This is a bit of self-promotion. All sorts of things you may not have known about Russell and his associates are found in past articles on the truthhistory.blogspot.com blog and in our two history books. See links on the blog.
Posts by vienne
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27The Home of Charles Taze Russell - Renovated
by Wild_Thing incharles and maria russell lived in one side.
emma russell lived on the other.
emma russell was maria's younger sister who married charles's father.
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vienne
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Watchtower History Gem: I Found When Maria Got Her Teaching Certificate
by Wild_Thing ini consider myself an amateur watchtower history buff.
i have always read that maria frances ackley russell, charles taze russell's first and only wife, went to a teacher training college and was a teacher for a number of years before marrying russell.
but, i have never seen proof that she truly did finish college and became a certified teacher.
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vienne
I think M. Russell's claims to have written parts or most of the Millennial Dawn Series are way overblown. They appear in the divorce transcript. The transcript indicates that she edited for grammar. After making claims to authorship, she repeatedly refers to the books as "Mr. Russell's books" - Not at 'our books' or 'my books.' She made her claims in an attempt to gain money, and in doing so made several claims that do not stand up.
When the Watch Tower was new she handled correspondence. Russell sometimes outlined an article in detail and gave it to her to write. She was very much more a research assistant than an author.
Her education is overblown by modern researchers. She attended Pittsburgh High School for one year where Russell took night classes offered through the YMCA. There was little difference in content, though Maria obviously had a better command of grammar. She attended Curry Normal School, a teacher training institute. Modern researchers confuse this with the modern teacher education. [BEd in 4 years; MEd additional 1-2, etc.] Curry institute had several educational tracks, teacher training was one. Course work lasted six months. Maria was not college educated in any sense, and in many respects was an autodidact.
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When did Watchtower writings start becoming anonymous?
by Wild_Thing ini think most people know that authorship was credited in the old watchtower literature, but at some point everything became anonymous.
i still do not know exactly when this started, but i found this in charles taze russell's last will and testament.
his will was not honored in other respects, so i doubt they would have honored this request.
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vienne
Russell wrote semi-anonymously because of Brethren influence. Brethren writers wrote using only initials to avoid self-praise. Christ's praise was what was important. So Russell published his books and tracts without author name. Rutherford abandoned this, and his name appears on almost everything he wrote, except Watch Tower articles which were published anonymously. Golden Age articles have his name. After Rutherford's death the Society returned to Russell's practice. The most recent Society statement on this is in the July 15, 2015, Watchtower. It presents the same reasoning. It avoids praise to humans.
To me this seems somewhat hypocritical. They praise the Governing Body endlessly in ways that seem to me to belong to Christ. Christ gives holy spirit, understanding, supports us in faith and prompts holy works. No ecclesiastical authority does this. BUT, organizations are entitled to their hierarchy. No-one else must accept it.
As an academic, I find this a bit puzzling. I take responsibility for the quality of my work by sticking my name on it. That's what responsible researchers do. By choosing to be anonymous, one avoids responsibility.
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Youtube (English subs) Dutch Government debate on JW Child Sexual Abuse
by jochie inchild sexual abuse within the jehovah's witnesses' community was on the agenda of a meeting by dutch representatives.
this is an editing of that meeting (only the relevant parts on jw) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j7r_8blcw7q.
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vienne
This is excellent.
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43
Gun Nuts...
by silentbuddha inanyone here into guns.
i know alot of the euros here hate the idea but i wonder if there are any other members who are collectors or who are into hunting, target shooti g etc.. no shame zone?.
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43
Gun Nuts...
by silentbuddha inanyone here into guns.
i know alot of the euros here hate the idea but i wonder if there are any other members who are collectors or who are into hunting, target shooti g etc.. no shame zone?.
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vienne
I distance target shoot [Think Creedmoor style matches] using a sharps 45-90 and an 1885 45-70 Highwall. I'm not great, but I can hit a target at 750 yards using iron sights. I use a five inch Vernier sight. These are black powder rifles in modern reproduction. I also like timed shoots. I use a High Standard Olympic Special with the long barrel.
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The Harp of God book
by blownaway ini am looking for the book the harp of god.
i am told it has some crazy passages in it.
can anyone put up some quotes of the book?
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vienne
There are two versions of Harp. One published before 1927 that says Russell is the Faithful Servant, and one published after that removes all that junk Essentially two books with the same title. -
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Atlantis!-More Paton Files-(The World's Hope)
by Atlantis inhi folks:.
grab these for your archives while the link is still active.
these are in addition to the ones i released a few years back.
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vienne
Thanks Atlantis. That worked.
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Atlantis!-More Paton Files-(The World's Hope)
by Atlantis inhi folks:.
grab these for your archives while the link is still active.
these are in addition to the ones i released a few years back.
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vienne
Hi Atlantis, I get an error message: Each file can only be downloaded ten times. Can you help?
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When did the society decide blood transfusions were a bad idea?
by new boy inmore book research..
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vienne
Two Witness physicians treating a Witness patient raised the issue in 1944. The patient refused blood citing Acts. They wrote to the Society asking for help with their patient. Their response was the blood ban. I know some will want greater detail. But this comes from a series of interviews with old-time believers, in this case from one of the doctors involved. We are bound by some confidentiality agreements for a few more years. Sorry.