"Reason would lead us to the conclusion that Jehovah would not create a wonderful earth like this, permit man to bring it to a high state of cultivation in many places, and then completely destroy it"
About this Quote
The emotional pivot is “wonderful earth like this” and “high state of cultivation.” That’s not abstract doctrine; it’s the tactile evidence of farms, cities, infrastructure, human progress. Rutherford frames civilization itself as testimony that God’s plan is constructive, not wasteful. The subtext is an argument against the kind of end-times imagination that treats the world as disposable. If God invested in creation and allowed humans to develop it, why would the final act be a cosmic demolition?
Historically, this lands in an era when apocalyptic expectation was culturally loud: world war, pandemics, economic instability, and the churn of new religious movements. Rutherford, as a prominent sectarian leader, is also defending his community’s coherence. He offers a rational-sounding alternative to doomsday despair: the future is restoration, not obliteration. The line reassures believers that their labor in the world matters, while quietly repositioning rival theologies as unreasonable, even insulting to the Creator’s supposed competence and thrift.
Quote Details
| Topic | God |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Rutherford, Joseph Franklin. (2026, January 16). Reason would lead us to the conclusion that Jehovah would not create a wonderful earth like this, permit man to bring it to a high state of cultivation in many places, and then completely destroy it. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/reason-would-lead-us-to-the-conclusion-that-114308/
Chicago Style
Rutherford, Joseph Franklin. "Reason would lead us to the conclusion that Jehovah would not create a wonderful earth like this, permit man to bring it to a high state of cultivation in many places, and then completely destroy it." FixQuotes. January 16, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/reason-would-lead-us-to-the-conclusion-that-114308/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Reason would lead us to the conclusion that Jehovah would not create a wonderful earth like this, permit man to bring it to a high state of cultivation in many places, and then completely destroy it." FixQuotes, 16 Jan. 2026, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/reason-would-lead-us-to-the-conclusion-that-114308/. Accessed 4 Feb. 2026.










