This is the man who made it all happen!

by Terry 90 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  wifibandit

  The only Bill Miller that JW's around these parts care about, sells BBQ!

  Thanks for the lesson Terry!
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  SimonSays

  All that fluff, but no sale. I can’t believe ex-witnesses have become as blind as to think Miller had anything to do with the bible student movement. Granted ex-witnesses in this forum would equate 1874 to some delusional advent movement but now it has become part of the bible student legacy or so you say.

  I remember when I posted a question, why then not believe the BSA started in 1844 as a point of reference, and I was hung out to dry with Ex-Witnesses telling me what 1844 had to do with the BSA, and now you’ve turned around an accepted this concept.

  Boy you people really need to get together to figure out how to best satisfy your bitterness with actual facts. Maybe you can sell your story, and attribute it to Ray Franz as others do.

  Thanks for the fictional story. If you research hard enough, maybe you can go back further, let’s say 452 A.D.

  Maybe you active and ex-witnesses that still believe in God should join the JWRM. They don’t have a problem with disfellowshipped or doctoral changing people. But don’t try to say their just another extension of the Jw’s just as you've incorrectly applying history, and the reasoning behind the changes of 1931.
• 

  scary21

  Thanks Terry, I love History. On you tube there is a lecture called The Watchtower....Roots Shoots and Those in Cahoots, Have you seen it ? If you have, what do you think ?

  I found it very interesting.
  
• 

  Finkelstein

  Are you Awake SimonSays ???
  

  Here's a little theological history of what was happening in the East Coast of the United States in the 19th century where William Miller and many other Christian preachers predominantly preached and the second advent or dispositional era leading up to the return of Christ ,

  Nelson Barbour was another who C T Russell a had a close relationship with who were both involved in this diversely unique theology.

  In examining these numerous preachers and their doctrinal teachings, one can see that the possibility of the return of Christ was an engaging theology at the time and fostered the development of many religions that still exist today such as the Second Day Adventists, the Jehovah's Witnesses and the Mormons.

  Second Great Awakening

  From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search

  Great Awakening
  First (c. 1731–1755) Second (c. 1790–1840) Third (c. 1850–1900) Fourth (c. 1960–1980)
  v t e

  The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant revival movement during the early 19th century in the United States. The movement began around 1790, gained momentum by 1800 and, after 1820, membership rose rapidly among Baptist and Methodist congregations whose preachers led the movement. It was past its peak by the late 1840s. It has been described as a reaction against skepticism, deism, and rationalism, although why those forces became pressing enough at the time to spark revivals is not fully understood.[1]

  It enrolled millions of new members in existing evangelical denominations and led to the formation of new denominations. Many converts believed that the Awakening heralded a new millennial age. The Second Great Awakening stimulated the establishment of many reform movements designed to remedy the evils of society before the anticipated Second Coming of Jesus Christ.[2]

  People at the time talked about the Awakening; historians named the Second Great Awakening in the context of the First Great Awakening of the 1730s and '40s and of the Third Great Awakening of the late 1850s to early 1900s. These revivals were part of a much larger movements that were sweeping across Europe at the time, mainly throughout England, Scotland, and Germany. [3]

  
  

  Background

  The Second Great Awakening occurred in several episodes and over different denominations; however, the revivals were very similar.[4] As the most effective form of evangelizing during this period, revival meetings cut across geographical boundaries,[5] and the movement quickly spread throughout Kentucky, Tennessee and southern Ohio. Each denomination had assets that allowed it to thrive on the frontier. The Methodists had an efficient organization that depended on itinerant ministers, known as circuit riders, who sought out people in remote frontier locations. The circuit riders came from among the common people, which helped them establish rapport with the frontier families they hoped to convert.

  Theology

  Main article: Postmillennialism

  Postmillennialism theology dominated American Protestantism in the first half of the 19th century. Postmillennialists believed that Christ will return to earth after the "millennium", which could entail either a literal 1000 years or a figurative "long period" of peace and happiness. Christians thus had a duty to purify society in preparation for that return. This duty extended beyond American borders to include Christian Restorationism. George Fredrickson argues that Postmillennial theology "was an impetus to the promotion of Progressive reforms, as historians have frequently pointed out."[6] During the Second Great Awakening of the 1830s, some diviners expected the millennium to arrive in a few years. By the 1840s, however, the great day had receded to the distant future, and postmillennialism became a more passive religious dimension of the wider middle-class pursuit of reform and progress.[6]

  Burned-over district

  In the early nineteenth century, western New York was called the "burned-over district" because of the numerous revivals that crisscrossed the region.[7][8] Charles Finney, a leading revivalist active in the area, coined the term.

  West and Tidewater South

  On the American Frontier, evangelical denominations sent missionary preachers and exhorters out to the people in the backcountry, which supported the growth of membership among Methodists and Baptists. Revivalists' techniques were based on the camp meeting, with its Scottish Presbyterian roots. Most of the Scots-Irish immigrants before the American Revolutionary War settled in the backcountry of Pennsylvania and down the spine of the Appalachian Mountains.[9]

  These denominations were based on an interpretation of man's spiritual equality before God, which led them to recruit members and preachers from a wide range of classes and all races. Baptists and Methodist revivals were successful in some parts of the Tidewater in the South, where an increasing number of common planters, plain folk, and slaves were converted.

  West

  Main article: Revival of 1800

  In the newly settled frontier regions, the revival was implemented through camp meetings. These often provided the first encounter for some settlers with organized religion, and they were important as social venues. The camp meeting was a religious service of several days' length with preachers. Settlers in thinly populated areas gathered at the camp meeting for fellowship as well as worship. The sheer exhilaration of participating in a religious revival with crowds of hundreds and perhaps thousands of people inspired the dancing, shouting, and singing associated with these events. The revivals followed an arc of great emotional power, with an emphasis of the individual's sins and need to turn to Christ, restored by a sense of personal salvation. Upon their return home, most converts joined or created small local churches, which grew rapidly.[10] The Second Great Awakening marked a religious transition in society in America. Many Americans from the Calvinist sect emphasized mans inability to save themselves and their only way to be saved was from grace from God.[11]

  The Revival of 1800 in Logan County, Kentucky, began as a traditional Presbyterian sacramental occasion. The first informal camp meeting began there in June, when people began camping on the grounds of the Red River Meeting House. Subsequent meetings followed at the nearby Gasper River and Muddy River congregations, all three under the ministry of James McGready. One year later, an even larger sacrament occasion was held at Cane Ridge, Kentucky under Barton Stone, attracting perhaps as many as 20,000 people. Numerous Presbyterian, Baptist and Methodist ministers participated in the services. Thanks to such leaders as Barton W. Stone (1772–1844) and Alexander Campbell (1788–1866), the camp meeting revival became a major mode of church expansion for the Methodists and Baptists.[12]

  The Cumberland Presbyterian Church emerged in Kentucky. Cane Ridge was also instrumental in fostering what became known as the Restoration Movement. This was made up of non-denominational churches committed to what they saw as the original, fundamental Christianity of the New Testament. They were committed to individuals' achieving a personal relationship with Christ. Churches with roots in this movement include the Churches of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), and the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada[13]

  Church membership soars

  1839 Methodist camp meeting

  The Methodist circuit riders and local Baptist preachers made enormous gains; to a lesser extent the Presbyterians gained members, particularly with the Cumberland Presbyterian Church in sparsely settled areas. As a result, the numerical strength of the Baptists and Methodists rose relative to that of the denominations dominant in the colonial period—the Anglicans, Presbyterians, Congregationalists. Among the new denominations that grew from the religious ferment of the Second Great Awakening are the Churches of Christ, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ), The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (nicknamed the Mormons), the Seventh-day Adventist Church, and the Evangelical Christian Church in Canada.[13][14] The converts during the Second Great Awakening were predominantly female. A 1932 source estimated at least three female converts to every two male converts between 1798 to 1826. Young people (those under 25) also converted in greater numbers, and were the first to convert.[15]

  Subgroups

  Adventism

  The Advent Movement emerged in the 1830s and 1840s in North America, and was preached by ministers such as William Miller, whose followers became known as Millerites. The name refers to belief in the soon Second Advent of Jesus (popularly known as the Second coming) and resulted in several major religious denominations, including Seventh-day Adventists and Advent Christians.[16]

  Holiness movement

  Main article: Holiness movement

  Though its roots are in the First Great Awakening and earlier, a re-emphasis on Wesleyan teachings on sanctification emerged during the Second Great Awakening, leading to a distinction between Mainline Methodism and Holiness churches.

  Restoration Movement

  Main article: Restoration MovementSee also: Restorationism

  The idea of restoring a "primitive" form of Christianity grew in popularity in the U.S. after the American Revolution.[17]:89–94 This desire to restore a purer form of Christianity without an elaborate hierarchy contributed to the development of many groups during the Second Great Awakening, including the Mormons, Baptists and Shakers.[17]:89 Several factors made the restoration sentiment particularly appealing during this time period:[17]:90–94

  • To immigrants in the early 19th century, the land in the United States seemed pristine, edenic and undefiled – "the perfect place to recover pure, uncorrupted and original Christianity" – and the tradition-bound European churches seemed out of place in this new setting.[17]:90
  • A primitive faith based on the Bible alone promised a way to sidestep the competing claims of the many denominations available and for congregations to find assurance of being right without the security of an established national church.[17]:93

  The Restoration Movement began during, and was greatly influenced by, the Second Great Awakening.[18]:368 While the leaders of one of the two primary groups making up this movement, Thomas Campbell and Alexander Campbell, resisted what they saw as the spiritual manipulation of the camp meetings, the revivals contributed to the development of the other major branch, led by Barton W. Stone.[18]:368 The Southern phase of the Awakening "was an important matrix of Barton Stone's reform movement" and shaped the evangelistic techniques used by both Stone and the Campbells.

  Culture and society

  Efforts to apply Christian teaching to the resolution of social problems presaged the Social Gospel of the late 19th century. Converts were taught that to achieve salvation they needed not just to repent personal sin but also work for the moral perfection of society, which meant eradicating sin in all its forms. Thus, evangelical converts were leading figures in a variety of 19th century reform movements.[19]

  Congregationalists set up missionary societies to evangelize the western territory of the northern tier. Members of these groups acted as apostles for the faith, and also as educators and exponents of northeastern urban culture. The Second Great Awakening served as an "organizing process" that created "a religious and educational infrastructure" across the western frontier that encompassed social networks, a religious journalism that provided mass communication, and church-related colleges.[18]:368 Publication and education societies promoted Christian education; most notable among them was the American Bible Society, founded in 1816. Women made up a large part of these voluntary societies.[20] The Female Missionary Society and the Maternal Association, both active in Utica, NY, were highly organized and financially sophisticated women’s organizations responsible for many of the evangelical converts of the New York frontier.[21]

  There were also societies that broadened their focus from traditional religious concerns to larger societal ones. These organizations were primarily sponsored by affluent women. They did not stem entirely from the Second Great Awakening, but the revivalist doctrine and the expectation that one's conversion would lead to personal action accelerated the role of women’s social benevolence work.[22] Social activism influenced abolition groups and supporters of the Temperance movement. They began efforts to reform prisons and care for the handicapped and mentally ill. They believed in the perfectibility of people and were highly moralistic in their endeavors.
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  SimonSays

  
  
• 

  Finkelstein

  I'm well aware of the falling out Russell had with Barbour and his move toward his own theological ideas particularly relating to Pyramidology.

  What it plain to see that Adventist preaching was quite prominent in the 19th century in certain parts of the US.

  This thread is about what most likely influenced and ordinated Russell's own personal theological ideas. Terry made the assertion that William Miller had some influence, that may be subjectively true but I think there were other separate individuals that were involved.
  
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  SimonSays

  
  
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  Vidiot

  I'm 100% positive that if Hell is real, there's a special spot in it just for Miller, where his punishment is having to watch live feeds of...

  a) all the lives that have been f**ked up by his crazy-ass speculations, and...

  b) all the ways his predictions didn't come true...

  ...over and over and over again...
• 

  Finkelstein

  As I mentioned previously that Russell was influenced from other religious theorists such as this fellow. Charles Piazzi Smyth. William Miller was a Freemason at one time and C Russell associated with the Freemasons and used their Halls whenever he traveled about to preach.

  The Great Pyramid has had a long situated relevance in Freemasonry beliefs and practice.

  Charles Piazzi Smyth FRSE FRS FRAS FRSSA (3 January 1819 – 21 February 1900), was Astronomer Royal for Scotland from 1846 to 1888, well known for many innovations in astronomy and his pyramidological and metrological studies of the Great Pyramid of Giza.

  
  

  Pyramidological researches

  This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (October 2011)

  Smyth corresponded with pyramid theorist John Taylor and was heavily influenced by him. Taylor theorized in his 1859 book The Great Pyramid: Why Was It Built? & Who Built It? that the Great Pyramid was planned and the building supervised by the biblical Noah. Refused a grant by the Royal Society, Smyth went on an expedition to Egypt in order to accurately measure every surface, dimension, and aspect of the Great Pyramid. He brought along equipment to measure the dimensions of the stones, the precise angle of sections such as the descending passage, and a specially designed camera to photograph both the interior and exterior of the pyramid. He also used other instruments to make astronomical calculations and determine the pyramid's accurate latitude and longitude.

  

  This diagram from Smyth's Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid (1877) shows some of his measurements and chronological determinations made from them

  Smyth subsequently published his book Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid in 1864 (which he expanded over the years and is also titled The Great Pyramid: Its Secrets and Mysteries Revealed). Smyth claimed that the measurements he obtained from the Great Pyramid of Giza indicated a unit of length, the pyramid inch, equivalent to 1.001 British inches, that could have been the standard of measurement by the pyramid's architects. From this he extrapolated a number of other measurements, including the pyramid pint, the sacred cubit, and the pyramid scale of temperature.

  Smyth claimed that the pyramid inch was a God-given measure handed down through the centuries from the time of Shem (Noah's Son), and that the architects of the pyramid could only have been directed by the hand of God. To support this Smyth said that, in measuring the pyramid, he found the number of inches in the perimeter of the base equalled one thousand times the number of days in a year, and found a numeric relationship between the height of the pyramid in inches to the distance from Earth to the Sun, measured in statute miles. He also advanced the theory that the Great Pyramid was a repository of prophecies which could be revealed by detailed measurements of the structure. Working upon theories by Taylor, he conjectured that the Hyksos were the Hebrew people, and that they built the Great Pyramid under the leadership of Melchizedek. Because the pyramid inch was a divine unit of measurement, Smyth, a committed proponent of British Israelism, used his conclusions as an argument against the introduction of the metric system in Britain. For much of his life he was a vocal opponent of the metric system, which he considered a product of the minds of atheistic French radicals, a position advocated in many of his works.[2]

  Smyth, despite his bad reputation in Egyptological circles today, performed much valuable work at Giza. He made the most accurate measurements of the Great Pyramid that any explorer had made up to that time, and he photographed the interior passages, using a magnesium light, for the first time. Smyth's work resulted in many drawings and calculations, which were soon incorporated into his books Our Inheritance in the Great Pyramid, the three-volume Life and Work at the Great Pyramid (1867), and On the Antiquity of Intellectual Man (1868). For his works he was awarded a gold medal by the Royal Society of Edinburgh, but in 1874, the Royal Society rejected his paper on the design of Khufu's pyramid, as they had Taylor's. The rejection of his ideas helped contribute to his resignation from his post as Royal Astronomer in 1888.

  Influence of Smyth's pyramid theories

  Smyth's theories on pyramid prophecy were then integrated into the works and prophecies of Charles Taze Russell (such as his Studies in the Scriptures), who founded the Bible Student movement (most visible today in the Jehovah's Witnesses, though Russell's successor, Joseph F. Rutherford, denounced pyramidology as unscriptural). Smyth's proposed dates for the Second Coming, first 1882 then many dates between 1892 and 1911, were failed predictions.

  The theories of Taylor and Smyth gained many eminent supporters and detractors in the field of Egyptology during the late 1800s, but by the end of the 19th century it had lost most of its mainstream scientific support. The greatest blow to the theory was dealt by the great Egyptogist William Matthew Flinders Petrie, who had initially been a supporter. When Petrie went to Egypt in 1880 to perform new measurements, he found that the pyramid was several feet smaller than previously believed. This so undermined the theory that Petrie rejected it, writing "there is no authentic example, that will bear examination, of the use or existence of any such measure as a 'Pyramid inch,' or of a cubit of 25.025 British inches."[3]
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  Finkelstein

  Here's brief video showing again the appealing relevance that Russell had with Smyth's theories concerning the Great Pyramid of Giza.
  

  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ydjhc0cIwc4