Wasn't CT Russell an apostate Seventh Day Adventist?
Should JW's Follow an Apostate?
by Sea Breeze 22 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Sea Breeze
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Biahi
Oh, that’s different. (Tongue in cheek)
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Diogenesister
Because a triangle told him so.....
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vienne
I am continually puzzled by those who post 'authoritative' things that are based on nonsense. Russell was never a Seventh Day Adventist, or for that matter an Adventist of any kind. He was an Age to Come Millennialist. [See vol 1 of Schulz and de Vienne (my mom), Separate Identity and Mom's introductory essay for vol 2.] He associated most closely with The Restitution, an age to come newspaper, before going his own way.
By 1844 Storrs was no longer a Millerite Adventist. Stetson wrote for the Restitution and the British journal The Rainbow and was by the time Russell met him no longer an Adventist. Shouldn't we inform ourselves before we write?
Oppose Jehovah's Witnesses. Certainly. But when we spew uninformed nonsense, we persuade no one.
https://www.amazon.com/Separate-Identity-Organizational-Readers-1870-1887/dp/1304969401
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Sea Breeze
daughter of vienne,
I want to apologize for that misstatement. Please excuse my ignorance. I have also been seriously researching the connection between Russel and Egyptology lately.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYbavuReVF4&ab_channel=SaturdayNightLive
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vienne
I presume you are led to this by the winged globe design on the Studies and the pyramid monument in the Society's cemetery. Russell and many other, including Lutherans, Presbyterians, Baptists, famous clergymen some of them, were persuaded that the Great Pyramid was built by Melchizedek. Nonsense of course, though still believed. But in the Russell era it was a widely spread belief. Russell accepted it along with many others.
One should note that Russell had no hand in the pyramid monument. It's not his grave marker. That's a headstone nearby. It was designed by a Bible Student and built after Russell's death. It was not meant to connect Bible Students or Russell to the Masons. That claim is unsupported by facts. It was meant to connect to Russell era belief that the capstone on the pyramid was a picture in stone of Jesus, "the head of the corner."
You will find more in Separate Identity, vol. 1 and on the blog to which Mom contributed before her death.
https://truthhistory.blogspot.com/
Use the search function to find appropriate articles. There are a number of them
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vienne
I should add that in the late Victorian and early Edwardian eras, all things Egyptian were popular and used in many non-related designs. For many years there was a theater here called "The Egyptian." It's long gone, but the Egyptian theaters were all over the USA; that was part of the trend. I wouldn't attach too much meaning to the winged globe design. The original of that seems to have come from Assyria anyway.
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truth_b_known
I think the Seventh Day Adventists are actually one of many splinter groups of the original International Bible Students. When Russell died and Rutherford carried out his successful coup of the Watchtower many of Russell's followers left to make their own sect.
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vienne
Truth-b,
No, they're one of the splinter groups from the original Millerite movement of the 1840s.
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johnamos
According to the WTS, CTR had the 'mark of the beast'. Not only him but all JW's that died from the start of the WTS until at least 1928 all died having the 'mark'.
Revelation—Its Grand Climax At Hand! p. 197 - [What does it mean to be marked on the forehead or in the right hand with the name of the wild beast? When Jehovah gave Israel the Law, he told them: “You must apply these words of mine to your heart and your soul and bind them as a sign upon your hand, and they must serve as a frontlet band between your eyes.” (Deuteronomy 11:18) This meant that the Israelites had to keep that Law constantly before them, so that it influenced all their actions and thoughts. The 144,000 anointed ones are said to have the Father’s name and that of Jesus written on their foreheads. This identifies them as belonging to Jehovah God and Jesus Christ. (Revelation 14:1) In imitation, Satan uses the demonic mark of the wild beast. Anybody engaged in everyday activities such as buying and selling is pressured to do things the way the wild beast does, as, for example, in celebrating holidays. They are expected to worship the wild beast, letting it rule their lives, so as to receive its mark.]
1975 Yearbook of Jehovah’s Witnesses p. 147 - [In Pastor Russell’s day, Christmas was celebrated at the old Bible House in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Ora Sullivan Wakefield recalls that Brother Russell gave members of the Bible House family five- or ten-dollar gold pieces at Christmas. Mabel P. M. Philbrick remarks: “A custom that certainly would not be carried on today was the celebration of Christmas with a Christmas tree in the Bethel dining room. Brother Russell’s usual ‘Good morning, all’ was changed to ‘Merry Christmas, all.’”]
w65 7/15 pp. 441-447 - [After the Society’s officials were released from prison in 1919 and exonerated, I was sent out as a pilgrim again. But after a number of years, Brother Rutherford called me back to Bethel and asked me to take charge of the pilgrim department. After the pilgrim department was ended, my desk was used in connection with the radio department. My duty was to write short radio talks of 10, 15, 20 and 30 minutes, to be used over hundreds of radio stations…I was asked to give an hour talk over a hookup on the subject of Christmas. It was given December 12, 1928, and published in The Golden Age #241 and again a year later in #268. That talk pointed out the pagan origin of Christmas. After that, the brothers at Bethel never celebrated Christmas again.]