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The most controversial book ever published by the
Bible Students was The Finished Mystery,
a verse by verse commentary on Revelation and Ezekiel published in 1917. As
well as some internal issues, it resulted in key Watch Tower headquarters staff
being arrested in 1918, and sentenced to long terms of imprisonment under the
Espionage Act of June 15, 1917. It should be noted at the outset, as most readers
will already know, those imprisoned were released in 1919 and all charges
against them were ultimately dropped.
But it was a testing time, and in dealing with the
problems faced on a day by day basis, various editions of The Finished Mystery were produced. This article is going to look
at one paragraph in several of them. For the record, in this article the
initials JFR refer to the Society’s President, Joseph F Rutherford, and page
numbers in brackets refer to specific pages in the trial transcript United States of America vs Joseph F
Rutherford and others (1918).
For a fuller description of how the book came to be
produced as a proposed seventh volume of the Studies in the Scriptures series,
see the following article on Gertrude Seibert.
https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/2015/08/gertrude-antonette-woodcock-seibert-and.html
The paragraph that caused the controversy was a
discussion of Revelation 16:13.
This defined patriotism as murder, “a narrow-minded
hatred of other peoples” and “the spirit of the very Devil.”
The United States joined the World War on April 6,
1917, and was appealing to patriotism to recruit its army. Various religious
figures supported this and came in for unsparing criticism in The Finished Mystery.
When the government objected to the book, especially
pages 247-253 which included the offending paragraph, several steps were taken
to calm down the situation. The printers were instructed to stop production
(see JFR’s telegram on page 1309) and Bible Students were asked to physically
cut out the offending pages from copies offer to the public (see Kingdom News
no. 2).
Above is a copy with pages 247-254 excised. Written
in pencil along the remaining stub of the pages is “to comply with government
requirement.”
However, this did not make the problem go away, and
in May 1918 eight members of the headquarters staff were arrested and charged
with violating the 1917 Espionage Act. Repeatedly throughout the ensuing trial,
these words condemning patriotism were quoted by the prosecution.
Nonetheless, not all Bible Students appeared to be
in full agreement with the sentiments as expressed. From the trial transcript
(page 552) cross examination of George Fisher by Counsel Isaac Oeland:
Q. Did this language meet with your approval that
Satan deals with a certain delusion which is best described by the word,
patriotism, but which is in reality murder, the spirit of the very devil; did
that meet with your full approval?
A. No, sir.
Q. You knew Mr Woodworth had written that?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. You knew it was to be published and circulated in
a book that you had helped to produce?
A. Yes, sir.
Q. And that you did not agree with it?
A. I did not agree with that because my conception
of patriotism does not agree with that.
Fisher was still sent down with the other
defendants, but would later leave fellowship with defendants Woodworth and Rutherford
before his death in 1926.
The 1917 edition of the book with its excised pages was
not the end of the matter, because in early 1918 a new version was proposed
called the ZG. This was planned as a magazine edition of the book, as other
volumes had been before. ZA for example was volume one, The Divine Plan of the Ages. G was the 7th letter of the
alphabet so the 7th volume. This is highly collectable today and
throws up some interesting questions.
It was dated March 1, 1918, but never released then.
When instructions were given to remove pages from the 1917 book edition, Bible
Students were also instructed not to circulate this magazine copy, and an
alternative March 1, 1918, issue of The
Watch Tower was published in its place. The September 15, 1918, Watch Tower reminded Bible Students not
to circulate the ZG and referred back to an earlier notification given in the
March.
The Jehovah’s
Witnesses in the Divine Purpose book on page 90 says that ZG had been
printed before the war. For America that would have to be before April 6, 1917.
If correct, that would make ZG the first edition, because the trial transcript reveals
that the hardback edition was first printed in July 1917. It had mainly been
written before the war started (JFR’s testimony on page 974) – that was a key
point of the Society’s defense – apart from a few additions including a poem
written by Gertrude Seibert (GWS) at the end of the Song of Solomon section and
dated June 27, 1917. However, the contract with the Conkey Company for the
first edition was only finalised at the end of June 1917 (page 1172) and then
very quickly indeed the book was printed in the first half of July to be
released at the Bethel on July 17. This was after America entered the war.
However, while the bulk of it was certainly written
before the war, the actual printing of ZG may have come later. As an indication,
we have the printed date of March 1, 1918 on it. How much before intended
publication was that decision taken? Also, on the actual Watch Tower cover of extant
copies there was a message to send copies to soliders and sailors serving at
the front once readers had finished with them. For this to make sense there would
have to be Americans actually serving at the front at the time.
In reality it is a moot point, because as noted
earlier the publication was pulled and the general issue of ZG did not see the
light of day until 1920. (See The Watch
Tower for July 1, 1920, page 199). At that time some copies had the
original Watch Tower cover with the
above message removed and a green title cover added in its place. (See Letter
of Instruction to Directors in Bulletin
for May 1, 1921). It should be noted that there was no mention of the ZG in the
trial, which focussed on the first edition, and continually kept quoting from
that specific passage condemning patriotism. The trial had a lengthy
examination and cross-examination of the manager of the Conkey Company who
printed the hardback edition. However, the paperback magazine edition was probably
printed by another company. Had ZG been in circulation it would have likely
been used by the defense, because the offending passage about patriotism had
not just been torn out, the text had been altered.
The change is interesting, and would fit a
publication that might reach American soldiers. Instead of an attack on
“patriotism” the ZG version substituted “Germany autocracy” and condemned
German “human butchery.”
Other changes in this special edition were the
removal of the verse by verse consideration of Song of Solomon along with Gertrude
Seibert’s poem and the addition of a chapter taking readers verse by verse
through the world powers of Daniel 7.
Having taken the original offending pages out of the
hardback version, later printings of the book in 1918 then replaced the
offending pages with a revised text.
What had started as “patriotism” and changed into
“German autocracy” then changed again. Now in 1918 the text read “race-hatred”
– which of course could apply equally to all sides.
After the war the “Brooklyn eight” were released
from prison and shortly thereafter all charges were dropped. Now the original
text of the book was restored. Examining the 1924 boxed deluxe edition and also
one of the final printings in 1927 (the 2,004,000 edition) it is noted that the
criticism of patriotism had been restored in full.
The book went out of print towards the end of the
1920s. A new explanation of Revelation and Ezekiel was to be given in Light (two books on Revelation in 1930)
and Vindication (three books on Ezekiel
in 1931-1932).
Addenda
from Gary
As regards the FM, at the time of
their altercation with the civil authorities in 1918 they stated that the FM
was “written prior to the time that the United States entered the war”, meaning
before April 6, 1917. (See WT March 1, 1918, article headed ‘Religious
Intolerance’.)
This statement was largely
correct since most was written prior to this time. However, when Fred H.
Robison was sent to visit Secretary of War Newton Baker on March 5, 1918, to
see how their sudden objection to the publication could be resolved, he was
intercepted en route by MID (military) agents who interrogated him instead and
so he never got to see Baker. These quizzed him on the FM and he repeated that
it had been completed prior to April 6, 1917. However, Robison was forced to
back down when it was pointed out to him that it could not all have been
completed prior to this time since the book included reference to seven billion
dollars appropriated by Congress for the war; so, Robison acknowledged he must
have been mistaken.
Indeed, Gertrude Seibert’s poem
“written expressly for The Finished Mystery” was dated June 25, 1917, so it is
evident that while, no doubt, most of the book was written prior to America’s
entry into the war, some was added after. Other references could be found, but
I think these two are sufficient to establish the point.
Robison never got to reach Newton Baker
but took advice from those he met that “there was no disposition on the part of
the Government (to) interfere with our work in general and that if pages
246-253, inclusive, were removed, there would be no known objection to the
volume.” As a consequence, I believe it reasonable to conclude it was just
shortly afterward that the the special ZG Watch Tower
edition was printed. As you have noted it adjusts the ‘offensive’
reference to patriotism and excludes the relevant passages from pages 247-253
which were largely quotes from two pacifist ministers. This strongly suggests
its writing, printing and distribution to IBSA colporteurs and classes occurred
sometime after Robison’s Washington episode on March 5, 1918, but prior to the
Department of Justice banning distribution of the FM, in any form, as a violation
of the Espionage Act on March 14, 1918, whereupon the IBSA immediately
instructed colporteurs and class Secretaries to desist from selling the FM
books and hold on to copies of the special ZG Watch Tower edition.
Thereafter, a belated normal
edition of the Watch Tower dated March 1, 1918, was swiftly completed and sent
out instead, but the fact that this was completed after the publication date is
itself apparent since it makes reference to Brothers Woodward and Herr being
arrested on March 4, Robison’s visit to Washington (which I know to have been March
5) and the banning of the FM on March 14.
Addenda – another version
Thanks to correspondent
Benek, another variant can be added to the paragraphs on page 247 that originally
condemned patriotism.
The original wording
caused the attack by the government and copies of The Finished Mystery in
circulation had the offending pages removed. However, to replace them a few
pages were produced which could fill the gap. Below is an example. The heading
plainly shows the purpose, and the text gives us our variant on “patriotism” as
“hatred.”
When replacement pages
were actually bound into the book at source, at some point in 1918 the wording
changed subtly to “race hatred” as covered in the above article. That this
became the favored text is shown by The Watch
Tower for June 1, 1920, which gives a whole five pages of suggested
alterations which readers could make in their copies if they chose.
The notice does not
reveal what wording was being replaced, whether “hatred” or the original “patriotism.”
It is unlikely to have been the ZG version of “German autocracy” which seems to
have stayed in the magazine version only without any reference to a page 247.
As noted in the
original article above, in the 1920s the text reverted to the original “patriotism.”
