True or false?For many years Jehovah's Witnesses believed the Pleiades to be God's heavenly home?

Question

The constellation Taurus in the night sky includes within its boundaries the Pleiades star cluster, of which six stars are visible to the naked eye in close formation.

The Watch Tower November 1, 1920, page 334

Zion's Watch Tower, May 15, 1895, page 1814

Ibid
June 15, 1915, page 5710

For many years JWs belived that Pleiades to be God's heavenly home, that is true. Specially they identified the star Alcycone - the brighter one in the cluster- as the residence of Almighty God Himself. They believed Christ travelled there after his resurrection, and JWs expected to be transported through the space to that star cluster to receive their heavenly reward ( Watch Tower 11-1-1920, page 334 )

As far back as 1895, Zion's Watch Tower expressed the belief that the visible universe revolves around the Pleiades as its center and " that center may be the heaven of heavens, the hightest heaven, the throne of God " ( 5-15/ page 1814 )

20 years later the prinicipal JW magazine was still saying, " the Pleiades may represent the resdence of Jehovah, the place from which he governs the universe." ( 6-15-1915, page 5710 )

Joseph f. ( "Judge" ) Rutherford continued the pattern establised by his predecessor Charles Taze Russell. In his 1928 book 'Reconciliation' he taught that "the Pleiades is the place of eternal throne of God." ( Page 14 )

The sect's leadership did not depudiate the idea until 1953 when the Watchtower declared that " it would be unwise for us to try to fix God's throne as being at particular spot in the universe. " ( November 15, page 703 )

Answer 1

True, but newer witnesses do not know this, and will be disfellowshipped for Questioning the origins of the WBTS too closely.


YOU have provided proof right here and still they deny this little tidbit of their past.

Answer 2

Yes, it's true. There is a scan of the 1928 book Reconciliation written by J F Rutherford on the internet. If you type "God's throne Pleiades reconciliation", it should bring up a website called Quotes - watchtower.co.uk and you can see the scan where JFR writes that Pleiades is the place of the eternal throne of God.

There are other references also. Page 327 of the book Thy Kingdom Come (1903 and 1907 editions), the Golden Age of Sept 1, 1924, and in the WT Index under "stars", it lists the April 1, 1931 Awake (at that time was probably Golden Age or Consolation.).

The Watchtower taught it, so Jehovah's Witnesses believed it .But the publication of the Nov 15, 1953 WT officially abandoned the idea, while making it appear that "some" had speculated - not mentioning that it was the Watchtower publications that had done the speculating.

Achtung is PARTIALLY right. The idea doesn't seem to have been originally "hatched" by the Watchtower. But it was largely ignored - not widely accepted - except for the Watchtower which accepted and publicized it.

Answer 3

Yea it's true. I owned Reconciliation and read it myself. You have to realize though that they also believed in a lot of things they finally figured out were wrong. CT Russell was really big on the Great Pyramids of Egypt having special meaning for God's people. They used the Cross and celebrated Christmas too up until the 1920's. The organization has been progressively cleansed over the years and this Pleiades bit is just one small example. Also, you'd not be kicked out for questioning origins of the organization unless you became full of bitter hatred and negativity like so many apostates.

Answer 4

True. Jehovah God was said to reside on his throne on the star Alcyone in the Pleiades star cluster, which, I believe, is the star cluster that the handle of one of the "dippers" is comprised of. I have the quotations from Russell on that.

Did you also know that he believed in Phrenology, which is the belief that each man's desire to please God is directly related to the shape of his brain?

Mommy of !; the Pleiades thing was stated in Studies in the Scriptures, Vol 7, p.. 327 and in the book Reconcilliation, p 14.

The constellation of the Pleiades is a small one compared with others which scientific instruments disclose to the wondering eyes of man. 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. 14.)

...Alcyone, the central one of the renowned Pleiadic stars. Alcyone, then, as far as science has been able to perceive, would seem to be 'the midnight throne' in which the whole system of gravitation has its seat, and from which the Almighty governs his universe.
(Thy Kingdom Come (SIS vol III) 1891 (1903 edition) p. 327)

Until 1953 Watchtower claimed that the constellation of the Pleiades is the place of the eternal throne of God! (See WT 5/15/1895 and 12/1/1896, The New Creation, 1904, p.618, J. F. Rutherford, Reconciliation, 1928, pp. 14)

Answer 5

Never heard of this before. If it was Gods heavenly home must have taken up a comparatively recent residence there. The Pleiades are only about 100 million years old or so.

Answer 6

This question brought real and prolonged laughter to this answerer, for anti-Witnesses are rarely so blatantly prevaricative.

A century or so ago, when the publications of Jehovah's Witnesses occasionally alluded to Pleiades, it was because the general view of the day was that Pleiades was the modern name of the constellations specially highlighted for mention by the Divine Author in the bible book of Job.

(Job 38:31-33) Can you tie fast the bonds of the Kimah constellation, Or can you loosen the very cords of the Kesil constellation? 32 Can you bring forth the Mazzaroth constellation in its appointed time? And as for the Ash constellation alongside its sons, can you conduct them? 33 Have you come to know the statutes of the heavens, Or could you put its authority in the earth?


Jehovah's Witnesses have always understood that God is a spirit being without a physical presence. They did not originate any ideas about Pleiades and were hardly unique for accepting other's research on the matter.

Learn more:
http://watchtower.org/e/20000622/

Answer 7

I am a JW and I have never heard of this, I see you have watchtowers sited, do you have photocopies of these articles.
Please email me if so.

I cannot say for sure whether or not this is true, as we do not have access to the older Watchtowers.

Answer 8

No, They never believed such silliness.
And besides the only time you can see them is during a lunar eclipse.
Because the light from the moonlight hides them at other times.

Answer 9

Every time I answer a ? with JW in it I get a violation notice. Whats up with that?

Answer 10

Mother nature walked among them one day... while researching religion's effect on nature.... he power was such god was given a name... Jehovah.... but she's out to destroy these who call themselves gods... The rules have changed people .... there is only one sin in mother nature... religion.... no more worshiping...she don't need it.. dont' want it...