metatron

One aspect of the Watchtower's history that has never been
adequately explained is Russell's fascination with the occult.
The end of the 19th century saw the prominence of many occult
groups - one in particular that stands out is "The Golden Dawn". They
were obsessed with Egyptian symbols and magick based on the
use of the Tetragrammaton. They used phrases like "theocratic
unity" long before the Society ever did. In particular, the
word "Watchtower" (capitalized) appears over and over in the
construction of Golden Dawn spells. ("Watchtower" is a central
component of "Enochian" magic). While Russell tried to derive
his symbols ostensibly from the Bible, many of them were already
popular with occult groups - like the "winged sun". In addition,
Russell believed in phrenology - studying personality by "reading"
the bumps on your head. I think his use of Masonic symbols probably
came from his general interest in the occult, rather than any
real loyalty to a lodge. It's also odd that the Society picked
a title like "The Golden Age" for a magazine when that phrase
clearly derives from pagan Greek mythology. (Why not 'The New Earth"?)

It's a little odd too, why Fred Franz liked to borrow terms from
the occult-obsessed Nazis - such as "The New Order" or "Field
Marshall" (describing Jesus!!!)

metatron

RR

Personally, I think you people "see" too much, and give the Watchtower too much credit!

____________________________
I Still Believe ....

cyrano

where there is smoke there's usually a fire...

FatJackMcCracken

Yes Metatron, You have hit upon something that's superficially puzzling. There is a connection to a much simpler explanation. The freudian slips such as, the New System of Things, the New World Order are phrases employed by others with hidden agendas. For e.g. Woodrow Wilson frequently used the term the New World Order; and in George H. Bush in 1991 began the resurgent use of the New World Order. The New System of Things is also found in other esoteric literature. The WTBTS uses these terms as code-words to mean something different from the biblical "new earth". FatJack

Celtic

Reccomended reading - Cosmic Trigger by Robert Anton Wilson.

Not for the faint hearted!!

Celtic

Sea Breeze

DOCTRINES OF DEMONS

Jehovah’s Witnesses have several doctrines in common with those
received directly from the demons by Johannes Greber, as itemized in his book “Communication with the Spirit World of God” (CSW). Johannes Greber did not like any of the existing translations of the Bible and stated “…I have used the [new bible text] text as it was given to me by those spirits” (The New Testament by Johannes Greber p. 15).

Watchtower sources are shown as well Communication with the Spirit World below:

Jesus Christ is Not God. (CSW p. 330; J.W. “The Word—Who is He? p. 40).
Jehovah only is God—the Father (CSW p. 302, 331, 328, 333); J.W.—”Jehovah” p. 8)
Jesus Christ is a created being. (CSW p. 301; J.W.—”Aid to Bible Understanding” p. 918).
Michael is a god. (Dictionary of Angels); J.W.—” Aid to Bible Understanding” p. 152).
Christ’s body was not resurrected. (CSW p. 385; J.W.—”Things in which It is Impossible For God to Lie” p. 355).
Body of Jesus was dematerialized. (CSW p. 385; J.W.—”Time Is At Hand” p. 129).
There is no Eternal Hell. (CSW 379; J.W.—”Is This Life All There Is?” p. 96).
The Higher Powers of Romans 13 are not earthly governments. (CSW p. 414, 415;J.W.—”The Watchtower” 1/15/46 p. 27).
The Christian Church is not preaching the Gospel. (CSW p. 426; J.W.—”Finished Mystery” p. 485 ). (Points 1-9 from Questions for Jehovah’s Witnesses Who Love the Truth by William Cetnar).

We have to ask—why do Jehovah’s Witnesses have so many doctrines in common with the doctrines of these demonic spirits? Why also did Russell expend so much time and energy railing against the demons, while at the same time using their doctrines? Modern Jehovah’s Witnesses may not realize that demonic manifestations among Watchtower members were quite common during this time. We quote “Zion’s Watch Tower “ of October 1st, 1907, “Our understanding is that this great day of the Lord began chronologically in October 1874, and from what we can learn it is since that date that ‘materializations’ have become more and more common…the evidence is too strong to be disputed that there have been numerous genuine manifestations….”

Why have the Jehovah’s Witnesses deliberately covered over these false dates and also deliberately altered their bible, and then claimed it is accurate, when all evidence is to the contrary? Why also have members overlooked the obvious errors so many times? It can only be that they are under a spirit of deception...

dropoffyourkeylee

My take on this is that Russell was a product of his time and place. The late 1800's in the Northeast US, particular New York state, had all kinds of people open to pseudo science and other ideas we now know are complete bunk. Phrenology, Spiritualism, Egyptian Magic, you name it, someone was teaching it and writing books and magazines about it. Russell's hodgepodge of ideas found a ready audience in the time period.