Russell's successor as chairman of the Watch Tower Bible Society was Joseph Franklin Rutherford (1870-1942). Early in his secular career, he served as an assistant judge in Boonville, Missouri; later moved to New York. Under Russell, Rutherford served as vice president. According to his will, he was supposed to share power with the board of directors "for life" appointed by Russell, but by expelling them on July 7, 1917, he seized monopoly power. It happened in a completely scandalous way. The "judge," on the pretext that Russell's appointment had not been confirmed at the annual meeting of the Corporation, removed four of the seven directors from their posts without resorting to a general vote. According to A. H. MacMillan, a prominent member of the headquarters at the time, Rutherford consulted with an independent lawyer who was not a member of the sect and subsequently decided to dismiss the directors. On Rutherford's orders, his assistant even called the police to the Brooklyn headquarters of the Society to disperse a meeting of the Board of Directors and remove its participants from their offices.

In 1918, Rutherford expelled from the ruling corporation of the Society an old collaborator, Russell Paul Johnson, the future founder of a rival sect - "Epiphany" - for continuing to preach about the final determination and resurrection to spiritual life in 1914 of the righteous ranked among the "heavenly class".

Having secured the integrity of the sect's headquarters and corporate property, Rutherford turned his attention to the rest of the organization. By gradually replacing the elders elected by the local assemblies with his own people, the president ensured that the network of free, semi-autonomous organizations with democratic self-government turned into a tightly knit machine, the work of which was controlled from his office. By 1927, the self-election and decree of elders without direct control from the Brooklyn Center was largely prohibited. Many leaders of the congregations were removed from their posts, which was later defined as "the cleansing of the sanctuary" (Dan. 8:14). "It took literally 2,300 days," reported The Watchtower, "from May 25, 1925, to October 15, 1931." 59

As early as 1917, Rutherford had begun publishing the Watchtower's companion magazine, The Golden Age (now Awake!). Rutherford was also not spared the general disease of the Rasselites. He set the date of the Second Coming for 1918. But then he corrected the "exact" time of the coming of the Kingdom of God to earth to 1925. The political events of that time were "prophetically" reinterpreted. When the International League of Nations was created in 1919, it was given the name of "the abomination of desolation" (Dan. 9:27).

Shortly before this date, the congress of Jehovah's Witnesses solemnly adopted a resolution on the "death of human civilization."

In 1920, Rutherford laid a solid financial foundation for the sect's activities, on which it is based to this day. He charged his supporters with the distribution of books and magazines published by the society. To this day, it is the main source of funding for the Witnesses. With regard to military service, Rutherford continued Russell's policy. He actively promoted the refusal to serve in the army, for which he was imprisoned, although later amnestied.

In 1925, based on a false prophecy about the imminent resurrection of the patriarchs and righteous men of the Old Testament, Rutherford ordered his followers to build a palace to receive them, later called the "House of the Princes" (Beth Sarim). The mansion was located in a fashionable suburb of San Diego, and since the expected righteous did not resurrect, President Rutherford lived in it until his death. Over time, the building became perplexing and was hastily sold.

By this time, only about 24 thousand people remained in the organization. Rutherford later called the construction of the palace "unfaithful and stupid", literally "fooling around" 61. The end date was postponed to 1942.

By 1931, a split had finally formed among the sectarians because of the seventh volume of Russell's works, The Mystery Unraveled. This book was presented to the staff of the headquarters on July 7, 1917. In fact, it was written by Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher. Rutherford single-handedly decided on this publication.

Сам ересиарх распоряжением Рутерфорда был посмертно лишен звания "верного и благоразумного раба", а пирамида, которую основатель Общества выдавал за "Божье свидетельство в камне" 62, была переименована в "дьявольскую Библию". Но парадоксальным образом, одновременно члены Общества призывались к преданности идеям Рассела 63.

Рутерфорд на конгрессе, состоявшемся в октябре 1931 г. в г. Колумбус, шт. Огайо, США, переименовал секту в "Свидетели Иеговы" (до этого они назывались "расселиты"), причем основная масса народа пошла за ним. Название "Свидетели Иеговы" президент взял из книги Пророка Исаии 43:10. Отколовшиеся поместные собрания образовали ряд разрозненных групп, таких как "Чикагские исследователи Библии", "Исследователи Библии зари" и пр. Эти общества во всем своем многообразии дожили до сегодняшнего дня под разными именами. Наиболее влиятельна из них "Конференция христиан верующих", созданная еще в 1909 г. проповедниками Х.Хенингом, М.Макфайлом и А.Вильямсом, резко выступавшими против Ч. Рассела. Спор шел из-за количества членов "небесного правительства", то есть 144000 спасенных. Хенинг и Макфайл, в отличии от Рассела, считали это число приблизительным. Интересно, что подобные идеи сохранились в "Обществе Сторожевой башни" до настоящего времени, о чем свидетельствует п.5 документа Руководящей корпорации "Recent evidences of wrong teachings being spread about" ("Недавние свидетельства о распространении неверных учений") от 26.04.80 г. 64

Изгнанные Рутерфордом в 1918 году объединились в "Пасторский библейский институт".

"Исследователи Библии зари" откололись от "Пасторского библейского института" в 20-х. годах и имеют своих последователей во Франции, Австрии, Германии, Италии, Дании, Уругвае и других странах.

Крупнейшей из отколовшихся от Бруклинского центра в 1918 г. является Ассоциация изучающих Библию - “Епифания”. Возглавил это движение, упоминавшийся выше Пол Джонсон, обвинявший Рутерфорда в предательстве заветов Рассела. Этому предательству посвящены целых семнадцать томов сочинений Джонсона. "Епифанцы" действуют сейчас в России.