Despite the failures of 1914 and
1925, Rutherford continued
stating that the earthly
resurrection was about to
happen. In 1929, he authorised
the purchase of a house for
Abraham and other resurrected
Princes to live in.
"At San Diego, California, there is
a small piece of land, on which, in
the year 1929, there was built a
house, which is called and
known as Beth-Sarim. The
Hebrew words Beth Sarim mean
"House of the Princes"; and the
purpose of acquiring that
property and building the house
was that there might be some
tangible proof that there are
those on earth today who fully
believe God and Christ Jesus and
in His kingdom, and who believe
that the faithful men of old will
soon be resurrected by the Lord,
be back on earth, and take
charge of the visible affairs of
earth. The title to Beth-Sarim is
vested in the Watchtower Bible &
Tract Society in trust, to be used
by the president of the Society
and his assistants for the
present, and thereafter to be
forever at the disposal of the
aforementioned princes on
earth. . . . while the unbelievers
have mocked concerning it and
spoken contemptuously of it, yet
it stands there as a testimony to
Jehovah's name; and if and when
the princes do return and some
of them occupy the property,
such will be a confirmation of the
faith and hope that induced the
building of Beth-Sarim." Salvation
(1939) p.311
The Golden Age 1930 March 19
included a copy of the Beth-Sarim
deed, showing who was
expected to live in it.
"Both the grantor and the
grantee are fully persuaded from
the Bible testimony which is the
word of Jehovah God and from
extraneous evidence that God's
Kingdom is now in the course of
establishment and that it will
result beneficially for the peoples
of earth; that the governing
power and authority will be
invisible to men but that the
kingdom of God will have visible
representatives on the earth who
will have charge of the affairs of
the nations under supervision of
the invisible ruler, Christ. That
among those who will be thus
the faithful representatives and
visible governors of the world
will be David, who was once King
over Israel; and Gideon, and
Barak, and Samson, and Jepthai,
and Joseph, formerly ruler of
Egypt, and Samuel the prophet
and other faithful men named
with approval in the Bible at
Hebrews 11th. chapter. The
WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT
SOCIETY shall hold said title
perpetually in trust for the use of
any or all of the men above
named as representatives of
God's kingdom on earth and that
such men shall have possession
and use of said property
hereinabove described as they
may deem for the best interest
for the work in which they are
engaged. Any persons appearing
to take possession of said
premises shall first prove and
identify themselves to the proper
officers of said Society as the
person or persons described in
Hebrews chapter eleven and in
this deed."
Golden Age.
In 1931, The Messenger
contained an article on
Bethsarim, with some interesting
photos, including Rutherford
seated in front of the fireplace.
Rutherford's imagination that
Jehovah was going to resurrect
the Princes to live in California
shared the American centric
views of similar religions such as
the Mormons. In 1942 the 'House
of Princes' was sold, proving
false the statement that it would
be "perpetually" and "forever at
the disposal of the
aforementioned princes."
The Proclaimers book contains
one of the very few mentions of
Beth-Sarim since 1950. The
statement makes it appear to
have been purchased
predominantly for the health of
Rutherford.
""House of the Princes"
Brother Rutherford had a severe
case of pneumonia after his
release from unjust
imprisonment in 1919.
Thereafter, he had only one good
lung. In the 1920's, under a
doctor's treatment, he went to
San Diego, California, and the
doctor urged him to spend as
much time as possible there.
From 1929 on, Brother
Rutherford spent the winters
working at a San Diego residence
he had named Beth-Sarim. Beth-
Sarim was built with funds that
were a direct contribution for
that purpose. The deed, which
was published in full in "The
Golden Age" of March 19, 1930,
conveyed this property to J. F.
Rutherford and thereafter to the
Watch Tower Society. Jehovah's
Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's
Kingdom p.76
Concerning Beth-Sarim, the book
Salvation, published in 1939,
explains:
"The Hebrew words 'Beth Sarim'
mean 'House of the Princes'; and
the purpose of acquiring that
property and building the house
was that there might be some
tangible proof that there are
those on earth today who fully
believe God and Christ Jesus and
in His kingdom, and who believe
that the fai

BUGLARIA BLOOD TRANSFUSION AND JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES

In order to gain legal recognition
in Bulgaria during the 1990's,
the Watchtower was required to
change its doctrine on military
service, and allowed civilian
service in 1996. It also signed a
document before the European
Commission on Human Rights,
deceptively stating it does not
sanction followers for taking
blood transfusions.
The situation regarding the
Watchtower Society and blood
transfusions in Bulgaria
demonstrates that the
Watchtower is prepared to bend
the truth in furthering its own
political needs. It is hard to
reconcile how Watchtower
actions before the European
Commission on Human Rights
could be construed as anything
other than perjury.
On June 28, 1994, the Bulgarian
Council of Ministers refused to
renew the Watchtower’s
registration as a religion.1 The
two main issues behind this
decision were Watchtower
doctrine forbidding:
1. Witnesses to participate in
military service
2. Witnesses and their children to
receive blood transfusions
A four-year legal battle ensued,
resulting in compromise on both
sides. The Watchtower Society
and government of Bulgaria
brokered an agreement through
the European Commission of
Human Rights that was adopted
on March 9th 1998 under
Application No. 28626/95. This
states in part:
16. By letters of 8 and 12
September 1997 the parties
indicated their willingness to
reach a friendly settlement. The
parties exchanged
correspondence and proposals
for a friendly settlement and held
meetings in Sofia on 20 and 21
November 1997. On 17 January
1998, upon the parties' request,
the Commission made proposals
to the parties with a view to
resolving some remaining
differences in their positions. The
parties again met in Sofia on 10
February 1998.
17. By letters of 10 and 11
February 1998 the parties
informed the Commission of the
final text of the friendly
settlement.
Click here to read the full
document
The Watchtower reached a
“friendly settlement” by
indicating a change to its rules
regarding blood transfusions
and military service. In order to
accommodate the wishes of the
Watchtower Society, the
Bulgarian government created a
non-combative military service
option for conscientious
objectors to participate in.
If only it were that simple.
Scratch beneath the surface and
a raft of issues become apparent,
highlighting the Watchtower’s
willingness for deception in what
is an example of “theocratic
warfare”.
“It is proper to cover over our
arrangements for the work that
God commands us to do. If the
wolfish foes draw wrong
conclusions from our maneuvers
to outwit them, no harm has
been done to them by the
harmless sheep, innocent in their
motives as doves.” Watchtower
1956 Feb 1 p.86
Military Service
Bulgaria had an issue with the
Watchtower’s refusal to
participate in military service. For
many decades, Witnesses were
not allowed to engage in military
service. Not only was combative
military service disallowed, also
non-combative or civilian service
was also forbidden. Many young
witnesses around the globe
were jailed for such a stance,
some for years.
Jehovah’s witnesses are
according to God’s Word no part
of this world which is governed
by the political systems. For this
important Bible reason they tell
officials of the government that
they conscientiously object to
serving in any military
establishment or any civilian
arrangement that substitutes for
military service. Watchtower
1951 Feb 1 p.77
"An examination of the historical
facts shows that not only have
Jehovah's Witnesses refused to
put on military uniforms and take
up arms but, during the past half
century and more, they have also
declined to do noncombatant
service or to accept other work
assignments as a substitute for
military service. … Many of
Jehovah's Witnesses have been
imprisoned because they would
not violate their Christian
neutrality." United in Worship of
the Only True God p.167
"Before 1977 the [Greek]
brothers would be called to serve
prison sentences repeatedly;
some spent over 12 years in
prison!" Yearbook 1994 p.108
Other Witnesses, such as in
Mexico, were permitted by the
Watchtower to bribe officials to
receive documentation
dishonestly claiming they had
completed military service. See
Malawi vs Mexico
To settle the dispute in Bulgaria,
compromise was required on
both sides. To accommodate the
conscience of Watchtower
followers, the Bulgarian
government introduced civilian
service into their military service
program. In 1996, the
Watchtower conveniently
changed its stance on military
service, allowing non-combative
or civilian service.
"What, though, if the State
requires a Christian for a period
of time to perform civilian service
that is a part of national service
under a civilian administration?
… That is his decision before
Jehovah. Appointed elders and
others should fully respect the
conscience of the brother and
continue to regard him as a
Christian in good standing. "
Watchtower 1996 May 1
pp.20,21
This change in policy seems
somehow disappointing after
the hardship young Witness men
endured for decades. By
determining that civilian service
was not actually an important
issue before Jehovah,
Watchtower leaders showed
Bible interpretation can be
shaped by governmental
requirements as readily as by
holy spirit.

The other issue of importance to
the Bulgarian government was
regarding blood transfusions.
The authorities felt Witnesses
should not be coerced to forgo
life saving treatment at the threat
of being disfellowshipped. For
Jehovah's Witnesses to be
recognised as a religious
organization in Bulgaria, the
Watchtower Society had to
ensure that, regarding blood
transfusions, "members should
have free choice in the matter for
themselves and their children,
without any control or sanction
on the part of the association."2
As part of the reconciliation, the
Watchtower agreed that they
would not sanction the use of
medical treatment for Witnesses.
“2.1 - Jehovah's Witness patients
resort to the use of the medical
system for themselves and their
children; each member having
the right to make use of this
[medical system] freely at their
own discretion, without any
controls or sanctions on the part
of the petitioner;” - Translation
of Application No. 28626/95
Watchtower representatives
publicly announced that though
they continue to highlight Bibles
principles regarding the
requirement to abstain from
using blood, they do not prevent
followers from taking blood. In a
Watchtower press release of
April 27th 1998, they stated:
“The agreement also includes an
acknowledgment that each
individual has the freedom to
choose the type of medical
treatment he receives. …. The
terms of the agreement do not
reflect a change in the doctrine
of Jehovah’s Witnesses.”
This is far from true in two
regards.
1. We have already seen that there
was a doctrinal change to allow
Witnesses the right to engage in
civilian military service.
2. As will be discussed later,
individuals do not have “freedom
to choose” a blood transfusion if
they are to remain Witnesses.
Finnish journalist Pasi Turunen
writes that in an interview in
Finland on a local Christian radio
station in April 1998 a
Watchtower representative made
the following comment:
"...this deal by Bulgaria is such
that when the European human-
rights court gave two weeks ago
a decision, that the Bulgarian
government must register
Jehovah's Witnesses, that
Jehovah's Witnesses cannot be
classified as a destructive sect or
religion, so Jehovah's Witnesses
do not tell what a particular
individual does, so this deal
means this, that every individual
has a full freedom of conscience
to do, and Jehovah's Witnesses
do not tell in a centralized way
what someone does or does not
do. And that's what that deal
means." It seemed that a
dramatic shift in policy had
occurred. In reality nothing had
changed, as Watchtower’s
policies and procedures
remained virtually the same. The
words conveyed by the
Watchtower representatives are
deceptive, as Witnesses are
subject to identical repercussions
if they have a blood transfusion
or allow their children to have
one.
Following the Watchtower’s
agreement with Bulgaria, blood
transfusions were removed from
being a disfellowshipping
offence. This was of little
consequence, as the
consumption of blood was
simply reclassified from being a
disfellowshipping offence to one
of disassociation. This change
was released as a letter to
Traveling Overseers dated:
4/26/00: For KS/91 page 95 –
Blood Issue. 5/21/00: New
procedure for handling cases
where ones take a blood
transfusion.

@NAIRALAND,
Every power that is preventing me from posting documents that expose Jehovah's witnesses! Die by fire now IJN! Amen!

If I talk say u don craze, dem go ban me... So make I no talk am.

The Notification of
Disfellowshipping or
Disassociation form (S-77-E
7/01), used when a person is to
be announced as "no longer one
of Jehovah's Witnesses", included
taking blood under the
disassociation check box.

In 2010, the new Elders manual
outlined that taking blood can
lead to being disassociated.
"Willingly and unrepentantIy
taking blood.
If someone willingly takes blood,
perhaps because of being under
extreme pressure, the committee
should obtain the facts and
determine the individual's
attitude. If he is repentant, the
committee would provide
spiritual assistance in the spirit
of Galatians 6:1 and Jude 22,23.
Since he is spiritually weak, he
would not qualify for special
privileges for a period of time,
and it may be necessary to
remove certain basic privileges.
Depending on the circumstances,
the committee may also need to
arrange for an announcement to
the congregation: "The elders
have handled a matter having to
do with [name of person]. You
will be glad to know that spiritual
shepherds are endeavoring to
render assistance." On the other
hand, if the eIders on the
committee determine that he is
unrepentant, they should
announce his disassociation."
Shepherd the Flock of God
pp.111,112
The difference between being
disfellowshipped and
disassociated means that
Witnesses have actually been
disadvantaged by this change.
Whereas a committee is formed
for disfellowshipping where the
subject can plead and then
appeal their case, with
disassociation the subject is
considered to have by their
actions chosen to be removed
from the congregation and
hence have no right of appeal to
the decision. Despite the subtle
difference in procedure, it is
important to recognise that both
result in shunning, as shown in
the following copy from the
Elders manual.

.