C. T. Russell and the Trinity Doctrine

by NanaR 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  NanaR

  JWfacts:

  I expect that their assertion that there is only one archangel is connected to how they want to apply it to Jesus.

  The deuterocanonical book of Tobit identifies another archangel -- Raphael -- but of course JWs do not accept that book as inspired.

  I find the idea that Almighty God plucked one of his angels out of heaven and "transferred his life" to earth to be very strange and not at all satisfying. But the idea that God Himself (the eternally begotten Son) came to earth and was born as a man, suffered, and died for ME and all mankind is just beyond awesome. I can love the Suffering God on the Cross. I spent years being angry with the God who sat in heaven and sent an angel to do his "dirty work".

  Pax,

  Ruth
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  jwfacts

  That is very interesting about Tobit.

  Here is the history that I have dug up, it does not inspire any confidence that the Watchtower knows what it is talking about.

  Michael the Archangel is described in Daniel 10:13 as “Mi´cha·el, one of the foremost princes” and at Revelation 12:7 it says “ Mi´cha·el and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon and its angels battled.” In the fifty years between 1880 and 1930 there were five changes as to who Michael was.

  1. An Angel that worships Jesus.

  Zion’s Watch Tower 1879 November p.4 “Hence it is said, "Let all the angels of God worship him;" [that must include Michael, the chief angel , hence Michael is not the Son of God ] and the reason is, because He has "by inheritance obtained a more excellent Name than they." "

  2. The Pope and Antichrist

  Zion’s Watch Tower 1879 December p.6 "Michael and his angels"-- the papacy and its supporters --fought against the dragon--pagan rulers, etc.,-- and the great dragon was cast out of heaven.

  3. Michael was the pre-human Jesus Christ

  Zion’s Watch Tower 1883 June p.3 “Can it be that he who was called Michael--Jehovah's chief-messenger--was none other than our Lord in his pre-human condition ? … we conclude that HE must have been "chief messenger." “

  4. The Pope again

  The Finished Mystery 1917 p.188 “Michael.--- "Who as God," the Pope.”

  5. Jesus in heaven

  Since the 1930’s Michael is explained to be the heavenly name for Jesus.

  Watchtower 1984 December 15 p.26 “For many years Jehovah’s Witnesses have taught that Michael is a heavenly name for the only-begotten Son of God, who was named Jesus while on earth.”
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  NanaR

  Thanks JWFacts!

  I find very little about the Watchtower organization to inspire me to believe that they know what they are talking about. And with so many grave errors in their teaching, I am certainly not going to conclude that they just happen to be right about the nature of God and the nature of the Son of God...

  I hope you had a happy holiday, and that you have a blessed New Year!

  Ruth
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  RR

  There is nothing to suggest that Russell waws ever a trinitarian, at least during his Bible Student years. Barbour and Patton were both trinitarians. However volume 5 of Studies in the Scriptures has a refutation of the Trinity doctrine.

  Russell believe and taught to diety of CHrist, after His resurrection, and even stated that he prayed to Jesus on occassion and said it was proper to worship Jesus. he believe it was Jesus who created ALL things. That it was Jesus who walked in the garden with Adam, that it was Jesus who spoke throughout the Old Testament as God's spokesman, that it was Jesus who visited Abraham with two other angels on their way to Sodom.

  Somehow Jesus took a backseat.
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  barry

  Gday jwfacts, You said that SDA offshoots held to Arianism and while that is true it may supprise some that during the 50s when Barnhouse and Martin studied SDAism they found a morass of contradictions of material all with the church logo but teaching both Arianism and the trinity doctrine. These crontradictions are found in the opinions of the SDA church members.
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  RR

  Actually there is evidence to support that Ellen White and the founding fathers of the SDA church were NOT trinitarians. In the 1930s they embraced the trinity, this due to Edwin Froom. Many of the books such as The revelation and Daniel commentaries were edited to remove any anti trinmity sentiments and eventually discarded.