one of the main teachings of pastor russell was that all would be enlightened with a knowledge of god's truth before they are placed on trial and judged for their final destiny.
for the majority of mankind this would be when they are raised from the dead at the time of the general resurrection.
their final judgment would be based on their conduct while enlightened and not on their conduct while in ignorance.
My guess is that Russell was a kind man and Rutherford a vindicative one.
I have often thought that. Russell and his associates debated the bible, i can see why some argue that it was Rutherford who was the founder of this cult rather than Russell.
Paul
my peer group (post-1975 born-in jws) seems to approach the jw religion in a different manner than earlier generations.
now, these folks still believe the wts is "the truth" and if you say anything that sounds "apostate" they start freaking out.
but, make no mistake, these jws are not your parents' witnesses.
When i went back to a few meetings for the first time in over 10 years i didn't feel this sense of urgency they used to have. You would get the "ooh the end is so close", but it was never backed up.
Paul
i remember when i was a kid in "the truth.
there was an elderly sister that had a heart attack during the meeting.
she made loud gasping sounds as she was holding on for dear life.
Some of these stories are mind blowing.
Paul
the title may have lured you here but since it is summertime i am just curious how many people here have yards they have to take care of?
if so, how big of a yard do you have?
what do you use to mow your yard?
I only have a small patch myself but love mowing it, i'm away in my own world.
Paul
just wanted to say, "i love you!
" to everyone!.
(hey, it's friday ... i'm in a good mood!
I love me too!!
Paul
for me it was that god is killing billions of people just to prove a point.
what about you?
Blood issue for me. I had to concede on a number of occasions that if i was presented with a life or death situation for my kids that i didn't know what i would do.
How mad was that, even though i said that the mere thought i had to think about it.
Paul
google books now has up russell's book: the divine plan of the ages and the corroborative testimony of the great pyramid.
it's a special edition that combines volume 1 of studies in the scriptures with the chapter from volume 3 on the great pyramid.
i believe this edition dates from about 1912 or so.
JCanon,
Where is your information from that Jews financed Russell?
Paul
the boe in my childhood congregation was probably the nicest and most sincere group of elders i have ever come across, at least the boe i grew up with.
i still hold each of them in high regard, they were truly very kind and caring people.
however, apparently before i was born (pre 79) and when i was a small child there was quite a bit of trouble in that cong.
Interesting point. I have often thought of this with regards to my memories of the congregation, we came into the borg in 1983. There were one or two who were found "gathering" together. The reality was they were friends visiting each other and having a moan about 1975.
Paul
tonight something really scary happened with our dog .. we took him out for a walk along the canal near our home .it has been hot and humid today but we went out in the evening out of direct sun.
we walked a little over a mile and our dog had been panting quite a bit, but nothing real unusual .
as we were heading back he all of the sudden starts pawing at his muzzle then puts his face down and is scraping it in the gravel then just totally spasms .
I have never seen that myself, however my aunt has a dog that suffers from seizures, it's not nice for the dog at one point his spasms made him leap over 6ft.
Paul
the thread about the old woman who died at the assembly got me thinking about how first aid is run at the conventions.
for many years i worked as an attendant, we were always instructed that, if there is a medical emergency to contact first aid and not to call an ambulance directly from the location.
in the age of cell phones it made much more sense to me to call 911 right away (for serious emergencies) , if it's a stroke or heart attack time is critical.
I have helped out on the first aid when i was a teenager at the circuit assembly. Can you believe over a thousand people attended and if anyone needed help i had absolutely no training for the "privelege".
Paul
