Abstract: In 1953, the Watchtower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) officially ended their endorsement of the “electronic reactions of Abrams” or the ERA They claimed that radionics, as it was now called, was medical quackery. In 1962 and 1963 they said the ERA methods were psychic and spiritistic in nature. No mention was made in these articles that they had been heavily involved with this “spiritism” since the early 1920s. by Ken Raines From JW Research Journal, vol. 3, #2, Spring, 1996. Revised August, 2021. . The Jehovah’s Witnesses endorsed the “Electronic Reactions of Abrams” or ERA methods of diagnosing and treating disease…
Read more
The Watchtower Society in The Golden Age magazine promoted numerous highly questionable medical cures and remedies. Some of these were more related to the occult arts than medical science. One of these endorsements was of the electronic theory of disease of Dr. Albert Abrams. Several machines and techniques were developed by Dr. Abrams and by his supporters after his death in 1924. Some of these ERA machines were actually invented and used by International Bible Students (JWs) doctors, such as the Electronic Radio Biola and the Radio Disease Killer. Many Bible Students were treated for their diseases by these devices. This article looks…
Read more
[This paper is an overview of Dr. Abrams, the E.R.A. and the two main scientific investigations into his methods of diagnosing and treating disease in the 1920’s. This is provided as background into the Watchtower Society’s endorsement and use of the ERA well into the 1940’s. Originally published in the JW Research Journal, vol. 3, no. 2, Spring, 1996, pp. 4-11. Revised July/Aug., 2021.] . by Ken Raines . The electronic technique has been conceived by a master mind. It is far more intricate and ironclad than medical fads of the past. It deals with a new form of energy…
Read more
By Ken Raines From the JW Research Journal, fall, 1996, pp. 3-8. Revised July, 2021. . The Watchtower Society was heavily involved in occult, psychic and quack medical procedures throughout much of the of the 20th Century. Like their current ban on blood transfusions for its members, this quackery has put the lives of millions unnecessarily at risk. This article gives an overview of the Society’s strange history of medical quackery and occultism which will be examined in more detail in coming issues of the JW Research Journal. . One of the most recognizable aspects of Jehovah’s Witnesses to the…
Read more
The Golden Age, Sept. 23, 1936, p. 803. . Jerry Bergman, Ph.D. Introduction The Watchtower history is replete with examples of not only erroneous theological positions such as wrongly predicting the time of the end, but also advocating numerous quack medical nostrums. Part of the reason for their involvement in quack scams was due to the tendency of certain high level Watchtower officials to reject anything that was orthodox–orthodox religion, orthodox science, and orthodox medicine. Unfortunately, the Watchtower is still today stuck in a quagmire of foolish beliefs which they have not yet been unable to transcend. Their almost half-century…
Read more