What is this 'Mystery' doctrine? (page 2)

talesin

"The Skulls" is available here at the Public Library and any old video store.

It's a fictional story based on the famous "Skull & Crossbones" club of (I think) Yale (or it could be Harvard). It stars one of the young actors from Dawson's Creek (don't ask me his name, I never saw the show). The usual conspiracy-type flick about a scholarship boy who joins the Skulls, and is expected to go along with all kinds of dastardly deeds, including (shock, gasp) MURDER most foul! All this so that he can be a part of the closed club of 'RICH WHITE MEN' who pull the strings of our society in secret. The punishment for betrayal is, you got it, death. Our hero, of course, remains true blue. Not a bad teen flick, but nothing shocking.

Interesting that you found it 'disappeared' in your community. Not here in Canada. I haven't seen the sequel, as I expect it will achieve the same level of mediocrity as most sequels.

seeitallclearlynow

I've Pre-ordered the book, and I can't wait to get it and read it. It starts shipping Feb. 18. Thanks Randy! Also read Jim Whitney's new article on the details of Rutherford's and the other 6 guys' imprisonment back in WWI - very interesting. You just can't go by the watered down, whitewashed version of anything they print in the Proclaimers Book.

Nathan Natas

I've ordered my copy of Gruss' new book too.

Your question about the "mystery" doctrine got me going - I had no idea what the answer was, so I started doing some research. Dig, dig, dig!

I now believe that the "mystery" doctrine first spoken by Nelson Barbour in his 1877 book "The Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World" was the interpretation of "Bible Chronology(c)" concerning the "Gentile Times" and the prediction that those "appointed times of the nations" would end in 1914.

Russell was listed as co-author ofthat book, but in reality all he contributed was his name. Russell took the Barbour mystery teaching and ran with it, and the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is still running with it today, 127 years after Barbour first put it to paper.

And Barbour was not entirely original in his theory! In 1823 a guy named Brown first discussed the Gentile Times. Barbour "corrected" some of the phoney-baloney" "simple arithmetic" to derive his dates.

I think this new book will kick some Dub ass!

Sneaky Russian

Randy Watters at free minds has done a great job, and as I have said beforeanything which speaks against the Watchtower Society is good enough for me.

However, surely this can be branded sensationalism? Have to wait and see.

Nathan Natas

droogie,

On what basis do you think is is sensationalism? Pleasee elaborate...

Pleasuredome

nathan,

a friend of mine sent me this message:

"... the mystery doctrine may be the one that CTRussel made big, the one that teaches that he plus Jesus and the 144000 are "The CHrist" the "Everlasting father" and "the bread of life".... not Jesus alone but all of them collectively. Rutherford also taught this and it is still taught indirectly through modern literature. I think thats what it might be but I could be wrong."

what do you think?

RR

Plain and simple ... the "Mystery doctrine" is that Jehovah has taken from among mankind a select group to be joint-heirs with Jesus Christ as kings and priest in the Kingdom.

RR

logansrun

Doesn't the Mystery Doctrine have something to do with Scooby Doo? Oh, wait, that's the Mystery Machine. My bad.

Bradley

Nathan Natas

RR,

As one I consider to be our resident expert on all things Russell, I'll accept your suggestion of what the Mystery doctrine might be. My only question would be, "Is the doctrine that Jehovah has taken from among mankind a select group to be joint-heirs with Jesus Christ as kings and priest in the Kingdom one that is expounded in Barbour's "The Three Worlds..." I'd also wonder if the above referenced doctrine was sufficiently distinct from Christendom in general to be viewed as unusual or unique.

On the other hand, the "Gentile times" thingie is quite unique to Barbour and his theological heirs.

I thought for sure "Three Worlds..." would have been on your magnificent 3 CD Bible Student's Library, but was surprised to see that nothing from Barbour is included in that library. As a side question, do the Bible Students disavow Barbour's influence on Russell? What is the Bible Students' position on Nelson Barbour? ... just curious...

I suppose that in a week or so when my copy of Ed Gruss' new book arrives, I'll get to see what he says the "mystery doctrine" is.

VM44

"The Three Worlds" is online as a pdf file:

http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/bsl/Library/Russell/3Worlds/3worlds.pdf

The use of the word "Mystery" is popular!

We have:

"Babylonian MYSTERY Religion",

"The Finished MYSTERY" followed by,

"Then is Finished the MYSTERY of God"

and of course the mysterious

"MYSTERY Doctrine"

It is a mystery to me why the word Mystery is so popular! (Sales tactic?)

--VM44

What is this 'Mystery' doctrine?

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