever you fin menor organizations trying to prevent others fromhearing the truth, then you may be certain thatsucb men or organizations are the servants ofthe Devil, regardless of what claims are madefor them.

The CatllOlic hiel 8.rchy has been and is themost intolerant organization on earth . Falselyclaiming that the pope is the one endowed withauthority to interpret the Scriptures fue Cath-

olic hierarchy has kept the people n ignoranceof the Bible and ilUluenced iliem not to read it,and induced tbem to believe only what fue Cafu-olic hierarcllY has taught. The result is thatmillions of good, honest people who desire tolmow the trufu of fue Scriptures have not hadthe opportunity to Jearn it. When anyone tellsthe truth to tl,e people of and concerning theBible fue Cafuolic clergy cry out against such

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4 PREF CE

faithful witnesses of the Lord and say, ~ n t o -erant bigots," like the robber who, desiring todivert attention from is own wrongful acts,cries out, "Stop, tlilef "

The front covel' of this booklet is an illustra-tion of crue l intolerance and persecution carriedon by the Catholic hierarchy and tlleir alliesagainst Jehovah's witnesses . What follows in

fuese pages explains why intolerance is prac-ticed at the present time. The lectures appear-ing herein were broadcast by radio and by Indreds of transcription macUines, and are nowprepared in printed form for those who desiremore knowledge.

The truth is of most v tal importance toeveryone. No organization should be permittedto stand in your way of getting the truth. Letno one deprive you of your individual privilegeto learn of Jehovah and his gracious provisionfor your blessing . Study carefully the treatiseherein. Get lmowledge and understanding and

learn the Lord's way and rejoice.


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INTRODU TION

o ENABLE the readers to have a betterappreciation of the speech of Judge Ruth-erford which follows, a brief explanation

of the circumstances surrounding at the time ofits delivery is here made. This introduction ismade by A . K Wagner.

On a certain Sunday in June, 1933, upwarg .of fifty Christian men and women were arrestedin Plainfield, N J. and crowded into hot cellsand kept there overnight without trial. TheseChristians were calling at the homes of the p eo-

ple and telling them about God s kingdom forwhiell Jesus taught all of his followers to pray;and tllis was the offense fOl· which they werearrested. This good news angered the servantsof Satan, the Catholic clergy of that community,who induced law officers to cause t1le arrest ofthese good people. In the absence of llecessary ac-commodations these men and women werewom-pelled to stand up all night, and next day weretaken into court, where a farce trial was hadby a highly prejudiced judge. Having no evi-dence against tllese Christians the judge of thecourt wrongfully compelled them to answer

questions, tlle answers of which he construedagainst them, and refused to permit them togive testimony in their own behalf. Thell this

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I N T R O D U T I O N

u=ighteous judge committed them all to Jailfor a term of ten days . The treatment of theseChristians was so outrageous that i t shockedthe sensibilities of honest people who heardabout it. At the time Judge Rutherford was inEurope, and, being informed of tIle persecutionof these Chri sti an people, he immediately cab ledto engage a theater building and certain radio

stations to be u se d to convey his speech, whichhe would deliver to the public, on the subjectW II Y IS RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE

PRACTICED IN THIS COUNTRY TODAY?TIle chief of policc, a Roman Catholic, tried

to prevent this m ee ting from being held. nthe day before the speech was to be delivereda number of Christian men and women weredistributing small handbills announcing the timeand place of the meeting. This they had a per-fect right to do, as there is no ordinance inPlainfield, and no other law, tllat prohibits suchdistribution; besides, i t was done for the people

who might wish to come. Without any lawfulright or excuse the distributors of these hand-bills were arrested by police officers and throwninto jail. Shortly thereafter police officers nearthe jail were heard discussing the matter of thedistribution of these announcements tllat JudgeRutherford would speak next day at tbe StrandTh eater, aud one was heard to say to another:' 'He will be here tomorrow, and he will get whatis coming to him.


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I N T I OD U e T I O N 7

For many centuries the Catbolic hierarcbybas operated the most crue l wicked and defamatory organization that bas ever been o tl eearth. Tbey employ coercion and the gag a ndany other un:lawful means necessary to accomplish their crue l pnrposes. When they wantsomeone killed they make the killer believe thatthe priests can fully absolve him from all wrong

and clear biro from all punishment either here01 hereafter.Two bour s before the time for this meeti1lg

to begin armed policemen began to arrive atthe theater. No one had invited them to comeand no request had been made for any policeprotection and none was needed because it wasa peaceable assembly for the discussion of aBible matter, which the Constitution of theUn it ed States guarantees shall be held witboutinterruption. Manifestly at the instance of cruelreligionists these la w officers were tI ere morethan sixty in number armed with beavy revolv

ers sawed-off shot guns riot guns and otllerinstruments of destruction. Just before tile beginning of the lecture police officers made aneffort to provoke Judge Rutherford to a controversy with the manifest purpose of findingsome exc use to prevent the meeting. But nthis tbey had no success. When Judge Rutllerford stepped to the front of the platform tospeak he was literally surrounded by armedmen as tllOugh he were a desperate crimina l.


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8 I N T R O D U T I O N

Witil guns to ' the back of im and in front ofim and on every side he delivered the speech

which now yon are abont to read. The jndgeof the conrt wbo had condncted the farce trial,and w o at tile time had indnlg edo in crnel andimproper speec h toward the defendants, andwho had defamed tile name of Jehovah by hispublic declal)ations, sat immediately in front of

the spea ker alld was compelledto

listen, to-gether with other officers who were doing thebidding of the Roman hierarchy. Of course, therepr ese ntative s of the Catholic hierarchy wouldnot know what God has pTOmised, as stated inPsalm 34: 7: The angel of tile Lord encampethround about tlJem that fear him, and delivereththem. The speaker proceeded to fearlessly andplainly point out to tile audience that packedthe tileater, and to the far greater unseen audi-ence by radio, why tile Catilolic hierarchy, whichclainls to represent God, constantly indulges inthe persecution of J ehovall's witnesses. With

keen interest you will now read Judge Rnther-ford 's speech.


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INTOLERANCE

Religious Intolerance WhyHIS SPEE H is not made for the purpose

of holding up to ridicule or denouncingmen for their misconduct and wickedness,

even though there are those in this communityand in this allclitol illIU who justly deserve muchcastigation, J ehovah od will inflict punishment on them in his clue time , My work isthat of one of his witnesses to tell the facts,We have reached the time of greatest crisis inthe history of man, and i t is of vital importancethat everyone know the facts and the reasonfor the existence of the same.

This speech is not made for the unfaithfulclergy, nor for their blind dup es who attemptto hide b ehind the law and shield themselves in

the performanc e of their wrongful acts.t

ismade for the benefit of the people who desirerightMusness and fair dealing and who al eanxious to follow out that comse . Men claimingto be law-abiding citizens of New Jersey havetried to prevent the holding of this meeting andto thereby prevent you from hearing the trtlth.Even the chief of police of this city has askedthe owner of this theater to cancel his contract

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10 I N TO L E R N C E

for the use thereof on this occasion, and thatafter the full rental price had heen paid. Theowner preferred to honorably stand by his contract rather than to yield to siuister infInence.I ask you to calmly and dispassionately followmy speech to the end, and I hope that you mayreceive benefit therefrom .

t is necessary for me to In-ie8y ref er to cer

talll events that have recently come to pa ss inthis vicinity. A few weeks ago in the city ofPlainfield more than fifty good citizen s, andlmown t the officials to he harmless, were ar-rested without wan-mIt or cause ancl tllrowninto prison. Twenty-nine of these pri sonerswere goocl honest and faithful wometJ. t thetime the weather was exceedingly hot, and yetthese twenty-nine women were cl'owded intothree small cell s each made for one per on, andmost of them compelled to stand up all night .The next morning they wel'e fingerprinted asthough they were desperate crinIinals. In grossviolation of the fundamental law of the land,and in utter disregard of the rights of otherpersons, those arrested were then brought before the so-called court , unlawfully compelledto testify against themselves, prevented frommalting their OWl defense, and were summarily

COllvicted in the absence of law or evidence andimmediately incarcerated in prison. Their onlyoffense was that of going from honse to houseon Sunday and preaching the gospel of God's


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RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE: WHY 11

kingdom, for the aid and comfort of the people.A more complete statement of the facts andproceedings of that mock trial is set forth inthe olden ge magazine uJlder date of July 19,1933, a copy of which .magazine you may haveonly for the asking.

I quote the words of the magistrate beforewhom this farce trial was had in which he re-ferred

tothe

ordinance which he claims had be enbroken, to wit: That law is made to protectyour and my family from impostors who goaround and rob men. Th e magistrate lmewthat all the defe nclants were Christian m en andwomen and that they could not prop erly b eclussed as 'impostors and robbers'; ancl in proofof this I quote further his words from the 1 ec-ord, to wit: I think your intentions are all rightand that you are good Ohristian people. f hewas sincere in this latter statement his otherwords and conduct in connection with the casewere wholly out of order. t is manif es t thatthere was exercised by priests and clergymensome cruel and malicious influence which causedthese inoffensive, innocent and devout Chris-tian people, without just cause or excuse, to beinc arcerated in prison.

Many good citizens of tins land are askingwhy such outrageous things are possible in this

country, where the fundamental law of the landprovides that every pe:cson shall worslnp Godaccording to the dictates of his own conscience.


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2 I N TO L E R A N C E

n tiris time of greatest stress and suffering ofthe people these good Christian men and wom-ell, who earn their bread by daily labor, employtheir days of rest, and particularly Sundays, ingoing from hon se to house to comfort and en-courage the people and to point ont to them thattile hope of relief and blessing for mankind restsentirely upon Jehovah God's kingdom. The rea l

persecutors of these humble men and womenare known to be prominent leaders in tbe reli-gions world. The people are entitl ed to knowwhy this religious in tolerance is practiced inthis day of enligh tenmen t, and I shall submitto you the conclusive answer to that question.

The Bible, or Holy Scriptures, contains J e·hovah God's Word of truth The clergy arecompelled to admit that . Court officials lay theirhand npon the Bible and solemnly swear by i tto tell the trnth All such are therefore preclud-ed from gainsay in g the Bible as b:ue, and theytacitly admit that they must be bound by tlleteachings of the Bible. By the Bible, and i talone, I shall answer the question why religiousintol er ance is practiced now in this conn try.

The Creator of heaven and earth is the Al-mighty God, whose name alone i s Jehovah. Thename ehovah means the Eternal One and his

purposes toward hi s creatures. There is a mim-ic god who opposes Jehovah God and who isman's worst enemy, and the name of that mimicgod is Satan the Devil. He is otherwise lmown


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as Serpent and Dragon. Centuries ago the Dev,il challenged Jehovah to place men on earthwho would remain true and faithiul to Godunder all conditions, the Devil claiming that hecould turn all men away from and against J e-hovah. That challenge raised the issue of whois supreme. Jehovah could have killed the Devilimmediately, but had he done so the Devil wonld

have been denied the opportunity to make proo Eof Ius cJlallenge and all creation would havebeen denied the opportunity to choose volun-tarily to serve either God or the Devil. Jehovahgrants to every man the privilege of exerc isingfreely his own will

Jehovah God accepted the Devil's challenge,and fixed a time limit, during which time theDevil should have full opportunity to prove bisboasted challenge . Therefore Jehovah said tothe Devil, as is recorded in t.he Scriptures: ''Butfor this cause have I allowed thee to remain,n order to sho w thee my power; and n order

that they may proclaim my name throughoutall the earth. (Exodus 9: 16 eser Thismeans that in due time Jehovah would havehis name declared in all the earth by his wit-nesses that the people might have the opportu-nity to choose as to whether they would serveJehovah God or whether they would continueto serve the Devil. That time has now come;and that is the reason why the question forconsideration today is of such great importance


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14 I N T O L E R N C E

to you, regardle ss of what previous religiousconvictions you may have held. t is to yourinterest to have the truth, even thOllgh tile truthproves aU religions to be false. I t is only bythe truth that we shall he made free and learnthe way to eternal life . J lm 8: 32

From the very beginning the Devil attemptedto destroy everyone who was faithful to God.He

caused Abel tobe murd

ered, and istherefore

designated a murderer from the beg innin g .(John 8 : 44) Early in the age of man tI,e Devilorganized reli g ion and use d it as a m eans o.fdeception to turn the p eople away .from J eho -vah. In the nam e of religion the greatest amounof intolerance has been practiced amongst men.Intolerance is never employed by Jehovah orhy any of his faithful servants, hut i t is usedhy and is limited entirely to Satan and to hisservants. The religions which tlle Devil has em-p loyed to turn men away from JellOvah Godappear at different times under diff e rent names,

but the general Bihle name therefor is Baalism.The word ' 'Eaal' ' is derived from the wordmeaning devil; and therefore every religion, re-gardless of name, and which the Devil has em -ployed to turn men away from Jehovah, isproperly called Baalism . F01' centuries theDevil has heen the invisib le ruler of this wor ldand, as such, has constantly blinded mell lestthey learn the truth. (2 Corintllians 4: 4) Longcenturies ago Jehovah gave his word that in


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RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE : WHY 15

his due time he would send a righteous rul erwho would rule in the stead of Satan and who

would de stroy the Devil and his organizationand who would then give abundant ble ssingsof peace and life to the obedient ones of thehuman race. God always keeps is promise s,and that promise is absolutely certain to b efulfilled.

J ehovah God organized the Jews, 01 Isra el-ites, into a nation and gave them th e truth. Hedid not do this because the Jews were naturallybetter than oUlers, but becau se he would usethem as hi s typical people by whom he wouldteacll others lesso ns of great importanc e and,especially, that if they wonld live the y must be

obedient to Jehovah God. The Jews agreed toobey J ehovall's law, bnt lat er they yielded to thesubtle aud seductive influence of the Devil, andthat nation, with but a few exceptions, turnedaway from J ehovab God .

To his chosen people J ehovah sent his faith-ful proph et s whom he made his witne sses inthe em·th to testify his truth to tbe people . Be-cause these raiUlfl.ll prophets testified to thetrutb they suffered all manner of persecutionat the hands of bigots and intolerant oues inthe religious organization. From the ScripturesI quote the following conceming those faithful

witnesses of Jehovah , to wit: And what shallI more say1 for the time would fail me to tellof Gedeon, and of Barak , and of Samson, 8Jld


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of J ephthae; of David also, and Samuel, andof the prophets; who through faith subduedkingdoms, w r 0 u gh t righteousness, obtainedpromises, stopped the mouths of lion s,And others bad trial of cruel mockings andscourgings, yea, .moreover, of bonds and imprisonment: they were stoned, they were sawna sund er, were tempted, were slain with the

sword: they wandered about in sheepskins andgoats kin s; being destitute, affiicted, tormented;(of whom tbe world was not worthy:) theywandered in desel·ts, and in m01mtains, and indens and caves of the eartb . And these all, having obtained a good report through faitll, received not the promise. -Heb. 11: 32 33 36-39.

Wlto caused tbe persecution of those faitllfnlprophets t is obvious that Satan by andtlu 'ough his intolerant religious agents did so.God's agents would not torture and persecutehis own people. God permitted Satan to do hisworst against those men, and at the same time

afforded an opportunity to tllem to prove theu'int eg rity and faithfumess to God . Tbey provedtheir faithfulness, sealing their testimony withtheir lifeblood.

Then Jehovah God sent to eartl 1 bis greatProphet and Witness, Jesus, Iu s beloved Son.Today big religionists, public officials and themetropolitan pl'ess speak witb scorn and ridicule of men and women because th ey designatethemselves Jehovah's witnesses . n this con -


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uCrucify him, crucify him , Religious Intolerance's Greatest Crime age 8


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18 INTOLERANCE

neetion I mention the fact tl,at Jesns Christ wasJ ehovab's Great Witness, and it is man's great-

est privilege to follow in tbe footsteps of J csusand to be a witncss to the name of J ChOVall.When on earth Jesus bore witness to the nameof J ehovah. He was baled before the then greatRoman ruler of Palestine, and in answer to aquestion of Pilate he said: To tllis en d wasI born, and for this cause came I inlo the world,thnt I should bear witness unto the trut.ll. -John 18: 37.

Jesu s tllC holy and harmless One, who neverdid a wrong, yet was charged wi L evel'y crimeknown to the calendar, and time and again menSOUgllt to kill him. Finally he was arrested on

the false cllarge of sedition and was broughtbefore the court, and his trial was had, whichtrial was a farce and mockery from beginningto end . The trial of the fifty witnesses of J cho-Vall in Plainfield a short time ago forcibly re-minds one of tlle trial of Christ J esns. Read,if yon will, the history of that trial in the bookdesignated eliverance and mark the similaritybetween the two . J esns was compelled to testifyagainst himself, even as men and women weremade to bear witness against themselves in thePlainfield trial recently had. In bOtll instancessnch cou rse of action was un lawful. Jesus was

convicted without just cause or excuse and wasput to an ignominious death, and this was doneby a court made up of religionists who claimed


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to be servants of Jehovah God. Today histOl'yis being reenacted.

J esns and his apostles did not build housesill which they assembled the people to preachto them, but they went from llOuse to house, tothe homes of the people, and taught them thetruth even as Jehovah's witnesses are doingin this day. (Acts 20 : 20 Luke 19: 5) Theapostles of J csns Christ, hecause they preached

the gospel, were ruso maltreated, arrested andtluown into pI'isou. Tbese faithful apostles wereabused by court officers and ordered to l eavethe community lind to refrain from their work,lind to them tIle apostles replied: '''We ought toobey God ratller thlln men, because we rchis witnesses . (Acts 5: 29, 32) The faitllfuJapostles coutinued to bear witness to the nameof J ehovrul, and their maltreatment and perse-cution contiJmed and they all died as martyrs,sealing their testimony Witll their lifeblood ,

Following the days of the apostles trueChristianity continued to grow, and the Roman

emperOl ' Constll1ltine, manifestly for a selfishpurpose, formed a state religion and labeled i tChristianity on earth , There is where the

Papal system of Rome had its birth. Thereafterfollowed the most wicked inquisition and per-secution of tIle true followers of Christ Jesus.The fires of torture were kept burning for yearsin tbe countries of Italy, Spain, France Mexicoand other places, and millious of people, by such


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inquisition and torture, were compelled to sup-port the Papal l'eligious syste m or Catholic

hi erarchy _ am referring to these facts brieflyin order to show U1 constant course of religiousintolerance tllat has e .::isted lind persisted forcentmies, and the11 sha ll point out fl'om divineprophecy ilie cause for SUCII unjust and wicl


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RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE: W Y 21

this hour, thank God, it has never been able toput one of its crowd in the office of pI esident

of tile United States. TIle people ofA n l e l ~ c a

Imowing the history of i l is system, have resisted every encroachment upon tile political affairs,and for tllis reaso11 tile Papal representativeshave been the ones who have howled the 1 11destabout bigotry and intolerance.

In tllese last days, wheu the faitllful followersof Christ Jesus under the clear command of tileAlmighty God go ahout to tell the tTuth to thepeople in order tllat thc people may be aidedand rcceive comfort, these witnesses are subjected to the most vicious persccution, and thisis done upon the prctext of protecting Ole peo

ple from impostors androbbel S .t

is apparentto aU that such pretexts or claims are bypocriticltl and false in the extreme. The persecutionof Jehovah s wi blesses in Plain£eld and vicinityduring the past few months has greatly shamedand stunned those who love the principles uponwhich Ole ADlerican government is founded. The£asco in the form of a court trial that was enacted in Plai:nJleld r ecently by men WllO hadsworn to render fair and even-handed justiceto its citizens shocks the sensibilities of everyself-respecting ADlel iean lawyer and causes allhone st ADlerieans to hang their heads in shameand to ask, How is i t possible for such religiousintolerance to be practiced in ADlerica now


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INSTIGATORS

The fact that men claim to represent and

serve Jehovah God is no evidence that theirclaim is true. On tI,e contrary, the Imown factsabuudautly show that wicked men and wickedsystems parade under tI,e name of God and hisChrist who do not have tl,e spirit of Christ, butwho are cruel n the extreme and wllO manifesttlle spirit 01 Satan the Devil. Those who causedtlle persecntion of Jehovah's prophets were a llreligionists. The men who persistently perse-cuted Jesns, and who cansed his death, ",el·ethe clergymen of tl,at day, and who posed beforetl,e people as teachers of God's Word. The greatinquisition pra


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not understand my speech even becau se yecannot hear my word. Ye are of your fatber

the devil, and the lusts of your father ye willdo He was a mm-derer from the beginning, andabode not in the truth, because tbere is no truthin 11im When he speaketh a lie, he speakethof his own: for he is a liar, and the father ofit. (John 8:40,43,44) Jeslls authoritativelyshows that those lU en who fraudulently claimed

to r eprese nt God were in fact the active agcntsof Satan tIle D ev il. TJlat rule applies at alltime s.

Thell turning to his true followers Cm·ist J e-sus said to th em: I f they [the cl ergy] haveper seeuted me, they will also persecute you.(John 15: 20) And thus he fixes the responsibility for such persecutions upon the clergy. twas the clergy class tllat persecuted the apostlesof J es us to d eath . t was the clergy who haveinstigated and arc pushing forward the intolerant persecution of Jehovah's witnesses in NewJer sey ; and, upon th e aufhority of the state

ment made by Jesus, tilese persecutors fraudulent ly claim to be Christians and to representGod bnt in fact are the agents and repre sentatives of the Devil and his bidding they will do.

Now submit to you the conclusive prooffrom the Scriptllres as to why religious into lerance is practiced in this day; alld the specificanswer is of vital importance to every humancreature, regarclless of religious convictions .


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24 INTOLERANCE

Jehovah God declares in Iris Word that hepermits Satan to go on unllindered in his wickedwork until the end of a certain and fl. {ed timeand at that time he would then destroy Satanand all of his agencies. When Jesus ascendedon high JellOvah said to him: 'You must waituntil my due time to put down the enemy anddestroy 11im. (Psalm 110: 1 The Scljpturesthen show that the year 19] 4 marks the end ofthat period of time for waiting and the beginnin g of the reign of Christ . In his great prophecy l'ecorded in Matthew twenty-foul' Jesusstates that that time would be marked by aworld war, followed quickly by famine, pestilence, rcvolution and dist1'ess of nations. All

of tllese things have come to pass since, andwhich began to have fulfi lment in 1914 . At thesame time the Scriptures show that a WID wasfought in heaven by Jesus and his angels againstSatan and his forces and that Satan was oustedfrom heaven and cast down to lhe eartll . Thisrecord is fOWld in the twelfth chapter of Revelation . All of you know that since 1914 thep eop les of eartll have been in great distressand perplexi ty. The reason for such sufferingand perplexity on the part of the people is madeclear by the words of Jesus recorded in Rcve lation 12: 12, which read: Woe to the inhabiters

of the earth, and of tile sea for tlle devi:l iscome down unto you, having great wrath, be-cause he knoweth tilat he hath but a short time .


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Satan lrnows that bis time is short until thegreat battle of Armageddon, which will thenbe decisive as to who is supl eme, and at whichtime Satan s organization shall be destroyed.Before that gl eat battle takes place, however,God commands that his witnesses must gothrough the land and bear testimony beforethe rulel s and before the people of and concet n

ing Jehovah and his kingdom. (Isaiah 43: 1 -12;Matthew 24: 14) This is done in order t1Jat tilepeople may be informed of God s purpose todestroy the wicked one and to establish a righteous govemment on eal th which will be themeans of the complete uplift and blessing ofthe human race.

In obedience to this commandment of Jehovah faithful men and women devoted to Godand his kingdom now go from house to housepreaching the good news or gospel of the Kingdom. They are not doing such work for com-mercial gain, but they are doing i t at greatfl1lancial loss to themselves. They work in theshops and in the fields to earn their bread andthen devote their spare time to preaching thegospe l according to God s commandment, andthis they do because they lo ve God and hav eagreed to do his will n doing this they arebut pursuing their divinely giveu rights of worshipin g God according to the dictates of th eirconscience, and with which rights no munici-


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26 INTOLERANCE

pality, state or other gov.ernment can properlyand rightfully interfere.

Since the Constitution forbids the enactmentof any law or law s interfering with the pr each -ing of the gospel, then why are these faithfulwitnesses of Jehovah arrested and throw]1 intojail That question is answered by the Lord,at Revelation 12 : 17. J ehovah's testimony is

committed primarily to Cbrist J es ns, and hecommits to his faithful followers, who are alsoJehovah's witnesses, the obbgation of e i v ~ r -ing such testimollY. For this reason Satan theDevil seeks to destroy everyone who is telling'God's truth. JChOVaJl'S wituesses now on earthconstitute the remnant of God's organization,whicJl orgauization is symbolized in this crip-ture by a woman, and the Lord says concerningthese that the Devil is extremely mad at themand goes forth to maJ{e war against those whoke ep the commandments of God and who havethe testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:17) That scripture is conclusive pl Oof that theDevil is the one who in stigates and carries for-ward the persecution of Jehovah's witnessesand that the visible persecutors of these wit-n esses of J ehovah are acting for and as agentsof the Devil. Even though priest, clergymen

aud other associates in persecuting Jehovah switnesses daim to he Christian, the facts showthat suel claims are false, for the reason thatGod and Christ J esns do not persecute anyone


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and certainly God would not have one set ofhis servants to illtolerantly persecute anothercompany of hi s servants .

f th ese ty or more mell and women whowere re cently persecuted and imprisoned upontlle charge of behlg peddlers and hawkers arein truth and in fact J ellOvah's witnesses andhis representatives, and f tlle charge is false,

why then would J ehovah permit them to betl1l1S wrongfully t r eate d and persecuted by menwho represent the Devil The answer is, i.n or-der to cause the enemies of God to idClltify andmark them se lves and to afford oppOrL1.111ity forJehovall's witnesses to prove their faithfulness.

The Scriphual answer to tllat que st ion is

illuminating and of vital importance. The Scrip-tures declare that what canle to pass upon theJews, or Israelites, foreshadowed what mustcome to pass on organized ChristiaIrity atthe end of the world, where we now are. (1 Co-rinthians 10 : ·11) Christendom, or organizedChristianity , is the antitype of ancient Israel.The Devil overreached the Israelites and turnedthem away from God. Because the Jews lll-dulged in Baal religi.on and persecuted J eho-Vall S faithful prophets who were sent to teachthem, Jehovah selected Jehu, made him Hisexecutioner, and sent llim to iuflict punishment

upon the Baal worshipers of Jewry. On thatoccasion J ellu was a type of the Lord J esnsChrist, whom God has appomted to execute his


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28 INTOLERANCE

judgment against all of rus enemies, and particularly against Christendom .

Jehu called a great assembly of the people,and everyone of the Baal worshipers assembledat one place. Then Jehu co=anded that aUthe preachers, prophets, elergymen, priests,servants and worsrupers of Baal shou ld put ongarments by which they would identify themselves as the followers and worshipers or Baal,and this they did. In that manner Jehu causedeveryone of them to identify himself, and totake hi s stand either on the sid e of Baal or onthe side of Jehovall God. This marvelous pictUl e is set forth in 2 ICings 10: 19-28. W1IClIthe id enti fication and division was complete,

then J elm directed his soldiers to slay utterlyeveryone of the Baal worshipers, and this wasdone; and Ums ended Baal worship in Palestineat tllat time.

That graphic identification and the slayillgprophetically foretold the identification and destruction oL all false religions in tlle world, andparticulal'ly the destruction of all those whodefame God's name and persecute his faithfulwitnesses.

The purpose of Jehovah s witnesses in go ingfrom hou se to house in this day and preachingthe gospel of God's kingdom is not to convert

tlle world. The purpose, according to the commandmellt of .God, is to ~ o t i ythe r u l~ r s andthe people that Jehovah lS the God supreme,


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and that his k'ingdom is at hand, and tllat Godwill now vindicate his name, and that he will

now afford the opportunity to all who heal' toidentify themselves as being either on the sideof J ehovall God or on the side of his enemythe D evil . That exp lain s why during the timesince the World War Jehovah's witnesses ha vebeen permitt ed to proclaim the me ssage of hi skingdom througllOut Christendom , and explains why i t has been po ss ible in that time toprint the me ss age of the kingdom in fifty-eightdiffer ent lan guages and to put in to tIle handsof the people more than 140 million book s COltairung tllat message. All this work has heendone at God s commandme nt to give the p eop le

an opportunity to id entify themselves as towbere they sta nd. This i s God's work, and nohuman power can stop it. TIle intolerant persecutors may throw many of J ehovab's wiblesses into priSOll and kill others, but that will 11 tstop the witness work Where one falls in theranks Jehovah God will raise up others to takehis place . He has decreed that the testimonymust be given, and i t will be given .

Jehovah s witne sses are preaching the gospelof the kingdom, not for filthy money, but inobedience to God's commandments, and the onlyway for men to be faithfu l to Jehovah aud to

their covenant is to obey his .commandment.Like the ear ly apostles the witnesses count nottheir lives dear unto themse lves, and they are


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determined to obey God and not man; anel forthis reason they go on amidst great opposition,bearing testimony to the kingdom of Jehovah.

The proof shows that in every instance i t hasbeen and is the priests, pastors or clergymenof so·called organized Clu·istianity who causethe gersecution and ill treatment of Jeho va h switnesses. Those clergymen are therefore most

repreh ensible. By tl,eir action they have id en·tified them selves as beillg agalllst God anrl forhis enemy tile Devil. The message of the killg-clam in print ed form has bee n supplied to th emby Jehovah's witnesses, and that without charge,and they now without just cause or excuse at-tempt to ],ide their wrongful action bebind somemunicipal ordinance and use this as a shi eldwhile they carry on the persecution of Jehovah'switnesses. Thus they completely id enti fy andmark tIlemselv es . The rulers of Christendomhav e likewi se been served with copies of themessage of the kingdom, which affords th em

an opportunity to take their stand on one sieleor tIle other. Police officers, magistrates andjudg es of the courts are also putting on thegarmeuts and thus identifying them selves asto where they stand. Jehovah God permitsthe pers ecution of his fa ithful witnesses now,therefore , for the very purpo se of furnishingopportunity for n to ideutify and mark them-selves and to thus take their stand on one sideor on the other.


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Now tlle message of the kingdom must go tothe peopl e that they may have all opportuni tyto identify UJemselves and to take th ei r standon one side or the other. The message or go pe lof tlle kingdom is tllercfore separating the pco·pIe into two general clas scs , and Christ Je susis tIle one who is doing that separating work.With wllich cla ss will you identify yourself,That is a question now which everyone whohears must answer. You cannot identify yourselves as being on God's sid e and at thc sametimc connive at and sympat hi ze wi til or approvetlle persecution of .Jehovah's witnes ses . Oneof the reasons, therefore, that God permits hiswitnesses to tlms suffer is for your benefit, that

you may sec the truth and have tlle 0PPo1·tunityof idcntifying yourself with the right side .

SHEEP ND GO TS

The la st prophetic parable Jesus spoke whcnon earth was that concerning tJle sh eep and tIlegoats, and whicll prophecy he said would findits fulfilment at the time of his coming for judgment . That time is now here, and the peopleare thus gathered and by him made to idC11tifythemselves, even as J ehu , the prototype of J e-sus, caused the Israelites a11d Baal worshipersto identify thems elves . J ehovah has given the

people of the nations of Christendom a knowledge of his h-ingdom, and thus he has gatheredthem before his Executioner, and who says, as


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3 INTOLERANCE

i t is written in Matthew 25: And he shall separate them [the people] as a shepherddivideth hi s she ep from th goats. His sheepmeans .th e class that are 011 the Lord's side,while the goats represent the class that areagainst tlle Lord and on the DeviJ's side. Continuing , th en J esus sai d: A.nd he s hall set thesheep on hi s right hand, but the goats on the

left. (Matthew

25: 33)n

this strilci.ng prophetic parahle Jesus counts his true and failhful followers as though the y were hims elf, andthe peopl e who have be en good to Ius followershe credi t s as being good unto him self, and tho sewho ha ve illtreated his brethr en or fo llow ershe counts as doing evil to himself. Thus hebrings the application of the sc ripture rightdown to the present day. He shows tllat if aperson abuses, ill treats or persecutes J ehovah'switnesses, tl1at person tllUS identifies himself asan enemy of God and of Christ.

Many of you people have b ee n glad to have

Jehovah's witnesses call at your door and tellyou th e comforting message concerning God'sgracious provision for your blessing. n turnyou have given them a cnp of refreshing waterto drink; and i you found one of them sick yougJaclly ministered nnto that sick one. When thetwenty-nine harmless women were crowded intothose hot prison cells and reqillred to standthere all night amidst suffering, some of youstood in the streets a t midnight and sympathized


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with them and wished that you might do somegood to them. You waJlted to comfort them by

your presence . The Lord lm ew your heart condition and your deshe and your kind sympathyand lI e counts that goodness as unto him selfand he likens SUell wIlD thus sympathize withllim to slleep. To such J csns says : For wasan hnngred, and ye gave me meat: was thirsty,and ye gave me drink: was a strrulger, andye took me in: naked, and ye clothed me: wassick, and ye visi ted me: was in prison, andye came tUltO me. (Malthew 25: 35 36) On theother hand there is a class of persons picturedby goals, because such men are cruel and heartless. SUCII men arc exh'emely selfish . They have

caused innocent men and women to be tln-owninto prison because they wanted to keep you inignorance of the goodness of God's kingdomand to save themselves from beillg exposed asfalse teaellers and impo sto r s. When men andwomen assembled in the st r eets in close proximity to the prison for the purpose of expressing by theh presence their sympathy and com-fort to the inlprisoned ones. and when sometried to make a photograph of the sympathizersand the prisoners, sucb sympathizers, as wellas the prisoners, were ill treated and tln'owninto prison. Thus the harsh ones, cruel and

intolerant persecutors, put themselves n thegoat class, and to fuese billy goats Jesus nowsays: For was an hungred, and ye gave me


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no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave meno drink:I was a s tranger, and ye took me not in: naked,

and ye clothed me not: sick, alld in prison, andye visited me not. Then shall they al so answerhim, saying, LOTd when saw we thee an hungred, or a t lli rst, or a strallger; or naked, orsick, or in prison , rold did not mini ste r unlothee Tllen sh all he answer thein, saying, VerilyI say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did i t not to oneof the least of tlle se , ye d id i t not to me. (Matthew 25 : 42-45) Thus Jehovall permits crueland sel:l:ish men to intolerautly persecute hisfaithful wi tnesses in order tllat his faithful oncsmay bear testimony to bis name and at tIlesame time cause the persecutors to id en tif:ythemselves as being against God and his Idngdom. Cle r gyme n who pose as your spiritualadvisers, and public officials who hav e swo rnto l ook well to your general intcr es t, have violat ed their obligation, played the people fa lse,r eproac h ed and sneere d at and defamed thenam e of Jeho va h God and Iris Christ, and thusth ey hav e put on the garments and have id entified them selv es as Golfs enemies .

Now, i you will, h ear tlle words of final judgment of J ehovall pronounced by Christ J esusconcerning these two classes who hav e tllUSid entifi ed tllems elves . To thos e who id ent ifythemselves as lov ers of trutll and righteousness,

and who are designated under the symbol ofharmle ss sheep and whom the Lord thus plac es


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RELIGIOUS INTOLERANCE: WRY 35

on his right hand of favor, he now says: "Come,ye blessed of my Fatller, inherit the kingdom

prepared for yon 'rom the fOtUldation of thcworld." IIappy is the lot of suchTo the cruel, malicious and rutllless persecu-

tors of Jehovah's witnesses and defamers ofGod's name, the great Judge, Christ Je sus, nowsays, as i t is written (verses 41 and 46): "De-part frol11 me, ye cursed, into everlasting firc,preparcd for the devi l and his angels . Andtllcse shall go away into cvcrlasting punishment:but the righteous into life eternal." Furthermore J eSllS said: "ShaU not God avenge bis ownelect [witnesses] , Tllen he answcrs his ownquestion and says : ''1 tell you that he will avcnge

tllcm speeclily. -Lukc 18: 7 8.In thc past two years and more the clergyof tllis state luive persistently and intolerantlypersecuted Jehovah's witnesses, not for doingwrong, but because these fa ithfu l men and wom-en at great financia l and physical inconvcnicnceto themselvcs have walked in the roads andcome to your homes to bring you aid and com-fort by bearing testimony to the llame of J ello-vah and his kingdom . By the intolerance ofthese priests and clergymen, a:ic1ed and supporteel by policemen, they have tlms prevented mrulYhonest Catholics and Protestants from hearing

the message of God's kingdom . They havc donethe peop le a positive injllry and have abusedand defamed God's ho ly nrune. t appears to


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RELIGTOUS INTOLERANCE: WHY 7

der to 'protect the people against impostors andl'obbers' will be no excuse or defense before the

Lord,The faithfu l witllesses of J ehovah who thussuffer for righteousness ' sake thereby maintaintheir integrity before God, Filtl,y prisons willnot deter these men and women from contimlingto give their testimony, They will rejoicc tocontinue tlleir faithfulness unto God even untodeath and to suffer as Christ Jesus suffered ,

o them therefore the Lord caused these wordsto be written, at 1 Petel' 4: 14: I f ye be reproach ed for the name of Cbl'ist, happy are ye;for tI,e spirit of glory and of God resteth uponyou: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on

your part he is glorified,But shame upon the priests and clergymenwho have connived at and caused the persecution of J ehovaJl'S witnesses in order that theymight keep the people ill ignorance of tI,e tT\lthand tl l S shield themselves from exposUl'e;shame upon those puhlic officers who have beenready and w:illing to class Jehovah's witnessesas selfish peddleTs and hawkers n order thatthey might serve their own selfish ends; shameupou tlle lawyers who practice upon the benchand before the hal', who hecause of fear of lo singsome personal advantage have side-stepped theissue and failed and refused to decide square lythe question as to whether or not men can heprevented from preaclling the gospe l of God's


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kingdom by the enactment alld enforceme nt ofmunicipal ordinances leveled against peddlersand hawkers .

The reason for this is that we have come tothe great crisis foretold by tbe holy proplletsof old . God l,as placed Christ his King nponhis throne and has seated him in his templefor judgment and commands a ll men to hearhim. Because of tI,e subtle and wrongful innu·encc of the clcrgy as Satan's agents, lawyers,judges, and public officials are ashamed of thenamo of J esu s Christ and of Jehovah and nreashamed to do their duty concerning the construction and enforcement of the law of theland. To such fearful ones Jesus now says

(Lukc 9: 26) : For wllOsoever sl,a]] be ashamedof me and of my words, of him sha the Sonof man be ashamed, wIlen he shall come in hisown glory, and n his Father's, and of thc holyangels.

The world has ended and tIle Devil must surrender possession. Before he is completelyousted, however, God commands that his testimony concerning the kingdom mu st be deliveredby his witnesses. Regardless of all oppositionthese faithful witnesses wi proceed to givethat testimony, and when that work is done,J csus declares, there shall immediately fo]]owupon the world the greatest tribulation everknown. (Matthew 24: 14-22) That will be tilebattle of the great day of God Almighty, and


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not one persecutor of Jehovah's wituesses shallsmvive . (Jeremiah 25: 34) To the people oEgood will, and who want to do right and whowant to identify themselves on Jehovah s side,he now says through his prophet: Before thewrath of God breal, upon you, seek meeknessand righteousness, i you would be hidden andtaken throug l that trouble.' (Zepharuah 2: 1-3)

Let every one, therefore, who would live, refrainfrom the in tolerant persecution of J ehovaJ l Switnesses, seek meelmess and do that wllich isright. In the Inllguage of the Scriptures: I fthis work be of men i t wm come to naugllt, hutif it be of God ye caDllOt overtllrow i t . -Acts5: 38, 39_

To his faithful wituesses Jehovah by hisWord now says: Be of good courage, the eternal God is thy refuge and underneath are theeverlasting arms.' At the hands of religioushypocrites you have suffered much persecutionfor righteousncss' sal


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en for so persecuted they the prophets whichwere before you.

TIle head of the Roman Catholic hierarchyannounced that the year 1933 is a holy year,made so by hi s own personal declaration. n aspeech broadcast over many radio stations Istated that such declaration by tIle pope concerning a holy year, and that i t wou ld bring inpeace and pro speTity, is a presumptuous sinbefore Almighty God . The Catholic presstlu'oughout the land denounced me for makingtlJat speech, and made many false statementsagainst me. I replied in a l et ter addr esse d tothem, and, tlley baving faiJed to publish it, theGolden A qe magazine has published it, and each

of you may have a copy of tllat letter, togetherwitll tbe speech on the holy year , as you passout of the building. Peace and prosperity willnot come to the people by tile efforts of selfi sllmen. Only God's kingdom under Christ willbrlllg that blessing. No so-called religious organization has any right to keep the people inignoranc e of the truth Let the people h ear thetruth and then decide for themselves what to do.

For centuries the practic e of the CatllOlichierarchy has been to teach the people the doctrines of men, and not the trutlJ as fomld inGod 's Word. Th ey have practiced religion and

used t as a means of extracting great amountsof money from tlle poor and honest people. Theytell the people not to study the Bible but to


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hear what the priests tell them. They chumthat the pop is the only one who can interpretthe Scriptures; which claim is wholly false . Thl'Bible was written for the benefit of all who loveGod and therein i t is stated that no scr iptur eis of private interpretation. t is the Word ofGod and conccl'Iung i t Jesus said: Thy wordis truth.

The Catholicpriests

haveput

the people infear and thus held thcm in subjec tion to thepapal organization. They have thereby brou ghtthem into the snm'e of Satan the enemy. t iswri tten, in Provcrbs 29: 25: The fear of manbringeth a snare; but whoso putteth his tr11stin Jehovah shall he safe. -A.R.V.

insist tIlat the clergy of the papal hicl'al'chyrepresent the Devil and not Jehovah God.challenge the pope of the Catholic hierarchy toappoint any man lIe will on em:t1I to representhim and his organization, and t1lat we debatethis question by ramo before the American people, each side to pay one-half the cost. You mustchoose whether you will follow the Devil's representatives or follow Christ. You must heart1le truth in order to know which way to go.TIl e truth is found only ill the Word of JehovahGod.


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Value of Knowledge andUnderstanding

M EN seek after thatwllic11 they believe

will bring them personal benefit. nseeking after that Wllicll is desired, i f

a man takes the wrong road e is certain to

come to disappointment and sorrow . f he takesand pm sues the right road success crowns hisefforts. t is therefor e of gl'eat importance thata man at the very outset lmow which is the ri ghtroad to take.

Material wealth and worldly fame are thethings which men of the world principally seekafter. The existence of man on earth is brief,and when he dies he must leave hehind him allhis material wealth and lu s worldly fame canno longer be enjoyed by himseli. That Wllichthoughtful men desire above aU things else islife witi) tile attending blessings of health, peace

and happiness. Meu madly rush abo ut in theirefforts to acquire material wea lth and fame,and, while they may desire to live, very fewmen have any real co nc eptio n of how lif e inhappin ess may be ga in ed. What is needed tolearn the right way is knowledge and under-standing.

W hat are Imowl edge and understanding1 andwhat is the di stinction between tile two Prop-


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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING 4

erly defined knowledge m e a n s infonnationgained from truthful testimony. nderstanding

means to take hold of and comprehend the h·uemeaning of the testimony received and to there-by be enabled to lmo w for a certainty what isthe right course or road to take. One who pur-sues such a course is wise and the final resultto him is certain to be good. One may havelmo wlcdge of the existence of a thing and haveno und erstanding of its meaning. TIle two arenecessary to go together that good may result.

How may one know for a certa inty that 110 isgainhlg true Imowledge and that he is havingtlle proper ul1Clerstanding of the inf ormationreceived f he follows the teachiJlgs of man

he cannot he certainj

for the reasou all menare imperfect and the teacmngs of men arebased upon human information. Regardless ofthe good intentions that a man may have hisopinion may be entirely worthless. But it ispossible for us to Imow for an absolute certain-ty whether or not we are receiving true knowl-

edge and getting the correct understanding andthat information I shall now t ry to impart toyou .

t has been my privilege to bring to yourattention on f011uer occasions the conclusiveproof that there one true God whose nameis Jehovah and who is almighty l l power per-fect in wisdom exact in justic e and whollyunselfish and that he is the source of light


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I N T O L E R N C E

truth and life. All information received fromhim is truthful and wholly trustworthy. Truthis also called light, and light makes lmowu tous the things that we want to know.

There is also, as the proof shows, a false orIlllmic god, whose nam e is Satan the Devil, Wllis the very embodiment of wickedness and whois th e enemy of all men. He is bent on the com-plete destruction of the human race. Amongstother things the Scriptures designate him asthe 'prince 0 [ darkness', and he and llis wickedassociates are rulers of darlme ss control lin gthis world. (Ephe sians 6: 12) t is the wickedones who make war against all who love andserve the li ght of truth whicll comes from Je-hovall God.

In order to gain true knowledge we must beas sured that the information we receive ema-nates and proceeds from a truthful source . Con-cerning Jehovall God i t is written: God isli ght, and in him is no darkness at all. 1 John1:

5) Jehovah sent his beloved Son to theearth

to teach the truth to the people, and of himi t is written that Christ Jesus is the true Light,which lighteth every man who desires to beenlig hten ed. (John 1: 9) Concerning the HolyScriptures, which constitute the Word of J eho-vah God, Je sus said : Thy ord is truth ; andconcerning the way that leads to endless lifeand bappin ess he further stated: This is lifeeternal, that they might know thee the only true


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God, and Jesus Cllrist, whom thou hast sent."(J01m 17: 3) That assures us that the Bihle

is the source of all truth cOllcernillg the originand de s tiny of the human r ace .You may reply tllat th er e are several hundred

different denominational reli '(ious organizationscalled "churches", a:ll teaching cliffer ent doc-trines and ll claiming to ba se tlleir teachingsupon the Bible, and, you as k how may we knowwho is rightl The answer is tllat ll of theseorganizations have some Imowledge of the textof the B ible hut are utterly without under sta nd-ing as to t1le meaning thereof. The Bible hashad the widest di sh· ibution of any book pub·lish ed , and yet there i s without douht a greater

lacl, of Imowledge and under tanding of i t byintelligent people n "Christendom" than of anyother book in ex.istence . Tlle fact that a man iseducated and graduated from a theological uni-versit y and holds all tile degrees of tllat uni-versi ty is no proof whatsoever that he has a

knowl edge and understanding of the BillIe. Hemay be ahle to repeat il·om memory every textin tlle Bible and yet have no understancling ortrue conception of the meaning thereof. t w llbe conceded that the majority of the educatedclergymen of this day even repucliate the inspi-

ration of the Scriptures and have set up man'swisdom as superior to that expressed in theBible .


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Jehovah God reveals an understanding of hisWord only to those who are devoted to him.

Men who are worlclly wise, that is to say, whofollow their own wisdom or the wisdom of othermen, cannot understand the Scriptures. Suchm e natural or worlclly men, and of them i t iswritten: The natural [or worldly man receiv-eth not the thi gS of the spirit of God; for theyare foolishness unto him : neither can llC knowth em, because they are spi.ritually discerned.(1 Corintllians 2 : 14) t is impossible for anyman to please God and receive an understandingof his Word unles s tl,at man has faitl, in Godand in his Word. (Hebrews : 6 a il 1 m en nsto hav e a Imowledge of tlle t ex t of the Bible, be-liev e tlHtt the texts are true, and confid ently relyther eo n. Th ere is no oth er means of acquiringfaitlt.

A co ll ege education is not one of the essen-tial s to the under stancWlg of the Bibl e. Thatwhich is of first importance to gain a knowledgeand nnderstanding of the Bible is to lmow tl,atJ ehovall i s God and have a proper fear of himaudnot to have fear of man . t is only to suchthat God r evea ls an understandlllg of his Word.

Proverbs 1 : 7) The psalmist (25: 14) says:The secret of the Lord is with them that fear

him; and he will shew them his covenant. TI,etUlder standing and interpretation of the Bibleis not committed to anyone man or any com-pany of men. The Bib le was written for ll


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persons who honestly seek to und erstand i t andwho follow God's appointed way to gain an

understanding thereof . t is written that theScriptures are given for the instruction or theman who devotes him se lf to Goel . None othercan have an unclerstanding .-2 Timothy 3: 16, 17.

J ehovah God created man and made him themost inte]]jgent of his earthly c r eatures. t isto be expected that God would reveal ills trut hto the reverential mall; and so he does. To th eman who see ks to know God and hi s WordJ ehova ll says: Come no w and let us r easo ntogether, sail h til Lord: Though your s in s beas scar let, tlley shall be as white as snow ;tllOugh they be red lik e cr imson, tl,ey sha ll be

as woo l . (Isaiah 1: 18) That means, regardlessof how great a sinner a man is, if he turns hisheart to Jehovah and diligently seeks to knowthe truth in God's appointed way he will be ledb, to the light of truth. t means that we musttake God's Word and study i t from a reasonab leviewpoillt and n ot attempt to sub stitute hmnanwisdom for divine wisdom. Note that God saysto those who are see king the right road to travel: Tru st in the Lord with all thin e heal·t; andlean not unto thine own und er s tanding . In llthy ways acknowledge him , and ],e shall dir ec tthy path s. Proverbs 3: 5, 6) This is positiveproof th a t i t is un safe to follow Imman reason-ing to the excl usio n of God's Word.


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has been reached . Worldly wise men, who claimto believe in Go d , to ld the people that the greatwar wo uld make the world safe for democracy,and that then the people wou ld be free, andnow all persons lmow from experience that sncha slogan was untrue. There was a brief periodof material prosperity following the war, andthen came the great distress which now weighS'

down upon the nations of the world.f we have faitll in divine guidance, tI,en wemu st heed the divine Word, whic ll says that theworld war would be followed by great distressof nations, with perplexity; the sea and tilewaves roaring; men's hearts failing them forfear, and for lool ing after tllOse things whichare coming on tl,e eal·tl, : for tbe powers ofheaven shall be shaken .-Luke 21: 25 26.

Those words describe exactly what we nowsee on the world, and which conditions are acomplete fulfilment of the prophetic utteranceof Jesus concerning this very time. That means,

then, that we have come to the end of the wor ldand that God will bring about tlle complete ·change shortly, aud that in his own good way;which means that he will set aside the wickedrule of the world and tllat the government ofthe nations will pass over into the hands ofChrist Jesus, who will rule in righteousness .The wicked organization now ruling, the Lordfirst w l l destroy, that there may be a clear wayfor righ teousness and upbuilding of the peoples .


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50 INTOLERANCE

t must be conceded that the rulers of thenations at the present time are putting forththeir very hest endeavors to recover the worldand bring i t back to material pro sperity; butif i t is true that the WOl ld has ended, WilY dothey thus make an effort to hold the old organi.zation intact The answer is that they do nothave Imowledge and und erstanding of Jehovah s

purposes. f they really had fai t in God andin hi s Word they would Imow that Satan theD evil is now endeavoring to drive all peoplesto d esperation and destruction alld becau se heknows that he will shortly meet .the Lord in thelast gl·eat con1:lict he has brought al l this woe attlle pI·ese nt day upon the nations . In God's Wordi t is written: ''Woe to the inhabiters oftheeartll,and of the sea for the devil is corne dOWll untoyou, having great wrath, because he lmowetll thathe hath but a short time ." (Revelation 12: 12)

f the world rulers had a knowledge and under·standing of this scripture they would see thereal cause of the trouhle and look to the oulyOne that can possibly remedy it.

Jehovah does not alter his purposes at tllein stance 01' prayers of men. He declares thathis time has come for Christ Jesus to ru le andto put down the enemy and tllerefore the enemy

must be destroyed and his organization passaway for ever. Jehovah in his own good way,vill then establish the wor ld in righteousness,that i t never again can be moved. (Psalm 96 : 10)


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t follows, tilere£ore, that those who have aImowledge and understanding of the divineWord Imow til at this old world cannot be r ecovered, but that within a very short tUne the Lordwill completely destroy Satan s organizationand his rule, order to make way for the right.eous rule of Iris kingdom through wllich allthe famiHes of the earth shall be bl esse -

Revelation1 9:

10.20; Genesis 22: 16-18; Galatians 3: 16 -29The public pre. s announces a nation. wide

mov ement begun by the unit ed effor ts of thevarious religious organizations, and poUticaland financial leaders to get th e people back tothe churches to help pull the world ont of itspresent dilemma. Their slogan is : God theLight of the world; follow the Light back totlle church . They do not say, however, whetherthey mean the true God or the mimic god . TheScriptures definitely show that the true God isnot in tile churches today; therefore this movement must be at the instanc e of J ehovah's enemy Satan for the purpose of dece ivrng the people. n the past the people have rec eived nolight on the Scriptures from the churches, andthey wil l r ece ive none by going back to thechurclles. The same ones who have organizedtlris nation·wide movement are the ones who

bitterly oppose the proclamation of the truthof and concerning J ehovah God's lringdom; andfor that reason alone their movement is doomed


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to comp lete failure . Instead of getting the people back to the churches, where they are askedto give up their hard-earned money and receiveonly husks, there should be a nation-wide movement to aid the people to gain a kno;vledge andunderstanding of J ehovah's purpose as set forthin the Scriptures. Jehovah's announced purposeis that in this day he will cause all to Imow

that he is the true God and that tbe only hopeof the world is Ilis kingdom under Clll·;st, whichis now begtm. To the nations Jehovah now says :

Behold my servaut, whom have chosen; mybeloved, in whom my soul is well pleased:will put my spirit upon him, and he shall shewjUdgmeutto the [nations]. _ And in his nameshall the [nations] trust. (Matthew 12: 18-21)

f the men of this nation-wide movement hada Imowl edge and understanding of Jehovah'sWord they would tell the people that the greatcrisis is here, that the greatest tribulatioD ofall time is just ahead, in which all the nations

will go down, and that the only way of escapeis by and through Jehovah's kingdom underChrist. A Imowledge and under stand ing honestly used now would be of great value to themand to the people. A knowledge and understanding of tIllS prophecy just now would do moreto help the people than anything else. Failureof teachers to help men get such knowledge andunderstanding works a hardship on the peopleand puts them in a bad way, as i t is written:


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Value of ~ n o w l e g eand nderstanding age 5


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•

5 INTOLERANCE

Where there is no vision [understanding], thepeople perish; but he that keepeth the law,

happy is he . -Proverbs 29: 18 .Who is the chief opposer of the truth, audthe one who keeps the people in ignorance thereoft The Scriptmes answer that Satan the Devil,the prince of darlrness, the god or invisible ruler of this world, Ile i t is tllat blinds the peopleto the trutll lest the light of truth from God'sWord through Christ J eSllS should shine untothem. (2 Corinthians 4: 2-6) Be assured of thefact that i you find the leaders in any organization or inst i tution are opposing the spread orproclamation of the message of truth of andconcerning God's kingdom under Christ as tlle

only means of blessing manldnd, all such opposers are being blinded by Satan and suchopposers are without knowledge and understanding of God's purposes, hence you cannmafford to follow them.

3y his prophet Amos, in chapter eight, verseeleven, Jehovah foretold the present-day faminem the land, not a famine of bread, but of hearing the words of the Lord. The truth is justas abundant as ever, but few are they amongstthe people that bear it, for the reason that Satan and his agents keep the people blinded andin the darkness. You may be sure, then, thatany teachers of any organization that wouldhinder the people from studying and understanding the Bible are the agents of Satan


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whether they know i t or not . Today there iscomparatively a small company of men and

wom en who are wholly devoted to Jehovah Godand his kin gd om and who are employing theirtime and means in an earnest endeavor to hringthe message of trnth to the peoples of the land.This li ttle company of men and women are theonly ones nnder the sun who are meeting anyopposition to their work for the a id of the people. They are opposed, not because they arecompeting with otheJ:s for commerc ial husiness,or for members of an organization; but they areopposed hecause they al e trying to help thepeople obtUlll a knowledge and under sta ndingof God s Word . The Scriptllres emphatically

state that ll opposition to such work of enli ghtening mankind proceeds Il om Satan, theprince of darlOless. MallY will ask, Tllen whydo the great religious leaders and the politiciansand their supporters oppose tillS witness workin the name of God and his kingdom and persecute the witnesses 1 Is i t because they willinglydesire to serve the Devil The Scriptural answer is, because such opposers are without1000wledge and understanding of J ehovall sWord. f these oppose r s had a knowledge andund erstanding of tlie Bib le which shows thatthe ouly hope for the nations of earth is the

kingdom of God under Christ, and that in thevery near future God will destroy Satan s organization and put his lringdom of righteous-


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56 I N TO L E R N C E

ness in full control, surely they would not de-liberately figbt against God. t is easy to be

seen, therefore, that they lack lmowledge andunderstancling and that knowledge and under-standing to tllem would now be of very greatvalue.

Today in this part of the o u n t r ythere area number of Jehovah s witnesses who have gonefrom house to 110use with the message of God skingdom advising tlle peop le how they maylearn the way of cscape from the grcat trouh lethat is ShOl·tly coming upon the wQrld and howthey may come into comp lete peace and happi-ness and lifa They are dojng this because Godcommands i t and because they love to do J eho-vah s will. n doing this phlianthropic and godlyworl, they meet much opposition from the cler-gymen, high chmch leaders, police officers andmagistrates, and at the hands of such they suf-fer many indignities . Just while I am talkinginformation comes that two men and five wom-

en, J ehovall s witnesses, are under arrest andheing tried at Sununit, N. J ., because they free-ly gave to people in that city today the messageof God s kingdom. Their persecutors are fight-ing against God. New Jersey police are derelictin arresting kidnapers, but nnder the c lergy sinfluence are adepts at arresting faithful w i t-nesses of Jehovah, who he lp the peop l e in tinleof need. Why would men who claim to believein God thus oppose and persecute those who


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are really engaged in carrying the tl'Uth to thepeople t comfort them in tltis time of distressand perplexityT The answer is, because suchopposers are withou t Imow ledge and understanding of God's Word. WIlen the Im owledge ~God's purpose - is brought to the attention ofsuch opposers, then their responsibility is greatly increased. f they Ilad never known anybetter

they would not have heen so reprehensib le; but, havin g been informed in the lightof events that are in fulfilment of prophecy,they are now without excuse. To his faithfulfollowers, and concern in g tllOse WIlD oppose hiswitnesses Jesus says: Remember the word that

said unto you, The servant is not greater thanhis lord . f they have persecuted me, they willalso persecute you; i f they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also. But all thesethings will they do unto you for my name's sake,because they know not him that sent me. fhad not come and spoken unto them, they had

not had sin; but now they have no cloke fortheir sin . John 15: 20-22 Clergymen andpublic officials have now had fair warning, andthey must assume the responsibility before God.Knowledge and understanding would be of inestimable value to them if they wou ld learnthe way of wisdom.

The only way to life and endless happinessis Jehovah's way, and thatwayis by and throughChrist Jesus and his kingdom. From God's


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Word we ate taught that there is no other name

given under heaven whereby men can get lifeexcept the name of Christ Jesus. (Acts 4: 12)Let us suppose that the world might be recov-ered by present efforts mId that the wheels ofcommerce might turn everywhere and all thepeople be put in even a bett er condition t1lanthey were before tll e war . Even such temporalblessiJlgs could be only temporary to tbe presentgeneration . Only God s kingdom tbrough Chri stcan now brin g the things that men desire andneed. Je sus emphasized that point when hesaid (Mattll ew 16: 26): For what is a manprofited if he shall gain the whole world andlo se his life l No man or organization of mencan give life to any man. Life is a gift of Godthrough Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans G: 23)No one can receive a gift without first havingImowled ge and und erstanding tller eof. Tllen hemu st render himself in obedience to the terms

of the gift.f

you would offer a man a bag ofgold and he could neither see nor hear norotherwi se U1lderstand you he could not acceptthe gift . Knowled ge and understanding con -cerniJlg the gift of life, tller efOTe are of thegreatest value to all. God s Word is tl ue andpoints out to man the right road to take, andhe who gains that knowledge and understandingfrom Jehovah and wall,s in that appointed wayfinds the way to life and may rec eive the great -est gift that could come to hiln . TherefOl e the


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Lord says to man, as set forth in Proverbs 8: 10

11: Receive my instruction, and not silver;alld knowledge rath er than choice gold. Forwi sdom is bett er than rubies; and a ll the thingsthat may be desired are not to be compared toit.

J ehovah God has caused the Bible to be printed in all langu ages and has made i t po ssiblefor you to read the texts thereof and to thusgain a 1m owl edge of tl,e texts . In these latterdays he has cansed his prophecies to be ful-filled and a record of suc h fulfilment to be writ-ten out and ]?ublished and brou ght to your at-tention that you can gain both a Imowledge and

und ersta nding of his purposes . The Lord him-self is the interpreter of his Word and } e hasmade i t plainly to be understood even by themost unlearn ed in worldly matters . Do not,therefore, permit yourself to lon ge r be led bymen who claim to teach God's Word and yetwho have neither knowledge nor under s tandingof the Word of God. They have been blindedby the enemy Satan, have given heed to worldlywisdom, and ignored God's Word and have ledyou into blindn ess . Concerning tllem Jesus says(Matthew 15: 14): Let them alone: they beblind leaders of the blind. And i tl,e blind lead

the blind, hoth shall fall into ilie ditch.J ehoovah God is no respecter of persons. lIehas not committed to ally organization or man,be he pope, priest or lawyer, the right to inter-


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pret his Word, but, on the contrary, has causedto be written in his Word that no scripture isof private interpretation. 2 Peter 1: 20) Jehovah God and Christ are the teachers, andthrough them are knowledge and understandingobtained . t is the privilege and dllty of every -one now to gai n such knowledge. To all whohonestly seek the Lord he now says: And theSpirit and the bride say, Come . And let hhnthat heareth say, Come . And let him that isatllirst come: and whosoever will, let him takethe water of life freely. -Revelation 22: 17

Regardless of whether you are a Catholic,Protestant or Jew, permit me in all sincerityto urge upon you that you do not follow theteachings of men, bnt that you personally anddiligently apply yourselves to a careful andprayerful study of the Word of God tllat youmay gain the knowledge and nnderstanding ofhis purposes concerning you and your eternalwelfare . Such knowledge and understanding isof far greater value than all tile material wealth

and fame of tllis world. Concerning this theLord says to the people: Happy is the manthat findeth wisdom, and the man that gettethund erstanding: for the merchandise of i t is bet-ter tl,an the merchandise of silver, and the gainthereof than fine gold. She is more precionsthan rubies: and all the things thou canst desireare not to be compared unto her. Length ofdays is in her right hand and in her left hand


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riches and honour. Her ways are ways of pleas-antness, and all her paths are peace. She isa tree of life to them that lay hold upon her;and happy is everyone that retaineth her. -Proverbs 3: 13-18.

the present rulers had Imowledge, under-standing and fai th in God s Word tlley wouldbe convinced that the world can never be recov-ered and that all schemes for that purpose are

certain to fail. The reason is, J ehovall has en-tered final judgment for the destruction of theworld. What tlle human race needs, and whatit will get, is regeneration and a new worldwllerein dwells righteousness. 2 Peter 3: 10, 13)Then there will be no more need of disarmamentconferences, because tllere will never be anotherwar. There will be no more suffering from pov-erty, because Jehovah s kingdom under Christwill supply the people with an abundance. Un-righteousness and wicked oppression will ceasefor ever . Such is Jehovah s marvelous pI·ovi-sion. Such knowledge and understanding bring

peace and comfort of mind evenn

this timeof distress. With all your getting, therefore,get knowledge and understanding, and rest con-fidently in the promises of JEHOV All GOD.


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fIU _ I M t I I ~ l Q I l _l ....._m.n 'lIIIm ,, I

I FOUNDI THE "KEY OF KNOWLEDGE"- i• •I

FROM MILLIONS OF PEOPLE,andfor many ,centur ie s, lu cre- loving, self-opinionated, intolerant Ieligious lenders have taken away and hidden thekey of knowledge. Their day of woe is at hand 1Said the gt'eat Teacher of i e - g i v i n ~knowledge: If Woe unto you. lawyers [of religion] I for yehave taken away the key of know ledge : ye enterednot in your sel ves , and them that were enteringin ye hind ered, -Luke : 52 .

Jeho va h God 's due time to re store the KEY ishere l Look for it in the book s fro m the p en ofJudge Ruth erfo rdl Then you will know the whyand wherefore of today's reli g ion s lawyers ' ght-ing him, tr y ing by all manner of unchri stia nmeans to keep YOU and all oUler people fromgetti ng hi s bo oks, even p ers uading so me to burnth em ,

I WILL YOU LET THEM keep you

Ii from finding the key Ire you yourself INTOLERANT toward the• truth? Or , rather, do you want know ledge andI under standing? Satisfaction of such want, beyond Iour fo nd est dreams, you will realize by m eansi of Judge Ruth erfo rd's books, li sted heJ.'cwith:HARP OF GO LIGHT Book I

DELIVERANCE LI GHT Book IICREATION VINDICATION Book IRECONCILIATION VINDICATION Book I IGOVERNMENT VINDICATION Book IIILIFE PRESERVATIONPROPHECY PREPARATION

In eheeTfu l bindin gs, em bo sscd, gold-sta mped,

Illu stl'ated, each of 35 0 or mOl e page s. Sent to

Iany ad dress, po stpaid, all fourteen for $8.50 an yfoul' fOl $1.00 or 25e each. Otd er fromThe Watch Tower, 117 Adams St Brooklyn, N. Y. •I-- ~ . - a


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I

II

As the Showers upon

the GrassThat out standing prophet Moses said the publi

cation of t.he t ruth concerning Jehovah and hlsgood purpo ses would be li1ee that . (Deuteronomy32: 2-4) The booklets containing the pubJishedradio speeche s of Judge Rutherford are ju s t. likethat, in this the day of fulfilment of the prophet'swords.

What gentle s hower s of rain are to the parchedgrn ss , the se booklets have proved to be to thedl s tl'e ss ed peoples the wor ld over. And they havebacn ju st a s numerous as the l'aindrops, too; formOl' C t hnn 1 50,000,000 copies of Judge Ruther-fOI 'd' hook s a nd booklets are now in circulation.Now you el\ im a gine how popular tlley nre

•1I

t 111 IHI ' t l1R

to each booklet, illustrated, andwilli IICIIIull fill rcW(\I' ; but what refreshment andClIlllfll.1 111 '11 rllllllll und r r each title, respectively,1\14 rflllnw

D;uu/4 ,J till /'.1',,/,.l ~tl t / j j III tI'f hlll l / l / l '

,)'11(1 ( ,/ 1

f f l l t l~ 41ft1 T1 (tppin essII h. I '/'t 110, 1l l l l~ I,,, flH' IJI Ml1

II,. h ' l l tlllm, ' IIH/III I fll f l f I I , Ut 'l If

I0/ ft 1\ 111111 H Iw' . N ,.,'

Who III lmLP 011111 Nf I '

,Flerca.fter ( ',1//,,,, It n H/,The Fina.l WCliT '.lillli til

• Health alld lA/.

I Select any 18 for fiOe; any 6 for 26e; FlIIIJ{l., 1i _

j

copy, 5c. Mailed anywhere, postpaid. A d d l c s ~ :

The Watch Tower, 117 Adams St., Brooklyn, N. Y.

• • A A_ ,_ ,


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The Headquar t e r s o( the

WATCH TOWER BIDLE TRACT SOCIETYnnd the Internat ional Bible Students Association

are lo cate d a t117 Adams Slreet, Brooklyn, N. Y.

Address of the Society's branchesIn other countries:

Argentina. Calle Cramer 4555, Buenos AiresAustralia, 7 Beresford Rd.. Strathfleld, N.S.W.Austria, Hn.lbgn.sse 26, Vler lna V IIBelgium. 66 RllC d o 1'1ntenc1n.nt. Bru ssel sBrazil, Av. Cetao Garcia 951. Sao PauloBritish Guiana, Box 1(17, Georg e town, Demer«rnCanada, 40 I rwin Av e., Toro n to 5, OntoChile, Ejercl to 238, SantiagoChina, Box 190:1 . ShanghaiCzechoslovakia , Smichov, Tylo vn. u1. 16, Praha IIDenmark, Sondre F a s a n v ej 66, CopenhagenEngl a nd , 34 Craven Terrace, London, W. 2Estonia, Suur Tar tu • Maantee 72·3, T allinnFinl and, Vainam o isenkatu 2 7, H elsinkiFr ance, 1 29 Fa)lbourg Polssonnlere, Paris 1XGermany, Wachtturmstrasse, Magd e burgGreece, Lombardoll U, AthensHawal , Box 681, HonoluluHollllnd, Postbus 5,1, HaarlernIndi a, 40 Colaba Rd., Bomb «y 5Jamaica, B.W.I. , ]51 Kin g St.. Klnn&tonJapan, 58 Oglk\lbo .. -Chorn e, Suginamlku, TokyoJava, Pos t Box 59, Batavia CentrumKorea , ] l 29 Sedaimon-Cho, SeoulLatvia, Ce&u l ela. 11 Dz. 25, RigaL ith ua nia Auk§tail lij g · v e 8. b. 1, KaunasMexico, alzada de M,elc ho r Ocampo 71, Mexico, D.F.N ew Zealand, o x 252, WellinptonNorway, lnkognitogaten 28. b ., OsloPoland, Rzgowska. ul. 24, LodzRumania, Str. Crlsn.na No. 33, BucurestJ 2South Africa, Boston House, Cape T ownSpain, Apartado de CorreoB 321, MadridStrai ts Settlements, Pos t Box 566. SingaporeSweden, LuntD'lnkaregatan 94. StockholmSwitzerland, Allm e nd strnsse 39, BerneTrinidad, B.W.I.. Box 194. Port of Sp a inW es t Africa, 15 Apongbon St. , L agos, NigeriaVucos1avla, Visegr::t.dska ul. 15. BeoarAd

Please wri te direct to the Watch Tower Bible Trac.tSoeiety a t the above add r esses for cost of our litern -Lure In those cou ntr i es. So me or our publications are

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watchtower: intolerance by j. f. rutherford, 1933

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