2007-04-11 08:55:53 · 13 answers · asked by LottaLou 7 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Joseph Franklin Rutherford was the second president of the Watch Tower Society, the legal organization used by Jehovah's Witnesses. The group did not take the name of Jehovah's Witnesses until Rutherfords presidency in 1931 so I guess in truth Rutherford was the first.
Russell technically wasn't a JW as the group, in name, was not in existence. The fact that "Pastor Russell" clearly and plainly discouraged membership in Freemasonry, it should be clear to anyone that Pastor Russell was not, nor ever was, associated with the Free Masons.
The claim that Russell was comes from items, quoted out of context, said by him at San Francisco's masonic hall in 1913, where he adopted Masonic imagery, "Now, I am a free and accepted mason. I trust we all are. But not just after the style of our masonic brethren." and "true Bible believers may or may not belong to the masonic fraternity, but they are all masons of the highest order, since they are being fashioned, chiselled and polished by the Almighty to be used as living stones in the Temple Built Without Hands. They are free from sin, and therefore accepted by the God of Heaven as fit stones for the heavenly Temple." the bit they fail to quote is him later saying "I have never been a mason."
Joseph is rumoured to be a Freemason due to some symbology used on his gravestone. However I have never seen his name on any rosters.
2007-04-11 21:52:33 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
BY NO MEANS! We worship Jehovah as the ONLY TRUE GOD. We believe that His Kingdom is the ONLY HOPE for mankind.. We earnestly endeavor to be no part of the world, as Jesus said would be true of his followers. We preach the GOOD NEWS. Jesus foretold for our day this work: "This good news of the kingdom will be preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations... He also instructed his followers : "Go...and make disciples of people of all the nations." Matt. 24:14; 28:19.
2007-04-11 09:27:40 · answer #2 · answered by Vivimos en los Ultimos Dias 5 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Absolutely not. Jehovah's Witnesses are about as far away from Freemasons as an organization can get!
2007-04-11 09:09:20 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 6⤊ 1⤋
No.
I can't say for a fact that Russell was or was not a Freemason, but it is possible that he joined before he broke away from his family church and began searching the scriptures on his own.
The group is generally not referred to (there are sporadic mentions thereof), but Jehovah's Witnesses are not encouraged to join because of its roots.
2007-04-11 08:58:55 · answer #4 · answered by DwayneWayne 4 · 5⤊ 1⤋
You are really enjoying this aren't you Lotta? Do you even know who Jehovah is? He is our creator, Jesus Christ's father. Of course Jehovah's Witnesses are not Freemasons. Stop with your foolishness.
2007-04-11 19:25:31 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 1⤋
No, we are active in preaching the good news of God's Kingdom and helping many to learn the truth regarding all that the Bible really teaches.
2007-04-11 09:02:19 · answer #6 · answered by Micah 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Jehovah is God and Jesus is his Son. Jesus is the head of the Christian Congregation. Jehovah's Witnesses are world wide and invite people all over the world to come to our meetings. We love our neighbor as ourselves and want all people to learn about Jehovah and his Son Jesus Christ.
2007-04-11 12:32:03 · answer #7 · answered by Jason W 4 · 3⤊ 1⤋
Wow you have an obsession with Freemasonry. I wonder what they did to you for you not to like them.
2007-04-11 09:08:59 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 2⤋
Charles Taze Russell and Joseph Rutherford were both Freemasons, but I think that was it.
They are generally discouraged from doing anything remotely related to the occult, just to avoid confusion.
2007-04-11 09:01:26 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 5⤋
No we are not. We teach the Bible truth.
2007-04-11 09:04:40 · answer #10 · answered by superstang99_4485 2 · 8⤊ 1⤋