bumped
What strand of Christianity gave birth to WTBTS?
by Band on the Run 65 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Band on the Run
Orthodoxy started the Roman Catholic Church, not the other way.
Were these just periodic outcroppings of dissent from orthodoxy or did one group lead to the formation of another group? I am considering whether there is causation. A broad view of Witness beliefs is shared by other faiths.
Of course, we all know Jehover sprayed some magic dust in the air when Charles Taze Russell wrote and preached. Suddenly, where James, Peter, Paul and the rest failed, the Witnesses succeed. The funny part is I believed it.
I am curious why Witnesses are rabidly antiCatholic. It strikes me as though antiCatholic sentiment is stronger among Witnesses than during the English religious wars. Perhaps they see an authoritorian competitor. Mainstream Protestant groups just can't push the control button in the same manner.
Decent people believed this garbage.
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ablebodiedman
I personally believe that Jehovah's Witnesses are the last (and final) iteration of Christianity.
If you condense the last 2000 years then you get:
Catholicism --- Roman and Orthodox - Ram with two horns. One taller than the other.
Protestantism -- He goat with one conspicuous horn - removed the monopolized power of Catholicism.
Protestantism reformed into essentialy 4 main groups - great horn broken and replaced by 4 horns
Out of one of the 4 horns a small horn grew all the way to the army of the heavens -- Jehovah's Witnesses.
Yes, the last 2000 years of Christianity is what Daniel Chapter 8 is all about.
abe
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mP
Perry
I have seen evidence of an unbroken line of believers in Christ Alone. Jesus promised his believers that he would be with them "alway" until the end. The Greek work for alway indicates inclusivity of both ends... a time period.
MP:
Really ! What are their names, who were their parents, where did they bleieve or are you talking about the Popes ?
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Phizzy
I cannot think of any idea that Russell had that is original, and certainly he read and was influenced by all the rubbish from Isaac Newton on through Jonathan Edwards and all the Adventist stuff, there is also too much overt stuff that obviously comes from non-"christian" sources, the guy was a terrible plagiarist.
I cannot think he would have avoided Kabbalah or Theosophical ideas, he may not have been a Freemason himself, but he used many masonic expressions in his speeches and writings, so was steeped in Freemasonry and its connections.
I am not surprised the WT is helping him fade from their history, I think eventually they will do that with Rutherford too somehow, he is an even bigger cause for shame.
How ironic thta the WT rails against anything they perceive as Pagan, and yet their progenitor was more influenced by pagan ideas than by the Bible.
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notjustyet
Here is a video that shows the history of how the IBSA and then the JWs came to be.
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Band on the Run
What the WT teaches is the complete opposite of Gnosticism. I studied Gnosticism for several years in college and read books and articles as an interested nonscholar.
There were many alternatives to Gnosticism in early Christianities. Gnosticism is one strand. It appeals to a New Age/modern sensibility. Anyone who has been seriously ill or very poor can understand Gnosticism. Also, there were different strands of Gnosticism. Some communities were ascetic. Others were sexually wanton b/c the body does not matter. It is illusion.
Sounds a bit like George Harrison preaching "Beware of Maya." Perhaps there were trade routes to India. I usually read that the major influence was Greek philosophy.
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jgnat
Way back on page one someone asked why so many breakaway groups all at once? It was the invention of the printing press. Literacy became more widespread, and literature became accessible to the common man. After that, anyone could read the bible and come up with an understanding all by himself.
Denominations and beliefs haven't stopped reforming and splitting since the Witnesses. They are definitely not the be-all and end-all for novel ideas in Christianity. How about the Red Letter Christians, The Purpose Driven Life, and the House Church movements?
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jgnat
Why pick on the Catholics? Because especially at the dawn of the industrial age when the Bible Students were new, the Catholic church was definitely part of the Establishment. That made them a big target. Rutherford loved to get in a dig at the establishment. That made the Witnesses sound radical, fresh.
Fascinating for me was Rutherford's pioneering work in radio, new technology at the time. He had his own pirate radio station and dared the Establishment to push him off the air.