by kid-A 118 Replies latest jw friends
Here are some other links of interest discussing both sides of it:
http://www.cephasministry.com/jw_was_russell_a_mason.html
http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry03.html - This from an actual Freemason site.
http://www.johnankerberg.org/Articles/_PDFArchives/apologetics/AP2W0301.pdf
1) a grave monument covered in masonic images
2) his early literature festooned with masonic symbols
I'm not deliberately trying to be argumentative, but how strong an indictment is this given the fact that masonic images can be found in the artwork of almost any denomination? (It's Masonry that has borrowed from Christianity, not the other way around.)
Gentlemen,
As I stated, perhaps we should all agree to disagree. I would then recommend that we wrap this thread in a roman toga and go bury it under a pyramid somewhere.....
As I stated, perhaps we should all agree to disagree.
I'll buy that. I usually don't respond to much that is written here or elsewhere but I'm a lover of truth, no matter how ugly it is or pro-JW it might be. The claim that Russell was a Mason or involved himself in Freemasonry to a farther extent than him drawing parallels to what they belief with what he thought the Bible taught is, to my eyes, inaccurate.
Kid-A,
Anyone interested in Lodge registries of Masons in Allegheny will find the following link of interest. But please remember that Chasson, who posted the thread is French and doesn't have a mastery of the English language as we do. But, he gets his point across. See "Russell, an unnoticed freemason?"
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/10189/1.ashx
The other article has to do with Russell's writings on Masonry.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/6/10336/1.ashx
When it comes down to "what he said" about not being a mason, or using his references of how the Masons behaved and using this as a point to get his beliefs across, I wouldn't bet a dime on Russels honesty.
To me the actions speak much more loudly than this loco's preachings.
To me his use of Masonic icons and babbling on about the pyramids and a pyramid on his grave tells me he was one or, he worshiped their teachings.
Outoftheorg
outof,
I've read "What Pastor Russell Said" -- a lot of reading. Also his version of "Questions From Readers". Russell got corrected often about certain things and wasn't afraid to put them in print. One topic he was fairly frequently corrected on was Masonry. Was he being dishonest when he admitted he was wrong and that his knowledge of Masonry was limited? I don't think so, given his admission of error on other topics, and his general way of answering questions with, "Here's what we believe... we think it's right... it may not be... everyone should choose for themselves." Reading these obscure items of the past sheds a lot of light on Russell's character and insight. I believe him to have been an honest, just bible-crazed, man.
Russell declared he was "gods mouthpiece". He was a deluded, megalomaniac who misled thousands of naive people to believe the world would certainly end in 1914. I would encourage anybody to read "Thy Kingdom Come" from cover to cover. It is full of scriptural misrepresentations and page after page of procrustean logic. He conned people into believing his own personal interpretation of the bible and mixed this up with ridiculous measurements of the pyramid to back up his ludicrous theories.
These are not the actions of an honest man. Honesty requires integrity and humility, two qualities Russell most obviously lacked. He was a charlatan and a fraud who was fortunate enough to find some gullible disciples.
To read Vol. 3 "Thy Kingdom Come" go to
http://www.ctrussell.us/ and click Studies.
I was having trouble trying to match "bible crazed and honest".
That should have driven him insane.
But then I read KID A's post and now I need only tell you to read it.
He about said it all.
Outoftheorg
