Some things that struck me when I was reading this quote were that for one thing this person seems to be contradicting him/herself. First they say matter of factly that the Lord picked the date but then say this date is indeed not in the bible. So are we to believe that the date of the Lord's return was given to people thousands of years after the bible was written but yet was never given to the Apostles who walked with Jesus on earth to record for us in the bible? How could the date even be considered biblical if it is not in the bible?
The second thing that struck me was that the poster admits that you have to use Russell's biblical calculations to arrive at this date - and this really smacked of the WT to me. We all know that when we used the WT's number calculations on things it "seemed" to make sense but now most of us have found that these calculations were made by simply stringing together bible verses that do not belong strung together. So I ask if the dates are biblical, why can we not arrive at them unless we use another book written by Russell to interpret the date? Does this person not consider the bible complete and thus it is necessary for another book? I'd like someone to show me if they can what scriptures justify stringing together the bible verses that Russell picked to back up his theory.
Also, I would like to say that I personally have read the Vol. 2 that this poster mentions and found that the truth really is that the only way anyone would link together the scriptures that Russell linked together is by reading his book. Again, what is the justification for doing this? By reading the bible itself you cannot come to the same conclusion. Therefore I think it safe to say that this date 1874 is a man made idea and not from our Lord Jesus.
Another thing I would like to point out is that the poster seems well intentioned but I picked up immediately on the fact that apparently this BS feels the same way about Russell as the JW's feel about the WT society. I know Russell does represent the FDS to them and therefore he cannot ever be wrong in their eyes. So he gives the date 1874 by putting together verses he is pulling out of context and he cannot be wrong for he is the FDS and has special insight. Also apparently only those really "in the truth" can understand this insight. Even though the Lord Jesus said when he arrived all would "see it" at the same time. He specifically warns against saying that he came in a "secret" manner. (see Matthew 24)
I'm well aware too of Russell's other teaching that although the Lord did say "we do not need to know the date or time" (of his arrival) Russell adds in his books (But, the Lord did not say we will never know) - this is very similiar to WT thinking and we are all well accustomed to seeing these ().
For most Christians the Lord saying "you do not need to know" is plain and simple and we do not read anything else into it. It seems like a clear statement of fact itself. Anything else is purely speculative. Of course if they don't know anything "special" about the Lord's arrival that would place them on equal footing with all the other churches and Christian beleif systems wouldn't it? Any other thoughts on this? Lilly
