Jehovah's Witnesses and the "Great Disappointment" on UK Television (page 2)

pixiesticks

Ha! Funny stuff! Stephen Fry = legend! I hope someone with rip this off the site and put it up on YouTube, so non UK peeps can see it.

cofty

If you missed it Stephen Fry took part in a debate with Christopher Hitchins against Anne Widdicombe and Archbishop Onaiyekan. You can view it the Intelligence Squared website

Can you guess from this screen shot which side won?

leavingwt

Good to see them being identified as a Millerite sect, can't say that often enough

Yes. It's helpful to know where JWs are located the flowchart of religions.

xbro

sothats why they were initially called russelites,it was a play on millerites. amazing what you can find here! anyone know about the cristadelphians? apparently a sect of witness'that broke away.

Mickey mouse

I was at school with a CHristadelphian; their beliefs are very similar. I believe they also grew out of the Millerite fray.

Farkel

:Jehovah's Witnesses and the "Great Disappointment"

Which one? There were so many of them!

Farkel

besty

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorationism

this article provides a very useful backgrounder on the gene pool of Jehovah's Witnesses et al - although ironically they don't believe in human evolution they are nonetheless clearly identifiable on the religious family tree, despite their protestations of direct descent

villabolo

Besty:

this article provides a very useful backgrounder on the gene pool of Jehovah's Witnesses et al - although ironically they don't believe in human evolution they are nonetheless clearly identifiable on the religious family tree, despite their protestations of direct descent

It is ironic that the Finished Mystery (1919) book gives credit to the Adventists, as Russell did for certain beliefs. Nowadays, however, the Witnesses spurn the idea that they have any connection to that movement. In fact, I understand that their current book on Revelation (analogous to The Finished Mystery) specifically belittles the Adventists.

I recall the 1975 (?)* yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses mentioning how Russell stepped into one of the Adventist meetings and recharged his wavering faith. If that could be verified it could easiliy be used against them since it is a recent book that should be available in Kingdom Hall libraries.

villabolo

I'm a little fuzzy as to precise dates and quotes but anyone is welcome to correct me.

Fatfreek

Villabolo: I recall the 1975 (?)* yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses mentioning how Russell stepped into one of the Adventist meetings and recharged his wavering faith. If that could be verified it could easiliy be used against them since it is a recent book that should be available in Kingdom Hall libraries.

was it here? *** yb75 pp. 34-35 Part 1—United States of America ***

By his own later admission, he had been “shaken in faith regarding many long-accepted doctrines” and had fallen “a ready prey to the logic of infidelity.” But tonight he is attracted by some singing. He enters a dusty, dingy hall. His object? In his own words, “to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches.”

The young man sat and listened. Jonas Wendell, a Second Adventist, delivered the sermon. “His Scripture exposition was not entirely clear,” our listener later remarked. But it did something. He had to admit: “It was sufficient, under God, to reestablish my wavering faith in the Divine inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the Apostles and the Prophets are indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before.”
The inquisitive young man was Charles Taze Russell.

I know that early Watchtowers (called Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence) frequently referred to Miller in very favorable light even to the point of fulfilling prophecy . Miller, according to ZTW, only missed the arrival of Christ by 30 years -- 1874, not 1844. Additionally, the following will cause many a JW jaw to hang wide open with disbelief -- early Watchtowers referred to William Miller as " Father Miller". That's the degree of reverence it had for this recognized founder of the adventist movement.

Len Miller (no relation to William Miller)

villabolo

Yes, Fatfreek, that's it. Thanks for the research.

villabolo

Jehovah's Witnesses and the "Great Disappointment" on UK Television

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