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…
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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…
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Angels And Women (PDF) The revisor of this book is of the opinion that the original manuscript was dictated to the woman who wrote it by one of the fallen angels who desired to return to divine favor. – Angels and Women, 1924 p. 5. … automatic writing is most certainly demonism. – The Golden Age, March 30, 1932, p. 394. God’s Curse on all these things The Scriptures group all these forms of deviltry in two verses, in Deuteronomy 18:10, 11…. Reviewing this passage we see that one who uses divination is one who receives information from the fallen…
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Ken Raines Angels and Women is an automatic writing book recommended by the Watchtower Society in 1924. It is a revision of a novel written in 1878 titled Seola by J. G. Smith. Seola was revised and published as Angels and Women by a Bible Student who was identified as being “a personal friend of Pastor Russell and one who was close to him in his work.” (The Golden Age, July 30, 1924 p. 702) It is a work of “automatic writing” as the revisor said the woman who wrote it was “impelled to write it after listening to beautiful music.” (Angels and Women, pp. 3, 5.) He believed the…
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. Is The Watchtower a means or channel employed by God to transmit information to his people?… he could and would transmit information to his people… No man can properly interpret prophecy, and the Lord sends his angels to transmit correct information to his people,… – The Watchtower, Feb. 15, 1935 p. 52. . by Ken Raines [This article contains material from several JW Research Journal articles.] . J. F. Rutherford was the second president of the Watchtower Society from shortly after the death of C. T. Russell on October 31 of 1916 until his death at Beth-Sarim in 1942. Under his leadership…
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The constellation of the seven stars forming the Pleiades appears to be the crowning center around which the known systems of the planets revolve…. It has been suggested, and with much weight, that one of the stars of that group is the dwelling place of Jehovah and the place of the highest heavens…. The constellation of the Pleiades is a small one… But the greatness in size of other stars or planets is small when compared to the Pleiades in importance, because the Pleiades is the place of the eternal throne of God. – J. F. Rutherford, Reconciliation, 1928, p.…
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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…
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Jerry Bergman, Ph.D. Introduction One of the most bizarre Watchtower campaigns was against medicine in general and specifically the germ theory. The crusade against medicine was not primarily a phenomenon only during the Rutherford era but was the dominant Watchtower view from the late 1880s to the early 1950s. Hundreds of articles were published, primarily in the The Golden Age and its successor Consolation, which lambasted orthodox medicine and many of the basic conclusions of modern medical research. Typical Watchtower comments include “sickness abounds . . . and the M.D.’s and dentists have waxed rich at the expense of suffering humanity” (Newcomb 1929:106).…
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Jerry Bergman, Ph.D Originally published in the JW Research Journal, vol. 4, no. 2, Spring, 1997 pp. 3-13. Introduction Creationism is a critically important doctrine in Watchtower theology. The basis of their theology is the belief that God created humans and all life and can recreate a person again in the resurrection. If evolution is true God is at best a bystander who is impotent or does not exist. The Watchtower has consistently opposed human evolution from their very beginning, and evolution of animals from the 1930’s on. The first booklet on the subject was published in 1912 (Russell 1912)…
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Jerry Bergman, Ph.D Originally published in The JW Research Journal, Summer, 1996 ABSTRACT A scientific literature review found that the rate of mental illness among Jehovah’s Witnesses is considerably above average. The specific level found in the research varies partly because the extant research was on different populations and time periods. The major factors identified as either helpful or harmful to Witness mental health were discussed. Although persons with emotional problems tended to join the Witnesses, the Watchtower teachings and its subculture clearly adversely affected the mental health of those involved. The official Watchtower attitude on mental illness was also…
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