"God created the first man, whom he called Adam. Then God created a woman, whom ho named Eve; and this man and woman were given the power from Jehovah God to reproduce their kind, that is to say, to cause conception and birth of children"
About this Quote
Rutherford anchors human origins in a literal reading of Genesis, presenting Adam and Eve as a historical first pair and framing human reproduction as a divinely granted power. The emphasis falls on agency: people do not simply breed by biological impulse; they reproduce because Jehovah empowered them to do so. That shift from biological mechanism to bestowed authority fits Rutherford’s larger campaign to re-center moral order and social life under God’s sovereignty.
The phrase reproduce their kind carries particular weight. It echoes the Genesis refrain about living creatures producing “according to their kinds,” a creationist boundary that rejects evolutionary continuity between humans and animals. For Rutherford, humanity begins with Adam, not with a primate ancestor, and all people descend from that original couple. This common origin underwrites teachings about the unity of the human family and provides a basis for moral accountability to a single Creator.
Invoking the divine name, Jehovah, signals Witness distinctiveness. Rutherford tirelessly promoted the use of that name to mark true worship and to distinguish his movement from what he condemned as apostate Christendom. By naming God precisely, he connects the command to be fruitful and multiply with a particular covenantal identity rather than a generalized theism.
The statement also embeds a charge about marriage and family. If procreative capacity is a gift from Jehovah, the manner of its use becomes a matter of obedience, not preference. Rutherford’s audience would hear an ethical framework: sexual relations belong within the divinely ordered pairing of man and woman, procreation is honorable, and family life is part of God’s purpose for the earth. Set against early twentieth-century debates over higher criticism and evolution, the simplicity of the claim is strategic. It offers a clear origin story, a coherent anthropology, and a moral map where life, lineage, and worship converge under God’s explicit mandate.
The phrase reproduce their kind carries particular weight. It echoes the Genesis refrain about living creatures producing “according to their kinds,” a creationist boundary that rejects evolutionary continuity between humans and animals. For Rutherford, humanity begins with Adam, not with a primate ancestor, and all people descend from that original couple. This common origin underwrites teachings about the unity of the human family and provides a basis for moral accountability to a single Creator.
Invoking the divine name, Jehovah, signals Witness distinctiveness. Rutherford tirelessly promoted the use of that name to mark true worship and to distinguish his movement from what he condemned as apostate Christendom. By naming God precisely, he connects the command to be fruitful and multiply with a particular covenantal identity rather than a generalized theism.
The statement also embeds a charge about marriage and family. If procreative capacity is a gift from Jehovah, the manner of its use becomes a matter of obedience, not preference. Rutherford’s audience would hear an ethical framework: sexual relations belong within the divinely ordered pairing of man and woman, procreation is honorable, and family life is part of God’s purpose for the earth. Set against early twentieth-century debates over higher criticism and evolution, the simplicity of the claim is strategic. It offers a clear origin story, a coherent anthropology, and a moral map where life, lineage, and worship converge under God’s explicit mandate.
Quote Details
| Topic | God |
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