Light, Book One: The Physical Facts Set Forth Showing Fulfillment Of The Revelation Which God Gave Unto Jesus Christ To Show Unto His Servants

by J.F. Rutherford

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

352 pages, Hardcover

Published September 10, 2010

About the author

Joseph Franklin Rutherford, also known as Judge Rutherford, was the second president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society (Jehovah's Witnesses) from 1917 until his death in 1942. His appointment was disputed by the Society's board of directors, 4 of which accused him of an autocratic leadership style. This controversy lead to a schism in the Bible Students movement. In 1918 Rutherford and seven other Watch Tower executives were imprisoned briefly on charges of sedition. Following his release from prison, Rutherford began a major reorganization of Bible Student activities.

At a May, 1919 convention in Ohio he announced the publication of a new magazine, The Golden Age (later renamed Awake!). In 1920, Rutherford published a booklet, Millions Now Living Will Never Die, and a year later published his first hardcover book, The Harp of God. This was followed by a further nineteen hardcover books, each with one-word titles, such as Creation (1927), Jehovah (1934) and Children (1941). His publications reached a total printing of 36 million copies.

In 1925 he gained full control over what doctrines would be taught in Watch Tower Society publications, overruling the refusal by the five-man Editorial Committee to publish his article, "Birth of the Nation", which contained significant doctrinal changes. At a 1931 Bible Student assembly in Columbus, Ohio Rutherford proposed a new name for the organization, Jehovah's witnesses, to differentiate them from the proliferation of other groups that followed Russell's teachings.

Rutherford died at Beth Sarim on January 8, 1942 at the age of 72. Cause of death was "uraemia due to carcinoma of the rectum due to pelvic metastasis."

Reviews

[Michael David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really tried to like this book. After all, its cover is in a tasteful violet, which happens to be my favorite color. But when you write that the Earth's sea 'covers four-fifths of the earth', and posit it as a theological fact, you're no better than the 'Christendom' that you're attacking. (p. 87)

The Earth is 71% water, and 29% land. That's taken from the United States Geological Survey, and it's backed with extensive measurement and research. I would have stayed quiet if the book only had this mistake, but it repeats a lot of bold statements that have become incorrgibly obsolete. Take for instance this excerpt taken from page 74:

'War was between Christ and Satan was fought following 1914 to 1918, and Satan and his hosts were defeated and cast out of heaven.'

I don't even know where Rutherford took the idea that the archangel Michael is the Lord Jesus Christ, chief and great executive officer of Jehovah. These aren't just one-trick ponies, either. In page 108, Rutherford's declaration states:

'That 1914 marked the legal ending of the old world and there Christ the rightful King took unto himself the power as king.'

That's not all! The extant United Nations, still-standing despite political disagreements among its members, was prophesied by Rutherford to fall soon. In page 109:

'That all international conferences, and all agreements or treaties resulting therefrom, including the League of Nations compact, and all like compacts, must fail beause God has decreed it thus.'

I have never read that God decreed the League of Nations to fail in His Bible. Was it God who said that, or J. F. Rutherford?

In page 140, Rutherford continues his harangue against the League of Nations:

'[T]he real author and father of the League of Nations compact is Satan the Devil.'

I'm very certain that despite disagreements among nations, every country values sovereignty and the individual rights of man. That could be a more plausible reason than Satan, I think. A lot of countries don't even think he exists.

The inconsistency in Rutherford's exegesis remains throughout the text. He uses certain numbers to be figurative, but was extremely certain that the 1260 days he solved in one chapter of Revelation was literal. This type of reading is haphazard, and the close reader in me felt offended.

Rutherford again iterates Jesus Christ is the angel Michael in page 239:

'It is the great Prince Christ that began the war against Satan and he is identified in the seventh verse by the name Michael.'

Page 287 was finally what made me gave up on the book having any worth. When propaganda tries to skew the truth to fit its own purposes (as most propaganda do), it becomes little more than an amusement:

'There is also a financial or commercial relationship between the two countres of Britain and America that binds them together. They are in fact one great country, acting separately and distinctly and yet together, and fitly represented by "two horns."'

Christ even became Melchizedek! In page 319,

'Christ, the great Melchizedek Priest, in 1914 began the assault on the head and against the entire army of Babylon.'

This book doesn't deserve to be read. Despite that, if one ignored all the text and just looked at the pictures, it does contain well-drawn artwork. I guess that makes it okay. Haha.