Posts by reslight2

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

AndDontCallMeShirley stated:

The date of the close of that 'battle' is definitely marked in Scripture as October, 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October, 1874.
Zion's Watch Tower, 15 January 1892, page 1355

Yes, before 1904, Russell was indeed wrongly convinced that close of the battle of Armageddon would in 1914; in 1904, he admitted he had been wrong, not in the fact that 1914 is definitely marked, but rather in his expectation that the battle would be over in 1914. At the time of the above quote, however, Russell still held to Barbour's belief that Armageddon had begun in 1874 and that it would end in 1914.

AndDontCallMeShirley stated:

We see no reason for changing the figures--nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble.
Zion's Watch Tower, 15 July 1894, page 1677

Yes, Russell was firmly convinced in his belief tthat the dates are "God's dates". He was not, by that statement, saying that everyone had to agree with him or else be excommunicated; he certainly wasn't saying that everyone had to agree with him or else they will be eternally destroyed. I also, believe that those dates are "God's dates". I would not, however, be dogmatic as to tell everyone else that they have to believe such, or else that they are not Christian, etc. The scriptural evidence that they are God's dates is so overwhelming that I would not be true to my conscience if I were to think that they were not God's dates.

The latter statement, however, that the time of trouble was to end, not begin, in 1914, he later, in 1904, came to realize is not true.

AndDontCallMeShirley stated:

"In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the kingdom of God, will be accomplished by the end of A.D. 1914." (The Time Is At Hand, 1902 edition, p. 99)

At the time of the writing of this, Russell was indeed convinced that the Bible evidence demonstrating that the Gentile Times would end in 1914 also meant the "final end of the kingdoms of this world". Thus, he "considered" it to be "an established truth". This was based on Barbour's conclusion that the time of trouble began in 1874 and that it would end in 1914. This latter thought, however, Russell rejected in the year 1904, when he concluded that the prophecies actually indicate that the time of trouble would not begin until the Gentile Times ended. See:

The JW Organization, Armageddon, 1914, and Russell
http://www.rlbible.com/ctr/?p=1556

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

AndDontCallMeShirley stated:

He went so far as the travel to the Great Pyramid of Giza twice to measure it's inner dimensions to "prove" his date of 1914. It was hardly "non-essential" to him.

You are partly correct. Russell did indeed go to Egypt to see God's Witness in Egypt, and, although he posed for a picture with a measuring rod in his hand, I have found no evidence that Russell himself did any actual measuring of the Great Pyramid passages. The date, 1914, is proved from the Bible; the measurements of God's Witness confirms that date, as well as AD 29, AD 33, AD 1799, AD 1874, and many other dates related to the Bible and Bible prophecies.

Russell never used the word pyramidology; that word, however, as it would apply to the work of Russell, Smyth, Barbour, and the Edgars, however, has nothing to do with astrology, spiritism, heathen occultism, etc.
http://www.rlbible.com/ctr/?cat=33

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

AndDontCallMeShirley stated:

Your statement that Russell considered chronology and "time prophecy" as "non-essential" is completely absurd, as the quotes below illustrate. Russell based everything on chronology!

Russell's works, when printed in hardcopy, would amount to tens of thousands of pages -- possibly more than 100,000 pages, depending on the size of the pages. Out that tremendous amount of work, comparitively. we find very little about chronology. Many, however, who like to discredit Russell, like to focus on chronology, or the Great Pyramid, etc., and make it appear that one of both these were the center of Russell's teachings, when, in reality, they were not.

http://www.rlbible.com/ctr/?page_id=1397

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

AndDontCallMeShirley stated:

reslight2 said: everything that Russell stated, especially regard non-essentials such as chronology and time prophecy, was, as he said, his 'own surmissings'.
Occasionally Russell admitted he was "surmising", but more often than not, he was very dogmatic about his views and the certainty of them.

Dogma means:

1. an official system of principles or tenets concerning faith, morals, behavior, etc., as of a church. Synonyms: doctrine, teachings, set of beliefs, philosophy.
2. a specific tenet or doctrine authoritatively laid down, as by a church: the dogma of the Assumption; the recently defined dogma of papal infallibility. Synonyms: tenet, canon, law.
3. prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by a particular group: the difficulty of resisting political dogma.
4. a settled or established opinion, belief, or principle: the classic dogma of objectivity in scientific observation. Synonyms: conviction, certainty.

Russell certainly never proclaimed his conclusions as being "doctrine authoritatively laid down" by himself as a central authority of a "church", or to be accepted by any group as being "unquestionably true". He did not take any measure to disfellowship anyone for disagreeing with his conclusions concerning chronology and/or time prophecies.

Regarding the Watch Tower magazine, Russell wrote:

THIS journal is set for the defence of the only true foundation of the Christian's hope now being so generally repudiated,--Redemption through the precious blood of "the man Christ Jesus who gave himself a ransom [a corresponding price, a substitute] for all." (1 Pet. 1:19; 1 Tim. 2:6.) Building up on this sure foundation the gold, silver and precious stones (1 Cor. 3:11-15; 2 Pet. 1:5-11) of the Word of God, its further mission is to--"Make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery which...has been hid in God,...to the intent that now might be made known by the Church the manifold wisdom of God"--"which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed."--Eph. 3:5-9,10.
It stands free from all parties, sects and creeds of men, while it seeks more and more to bring its every utterance into fullest subjection to the will of God in Christ, as expressed in the Holy Scriptures. It is thus free to declare boldly whatsoever the Lord hath spoken;--according to the divine wisdom granted unto us, to understand. Its attitude is not dogmatical, but confident; for we know whereof we affirm, treading with implicit faith upon the sure promises of God. It is held as a trust, to be used only in his service; hence our decisions relative to what may and what may not appear in its columns must be according to our judgment of his good pleasure, the teaching of his Word, for the upbuilding of his people in grace and knowledge. And we not only invite but urge our readers to prove all its utterances by the infallible Word to which reference is constantly made, to facilitate such testing.

http://www.mostholyfaith.com/bible/reprints/Z1900DEC.asp

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

DATA-DOG stated:

Reslight2,
Also, I love the talk, Are we really Bible Students? Someone directed me to a Bible Student Website once, there were all kinds of recorded talks. Being raised a JW, I found many of the talks to be extremely spiritually refreshing. To me it was proof that God can use any sincere person to feed his sheep. Also, no one religion has absolute truth.

For those who might like to view the talk mentioned, it may be found at:

http://reslight.boards.net/thread/154/bible-students-video

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

DATA-DOG stated:

For the sake of accuracy, would it be fair to say that the WTBTS has never had a consistent teaching about 1914?
"The Watchtower has consistently presented evidence to honesthearted students of Bible prophecy that Jesus' presence in heavenly Kingdom power began in 1914." Watchtower1993 Jan 15 p.5 "

The only thing that has remained consistent, as far the WTBTS is concerned, is that the Gentile Times end in 1914 and the application of Daniel 7 to those Gentile Times; outside of that, the WTS teachings have changed a lot in respect to 1914. Barbour adopted earlier views about the Gentile Times, except that he reasoned that that if the beginning of the Jewish year 586 BC marked the end of the 70 years desolation, then the destruction, and since Jerusalem did not actually become desolate until it was destroyed by Nebuchanezzar's armies, he concluded that the beginning of the 70 years desolation had to have begun in they Jewish year beginning 606 BC (Actually October of 607 BC, according to our calendar). Counting 2520 whole years from 606 BC brings us to the beginning of the Jewish year 1915 AD (Actually October of 1914 AD). Barbour, however, presented several different methods of arriving at the year 1914 that the WTS today no longer recognizes. In Volumes 2 and 3, Russell presented and adapted Barbour's conclusions. From Barbour's and Russell's standpoint, there was a tremendous amount of evidence pointing to 1914 as the end of the Gentile Times; today, the JWs only use that of Daniel 4, which makes the argument for 1914 appear to be very weak as compared to the much stronger arguments presented by Barbour and Russell.

No, the Watchtower has NOT consistently presesent "evidence" that Jesus' "presence in heavenly Kingdom power began in 1914." I do not know of any of the Bible Students associated with the WT in Russell's day that believed that 1914 was to see Jesus' presence. Most of them believed that Christ had returned in 1874 -- they were not looking for his presence to begin in 1914. Indeed, for a while during the latter part of the 1920s, Rutherford seemed to present both views, that Christ returned in 1874, and also that Christ returned in 1914, until finally he quietly without offering rebuttal simply dropped 1874 from the picture. I surmize that he desired to use the time prophecies to promote his "Jehovah's visible organization" dogma, and thus he quietly stopped applying them to 1799, 1844, 1874, 1878, 1881, etc.

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

He was the Faithful Slave and The Watchtower when he was alive. Everything published up until October 31, 1916 were his direct words and ideas.

Russell, himself, never claimed to be the "faithful and wise servant". Nor is it true that "everything published" in time "were his direct words and ideas".

(1) Russell endeavored to stay out of the "faithful and wise servant" discussions, and this, I believe, led him to not actually study the parable closely. Nevertheless, he did state that he did not see himself in the Bible, although many others claimed to see him there, and he warned against this.

See:

The Faithful and Wise Servant and Other Servants

Parable of the Four Servants

(2) Although most of what appeared in the WT magazine were indeed Russell's words (after all, it was HIS magazine), Russell did present differing views, especially concerning chronology and time prophecies, in the pages of the Watch Tower. For instance, in he June 15, 1905 issue of the WT, Russell presented both John Edgar’s and U. G. Lee’s parallels. Edgar pointed to the year 1915 as a possible year of Christendom’s destruction (the end of the time of trouble). Lee’s chart pointed to the year 1920. Russell also presented many things being said by denominational church leaders and others, although he may not have agreed with all that was being said. Some, evidently believing that everything in the WT in the days of Russell was indeed the words of Russell, have misapplied things said by others as being the words of Russell, when they were not.

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

AndDontCallMeShirley stated:
You really need to check your facts before commenting. The change in thought from 1902 to 1915 edition of "The Time Is At Hand" is accurate. Your speculations include a lot of "if", "may", "evidently", "would appear", "we highly doubt", "somehow", "I do not know", etc. Speculations and opinion on your part do not equate to fact.

Actually, it is simply historic fact that the change on page 99 of The Time is At Hand can be found before 1914, as early as the 1911 edition. It is also a matter historic fact that Russell did indeed change his view concerning the time of trouble in 1904, ten years before 1914. I am not sure what is meant by "from 1902 to 1915 edition", not unless this meant to say that there was no change until the 1915 edition? If so, that is false.

Since Russell died in 1916, not 1914 as you erroneously assert, then your speculations that WT writings were changed posthumously are unfounded.

Obviously, I made a typo in typing 1914, rather than 1916. It does not change the fact that Russell did indeed die in 1916, still holding to belief that the Gentile Times had ended in 1914. He never ever once spoke of the Gentile Times as ending in 1915, except when he presented the idea that some of the Bible Students thought that the Gentile Times should end in October of 1915, not October of 1914, which thought he rejected. However, that consideration was several years before 1914, not after 1914. I am not sure what is meant by "my speculations that WT writings were changed posthumouly". I did present one of Johnson's edits, which, as I said, does accurately reflect what Russell was teaching in 1911. No speculation here; simply a statement of fact.

Since Russell was the final authority as to WT content, and was the author of most of the articles, it is unreasonable to conclude he had no idea the changes were made without his knowledge.

Russell was not God; he was not all-knowing, nor did he personally supervise absolutely everything that was going on.

As I said, however, the change that appears in the 1911 edition contradicts not only the context, but also what Russell was stating in the pages of the Watch Tower and elsewhere. That is simply fact; not at all speculation. The speculation comes in as to who made the change in 1911 and why. Nevertheless, the fact is that the change on page 99 was made several years before 1914, and NOT AFTER 1914, which is also simply fact, not at all speculation.

The paper trail left in WT publications is beyond dispute that major revisions were made both while Russell was alive and after his death as to what WT was expecting Re: 1914.

I have no dispute with this statement as it stands; it is exactly what I have stated here, on my websites and elsewhere.

http://www.rlbible.com/ctr/?p=692

Christian love,
Ronald

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

In Russell's time, they thought they were living in terrible times and the world couldn't possibly survive beyond 1914. So their interpretation of "an unequaled period of trouble" beginning in 1914 would mean the rapture of WT Bible Students and global mass murder among humankind.

Russell, in his earier years, used the word "rapture" at least once in reference to the change of the saints. After he began publishing the Watch Tower magazine, he never used the word "rapture" when speaking of the change of the saints to spirit bodies. I can only assume that since his earlier reference to "rapture" was misunderstood as accepting the Catholic "rapture" view held by many churches, that he felt it better not use that word. At any rate, Russell believed that the first resurrection began in 1878, and since then, each of the joint-heirs who died would be instantly changed to spirit beings.

The thought under speculation was when would last of the 144,000 be changed? Russell several times stated that he did not know when such would take place, but several dates were considered (before 1914), including 1910, 1911, 1914, 1915 (Edgar's parallels), and 1920 (Lee's parallels). I wish emphasize, however, that all of these dates were being discussed BEFORE 1914. 1914 was just one date; many of the Bible Students were putting a lot emphasis on being changed in October of 1914, but before 1914 had arrived Russell cautioned that there was no direct statement of prophecy that shows this, and thus, since it is matter of speculation, he cautioned on being "consecrated" to a date.

78

Another Lie/Revisionist History in todays WT study!!

by BU2B in

jw
friends

i caught yet another revisionist history deception in todays wt lesson.. .

here is a quote from paragraph 4 of the 2/15/13 study edition.

"decades before 1914, jehovah's worshippers declared to the nations that the end of "the appointed times of the nations" would come in that year and that the world would enter into an unequaled period of trouble.".

reslight2

*: "In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the kingdom of God, will be accomplished by the end of A.D. 1914." (The Time Is At Hand, 1902 edition, p. 99)

* note change in the 1915 edition below when 1914 failed

1915: "In view of this strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the kingdom of God, will be accomplished near the end of A.D. 1915. (The Time Is At Hand, 1915 edition, p. 99)

The "change" spoke of above evidently actually took place in 1911 edition, not the 1915 edition as being reported above. In other words, this change was not made in 1915 (or 1916), as stated above; this change appeared in the Volume II as early as 1911. I have found no report, however, of such an change being made in the pages of the Watch Tower, and, thus, it has been speculated that the change may have been made without Russell’s authorization.

Indeed, the change to 1914 to 1915 in the context does not really make sense, although taken out of context, one could conclude that Russell may have changed this to correspond with John Edgar’s thought that the time of trouble was to end in 1915; that is, Edgard suggested that the the “time of trouble” was to last for one year, from October of 1914 to October of 1915. Russell, however, although he presented Edgar’s, as well as U. G. Lee’s, conclusions in the pages of the Watch Tower in 1905, did not fully adopt either of these conclusions. He maintained that we do not know how long the time of trouble was to last, although he stated that it probably would not last for more than a year.

See:

Beginning of the Time of Trouble – Quotes From Russell

At any rate, whoever made the change may have thought it would reflect Edgar’s view that the time of trouble was to end in 1915, a view that many Bible Students, long before 1914, held in high regard.

in context, it would appear that the 1911 edition would, by this one sentence, have the Times of the Gentiles to end in 1915, which, however, from the context, we know that this was not what is meant. If Russell authorized this change, he evidently did so with Edgar’s parallel in mind, which seemed to indicate that the time of trouble was to begin in around October of 1914 and end around October of 1915. We highly doubt that Russell would have authorized such a change that would be so much out of context, however.

We will also note that this sentence in the LHMM edition of 1937 reads:

In view of this strong evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the overthrow of the kingdoms of this world begin in 1914, preparatory to the establishment of the Kingdom of God.

This latter edition actually more accurately reflects Russell’s view that he adopted in 1904, ten years before 1914. P. S. L. Johnson, who edited the LHMM edition of the Studies, had worked closely with Russell as Russell’s personal secretary.

Nevertheless, I do not know for a certainty as to why such a change was made in the way that it was made in the 1911 edition. I can only state that the LHMM edition actually is more correct in expressing the view that Russell adopted in the year 1904, ten years before 1914. It may have been that when changes were made that someone somehow, either by accident, or on purpose, also changed the wording on page 99 from 1914 to 1915. I do know, however, that it was not Russell’s thought that the end of the Gentiles should be changed to one year later. His overwhelming testimony throughout the pages of Watch Tower attest to this. Indeed, his writings show that he died in 1914 still holding to the belief that the Gentile Times had ended in 1914 (not 1915).

John 14:6 World English:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father, but by me.” — Not by means of Russell, nor of an organization, such as the Jehovah’s Witnesses.