when did the paradise earth idea get started, and where did Rutherford get the idea ???
what publication was it first mentioned in and or talk given ???
any ideas ??
When was the first mention of a "paradise earth" and what publication ???
by run dont walk 2 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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blondie
Actually, run, the Bible Students of Russell's time believed that only 144,000 would go to heaven. The rest of mankind would survive the destruction of the earthly governments into the 1,000 Reign of Christ on earth (along with all those dead who would be resurrected to life on earth) to be brought to perfection. Below is a current explanation of part of that teaching that survives to today. I have taken out some pertinent quotes.
http://www.food4jws.org/studies/bs_02.htm
PARADISE EARTH, IS IT FOR CHRISTIAN'S?
King David will not go to heaven, and he will not desire to go to heaven, for the same reason that a fish has no desire to perch upon the limb of a tree nor a bird to make its home under the water.
We can plainly see, then, that without this begetting of the Holy Spirit, which belongs, of course, to the servants and handmaidens of God during this Gospel Age, none are able to appreciate the things unseen. And hence the world of mankind in general, brought back to perfection?and all the way back, appreciating human perfection?will be willing not to sacrifice their earthly nature to obtain a heavenly, but will enjoy the earthly, under perfect conditions, in a Paradise restored (Isa. 35; Ezek. 37).
On a previous occasion we saw the teaching of the Scriptures to be that the first to be blessed by Messiah?s Kingdom will be the Ancient Worthies?Enoch, Abraham, Moses, David, and the Prophets?and that these will be made Princes in the earth.
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Earnest
Both Russell and Rutherford (until the early 1930s) believed that all "true Christians" would go to heaven to be members of the bride of Christ. The Proclaimers book (pp.160,161) explains who the great crowd were thought to be :
not all who professed to have made a "consecration"...thereafter continued to pursue a life of willing self-sacrifice, making the Lord's service their first concern in life...Nevertheless, they apparently had not repudiated the ransom and were leading reasonably clean lives...For many years the Bible Students thought that this was the group described at Revelation 7:9, 14...They believed that if these who were said to be of the great multitude were faithful [enduring trials of faith], they would be resurrected to heavenly life - not to rule as kings but to take a position before the throne.
In the early 1930s the thought was developed that some Christians would live on earth. The first volume of Vindication (1931) discussed Ezekiel 9 which shows that some who were "sighing and groaning over the detestable things" going on were marked for preservation when God executed his judgement on Jerusalem. The Watchtower of August 1, 1932 discussed the class of people foreshadowed by Jehonadab who was not an Israelite but supported Jehu. It said :
[These] who are out of harmony with Satan's organization, who take their stand on the side of righteousness, are the ones who the Lord will preserve during the time of Armageddon, take them through that trouble, and give them everlasting life on earth. These constitute the 'sheep' class that favor [sic] God's anointed people...
Then in 1935 there was the convention and subsequent Watchtowers (August 1 & 15, 1935) that identified the great crowd as those Christians who would inherit the earth.
However, the early Bible Students did believe some would live on a paradise earth. The Proclaimers book (pp.162,163) says of this :
...this would be extended to people only after all the little flock had received their reward and the millenial age had been fully ushered in. That, they understood, would be the time of "restitution of all things" as referred to at Acts 3:21...The brothers envisioned all of human kind (apart from those who had been called to heavenly life) as being given their opportunity then to chose life...After the Gentile Times ended, they thought that the time of restitution was very near; so from 1918 down till 1925, they proclaimed: "Millions now living will never die."
Earnest