RR, you would be wise not to debate this with anybody. Terry, it is sad to see so many taken in.
C.T. Russell Claimed Modern Inventions Were Harbingers of the Millennium
by Kenneson 35 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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sleepy
"the time of the end [when] many will run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased." This must be from the start of the olimpic games in greece in 1896.Lots of running to and fro! Seriously since when has Knowledge not incresed?There have been barren moments in History (Dark ages) but in general knowledged has increased as time has gone on ,how are the inventions of today any more significant than those of past centuries? When was gravity discovered?The Roundness of the earth?The fact that we orbit the sun?Electricity, trains ,steam engines , flow of blood , printing press , books writing , houses, the wheel, clothes,farming...............
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avengers
You think the invention of the lightbulb is "clear" evidence that the Lord returned in 1874?
Now that's what I call "New Light"
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johnny cip
wow RR; iv'e read a lot of your posts and know you have alot of knowledge of the wt and old wt books.if i correct you also do a gerat job exposing the jw's, but your last post about 1874 and light bulbs, telegraph,isreal etc. really makes me wonder how you could fall for this stuff it's like you jumped from the frying pan into the fire. i'm allways throwing stuff like the typewriter, steamlocomotive, etc at my jw dad just to show him what a bunch of kooks the wt was 100 years ago. just to piss him off about proper food at the proper time. the funny thing about all this increased knowledge 100 years ago is not one of these inventions was invented by god's choosen bible students. Thomas edison was the most active inventor of the time. guess he must have had god's sprit A(144k) ? one thing you posted i'm sure the wt loved at the time , was the cheap bulk paper. john
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RR
RR, you would be wise not to debate this with anybody
I always knew you were a rat Minimus
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shamus
He sounds like Mr. Burns off the Simpsons.
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RR
You miss the whole point Johnny, tno where does it ay that these inventions would be invented by God's chosen people. It simply says that as a result of the Lord's return, knowledge will increase.
RR
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Leolaia
RR....I find your listing of inventions and discoveries to be very arbitrary. Why should the list start in 1874? From what I know of the history of science and technology, there's been a continuous process of invention and discovery all throughout the 1800s. If there was a "turning point" at all, it would've been the Industrial Revolution and that would've been in the 1760s. Between 1760 and 1874, we saw the invention of the steam engine, the spinning jenny, the cotton gin, the assembly line, the puddling furnace, the water closet, the battery, ball bearings, the vaccine for smallpox, the first refrigeration machine, the locomotive, the railway system, canned food, matches, the submarine, the amphibious vehicle, the steam boat, the armored warship, the electromagnetic motor, the electric arc light, the threshing machine, the chronometer, solar energy, photography, the revolver, power tools, anesthesia, vulcanized rubber, the gyroscope, Pasteurization, the telegraph, the elevator, the burglar alarm, the theory of evolution, the oil pipeline, the bicycle, dynamite, the subway, antiseptics, the typewriter, and many, many others. So what reason is there to start the timeline of "increased knowledge" in 1874, instead of 1859 or 1845 or 1833 or 1821 or 1809 or any other random date before then. Or how about after 1940?
Oh, and the lightbulb was first invented in 1860 by Joseph Swan who made the first partial vacuum bulb, though an earlier prototype of an electric bulb dates back to 1854 by Henrig Globel. It wasn't perfected until 1879 by Edison. Again, the development of the light bulb was a gradual, continuous process that reaches back far before 1874.
Finally, consider what Adventist founder William Miller said about his own day (long before 1874) about the prophecy in Daniel, as pointing to 1843 as the date of the Lord's return:
3. Many running to and fro. This is another important and evident sign of the end. Daniel xii. 4, ?But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book even to the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro.? Whether the prophet means to be understood ?many shall run to and fro? in a religious sense, or in a civil or temporal sense, or whether he means in both, is perfectly immaterial for my purpose. All must acknowledge that his text is remarkably fulfilled in this day, in either point of view. If it means missionaries of the cross, no man can dispute the fulfillment. See the heralds of salvation crossing and re-crossing on every part of the habitable globe. If it means common travelers, or the rapid means of travel, still our text holds good, and the fulfillment obvious. No man, unless he is willfully ignorant, can deny that his sign is not actually and literally fulfilled.
4. The great increase of knowledge, given in the same text as above. ?Even to the time of the end many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.? View this in any point you please, whether theological or scientifical, it is literally true; in this day of invention and improvement, knowledge increases. What of the fifty different moral societies which have become general in the Christian world? Is there no increase of knowledge in our Bible societies, Sabbath schools, tract societies, temperance societies, and a catalogue of others for moral reform? What can we say of all the inventions and the arts? What of all the improvements in science? In all this is it not very evident that this sign is now fulfilling to the very letter?
The pre-1843 inventions and discoveries seemed pretty awesome to Miller. Most of the world had already been mapped and discovered. The "improvements of science" shows to Miller that "this sign is now fulfilling to the very letter". The same could be said by picking a date, say, of 1945 after which we have seen atomic energy, computers, fax machines, cellular phones, the internet, space travel, etc. And I could easily imagine someone from 2100 looking back to 2004 as the big "prophetic" turning-point that fulfills Bible prophecy. So what makes 1874 so special? Making a selective list that starts after 1874 does nothing to prove an "increase" if no data from before 1874 is presented.
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TheOldHippie
In "The Harp of God" 1921/1928 this is repeated, but expanded, and Rutherford includes "The South Pole" and "The North Pole" in the list. I somehow fail to see how the two Poles have something to do with the end-time and the proof of Christ's parousia .......
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Pole
Did you just say "Pole"?