THE TRUTH SPREADS DESPITE OPPOSITION

The ban was lifted in 1920. Soon thereafter, Brother Joseph appealed to J. F. Rutherford for permission to reprint The Divine Plan of the Ages in Malayalam. Funds were furnished and, in 1923, 1,000 copies were supplied. This again gave a great boost to the work, especially in Travancore.

As the truth spread, so did opposition from the clergy. Church of England clergyman T. J. Andrew challenged Joseph to a public debate on the subject of the soul and the challenge was accepted. Andrew made his church building in the town of Thottakad available, and the debate was advertised by means of handbills. So on Sunday afternoon about 300 persons attended. The proposition was: “The Scriptures clearly teach that the human soul is immortal, eternal and can never die.” Andrew was to affirm; Joseph to deny.

Andrew first spoke for one hour, but the only text he used was 1 Corinthians 2:11: ‘For who knoweth the things of a man, except the spirit of man that is in him?’ (King James Version) Joseph replied with numerous scriptures, showing the difference between spirit and soul. A very favorable impression resulted and many came to Joseph after the debate, wanting to hear more. Then at this little township of Thottakad, in the heart of rural Travancore, a new congregation was formed.

Joseph now requested the Society to have more full-time helpers in India. Four brothers were chosen: His own cousin, Brother K. C. Oommen, and Brothers Mani of Thottakad, K. C. Chacko of Kottayam and K. M. Varughese of Talapady. Varughese was a schoolteacher and able to write Malayalam very neatly. For several years he transcribed for the printer the manuscripts that Brother Joseph prepared in Malayalam. The five brothers worked as a team, touring the towns and villages in Travancore, giving lectures, demonstrating Bible study classes and distributing the tracts and other Bible study aids.

Brother Joseph now sought to extend his work into other parts of India. While recovering from illness in Cuddapah, Madras State (now Andhra Pradesh), about seventeen years earlier, Joseph had learned Telugu. He now embarked on a tour of the old state of Hyderabad spreading Bible tracts and giving lectures. While doing so, he came across the Telugu journal Millennial Light, containing some extracts from the Watch Tower Society’s publications. This prompted Joseph to write Brother Rutherford for authority to publish some of our literature in Telugu. Consequently, 2,000 tracts on “Where Are the Dead?” and 5,000 on “Our Lord’s Return” were published. Joseph then made an extensive tour through the then state of Hyderabad, distributing these. He obtained a Directory of Christian Missions in India and from this was able to visit most of the Christian Mission centers.

OPPOSERS FACED WITH ZEAL

Sometime in the latter half of 1923, back in his native state of Travancore, Joseph was giving a Bible lecture in Pallam, a village south of Kottayam. On the roadside, under a shady tree, Joseph was speaking to a crowd of listeners when a bully rushed upon him, caught hold of his flowing beard (grown on his doctor’s advice to protect his throat and lungs because of his previous weakness) and disrupted the meeting. Brother Joseph was literally dragged for nearly four miles (6 kilometers) to the borders of Kottayam town before they let him go. But his zeal was not dampened.

A passerby who witnessed this ugly scene came to Joseph’s house to sympathize and invited him to come to his own village, Chingavanam, and stay for a week to give Bible talks. This God-fearing man built a meeting place with bamboo and palm leaves. Joseph had handbills printed to advertise the meetings, and for a whole week some 300 to 400 persons were able to receive instruction from God’s Word. This friendly man accepted the truth, and a congregation was rounded at Chingavanam.

These events attracted a great deal of attention. Roman Catholic and Syrian Christian Churches and the Church of England all combined to oppose the truth. They called the Witnesses atheists because they do not believe in the Trinity doctrine. And they published scandalous articles besmirching the character Charles Taze Russell. So Joseph obtained copies of the booklet A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, by J. F. Rutherford, and distributed these to all the English-reading clergy that he knew in that area. Note please, that this opposition was from people professing to be Christian; never from Muslims or Hindus. At every meeting held by our brothers at that time, there was some form of hostile pressure and rowdy disturbance. A favorite tactic of the opposition was for them to shout and beat drums and tin cans, in order to drown out the Kingdom message​—their only argument against Bible truth!

Kozhencherry is a village situated within a pepper-and-ginger-producing area of Travancore and is a stronghold of the Marthoma (Saint Thomas) Reformed Christian sect. It was decided that the Photo-Drama of Creation should be shown to the residents of Kozhencherry, but the brothers had difficulty obtaining a convenient hall. Finally, permission was granted for use of the local government school. Joseph got there with his equipment, eventually assembled the projector with its acetylene burner, and proceeded with the program. Suddenly, misguided religionists led by their angry priest appeared on the scene. By clamorous shouting, they disrupted our meeting. Though an appeal was made for police aid, no help came.

Farther south, in Kundara, is an entrenchment of the Jacobite sect with its theological seminary. Kundara was another site of hostilities. Amid the peaceful surroundings of stately palms and lush banana trees, Brother Joseph was delivering a lecture explaining the “Chart of the Ages,” when a priest-led crowd marched on the scene, beating tin cans and raising a cacophony of deafening voices that drowned out the speaker’s words. The religious hooligans ripped down the “Chart of the Ages” and made away with it. Others hurled cow dung at Brother Joseph. A Hindu man intervened to see what the uproar was about and asked the priest if this was following the example of Jesus Christ or that of Christ’s opposers. He threatened to send for the police. At that the priest slunk away and the crowd dispersed.

PRESSING ON WITH THE WORK

Our work in Travancore was progressing. The Divine Plan of the Ages in Malayalam was in circulation and, in 1920, The Time Is at Hand (second volume of Studies in the Scriptures) was printed.

In 1924 paper was obtained from the Swiss branch office of the Society and a Malayalam edition of the booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die was published.

In that same year, Brother Rutherford sent Joseph money to purchase land and to build a meeting place at Meenadom, where the oldest congregation in India was located. Nestled amid palm-fringed rice paddies and fruit-laden Jack trees, it proved to be a delightful place of assembly.

Also in 1924, Brother A. J. Joseph undertook an extensive railway tour of all India, speaking on such subjects as “The Lord’s Return” and “Where Are the Dead?” Leaving Kottayam, Travancore, this speaking tour took him northeastward until eventually he reached Calcutta.

Then from the famous jute capital of Calcutta, he continued northwest to the Hindu pilgrim city of Allahabad and thence north to Cawnpore, a site of the textile industry. His next speaking point was Agra, the city of the Taj Mahal. He then headed northwest to a military post at Ambala. Finally, he arrived back at his home deep in the south of India after covering about 3,603 miles (5,798 kilometers). It was certainly a noble endeavor for one to undertake singlehanded, but it was accomplished in the strength of Jehovah. (Phil. 4:13) In this way, the “soil” of India was being prepared for the future work of God’s people in this large country.

The next year was one of personal tragedies for Brother Joseph, but let him tell it in his own words: “In 1925 a great calamity occurred in my family. Because of a severe type of dysentery, three of my children died. This was a great shock to me and my wife, but we were comforted by our firm faith in the resurrection. Jehovah sustained us both to bear this calamity with courage and fortitude and to press ahead with the work.”

EXPANSION BEGINS

When the hysteria of World War I had died down, another attempt was made to establish the Kingdom work on an “All-India” basis. At the convention of “Bible Students” in the Alexandra Palace, London, England, in May 1926, Joseph F. Rutherford made inquiries about brothers in that land who could go to India to consolidate and extend the Kingdom work there. George A. Wright and Leslie Shepherd were selected, but for some reason Leslie Shepherd was replaced by Edwin Skinner.

Wright and Skinner, both young and single, left London by ship in July 1926, arriving in Bombay toward the end of the month amidst India’s pouring monsoon rain. They were met at the pier by A. J. Joseph and a companion of his named Abraham. Joseph stayed for a few days to give them firsthand information about the extent of the work already done in India and the results achieved.