I read in a previous thread on this site that she claimed primary authorship of volume 4 of the Studies. Whether true or not I have no idea. Honestly, volume 4 was I thought, tge weakest of the six books.
Watchtower History Gem: I Found When Maria Got Her Teaching Certificate
by Wild_Thing 19 Replies latest jw friends
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Wild_Thing
There are scientists who specialize in analyzing writing patterns to identify authorship. They have done that with books of the bible, with an unknown degree of accuracy. Since we have known samples of C.T.'s writing and known samples of Maria's writing, I would think it would be fairly easy for someone with the expertise to determine authorship of Studies in the Scriptures. I wonder how much this venture would cost? (More than I have, but I am curious).
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Diogenesister
Since we have known samples of C.T.'s writing and known samples of Maria's writing, I would think it would be fairly easy for someone with the expertise to determine authorship of Studies in the Scriptures. I wonder how much this venture would cost? (More than I have, but I am curious).
To persuade people you would probably need an expert, alright. However I've found if I read a decent amount of any particular persons work it's not difficult to spot, Shakepeare, for instance, is the classic one....it positively jumps out at you the small sections that he did not author.
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RolRod
Just for the record, her name is actually pronounced MORIAH
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Wild_Thing
Just for the record, her name is actually pronounced MORIAH
I have always wondered why a white English family in the mid 1850s would give their child a hispanic name!
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Listener
Dropoffyourkeylee -
I read in a previous thread on this site that she claimed primary authorship of volume 4 of the Studies. Whether true or not I have no idea. Honestly, volume 4 was I thought, tge weakest of the six books. Link- In what way do you consider it the weakest? Do you mean the least imaginative, the least bible based, etc?
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dropoffyourkeylee
- Listener In what way do you consider it the weakest? Do you mean the least imaginative, the least bible based, etc?
I gave away all my copies of the Studies, so i am speaking from memory. The fourth volume was entitled 'The Battle of Armageddon' or something like that, and the majority of the book was simply a compilation of news stories showing that the predictions of world collapse were coming true. It was basically 200 pages of 'Watching the World', if you remember that from the old days of the Awake magazine.
In contrast, the first volume, 'Divine Plan' was really easy to read and engaging to the reader. The subject matter was total bunk, of course, but the writing is admittedly good. In my opinion, the Bible Student movement would never have gotten off the ground if not for that first volume. It was the catalyst that got people hooked back then.
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Wild_Thing
If you compare the dates each volume was published with dates of documented events in their marriage, I think it is safe to assume that Maria likely did not have any part in writing the 4th volume. Their marriage was on the rocks pretty early in the 1880s. It appears that as CTR became more fanatical with his views and self-aggrandizing, the more conflict there was in their marriage. I do think volume one was either a joint venture between the two, or completely penned by Maria.
Studies in the Scriptures:
Volume 1: The Divine Plan of the Ages (1886)
Volume 2: The Time is at Hand (1889)
Volume 3: "Thy Kingdom Come" (1891)
Volume 4: The Battle of Armageddon (1897)
Volume 5: The At-One-Ment Between God and Man (1899)
Volume 6: The New Creation (1904)
The Marriage of Charles and Maria Russell:
1979 - Married
1895 - Maria claims this was the first year that Charles first suggested separation
1896 - Charles and Maria disagree about the editorship of the paper. Russell wrote letter to Maria saying their marriage was a mistake. He said, "For the past three years you have been cruelly forcing upon me the evidence that we both erred when we married."
1897 - Separated in November
1897-1909 - Drama, drama, drama until separation/divorce was final
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slimboyfat
If volume 4 consists primarily of a compilation of articles previously published in the Watchtower. And if Maria Russell often wrote articles for the Watchtower. Then perhaps that's fhe basis of her claim (if such she made) that she deserved royalties for her part in authoring Studies in the Scriptures.
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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.