New Biography of Pastor Russell

by RR 83 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Forscher

  Greetings Kenneson,
  
  

  Here is a link for you on the topic as well:

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/5877/1.ashx

  I would also like to draw your attention to the following:

  1. From a biography of Russell printed in the December 1, 1916 Watchtower after Russell's death, no doubt written by or under the direction of Rutherford:
     
     Pastor Russell adhered closely to the teachings of the Scriptures. He believed and taught that we are living in the time of the second presence of our Lord, and that His presence dates from 1874; that since that time we have been living in the "time of the end"--the "end of the Age," during which the Lord has been conducting His great Harvest work; that, in harmony with the Lord's own statement, this Harvest work is separating true Christians designated as "wheat," from merely professing Christians, designated as "tares," and gathering the true saints into the Kingdom of the Lord. It is here interesting to note that Jesus said, "Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his Lord hath made ruler over His Household, to give them meat in due season? Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord, when He cometh, shall find so doing! Verily I say unto you that He shall make him ruler over all His goods." Thousands of the readers of Pastor Russell's writings believe that he filled the office of "that faithful and wise servant," and that his great work was giving to the Household of Faith meat in due season. His modesty and humility precluded him from openly claiming this title, but he admitted as much in private conversation.
  3. The following comment on Ezekiel 9:2 is from The Finished Mystery which we know was written under the supervision of Rutherford:
     
     

     9:2. And, behold, six men came from the way of the higher gate, which lieth toward the North, and every man a slaughter weapon in his hand; and one man among them was clothed with linen, with a writer's inkhorn by his side: and they went in, and stood beside the brazen altar. — The six with earthly weapons are the rulers of the six great nations — Russia, Germany, Austria, France England and Italy. The six with the Sword of the Spirit symbolize all the Elijah class, the six, with one other, making up the seven, the complete number. These have their commission from "the north," from the seat of Divine Dominion, from God Himself. Practically all Bible translators and commentators agree that the one with a writer's inkhorn by his side was not one of the six, but a seventh, garbed as a priest, or as a clerk or officer in an army of the East. The linen signifies the imputed righteousness of Christ, (Rev. 19:8.) The writer's inkhorn symbolizes that the seventh man's function was to write. God identified him thus: When The Watch Tower Bible And Tract Society was at Allegheny, Pa., an open Bible was to be painted on one of the large front windows of the office. A sign painter, not in the Truth, painted the open Bible; and without instruction from any one, of his own volition, he painted the Bible as open at Ezekiel, Chapter 9. The man in linen was the Laodicean servant, the Lord's faithful and wise steward, Pastor Russell. When Pastor Russell saw this, he turned pale. Ezekiel seeing the man in linen, types Pastor Russell thereafter seeing himself to be the antitype of that man — one of the most prolific writers of the Age, and the only one to write and publish widely the glad tidings of the actual Second Presence of Christ. The seven men stood beside the brazen altar — there, in connection with God's Plan, based upon the Ransom sacrifice to receive their Divinely appointed commission.

  I think those two passages make my point and prove the self-serving statement in the Proclaimers' book the lie that it is. You can find those passages at the following links:

  http://www.ctrussell.us/ctrussell/ctrussell.nsf/22284ee7f683acc9862566bd000b278c/3e27c87f6fa0355e862566eb00107c28?OpenDocument

  http://www.strictlygenteel.co.uk/finishedmystery/fme9.html

  I am sure you noticed the last part of the quote from the Watchtower where it said, "His modesty and humility precluded him from openly claiming this title, but he admitted as much in private conversation." If you think on what Rutherford was trying to do, it becomes obvious why he had that printed, it was necessary to his sceme.

  Forscher
• 

  RR

  Johnny Cip: RR; has proven time and again to be of no different mind set. than of the most RABID WT DEFENDERS. WHEN IT COMES TO RUSSELL. he will lie, twist, hide facts, and straight out bare false witness. to defend the idol he worships charles taze russell. for a man that has just about every wt book going. he's great at judging the wt post 1918 , and cursing rutherFRAUD TO DEATH.

  Oh Johnny, I see you still have a "thing" for me, it's okay, I still love you! But tell me when have I lied, twisted, hidden facts, and straight out bore false witness?

  but he's a HYPOCRITE, everything the wt has done after 1918 is bad. but everything RUSSELL DID was the next best thing since the coming of christ.

  Well this is a JW forum, not a Bible Student forum .... everyone here has been duly affected not by Russell's teachings, but by Rutherford.

  it's so sad a man with so much knowledge. is blinded just because the russellites in new jersey . helped him get on his feet when he was down and out. so now he worships them. this is no different than what the wt does till this day. hook some lonely destatude person. give them a helping hand. and now claim they are the best thing since MIRCLE WHEAT.. . and RR FELL FOR IT. in truth your just a RABID RUSSELLITE.

  Let's get the facts right, first you call me a worshipper of Russell and now you call me a worshipper of the Russellites, which is it? eh? Secondly, I was NEVER down on my feet. I joined the Bible Students while STILL IN the JW's. After I made a comparison I left the JW's. I never needed a helping hand during my exodus.

  we all here love your knowledge of how the wt post 1918 is full of crap. your in the top 10 on this stuff.

  I'll take that as a compliment!

  now apply the same standards to your idol (pastor) RUSSELL. . till then your a HYPOCRITE. with tons of knowledge. and can't apply it with a clear mind. now you can just go and hide like you did one year ago . when your god russell got EXPOSED last year right here on jwd. but come around when we all need your talanted research 1918 to present.

  I do apply the same standards, there are things Russell did that were wrong, I admit it, you just never asked the right questions or for the proper research. I have so much stuff in my files, even the Watchtower wants it, I have things that certain top collectors think they are the only ones who have them.

  Now the reason why I come and go on this forum is because every so often I get e-mails from members asking me for my historical expertise.

  Now on a personal note, just because YOU haven't been able to function since you left or were kicked out of the borg and found purpose, doesn't mean those I or others haven't. You say your free ... free from what? You still habor hatred for the anything related to the Watchtower, and that hatred is going to consume you, until you're just a bitter lonely old fart, still posting your hate mongering dribble about the Society.

  But ... hey .... that's your life, you enjoy the rest of it!

  And just to show you who the better man is, I won't even stoop to your level and respond to whatever else you have to say on this subject, so you go right on ahead and keep whinning!

  RR
• 

  Forscher

  I think I am going to go for a little overkill here,

  I was looking through the issue of the Watchtower I linked in the previous thread and found the following from the funeral talk given at Russell's funeral by no less than Rutherford himself:

  The Lord Jesus promised that at His Second Coming, which should be invisible to human eyes, He would have one wise and faithful servant whom He would make ruler over all His goods to give meat to the Household of Faith in due season. Christians throughout the world who are familiar with the work of Pastor Russell readily recognize that he has long been that wise and faithful servant of the Lord.

  It appears that Rutherford was the only one to say that publically at one of Russell's services (there were several), so it appears that the man couldn't even wait for russell to be in the ground to promote that view.

  Forscher
• 

  RR

  Nam: RR, I'm wondering why you even care or why are you wasting precious time examining anything Russell had to say.

  Nam, I don't consider it "wasting precious time." Unlike my lack of research when I joined the Witnesses, I did plenty of research on Russell and the early movement while still in. And I firmly believe if anything comes remotely close to primitive Christianity it is what Russell taught.

  This has absolutely no relevance for us today. It only meant something to him or anyone at that time period because they were living at that time period.

  Not true, there are tens of thousands of BIble Students worldwide [and thousands more] who feel there is relevance in what he taught. That's like those who say the BIble is 2,000 years old, and has no relevance for us today. Of course you may feel that way too, I don't know.

  So many have a need to make the time that they are living somehow more meaningful than any other time period. That's why those JW's living during 1975 made that period so important. They'd do it again in the 2000s, if they could get away with it. But the WT knows better than to beat that horse again. We're free of all that--THANK GOD.

  While I'm not one of those, and while I know of a handful of Bible Students who have their own dates for certain events, I don't see them living their lives any different in comparison to before their found those dates.

  If you really feel the need to exercise your obviously deep, mathematical, complex mind read, "The Joys of Statistics."

  Actually I hate math, I stick to "Studies in the Scriptures" and the "Harvest Message."
• 

  RR

  Forscher, It appears that Rutherford was the only one to say that publically at one of Russell's services (there were several), so it appears that the man couldn't even wait for russell to be in the ground to promote that view.

  Actually, while it is true that Russell NEVER promoted it himself, there were those who believed he was while Russell was still alive. Letters to the Watchtower that appeared in print were sometimes addressed Br. Russell as "That Servant". Of course he never counselled them on it, so I think it is safe to say he may have believed he was used of the Lord and filled that office.
• 

  Kenneson

  Forscher,

  Actually, Russell claims that it was his wife Maria, who came up with the idea of him being "that servant." Russell was not too keen on the idea and objected that the term might apply to The WATCHTOWER rather than a person, like himself. Be that as it may, in the final analysis, her view won out on the day and that is exactly how some of the Bible Students came to view Russell.

  See Zion's Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, R3811: page 215

  Scroll down to "The Bad Seed Germinated"

  Found at http://www.ctrussell.us/

  P.S. See also ZWT March 1, 1896, page 47; and June 15, 1896, pages 139-140
• 

  lovelylil

  RR

  I for one will never resort to attacking you personally for your beliefs. I had that happen to me on a bible student forum as you well know and did not like it one bit. I do agree that most of the wrongs committed against JW's was due directly to the teachings of Rutherford and not Russell. Russell was not as dogmatic as Rutherford on many things. I do not agree with all Russell's teachings as you know but do not think he was the evil menace that Rutherford was. I went back and did the research to all the way to the beginning and the very first WT written by Russell. Although I found many of his beliefs rather odd and not fully supported by scripture, he seemed to be a genuine person of faith in the Lord who believed many of the things that others believed during his time period in history. Such as his beliefs about the pyramid which was widely published by others before Russell.

  Many will disagree with me as they may feel that the world would have been much better off (and them personally) to have never had a WT bible and tract society at all as it would not have been able to morf into the huge ugly monster it is today. And they are justified in these feelings I say as I often feel that way too.

  Anyway, I am still awaiting the evidence that you said is independent of Russell (?) and that proves that Russell's dates were correct. This is information if you have it that I (and others I am sure) would be very interested in. I've been waiting nearly 3 years already for even ONE bible student to furnish me this proof and am still awaiting it. Please if you would be so kind, offer the proof for me.

  One thing: the reason I said I would like proof "independent" of Russell is I learned my lesson as a JW to not accept ONLY the proof offered by the organization or person trying to persuade me in my beliefs. Had I done the research on the org. in the beginning I would not have fallen easy prey to the false teachings. So again, if you can show biblically, secularly or historically in any way that Russell's dates were correct, without quoting from Russell himself or his books, please forward that information to me. If it is true the evidence should be able to stand on its own merits and we should not have to read several volumes of books to "see" it. Many thanks Lilly
• 

  VM44

  "that most of the wrongs committed against JW's was due directly to the teachings of Rutherford and not Russell."

  lovelylil, that is a very true statement you made.

  Charles Russell even considered Rutherford a dangerous person and wanted to put Rutherford as far as away from him as he could (source: Horowitz's Early Zionist biography of Russell)

  I wonder if this new biography discusses Russell's relationship with Rutherford during the last 10 years of his life? (1906 to 1916)

  --VM44
• 

  carla

  RR,

  do you still believe typhoid and apendicidis are caused by biting worms then? Russell did.
• 

  RR

  RR, do you still believe typhoid and apendicidis are caused by biting worms then? Russell did.

  I never did Carla, but apparently that was the thought of the day way back when. What ... do you think Russell just decided to make that up? How about drinking a glass of water upside down or breathing into a paper bag to cure ones hiccups, or holding ones head back and puuting a copper penny on your forehead to cure a nose bleed? Give me a break ... is that the best you can do? RR