True or False .... The JW Religion was Started by Amateur Self Avowed Bible Theologians ?

by Finkelstein 12 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Finkelstein

  .....who were able to propagate their self devised bible theology by utilizing a Printing Plant which they themselves were the head editorial writers
  

  C T Russell and the man to follow him J Rutherford, were both not academically trained bible theologians but they certainly were inspired businessmen to the fact, Charlatans of their own era and time.
  

  The return of Jesus Christ and a new world order to replace an old wicked world order, was just too much of a marketable and tangible concept for those men to just leave alone.

  They exploited the already existing belief in the bible already structured within the population to where they preached their created version of the Gospel, the rest is now history as well their many self devised albeit commercially appealing failed doctrines .
  

  They lured in many by virtue of their self imposing doctrines to the unfortunate fallibility to many, which can now be clearly accepted and recognized.
  

  
  
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  Ucantnome

  the jury is still out
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  Giordano

  A quick read of the start up of the WTBTS lands it right in the same company as other 19th century religions who preached the religious nonsense of that time. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Jehovah%27s_Witnesses

  In January 1876 Russell read an issue of Herald of the Morning, a periodical edited by Adventist preacher Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, New York, but which had almost ceased publication because of dwindling subscriptions.[12] Barbour, like other Adventists, had earlier applied the biblical time prophecies of Miller and Wendell to calculate that Christ would return in 1874 to bring a "bonfire";[17] when this failed to eventuate he and co-writer J.H. Paton had concluded that though their calculations of the timing of Christ's return were correct, they had erred about its manner. They subsequently decided that Christ's return, or parousia, was invisible, and that Christ had therefore been present since 1874.[12][18][19] Russell "rejoiced" to find that others had reached the same conclusion on the parousia and decided their application of Adventist time prophecies — which he said he had "so long despised" — merited further examination. He met Barbour, accepted his detailed and complex arguments on prophetic chronology[20] and provided him with funds to write a book that combined their views.[12]
  

  The book, Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World,[21] was published in early 1877.[22] It articulated ideas that remained the teachings of Russell's associates for the next 40 years, many of which are still embraced by Jehovah's Witnesses:

  So the long and short of it is that the WTBTS was based on and in large part is still based on an Adventist preacher Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, New York
  
  

  
  
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  Island Man

  True
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  Finkelstein

  It seems to have been a bit of thing for wanting bible code breakers in the 1800's to interpret some of the bible's Scriptures to create a prophetic dispensational era, such as Christ taking his heavenly throne and choosing certain men on earth to spread the good news of this coming New World Order.

  Russell and Rutherford were just a couple of these self described chosen ones (FDSL) who proceeded to make grandiose proclamations on their own which inevitably failed one after another.
  

  The continuing proliferation of the literature they individually wrote and published was a driving force behind their enthusiasm and may have influenced their subsequent delusions of whom they actually were toward their personal identity.
  

  Nevertheless they did achieve in distributing a lot of literature in due course of their endeavors, as well establishing their own presence of power and authority over ones who were effectively allured through the doctrines they created themselves.

  Today the WTS. GB leaders are pressured into fumbling around with those old previous contrived doctrines, into trying to make them still look correct to their theological relevance.
  
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  kepler

  What's a professional avowed Bible theologian?

  The accounts in the Bible itself do not emphasize the experts on texts. Rather ambivalent about them at best considering the NT perspective on Pharisees. But on the other hand, Paul tries to get everything to jive with what he read in Deuteronomy.

  In the same period in the US that Rutherford and Russell were prominent, overseas the Documentary Hypothesis took a different approach to text. Whether that was professional or not, I hesitate to say, but it did arise out of efforts to interpret other documents from antiquity. What it did receive, however, in this country was a hostile reception from fundamentalist as well as a reaction of retrenchment.

  The stunner for me was that Darwinism or cosmological discoveries do not have to be invoked to find serious holes in fundamentalist or literalist arguments. One day, just happening to notice a literary quirk in Greek historians ( Persians = Medes) pulled down several sand castles I had wondered about. And they were based on both fundamentalist assumptions of inerrancy and self-fulfilling hypotheses associated with the beliefs:

  "It's the text, I understand it and it has to mean..."

  Professional or amateur can exploit that in a pamphlet, a radio station, pulpit or consultation meeting. Adventists see a Second Coming that has to mean a world collapse. Behold a comet. It must mean we are in the last days. No? Well, let's try again.
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  ttdtt

  
  
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  Finkelstein

  My original intent into starting this thread was to show the true founding origins of the JWS faith in that it was not started by academically trained bible scholars but enthusiastic amateurs who wanted to distribute their own theology to the public by literature publishing and by giving public talks. Most of C T Russell's expressed theological ideas were not originally his own, Pyramidology for example came from Charles Smyth . Other date calculating regarding the return time of Christ (1874,1914) was from people such as Nelson Barbour another Adventist preacher at the time.

  One cant help surmise that some the endeavoring activity by Russel and Rutherford was inherently inspired by these men to draw up public notoriety toward themselves. .
  

  J Rutherford the man to follow Russell wasn't a bible theologian either, he was a lawyer by profession, who Russell had used in other of his business dealings.

  He notoriously grabbed onto the WTS, knowing the money that Russell had built into it, also to assume the controlling power over it as the prevailing President.

  He preconceived within himself that to hold onto this self consuming power, control and perhaps the money he had to continue promoting the doctrines which Russell has previously created, that being that Christ has returned and that he was present carefully scrutinizing people to see if they are worthy to be saved and live on in a earthly paradise. This doctrine was used extensively throughout the 20th century and still continues on to this day.
  
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  TTWSYF

  One Christian church started by Jesus,

  built by the apostles,

  and 29,999 hundred other churches started by men who thought [think] that they know more about the bible than the people who have given and protected the bible.

  Keep in mind that the bible came AFTER the apostles started HIS church.

  just saying
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  Finkelstein

  It seems people such a Russell and those other bible teachers who proclaimed that they knew of when Christ would return by varying calculating methods, as something very appealing to proclaim and quite advantageous to put on the front cover of magazines etc.

  Unfortunately all of these date setting goes directly against the bible teaching and even the words of Jesus Christ whom they are said to represent.

  Lying and then saying they represent Jesus Christ and god is not being a true Christian.

  You may attract attention upon those specific theological teachings but it goes against the basic principles which admonishes lying and puts yourself into being identified as being false prophets.