Joseph Franklin Rutherford (November 8, 1869 – January 8, 1942), also known as Judge Rutherford, was an American religious leader and the second president of the incorporated Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. He played a primary role in the organization and doctrinal development of Jehovah's Witnesses,Leo P. Chall, Sociological Abstracts, vol 26 issues 1–3, "Sociology of Religion", 1978, p. 193 col 2: "Rutherford, through the Watch Tower Society, succeeded in changing all aspects of the sect from 1919 to 1932 and created Jehovah's Witnesses—a charismatic offshoot of the Bible student community.""The Embryonic State of a Religious Sect's Development: The Jehovah's Witnesses" Sociological Yearbook of Religion in Britain, ed. Michael Hill, 1972, issue 5 pp 11–12: "Joseph Franklin Rutherford succeeded to Russell's position as President of Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, but only at the expense of antagonizing a large proportion of the Watch Towers subscribers. Nevertheless, he persisted in moulding the Society to suit his own programme of activist evangelism under systematic central control, and he succeeded in creating the administrative structure of the present-day sect of Jehovah's Witnesses."The Twentieth century, vol 153, 1953 p. 14: "This latter phenomenon, perhaps the most widely spread politico-religious movement at the present time, is linked, as are so many, with a source in America, in this case Judge Rutherford, the New York founder of Jehovah's Witnesses." which emerged from the Bible Student movement established by Charles Taze Russell.

Rutherford began a career in law, working as a court stenographer, trial lawyer and prosecutor. He became a special judge in the 8th/14th Judicial District of Missouri at some time after 1895.8th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri: The New York Times, January 17, 1919, Section I, p. 9, As Retrieved 2010-03-02. . He developed an interest in the doctrines of Watch Tower Society president Charles Taze Russell, which led to his joining the Bible Student movement, and he was baptized in 1906. He was appointed the legal counsel for the Watch Tower Society in 1907, as well as a traveling representative prior to his election as president in 1917. His early presidency was marked by a dispute with the Society's board of directors, in which four of its seven members accused him of autocratic behavior and sought to reduce his powers. The resulting leadership crisis divided the Bible Student community and contributed to the loss of one-seventh of adherents by 1919 and thousands more by 1931.P.S.L. Johnson, The Present Truth and Herald of Christ's Epiphany, April 1927, p. 66: "Since the Fall of 1923 ... from 20,000 to 30,000 Truth people the world over have left the Society." Rutherford and seven other Watch Tower executives were imprisoned in 1918 after charges were laid over the publication of The Finished Mystery, a book deemed seditious for its opposition to World War I."Postwar Enlargement of the Theocratic Organization", The Watchtower, July 15, 1950, p. 217

Rutherford introduced many organizational and doctrinal changes that helped shape the current beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses. He imposed a centralized administrative structure on the worldwide Bible Student movement, which he later called a theocracy, requiring all adherents to distribute literature via door to door preaching and to provide regular reports of their preaching activity. He also instituted training programs for public speaking as part of their weekly meetings for worship. He established 1914 as the date of Jesus' invisible return, asserted that Christ did not die on a cross,Riches, by J.F. Rutherford, Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society, 1936, p. 27, "Jesus was crucified, not on a cross... Jesus was crucified by nailing his body to a tree. ...(Deuteronomy 21:22,23) ... (Galatians 3:13) ... Acts 5:30." formulated the current Witness concept of Armageddon as God's war on the wicked, and reinforced the belief that the start of Christ's millennial reign was imminent. He condemned the observance of traditional celebrations such as Christmas and birthdays, the saluting of national flags and the singing of national anthems. He introduced the name "Jehovah's witnesses" in 1931 and the term "Kingdom Hall" for houses of worship in 1935. He introduced the teaching of neutrality with regard to politics and war.

He wrote twenty-one Watch Tower Society books and was credited by the Society in 1942 with the distribution of almost 400 million books and booklets. Despite significant decreases during the 1920s, overall membership increased more than sixfold by the end of Rutherford's 25 years as president., "An incomplete earthwide report shows that the Memorial of Jesus Christ's death on April 5, 1917, was attended by 21,274.". "Memorial Attendance Reported [for] 1942 ... 140,450"

Early life

Rutherford was born on November 8, 1869, to James Calvin Rutherford and Leonora Strickland and raised in near-poverty in a Baptist farm family. Some sources list his place of birth as Boonville, Missouri, but according to his death certificate he was born in Versailles, Missouri..Dept. of Public Health, San Diego California, Joseph Franklin Rutherford, Certificate of Death issued February 6, 1942 Rutherford developed an interest in law from the age of 16.. Although his father discouraged this interest, he allowed Rutherford to go to college under the condition that he pay for a laborer to take his place on the family farm. Rutherford took out a loan and helped to pay for his law studies by working as a door-to-door encyclopedia salesman and court stenographer.

Law career Rutherford spent two years as a judge's intern, became an official court reporter at age 20, and was admitted to The Missouri Bar in May 1892 at age 22. He became a trial lawyer for a law firm"Modern History of Jehovah's Witnesses", Watchtower, March 15, 1955, p. 175. and later served for four years in Boonville as a public prosecutor. He campaigned briefly for Democratic presidential candidate William Jennings Bryan.Barbara Grizzuti Harrison, Visions of Glory – A History and Memory of Jehovah's Witnesses, Simon & Schuster, 1978, chapter 6. He was appointed as a Special Judge in the 8th/14th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri,"Religion: Jehovah's Witness", Time, June 10, 1935, Online14th Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri: Ferm, Vergilius (1945). An Encyclopedia of Religion, p. 674. The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah's Kingdom, March 15, 1955, p. 176. sitting as a substitute judge at least once when a regular judge was unable to hold court. As a result of this appointment he became known by the sobriquet Judge Rutherford. He was admitted to the New York bar in 1909 and admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States the same year.

Watch Tower Society

In 1894, Rutherford purchased the first three volumes of Charles Taze Russell's Millennial Dawn series of Bible study textbooks from two colporteurs who visited his office. Rutherford, who then viewed all religions as insincere, shallow and hypocritical, was struck by Russell's sincerity and his sentiments towards religion, which mirrored his own view. Rutherford immediately wrote to the Watch Tower Society to express appreciation for the books. He was baptized twelve years later and he and his wife began holding Bible classes in their home. In 1907, he became legal counsel for the Watch Tower Society at its Pittsburgh headquarters, and from around that time began to give public talks as a "pilgrim" representative of the Society.

As Russell's health deteriorated, Rutherford represented him on trips to Europe."British Branch report", Watch Tower, January 15, 1915, p. 26, Reprints 5616. In April 1915 he was deputized to speak at a major debate with Baptist preacher J. H. Troy over four nights in Los Angeles before an audience of 12,000, debating various subjects, including the state of the dead, hellfire and Christ's Second Coming. Rutherford wrote a pamphlet, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, in defense of Russell and served as chairman of the Bible Students' Los Angeles convention in September 1916.

Board of directors By 1916, Rutherford had become one of the seven directors of the Watch Tower Society; when Russell died on October 31, 1916, he joined vice-President Alfred I. Ritchie and Secretary-Treasurer William E. Van Amburgh on a three-man executive committee that ran the Pennsylvania corporation until a new president was elected at the annual general meeting the following January. He also joined a five-person editorial committee to run The Watch Tower from the December 15, 1916, issue. Russell's will, drawn up in 1907, had named the five people he wished to run the magazine after his death; Rutherford appeared only on a second list of five alternative members to fill any vacancies that arose.

Bible Student Alexander H. Macmillan, who served as an aide to the executive committee, later wrote that tensions at the Watch Tower Society headquarters mounted as the day for election of the Society's officers approached. He wrote: "A few ambitious ones at headquarters were holding caucuses here and there, doing a little electioneering to get their men in. However, Van Amburgh and I held a large number of votes. Many shareholders, knowing of our long association with Russell, sent their proxies to us to be cast for the one whom we thought best fitted for office."

Macmillan, who claimed he had declined an offer from an ailing Russell months earlier to accept the position of president after his death, agreed with Van Amburgh that Rutherford was the best candidate. According to Macmillan, "Rutherford did not know what was going on. He certainly didn't do any electioneering or canvassing for votes, but I guess he was doing some worrying, knowing if he was elected he would have a big job on his hands ... There is no doubt in our minds that the Lord's will was done in this choice. It is certain that Rutherford himself had nothing to do with it."

Presidency dispute

On January 6, 1917, Rutherford, aged 47, was elected president of the Watch Tower Society, unopposed, at the Pittsburgh convention. By-laws passed by both the Pittsburgh convention and the board of directors stated that the president would be the executive officer and general manager of the Society, giving him full charge of its affairs worldwide.

By June, four of the seven Watch Tower Society directors—Robert H. Hirsh, Alfred I. Ritchie, Isaac F. Hoskins and James D. Wright— had decided they had erred in endorsing Rutherford's expanded powers of management, claiming Rutherford had become autocratic. In June, Hirsch attempted to rescind the new by-laws and reclaim the board's authority from the president. Rutherford later claimed he had by then detected a conspiracy among the directors to seize control of the society. In July, Rutherford gained a legal opinion from a Philadelphia corporation lawyer that none of his opposers were legally directors of the society. The Watch Tower Society's official 1959 account of its history claimed the legal advice given to the ousted directors confirmed that given to Rutherford., col. 2 The pamphlets produced by the expelled board members at the time indicated that their legal advice, acquired from several attorneys, disagreed with Rutherford's.Light After Darkness (September 1, 1917) p. 11Facts for Shareholders (November 15, 1917) p. 14