by Terry 20 Replies latest jw friends
http://ctrussell.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/examining-freeminds-discover-the-legacy/#comment-1584
An article I wrote on Charles Taze Russell, J.F.Rutherford and Fred Franz for FREEMINDS asserted that they were not professionals in their field
because they took the illegitimate course of self-proficiency. A defender of Russell has a spirited defense to offer at the above website link.
It is a very well-mannered and gentlemanly apologia. You might find it informative!
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I commend the gentleman for a well-mannered style.
I enjoyed this statement of his:
"Actually, Russell by-passed all of man’s theology to study the true foundation of the Christian religion, that is, that which is revealed in the Bible itself"
To which I would respond, if he wasn't special, then why get so worked up over his personal opinion of Scripture? What makes his interpretation more valid or correct than the interpretation of others?
Well, do you have a response to him, since you wrote it? :-))
Randy
Terry's original essay contains the following sentence:
"Rutherford made workers at headquarters sign a petition supporting him upon threat of firing if they did not."
May I ask for the source of this information?
Thanks,
VM44
Wasn't Russell's embracing of Pyramidology indicative to his self expressed amateur bible theology.
Not to mention all the other false inspired prophecies concerning the end times, Armageddon etc.
What more proof do you need ?
Just because he sold his own ideologies in books and literature doesn't reinforce the fact that he was theologically weak.
At the bottom of the page of the above link I left my response:
terrywalstrom Your comment is awaiting moderation.I appreciate the respectful tone of your animadversions. As I read your apologia I am aware that you speak from your own acceptance of Russell’s theology. All well and good.
Once a person is convinced in their heart that a thing is true it is most difficult to read criticism of it without making an eager defense.
I seek to clarify my intentions in the article above quoted.
We all live on the same planet and share in the same social structures and abide by the same laws of the land until it comes to the rather subjective nature of our brain map of “what is really so.”
I wish to speak of the “legitimate” education of professional people from the practical standpoint of what ordinary citizens find normal and acceptable.
A physician who learns on his own and hangs out a shingle to treat diseases and perform operations cannot complain when authorities shut him down and arrest him that “I’ve spent 7 years reading all the best medical treatises from 2000 years ago” as a sane defense. Right?
And yet, this is really the sort of comic book argument I am reading from you about Russell’s legitimacy as a theologian.
Do-it-yourself-auto didactic “learning” won’t fly in the real world.
It is illegitimate to assert into being one’s own proficiency!
And yes–there is a real world.
Unfortunately, when it comes to religion, the bible and professions of “Truth” there is no “there” there by which to measure accuracy.
But, in the “real world” there is.
Claims made ABOUT the real world have to match reality.
IF Russell were merely “channeling” what Jehovah or Jesus were transmitting to him there would be no errors needing correction later, would there? Why would the Living God transmit garbled nonsense?
And yet, in the real world, Russell had to amend, adjust, rectify and otherwise spackle over the cracks in his teachings. Can anybody deny this is so? Well, I suppose you can try and explain away anything if you set your mind to it.
If Jesus is going to return and nothing happens, is it really sanity to assert that something DID because it was….ahem….:”invisible”?
If Armageddon and the destruction of false religion and the rapture of the saints is going to occur in 1914 and it doesn’t hapen, is it anything other than C.Y.A. to “spiritualize” it later and postpone the tangible events?
Just because a man is pleasant, kind, loves God and writes well doesn’t prevent him from finding “god’s dates–not ours” on a piece of burnt toast or the Great Pyramid of Giza!
The Studies in the Scriptures were advertised on a level equal to or greater than that of holy scripture. Hubris or genius?
You see what I am saying? Criticism of Russell’s legacy is mandatory in the practical world where real things actually happen. Russell’s world is a world where invisible things are purported to happen.
The distance between 1879 and 2012 has given us all the evidence we need to be reasonable and clear-headed about the “any minute now” nature of End Times that Russell promoted zealously.
It reeks of flop sweat.
Believe what you will. Assert what you want. Sift the spectral shadows for clues til the cows come home–but, don’t expect others to reach the same conclusions as though they are facts!
If it weren’t for William Miller there would probably not be a C.T.Russell and were it not for Russell there would be no Judge Rutherford or Nathan Knorr or the demented ramblings of Fred Franz. Not organizationally, at least.
Were it not for the bootstrap “genius” of that crew a great many millions of people might have lived a more productive and thoughtful life in a real world.
I wish you well, my friend. I bear no animus.
Terry Walstrom
en.wikipedia.org/.../Watch_Tower_Bible_and_Tract_Society_of_...
Rutherford subsequently organized the formation of the People's Pulpit ... in the end mean the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, to which all donations should be made. ... had required all headquarters workers to sign a petition supporting him and .....J.F. Rutherford, A Great Battle in the Ecclesiastical Heavens, 1915, p.
Between August and November the society and the four ousted directors published a series of pamphlets, with each side accusing the other of ambitious and reckless behavior. The former directors also claimed Rutherford had required all headquarters workers to sign a petition supporting him and threatened dismissal for any who refused to sign. [ 37 ]
We'll see if he posts your reply :-))
Randy
It is really quite a singularity when you stop and think about it.
What other long dead (96 years!) pastor inspires such devotion from people living today?
C.T.Russell was the true definition of charismatic personality.
I met with two Bible Students a number of years back, a father and son, whose lives were entirely devoted to finding ways to promulgate the writings
of Russell. They told me they had conventions once a year and a weekly study with others. I asked how many and they said 8. They think of themselves as the "faithful remnant" and they certainly are that.
i find nothing compelling in Russell's work. He was wealthy and could market himself. He needed massive transfusions of humillity. If one were to truly study the Bible and its culture, humility would be present. One would have many more questions than answers. The persistence of Russell's followers would be a good article for abnormal psychology.
All in all, though, they are polite on this forum. Not one of his prophecies was accurate. I do believe if he were middle class, he would have died in obscurity. It is even strange that he calls himself "pastor." It is similar to Rutherford, a lawyer, calling himself a judge. You need to be a lawyer for most judicial posts. Many are called, few are chosen. Rutherford was not chosen. His law school classmates must have laughed so hard.
