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Vol. IX.
BROOKLYN, N. Y.
No. 5
PRAISES PRESIDENT WILSON
Concerning President Wilson’s memorable address before the United States Senate advocating Universal Peace, the following telegram was dispatched to Mr. Wilson by J. F. Rutherford, President of the Watch Tower Bible Society and the I.B.S.A.: “President Wilson,
“Washington, D. C.
“If Pastor Russell were living he would in behalf of himself and fifteen million supporters congratulate you for your brave and noble declarations for peace. As his successor in office, I extend congratulations, assuring you of our deep sympathy for lasting peace. Your speech will awaken the people to the importance of the hour. The time is at hand for the building of righteous Government which shall be administered with due regard for the rights of all. The one blazing the way for such Government of universal peace will receive the lasting praises of mankind and his fame shall be unto all generations.
J. F. RUTHERFORD,
“Pres. Watch Tower Bible Society.”
PRE-WAR THEOLOGY WRONG
A Methodist preacher in a prominent Canadian pulpit recently found himself faced with this question from a bereaved mother:
“My son, who was not a Christian, has been killed in France. Must I believe that his soul was lost?”
The preacher made the question the theme of a sermon. Had he adhered olosely to his creed he would hav« been compelled either to answer her question in a cruel affirmative or to have evaded the direct issue by supposing the miraculous conversion of the dying soldier in the hour of his extremity.
But the preacher met the question fairly and told the mother she need not doubt the salvation of her son.
To do that he had to confess that his pre-war theology was astray. He declared the theology of the old, stern orthodox type must be revised in the light of what the war has taught us of man’s capacity to sacrifice, suffer and die in behalf of others.—Exchange.
AN UNANSWERABLE ARGUMENT
The advocates of prohibition now have an economic argument against the saloon which the liquor interests will find it difficult to answer, namely, that the country can not afford to waste the grain and other foodstuffs formerly converted into intoxicating liquor. We can not afford to starve the people in order to make them drunk.—Exchange.
At the last election in Shreveport, La., a former wet voted dry, giving as his reason that prohibition had closed the four pawn shops that had thrived with the saloons. That is One business that prohibition injures.
FREE LITERATURE!
Send postal-card request for free copies of this paper. Some of the interesting subjects you may have for asking are:
Calamities—Why Permitted.
World on Fire.
Creed Smashings.
Our Lord’s Return.
Spiritism is Demonism, The Rich Man in Hell. Thieves in Paradise.
Distress of Nations Preceding Armageddon.
The Battle of Armageddon.
Clergy Ordination Proved Fraudulent.
“WHERE ARE THE DEAD?”
This article was published in a recent Issue of THE BIBLE STUDENTS MONTHLY, Vol. 5, No. 3. The interest aroused and the great demand for copies of it have been remarkable. A sample copy will be mailed to any one free upon receipt of post-card request.
Why Do The Nations War ?
ARE THE KINGS OR THE CLERGY RESPONSIBLE ?
That all of his followers should pray, “Thy Kingdom come,” and keep themselves separate and distinct from worldly schemes;
That all Christians who faithfully
HE GREATEST CRISIS of all the ages is upon the world, and the worst phase of it has not yet been reached. The situation demands sober reflection.
All Europe is afire, and the flames have spread to America! Within less than three years, thirty millions of men have faced each other upon the battlefields of Europe, and approximately seven millions of them have already fallen victims to the murderous war. The wanton destruction of human life and treasure has staggered humanity. The neutral nations are suffering, and the peoples of the countries at war are enduring untold hardships. Countless widows and orphans bemoan the untimely fate of their loved ones, and now face famine and pestilence—enemies even more cruel and relentless than cannon or sword. Even in America the conditions in many places are becoming intolerable; the people are restless, and many women and children are frantically crying for bread. The conditions prevailing are leading on to certain revolution and anarchy, the like of which the world has never before known.
The Twentieth Century opened With the of'
times. The Clergy told us there could be no more war. Why, then, has this horrible war come upon the world? Has it come because of the love of the people for blood-shedding? We answer, No! for the common people did not desire the war. Is the war, then, the result of unrighteousness and unholy conditions prevailing in Christendom? And, if so, who is the more to blame—the kings and rulers or the clergy? In the Bible alone we have the clear and conclusive answer. Foreknowing the course of men and nations, Jehovah, through His Prophet, more than three thousand years ago, said: “Why do the nations war, and the people imagine vain schemes?” Here the word
“scheme” means plan or arrangement, looking to the accomplishment of a given purpose.
THE DIVINE PLAN
The entire race came under the condemnation of death as a result of Adam’s disobedience. Since Adam was driven from Eden man has vainly sought life everlasting, a happy home and a government of equity and righteousness. God has a great Scheme, or Plan, to give these very things to man, and is causing it to be worked out in His own due time.
When Jesus came to earth this Scheme, or Plan, for the first time was presented by Him and the Apostles, as outlined in the Scriptures. Briefly, it is this:
That the wages of sin is death— not eternal torture;
That redemption and forgiveness of sins come through the sacrificial merit of Jesus, the acceptance of which is the only way to life, happiness of home and other righteous desires;
That it was necessary for Jesus to die and to arise from the dead to provide the Purchase-Price for man’s redemption;
That Jesus, as a Divine being, would come a second time, to establish His Kingdom;
That during the period from His First Coming to His Second Coming He would gather out from the world the members of His Body, called the Church, regardless of creed or denomination ;
That His Kingdom could not be established until His Second Coming;
That His Kingdom is not of “this present evil world,” or order of things;
TEACHING HIGHER CRITICISM
“Among My [professed] people are found wicked men; they lie in wait as he who sets a snare; they set a trap [Higher Criticism, Evolution and other theories destructive of faith in the Bible] to catch men.”—Jer. 5:26-29.
follow the Master are His ambassadors, and their duty is to declare the Message of His Kingdom and the blessings it will bring to all mankind.
RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CLERGY
The lawyer who deceives his client, suppresses the truth concerning the case, and causes him to lose his property, is properly denounced as a fraud. The ambassador of a nation who suppresses the truth concerning his government, or delivers its secrets to another government, is justly labeled a traitor and is prosecuted for treason.
The highest office that any man can hold on this earth is that of an honest preacher of the Gospel. At is equally true that the disloyal and unfaithful minister who suppresses the Truth and leads the people into darkness is the most reprehensible of all wrong-doers. There are good lawyers and bad lawyers, and there are good preachers and bad preachers. Any preacher who objects to an examination and discussion of his teachings places himself in the category of bad ones, because his attitude proves that his teachings will not bear the light
Every man who has assumed to be a minister of the Gospel has thereby assumed the office of ambassador of the Lord Jesus Christ and His Kingdom. The solemn duty then devolves upon him to lead the people In the right way, according to the teachings of the great Master.
There have been and there- azs yet some good, faithful preachers; but alas, the great majority of them have been and are disloyal to the Lord and His cause and have suppressed the Truth and led the people into darkness!
The fixed laws of Jehovah cannot be violated with impunity, either by individuals or by nations. The Apostles were faithful teachers of the Message of Messiah’s Kingdom. Many Christians who followed them likewise faithfully taught the Truth. Early in the Fourth Century, ambitious men, claiming to be teachers of the Bible and ambassadors of Christ, put aside the Plan of God and began to teach their own schemes, contrary to God’s arrangement. Christian people of this day, whether Catholic or Protestant, are in no wise responsible for the schemes, or plans, of men promulgated centuries ago, when first the Catholic and later the Protestant churches were organized. But every fair-minded person should examine these schemes, or plans, with a view to seeing whether or not they are in harmony with God, and, if not, to consider what relation they bear to the great trouble that is now upon the world.
The Clergy, as distinguished from the laity, or common people, were organized about the year 325. In 529 the Clergy System, claiming to be the Church, assumed temporal power, op ganized armies and went forth to fight and destroy those who dared resist their unrighteous schemes. They deprived the common people of the Bible, issued their own statements of belief, or creeds, and required the people to believe and fol-
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low these. Briefly stated, the scheme, or plan, put forth by the Clergy of that day and followed since is:
That the wages of sin is not death, but purgatory or eternal torture; that the Clergy have power to forgive sins and to pray men out of purgatory, which they pretend to do for a money consideration; that the Pope rules as the Vicegerent of Christ, and therefore Christ’s Kingdom, or Government, has long been in operation in the earth; that the kings rule by Divine right, and that this right to rule is derived from the clergy, as the representatives of the Lord; that the province of the Church, composed of the clergy, is to convert all the world to believe in their doctrines.
8PURIOUSNESS OF RULING BY
DIVINE RIGHT
In the year 1517, Protestantism had its birth. For a time the Protestant Church sought to reform and to teach the Bible, as best its teachers understood; but later the Protestant clergy began to mix religion and politics, and the kings of Europe were taught by them, as well as by the Catholic hierarchy, that they held their thrones by Divine right and that the Clergy were the proper spiritual advisers of the kings of earth. Every kingdom of Europe has its national religion, and those kingdoms among whom the name of Christ is held, are designated as “Christendom,” which, in short, means Christ’s Kingdom.
The Clergy, both Catholic and Protestant, have taught the kings of earth that they rule by Divine right and hence can do no wrong. Long ago it was incorporated in the common law of England, “The king can do no wrong.” Every student of Blackstone will recall reading this statement when he began to study ’*laWr'~'rt ~seeiifc<r strange that a man could do no wrong, but the explanation has been, and is, that the king, ruling by Divine Kight, and deriving this right through the clergy, is the Lord’s representative, and therefore all his acts are right.
Relying upon the advice of their spiritual advisers, the kings have reasoned thus: We must extend our territory and increase our commerce, and to accomplish this we must have great armies and navies. War may be necessary, and much property may be destroyed and many of our subjects lose their lives; but our course is right, because our spiritual advisers have told us so. The rulers, therefore, forced the people to bear the burden of taxation to provide navies and armies, and then sent their respective subjects forth to kill each other in a Christian(?) manner.
As these have gone to war, the clergy have stood by the kings and said, in substance, “Push on your war of destruction; God is with you, and we wi 1 pray His blessings upon your army.” In Germany the Clergy pray God that He will bless their armies and enable them to destroy the English; in Great Britain the clergymen pray God for a blessing upon the British armies, that they may’ be enabled to vvipe the Germans off the face of the earth. Which class of the clergy does He hear?
The clergy have urged the young men to enter this war; and in order that other generations might be born to fight arid die, they have called upon the young men to first marry and beget children before going to the battle-field, offering to perform the marriage ceremony free of charge. To perform any service free is an unusual thing for preachers. What a moral degeneracy has come upon the nations at the advice of the clergy! Notwithstanding the fact that the Lord has taught that no murderer sha1! enter His Kingdom, the clergy teach that he who dies I while engaged in war upon the battle-field has an abundant entrance into Heaven. As an example of this, the public press reports a recent discourse by Dr. Gordon, the leading clergyman of Canada, in which he said in substance:
“The uniform of King George upon a soldier boy is a sure passport to Heaven, and God Himself cannot keep a young man out of Heaven who dies with this uniform upon him.”
And yet that clergyman claims to be
The Book of Revelation is written largely in symbols. “Wine” is a sym-bal pf doctrine; “fornication,” a symbol of illicit relationship between church and politics. The Lord, speaking through the Revelator, says: “Babylon the Great is fallen, is fallen (faLen from God’s favor), and is become the habitation of devils (thdse possessing a devilish spirit), and the hold of every foul spirit (impure principle), and the cage of every hateful and unclean bird (nearly every “jail-bird” is a member of some\ nominal church system). For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication; and all the kings have committed fornication with her; and the merchants of earth have waxen rich through the abundance of her delicacies.” '
Clearly this prophetic statement has been fulfilled by the illicit mixing of religion and politics in the name of Christ by those who claim to be His ambassadors, and the whole arrangement is an abomination in the sight of the Lord. Continuing, He says: “For her sins have reached unto Heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities; therefore shall her plagues come in one day— death and mourning and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire (symbol of destruction); for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her.”— Revelation 18:1-8.
PRESENT WAR FORETOLD IN SCRIPTURE
Foreknowing the course that men would take, the Lord foretold the present great conflict through the Prophet Joel more than 2500 years ago, as follows: “Prepare war; wake up the mighty men; let all the men of war draw nigh; let them come up! Beat your plowshares into swords and your . pruning-hooks into spears; let the weak say, I am strong! Assemble yourselves and come, all ye nations, and gather yourselves round about; thither cause thy mighty ones to come down. Let the nations be wakened and come to the Valley of Jehoshaphat (the valley of graves—the literal valley of Jehoshaphat outside of Jerusalem being the * burial ground of the Jews, picturing the burying grounds of the armies engaged in the world-war) ♦ * » The sun and the moon shall be darkened and the stars shall withdraw their shining.”—Joel 3:9-15.
The Scriptures point out that the "sun” symbolizes the Gospel of b Christ’s Kingdom: that the “moon” represents the Mosaic Law; and that the stars are symbols of ecclesiastical teachers. Thus we see that at the time the world-conflict has come the Gospel of Messiah’s Kingdom is darkened in the nominal churches. No longer do the clergy teach the coming of Messiah’s Kingdom to bless all the families of the earth. No longer do they tell the people that the Mosaic Law foreshadowed, the development of this great Kingdom. And they, as the “stars,” have fallen from their exalted position in the spiritual heavens as teachers of the Divine Word, and have aTied themselves with the common politics of the world.
THE END OF THE WORLD HAS . COME
The word “world,” as used symbolically in the Scriptures, means Dispensation, or period of time. The time of Gentile dominion has been, according to the Scriptures, a period of 2520 years. The Bible clearly points out, and this is corroborated by secular history, that the Gentile Times began with the overthrow of the. Jewish king, Zedekiah, and the enthronement of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, in the autumn season, 606 years before Christ. It follows, then, that the full period of 2520 years would expire in the autumn of 1914. Referring to this time the great Master said, “And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come.” Exactly on time, when the Gentile dominion legally ended, the nations were angry, and God’s wrath upon the nations expressed itself in permitting them to begin the destruction of one another. Our Lord Jesus, in His great prophecy concerning the end of this present age, or world, pointed out that the beginning of this trouble would be when “nation shall rise against nation and king-.dom against kingdom,” and that it would end with “a Time of Trouble such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” The Prophet Daniel gives similar testimony.—Matthew 24:21; Daniel 12:1.
It is a well-known fact that the clergymen speak of their congregations as their “flock,” and of them* selves as “watchmen.” A true watchman of the flock should be highly commended; but the Lord said of those who are of the contrary spirit: “What hast thou to do to declare
an ambassador of the Prince of Peace!
For a long time, claiming to teach the Bible, and posing as preachers of the Gospel, which men so sorely need for their comfort, the great majority of the modern clergymen have departed therefrom, and now hold to and teach doctrines utterly subversive of the Bible. For the past quarter of a century a great tidal wave of infidelity has swept over the so-called “Christian world”—not the blasphemous atheism advocated by Ingersoll and Payne, but an infidelity of a more subtle character, represented in the scholarship of the modern clergymen, generally known as “Higher Criticism” and “Evolution.” The teaching of such doctrines has destroyed faith in the inspiration of the Bible as God’s Word of Truth, and has turned the people away from the teachings of Jesus and the Apostles. Our colleges and universities are hotbeds of such dangerous brands of infidelity, and its blighting influence has permeated our public schools.
PROTESTANTISM NOW MERELY
THE “ISM” WITHOUT THE “PROTEST”
The Protestantism of our day is not the result of the great Reformation, but of its decline and failure. It is merely the “ism” without the “protest.”
The Apostle Paul points out that the statements of prophecy set forth in the Old Testament would have a special application and fulfilment at the close of the Gospel Age. We are now in that time. The word “prophet” means preacher, cr one who proclaims; whereas it is the word “seer” that represents those who predict things to come. Concerning those who suppress the Truth, teaching faith-destroying doctrines and thereby ensnaring the people, the Lord has said: “Among My (professed) people are found wicked men; they lie in wait as he who sets a snare; they set. a trap (Higher Criticism, Evolution and other worldly theories destructive of faith in the Bible) to catch men; they are waxen fat; they shine (modern clergymen claim to be rich in wisdom and need no teaching, and they love to shine before men); they pass by the deeds of the wicked (they approve the wrongful acts of kings and rulers against the interests of the common people and keep silent respecting the sins of their wealthy and influential members). Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord. Shall not4 Ivly soul be avenged on such a nation as this ? A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land. The prophets (preachers) preach falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means, and? the people love to have it so.”—Jeremiah 5:26-29.
Thus the Lord fearfully arraigns those who suppress the Truth and by their selfish schemes ensnare men in their doctrines, contrary to God’s way. The Lord points out that if these professed ambassadors of Christ had been faithful in teaching His Word of Truth the present great and horrible war would have been averted. ■—Jeremiah 23:19-22; Isaiah 34: 1, 2.
CLERGY MORE REPREHENSIBLE THAN THE KINGS
Of course, there are exceptions to the. rule, and there are some good, honest clergymen in the world. But alas, the majority of them, we fear, belong to the other class’ The Scriptures point out that both the kings and the clergy are responsible for this war, but that the clergy are even more reprehensible, because it was their duty to know God’s Plan and to tell it to the people. But they have refused to learn it and failed to tell it to others.
Concerning the responsibility for this war, Rabbi Wise, of New York City, recently said:
“The failure of the churches and synagogues to maintain leadership over the people was the cause of the present war. They have enthroned a war devil in place of God. They are satisfied to be a mere item of social organisation and. to defend their countries and rulers, just or unjust.”
Rev. Dr. Peter Ainslie, Pastor of the Christian Temple at Baltimore, recently said in a public sermon: , “More than to any other source the cause of the great war lies at the door of the Church.”
UNRIGHTEOUS ECCLESIASTICAL SCHEMES AN ABOMINATION
TO JEHOVAH
So numerous are the schemes of men that they are bewildering and confusing. God has named these unrighteous ecclesiastical schemes '‘Babylon,” which means confusion; and He refers to the Catholic system as the “Mother of Harlots.” The other ecclesiastical systems sprang from her, and are, therefore, the daughters referred to by the Revela-tor.—Revelation 17:1-6.
My statutes, or that thou shouldest take My Covenant into thy mouth, seeing thou hatest instruction and castest My words behind thee? When thou sawest a thief (Satan, stealing the hearts and minds of the people away from God’s Plan), then thou consentest with him, and hast been partaker with adulterers. Thou givest thy mouth to evil and thy tongue frameth deceit.” (Psalm 50:17-19.) Again, says the Prophet Isaiah: “His watchmen are blind; they are all ignorant; they are all dumb dogs (D. Ds.); they cannot bark —sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber. Yea, they are greedy dogs, which can never have enough, and they are shepherds that cannot understand; they aU look to their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter (denomination).” Isa.56:10,11.
Summing up the situation, we see that the Gentile Times have ended, that the kings of earth have had their day. God gave them an opportunity to make good, and they have failed. He is now putting them out of posesssion of earthly dominion. Sin and selfishness have predominated. The kings and rulers, being illy advised by their spiritual counselors, have come to a sorry end. Soon revolution will be upon the world, terminating in anarchy, which will completely overthrow all the Babylonish systems—ecclesiastical and political.
A BETTER DAY COMING
But let us leave the dark picture for a moment. The Apostle Peter, after describing this trouble time, says:. “Nevertheless, we, according to His promise, look for a new heavens (spiritual ruling powers) and a new earth (earth:y government, order of society), wherein dwelleth righteousness.” The promise here referred to is that Promise made by Jehovah to Abraham, saying, “In thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” The Seed of Abraham must first be brought forth before the blessings can come. That Seed is Christ—Jesus the Head, and the Church His Body.—Galatians 3:16, 27-29.
During the entire Gospel Age God has been gathering out from the world those who would constitute this Body—who would become truly consecrated Christians. Some of these have been clergymen; some have been members of church denominations; others not. The true test has been full faith in Jesus as* the great Redeemer—in His sacrifical death as man’s great Redemptionprice; then complete consecration to do God’s holy will, and faithful obedience thereafter even unto death. All who are of this class are promised a share in the Chief Resurrection and that they shall reign with Christ to bless all the families of the earth.— Revelation 20:6.
The Scriptures abound with promises that a righteous Government is to be established in the earth, and that such Government shall rest upon the shoulders of the Great Messiah (Isaiah 9:6); that He shall then be called “Wonderful,” “Counselor,” “the Everlasting Father,” “the Prince of Peace.” Under His Reign wars shall cease, and wickedness and crime shall be completely obliterated from the human race. Every man who loves peace and righteousness shall then sit under his own “vine and figtree,” he will have his own peaceful habitation, where he may dwell with, his loved ones in happiness.
Our Lord Jesus Himself promised that during His Reign all who are in the tomb shall come forth and that all shall have a fair and impartial trial for life. The Scriptures abound with promises that there shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust. (John 5:28, 29, R. V.; Acts 24:15; 17:31.) When Christ reigns, though Himself invisible to man, He will, through His visible representatives on the earth, establish a Government of equity and justice, bringing the desire of every honest heart.
At the end of the thousand years'* Reign of Christ, the entire earth will have been brought to a state of Edenic Paradise (Isaiah 35; Ezekiel 36:34-36), and all the incorrigible, the wilfully wicked, shall have been forever destroyed. All others shall have been completely restored to that perfect condition enjoyed by Father Adam in the Garden of Eden. Then Christ will turn over the Kingdom to the Father, and all will be given a final test. Those who then, shall prove their loyalty to God and the principles of righteousness will be granted everlasting life; those who fail will suffer everlasting destruction. God will then have a clean Universe.
“Lift up, lift up thy voice with singing!
O earth, with strength lift up thy voice! God’s Kingdom to the earth is coming;
The King is at the gates, rejoice!”
PASTOR RUSSELL
WHY HATED BY THE CLERGY I
WHY LOVED BY THE COMMON PEOPLE I
(A Lecture, Delivered at THE ODEON, St. Louis, by J. F. Rutherford, for Many Years the Close Friend of Pastor Russell.)
AMAN’S greatness is properly measured by the amount of good he accomplishes on behalf of his fellowmen. The good accomplished is not to be determined in money value, but must be measured by the amount of true happiness brought into the lives of the largest number. The man who attains to this position of greatness must do so through adversity, and for this there is a reason.
forfeited th® But these religious rulers __ joys and beauties of Eden, there have doomed to disappointment. Instead fopces contending Of coming with great pomp and os-in the Universe—good and evil. God ■ - -- • - *
is the perfect expression of goodness; Satan, the very personification
of evil. All of the sorrows of the human race are traceable to the machinations of Satan and his coadjutors.
Every human being that has lived upon the earth has fought either under the banner of the Lord of righteousness or under the leadership of the Evil One—Satan. Every one in the world today is fighting under the one or the other standard. All who have fought under the Lord’s banner of righteousness have done so willingly. The Lord coerces the will of no man. But the great mass of the soldiers of the Adversary have fought under him unwillingly. They have been the bond-slaves of evil, enslaved by the wrongful act of the first man, and unable to extricate themselves therefrom.
A Remarkable Tribute to Pastor Russell’s Worth
It follows, therefore, that every man who achieves ^ real greatness must be a brave ana valiant soldier of righteousness. ' An apostle of light, he is often made to appear evil by his adversaries; whereas, the great Adversary and his coadjutors often appear in the garb of angels of light, thereby deceiving many. Century after century history has repeated itself in this respect. Why? -We answer, because the same great forces are constantly warring against each other, the evil always opposing the right.
The world has produced some great men. Some men, by reason of their untiring struggles, have become great; while some have attained greatness by reason of God’s special favor. Not since the days of the Apostle Paul has there lived in the world a greater and better man than Pastor Russell. I say this ad-hearts were removed far from Him. Their leaders, the clergy, were proud, high-minded, heady, self-willed and egotistical. They practised fraud and deceit upon the people. The Pharisees would stand in the streets and
visedly, because in that time no man has been so wonderfully used to bring lasting blessings to so large a number. He brought to them in clear
S XuJ’ firltdibf|an to^peak LonfTesGs»» themy frauds upon this earth. For centuries the apd (Mar^ ^-G’S.) At the
Adversary and his coadjutors have beclouded the Message of Salvation, a distinct class, apart from the but, during the last half century the common people, designating them-Lord has caused greater light to selves the clergy, the majority of shine upon this Message, and He whom have departed from the teach-used Pastor Russell as His special lugs of Jesus and the Apostles, teachinstrument in directing to that light, ffg instead
If Pastor Russell was a follower of from the heathen philosophers, or Jesus (and no one who knew him else doctrines of Higher Criticism and could doubt it), why should any one thereby , destroying the
- ■ - * - — - • " - the true faith of the people in the Bible and
find that blinding them to God’s Plan of Sal-our Lord vation. Mark, then, the parallel of of light events of the two Ages, observing always the opposition of the evil to
hate him? Searching for answer to this question, I the life and* experiences of Jesus shed a great flood upon the matter.
The Master—“Despised and
°f Men Christ Jesus, who declared that every
The greatest man that ever lived man who would become His true fol-upon the earth was Jesus of Naza- lower and would continue as such, reth. He was the greatest Reformer of all times Above all, He was the Redeemer and Savior of the world. Yet He was “despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.” Why? We give the answer here that we may show why those who have stood for .righteousness have always been bitterly persecuted.
When Jesus came to earth He ’found a marked departure from the teachings that had been given Israel through the holy Prophets. Grad-’ually, near the close of their Age, there came into existence certain un-
Rejected
authorized sects, a clergy class, fowl t: Pharisees. Sadducees, Essenes and Cyreneans. These sects mixed with the true Word of God doctrines which they had borrowed from heathen philosophers. They were given over to great formalism. The? pretended to worship God, worshiping Him with their lips, while their
utter long prayers. They publicly thanked God that they were ' ‘
than other men.
Pharisaical Clergy Doomed to pointment
better
Disap-
were
tentation, Messiah came meek and
lowly of heart, giving the Father all the glory for what He said and did. He taught the people how they might attain life everlasting in a state of happiness. “He spake as never man spake” before in fulfilment of the prophetic statement, “Grace was upon
His lips”; and His message brought gladness to the ' n "
hearts' of the sincere.
“The common
_____ __________ people heard Him gladly9 They followed Him from place to place; they thronged about
Him; they rejoiced to be in His presence.
- „ ' w When Luther protested against the’
Seeing that the people were for- false doctrines taught by the Papacy, Baking them and following the lowly he was excommunicated, denounced Nazarene, these various sects, com- and bitterly persecuted—likewise posed largely of the Jewish hierarchy, every reformer, both those who pre-or clergy, were incensed against our ceded and those who followed him. Lord and began a systematic and ~ ■ - - •- -
wicked persecution of Him. They were blind instruments of Satan.
They first sought to destroy Him by vile epithets and slander. They publicly called in question the legitimacy of His birth and the chastity of His mother; they denounced Him as a liar, as a sinner, as the chief of devils and as a blasphemer of God. Finally they paid their ill-gotten money to have Him cruelly murdered. Thirty-seven years later the Jewish .nation fell, and has not risen since.
, man dies he is not in reality dead, Class Which Caused Jesus’ Death but more alive than ever; that the
very good, at death, go immediately
r,, -r. . , _ x-u * to Heaven—a state of everlasting
St. Paul produced the evidence that bliss; and that all others go imme-
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this Gospel Age. The Biblical testi- a p|ace torment, limited in dura-mony further shows that in the Gospel tion, or to Hell, a place of endless Age we would find a parallel not only torture in fire and brimstone.
in time, but in the events that would . The .Calvinistic branch' of Protest-transpire, and that the same class of antism has taught, and still teaches, men who were prominent and power- that God foreordained a few to be ful then would be prominent and saved and all others to be forever powerful now. •*' ’ *' •
Today we are in the closing hours
saken their God-given duty of teach
of the Gospel Age. the Jewish Age we men who separated the common people, of as “the clergy.” ing the wTruth to the' people, and the the good.
The Gospel Age opened with the introduction of the great Master,
PASTOR RUSSELL’S
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would receive persecution similar to questions are too deep for you; ju/t that which He received. He said, “If "— ' -!x’- 1 ‘ ’ 1 ”
they have called the Master of the
house the prince of devils, how much more will they call them of His Household!” (Matthew 10:25.) Again He said, “Ye are not of the world; if ye were of the world, the world would love its own; but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefor the world hateth you.”—John 15:19.
Neither Jesus Nor the Apostles Ever Claimed to Be Clergymen
Jesus pointed out that the great objective of the Christian was to be the Kingdom of God, and to this end He taught His followers to pray, “Thy Kingdom come.” He emphasized the fact that His Second Coming would mark the beginning of the blessings to mankind which God had promised through the mouth of all His holy Prophets, and that these blessings could come in no other way or time. Neither Jesus nor the Apostles ever laid claim to being clergymen. Such a thing does not appear in Church history until after the Apostles had all disappeared from the stage of earthly activity.
When the great apostate system was organized, the Pope became its head, and around him he gathered cardinals, arch-bishops, bishops and priests, thus forming “the clergy” class; and these alone claim to be members of the Church, so-called. All others who follow are called ‘^children of the Church.” The Protestant Reformers were themselves, persecuted; but now, in their names, their followers in turn become persecutors.
Call to mind the experiences of Huss, Wycliffe, Knox, Wesley, Campbell, and others. The spirit of intolerance has been manifested in all ages, and while more refined methods of persecution
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The Teachings of the Clergy
What have been the teachings of the Clergy? They have taught, and generally still teach, that every man has an immortal soul; that when a autism has taught, and still teaches,
At the close of saw a class of themselves from fittingly spoken
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damned; that every child, even before its birth, has its destiny eternally sealed; that nothing that any one
could do could alter its foreordained destiny, and that Jehovah had made this arrangement.
Another system of theology has taught, and yet teaches, that man’s sins may be forgiven by pope or priest upon a money consideration.
Practically all the church systems, Catholic and Protestant, have taught, and still teach, that all who are saved go to Heaven, that there is no other place of salvation; that at Christ’s Second Coming the earth will be utterly destroyed, together with every one upon the earth who is unsaved. They claim to be followers of the Prince of Peace, yet urge Rulers and people to engage in war.
These have further taught, and still teach, that no one is authorized to preach except he be first ordained by a body of clergymen, designated by them for that purpose. Of course, this body is not divinely authorized to perform any such ordination, such ordination being entirely of their own making. When plied with questions, the clergy have, as a rule, waved them aside, intimating, “These
for the entire set of seven books, together with one year’s subscription to the semimonthly journal, The Watch Tower.
‘The Divine PKan of the Ages” . . • 416 pp. “The Time Is at Hand” ...... 432’’ ‘Thy Kingdom Come” ....,• 432 ” ‘The Battle of Armageddon” .... 720 ” ‘The Atonement Between God and Man” 600 ”
‘The New Creation” ....... 816 have faith in what we tell you.1
............ --- 14:13.) The Psalmist, speaking pro vii. “The Finished Mystery” . . . , . ,608 phetically of Jesus, stated that Jesus International Bible Students Association,, went to hell (Psalm 16:10); and the
Brooklyn, N. Y., U. S. A. * . Apostle explains this in Acts 2:29-35 tC
mean the tomb.
What Pastor Russell Taught—Turned Hose on Hell and Put Out the Fite
ings of Jesus and His Apostles, and: 1 that all these harmonized fully with , the Old Testament, he began to turn the great searchlight of Truth upon the error; and naturally this exposed these erroneous theories' which had been adopted and long followed by the Ciergy class. As one good preacher put it, “Pastor Russell turned the hose on Hell and put out the fire." And that knocked down the chief prop of the clergy. He did not attack men, but merely attacked the erroneous doctrines by teaching the true; and this he had a perfect right to do; while his opponents at* tacked him personally.
I now give the Bible teaching upon these great questions at issue, by the citation of Scriptural authority; afid what the Bible teaches is what Pas* tor Russell believed and taught the people for more than forty years.
God has a wonderful Plan, foreknown and prearranged by Him before the foundation of the world, which Plan He is working out to His own glory and for the blessing of His creatures. From His Word we learn that God created man in His own -image and likeness—perfect in or* ganism, perfect in mind. This em* braced the power to discern between right and wrong. God did not give man a soul; He made man a soul. (Genesis 2:7.) As the Scriptures set , forth, all animal creatures are souls; none possess souls. A cow is a soul; it does not have a soul. (Numbers 31:28 ) There is quite a distinction betwf^n being a thing and having that thing. The union of the breath of life with the elements composing the body produce a third thing; namely, a living, moving, breathing being, which we call “a soul.”
dying you shall die?’ (Genesia 2:17.) Stated in other phrase, God informed
When Pastor Russell ascertained the beautiful and harmonious teach-them that they might enjoy the beauty and perfection of Eden forever, gradually extending this Eden until it should cover the whole earth, on the condition that they obey His Law; but that to disobey would result in death. He did not say that if they disobeyed He would send them to eternal torture. No such statement can bo founi in the Scriptures. He did not say that their souls were Im* ~ mortal and could never die. It was Satan who said to Mother Eve, “Ye shall not die.” (Genesis 3:1-5.) Concerning this Jesus declared that this falsehood of Satan’s was the first lie ever told, and that from it all other lies and false doctrines emanated.
The Genesis account sets forth that Adam did violate God’s law and. in harmony with the penalty of that law, Jehovah sentenced him to death, not to an eternity of torture. He sentenced him to hell; but the hell of the Bible is not a place of eternal * torment, but of oblivion.
The Bible Hell—Taught by Pastor?
Russell
For more than fifteen centuries ths people have been in darkness con* cerning the meaning of hell, because the true teachings of the Bible were taken away in the Third Century by the then corrupt Church leaders, and the theories of men were substituted therefor. We have now come to the close of the Gospel Age, to the time when greater light than ever before is shining upon all things, and when every hidden thing is being uncovered* This has been true during the past forty years, and as time has advanced the light has grown brighter and brighter. Within this comparatively brief period more light has .been turned upon the true teachings of the Bible than during all the centuries since the days of the Apostles. Briefly, we give the Bible teaching concerning Hell:
The only word in the Hebrew Old Testament translated Hell is SheoL Every educated minister knows that Sheol is not a place of eternal torture, but that the word means the tomb, or the condition of death. Jacob declared: “I will go down into hell (Sheol) to my son mourning.” Surely Joseph was not in eternal torment “If evil befall him (Benjamin) by the way, then shall ye bring down my gray hairs with sorrow to the grave” (Sheol). (Gen. 37:35; 42:38.) Job-after losing all his possessions and his children, and then being afflicted With a loathsome disease, prayed God that he might go to hell—the yfrave, Sheol—and there rest in silence. (Job
In the New Testament the Greek word Hades is translated Hell, and has the same meaning as Sheol in the Hebrew. The word Gehenna is also translated hell. It has not the thought of conscious torment, but represents the condition of annihilation, eternal death, from which there is to foe no resurrection.—Matt. 10:28.
The clergy teach that the dead are more alive after death than before, whereas the Scriptures teach exactly to the contrary. The Psalmist says: “What man is he that liveth and shall not see death? Shall he deliver his soul from the tomb?” (Psalm 89:48.) “In death none shall praise Thee; in hell (Sheol, the grave) who shall give Thee thanks?” (Psalm 6:5.) “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence/’ (Psalm 115:17.) “His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish/’ (Psalm 146:4.) “The living know that they shall die, but the dead know not anything/’ “Whatsoever thy hand find-eth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom in the grave (Sheol) whither thou goest.”—Ecclesiastes 9:5, 10.
Resurrection—“Earth Holds So Many Dead.”
Except for God’s love manifested toward humankind, all would have perished forever, for the reason that “the wages of sin is death,” not eternal torture (Romans 6:23); and death means complete cessation of life. The fear of eternal torture has brought horror to millions of minds, causing them to shun Jehovah as a fiend and to repudiate His Word as a mockery. The Prophet plainly tells us that such doctrines are taught by the precepts of men and are not in harmony with God’s Word.—Isaiah 29:13.
For six thousand years there has been great sorrow in the earth, and that sorrow is now greatly intensified. Billions have gone into death after much suffering. The clergy have held out no message of comfort to the vast majority of these, before they died, or to their loving friends who remained behind to mourn them. -Truly the poet has said:
"The earth is old with centuries, But not for this she bows her head;
Close to her heart the sorrow lies—
She holds so many dead.”
But Jehovah through His Prophets has held out hope of a resurrection (Jer. 31:15-17; Isa. 26:19; Hosea 13:14). The resurrection of all men is made
its establishment would mark the beginning of the blessings to all mankind. The word “Kingdom” is used in a two-fold sense. It means, first, the royal family, or reigning house; second, the realm, or dominion, over which the royal family reign. The word “Kingdom” is a name applied in the Scriptures to the ruling Seed of Abraham—Jesus Christ the Head, and the glorified Church, His Body— as well as to the earthly domain over which they shall bear rule.
When Bible Burning was done by Clergy.—St. Paul's, London.
The Second Advent of Christ has been the great event to which the Master’s true disciples have long looked forward; they have hoped and prayed for its coming. We are today in the closing hours of the period allotted by God for the selection of the Church, and “the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand”!—now in the full sense of its establishment in the earth. The institutions of “this present evil world” are passing away in a great Time of Trouble, and soon the Lord will establish His Kingdom of Righteousness, which will deal out justice to all humanity.
All these Bible truths Pastor Russell taught for forty years, and always without money and without price. “Seats free and no collection!” was an eyesore to his sectarian opponents, and drew from them much hitter criticism during ’all these years that he pointed to the nearness of Messiah’s Kingdom; and time and again, orally and through the public press, he announced to the. peoples of earth that the Age was now closing and would pass away with a great
Time of Trouble, due to begin, according to Bible chronology, in 1914, and that this trouble would eventuate in the greatest revolution and most destructive anarchy the earth has ever known, to be followed immediately by the full setting up of Messiah’s Kingdom of everlasting peace, which would bring blessings to all the peoples of the world—the living and the dead.
The King Present—“Come as a Thief”
It can readily be seen how these great truths set forth in the Bible, and taught by the Lord’s special Servant of these last days, upset all the theories and doctrines that have been taught by the clergy for the past 1,500 years. It is likewise easy to see that those not having the spirit of the Lord, those clergymen who regard their profession as one for personal profit, either in money or in the plaudits of men, would be blind to the great purposes of God and hence would vigorously oppose the light of Truth.
He Taught the People
Pastor Russell printed hundreds of millions of tracts and pamphlets setting forth the Message of the Kingdom of Messiah, and these have been distributed throughout the world, free of charge. The clergy have constantly persecuted him for so doing. More than four thousand newspapers from time to time published his sermons. As an example of how this affected the clergy, one of their number angrily remarked, “I cannot open my morning paper without Pastor Russell’s face staring at me.” The religious department of one of our great publications, which is unfriendly, contained the following:
"Pastor Russell’s writings are said to have greater newspaper circulation every week than those of any other living man: a greater, doubtless, than the combined circulation of the writings of all the priests and preachers in North America; greater even than the work of Arthur irisbane, Norman Hapgood, George Horace Lorimer, Dr. Frank Crane, Frederick Haskins, and a dozen other of the best known editors and syndicate writers put together.”
Many Clergy of Evil and Corrupt Minds
The Clergy naturally were unable to answer the great Message of Truth which Pastor Russell delivered. They hated him and persecuted him for the same reason that the agents of the Adversary hated and persecuted the Lord and the Apostles. (John 15:18-21.) No one who indulges in such persecutrons’ Tras the spirit of the Lord, but the spirit of the Adversary. In the Scriptures we read, “Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer.” (1 John 3:15.) “Speak not evil one of another, brethren.” “Sneak evil of no man.”—James 4:11; Titus 3:2.
The Clergy of evil and corrupt minds indulged in slander and libelous attacks against Pastor Russell’s character. One of the best evidences of the falsity of their charges is the fact that no person was ever produced who gave testimony against the moral character of Pastor Russell. To his dying day he was able to say, what probably very few other men aside from the Lord could say, that he had lived a life of absolute celibacy.
Time will not permit the examination here of each of the charges the clergy made against him, but they all have been answered fully and clearly in a little pamphlet entitled, “A GREAT BATTLE IN THE ECCLESIASTICAL HEAVENS,” which I have written from personal observation and knowledge of the facts, and which can be obtained from the office of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, 17 Hicks St., Brooklyn, N. Y., by merely sending a post-card request therefor.
As a sample of the Scriptural Message of sweetness and comfort which Pastor Russell taught the people, we quote from Volume I of his Studies in the Scriptures, pages 191 and 192:
"The Apostle Peter, our Lord, and all the Prophets since the world began, declare that the human race is to be restored to glorious perfection, and is again to have dominion over earth, as its representative, Adam, had.
"It is this portion that God has elected to give to the human race. And what a glorious portion! Close your eyes for a moment to the scenes of misery and woe, degradation and sorrow that yet prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth. Not a stain of sin mars the harmony and peace of a perfect society; not a bitter thought, not an unkind look or word; love, welling up from every heart, meets a kindred response in every other heart, and benevolence marks every act. There sickness shall be no more; not an ache nor a pain, nor any evidence of decay—not even the fear of such things. Think of all the pictures of comparative health and beauty of human form and feature that you have ever seen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing loveliness. The inward purity of mental and moral perfection will stamp and glorify every radiant countenance. ' Such will earth’s society be; and weeping bereaved ones will have their tears all wiped away, when thus they realize the resurrection work complete.” —Revelation 21:4.
It must be evident to all fair-minded persons that he who opposes such a Message is surely fighting under the banner of the Adversary.
To put it in a few words, Pastor Russell was hated by the clergy because he taught the people Tne“ TRUTH and disregarded their creeds and human traditions. He was loved by the common people because he brought to them the Truth, a Message of hope, which has filled the hearts of many with joy.
possible because of this fact: A perfect man sinned and through him condemnation came upon all. Through the willing and substitutionary sacrifice of another perfect man—Christ Jesus—the opportunity for life comes to all. (Romans 5:12, 15-21.) This was the only means whereby man could justly be released from the penalty resulting from Adam’s sin. No man on earth could meet this requirement; and for this reason, the Scriptures inform us, Jesus “was made a little lower than the angels, for the suffering of death, that He, by the grace of God, should taste death for every man.”—Hebrews 2:9.
“The Church Which Is the Body of Christ”
Long centuries ago Jehovah gave an Oath-bound Promise to Abraham, and renewed it to Isaac and to Jacob, saying, “In thee and in thy Seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.” (Genesis 12:3; 26:4; 28: 14.) Who was to constitute this Seed was a complete mystery to all until Pentecost, and is still a mystery to all except those who have fully consecrated themselves to the Lord. (Colossians 1:26,27.) The Seed, according to the Promise, is Christ, and Christ is composed of Jesus Christ the Head, and the true Church, His Body.—Gal. 3:16, 29; Colossians 1:18.
All who have been baptized into Christ—that is to say, all who during the present Age have been immersed into Christ’s death by a full consecration to do the Father’s will—have put on Christ; and these, continuing faithful unto the end, shall have part in the First, or Chief Resurrection, and together with Christ Jesus shall constitute the Seed of Abraham according to promise, and shall reign for a thousand years for the purpose ^©f bestowing God’s promised blessing upon mankind.—Galatians 3:29; Revelation 20:6.
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