By B. J. Kotwall
Three article in the Awake! magazine (1994 July 8) deride astrology and star worship. What is missing
in these articles is what the Watchtower Society (WTS) used to teach.
For 62 years, 1891 to 1953, the WTS taught that God resided
on the star Alcyone in the Pleiades constellation and that from this star he governed the universe!
This belief was taught in
The WTS also taught that the Great Pyramid
of Egypt provided additional proof of God's throne in the Pleiades! (The Golden Age 1924 September 10 pp. 793-794)
The International
Bible Students Souvenir Convention Report (1914) says:
The Pleiades, the centre of the universe, are located in Taurus,
and as though to emphasize the foundation, the original meaning of Alcyone, one of the chief stars of the Pleiades, is "foundation".
How significant that the whole universe should throughout the ages swing about that constellation and that star which alone picture
so clearly the Ransom! The bullock offered on the brazen altar in the court was indeed the foundation: it represented the sacrifice
of the Lord. The bullock in the sky represented the very same thing. (pp. 252-253)
The book Reconciliation (1928) says:
But
the greatness in size of other stars or planets is small when compared with the Pleiades in importance, because the Pleiades is the
place of the eternal throne of God. (p. 14)
In 1953 the doctrine about Alcyone and Pleiades was discarded:
Some
attribute striking qualities to these constellations or star groups and on the basis of such they then offer private interpretations
of Job 38:31,32 that amaze their hearers...when viewed Scripturally they are completely without foundation. (The Watchtower 1953 November
15 p. 703)
The Bible verses quoted in this 1953 article which were used by "Some" to "amaze their hearers" were in fact
the verses used by the WTS to prove that God resided on the star Alcyone! (The Watchtower 1915 June 15 p.185; The Golden Age 1928
May 16 p. 540)
A different link of WTS doctrine with astrology appeared in the
The constellations of the Zodiac are presently considered by the WTS as being of pagan origin. (Insight on the Scriptures
Volume 2 (1988) p. 1240) The same were regarded in 1914 as of Divine origin with each of the 12 Zodiacal signs having numerous correspondencies
with the Bible.
To my knowledge the WTS has not directly admitted their error about God's throne on the star Alcyone. Their latest
history book Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993) which they claim is "objective" and "candid" is silent on the
subject.
Copyrighted:
INVESTIGATOR Magazine
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Australia