Joseph Franklin Rutherford Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Joseph Franklin Rutherford (November 8, 1869- January 8 1942), sometimes known as Judge Rutherford, is best known as the second president of the Watch Tower Society, the legal organization used by Jehovah's Witnesses. He was preceded by Charles Taze Russell, and followed by Nathan H. Knorr.Rutherford was born to a farm family in Morgan County, Missouri, his parents being Baptists. His father opposed his interests in law studies,but allowed him in the end to go to college. After completing his education, he worked as a court reporter and was admitted to the bar at Boonville, Missouri. Still later he became a special - or substitute - judge in the same Fourteenth Judicial District of Missouri. Hence, he was often referred to as "Judge Rutherford".
He became interested in the teachings of The Bible Students in 1894, after he and his wife had seen three of the books of Russell's work Millennial Dawn. He was baptized as a Bible Student in 1906, and in 1907 he became their juridical councelor. He served as a travelling overseer in the following years. He was elected President of the Watch Tower Society in 1916, after Russell's death.
The seventh volume of the Millenial Dawn series included strong criticism of Christendom's clergy which prompted clergy pressure for government censure and eventually a wave of persecution in North America and Europe. Finally, in 1918 he served a year's imprisonment together with seven associates in Atlanta, Georgia, for allegedly opposing Selective Draft Act and the Espionage Law. These phony charges that were later dismissed.
Rutherford's presidency is noteworthy for increasing the drive to "advertise the King and His Kindom" found in Jesus's model prayer. The advertising work has become the prime hallmark for which Jehovah's Witnesses are recognized today. At the same time, Jehovah's Witnesses also made a concious effort to avoid following any human leader as some had tended to do with C.T.Russell. In 1931 at a convention, Rutherford delivered a talk proposing the adoption of a new name for the group, known as International Bible Students or Bible Students. They all adopted the name of Jehovah's Witnesses there.
J.F. Rutherford served as President of the Watch Tower Society until his death in 1942 in San Diego, California.
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