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NASB | Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form, |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Colossians 2:9 For in Him all the fullness of Deity (the Godhead) dwells in bodily form [completely expressing the divine essence of God]. |
Subject: Verification on Charles Taze Russell |
Bible Note: Sure...Zion's Watchtower, January 15, 1892 http://www.agsconsulting.com/htdbv5/r1354.htm The quote I previously gave came from this article, and so do these: "While it was an agreeable surprise to us (in view of the contrary sensational accounts so often published) to find the situation in Europe as we here describe it--in harmony with what the Scriptures had led us to expect--yet so great is our confidence in the Word of God and in the light of present truth shining upon it, that we could not have doubted its testimony whatever had been the appearances. The date of the close of that "battle" is definitely marked in Scripture as October, 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October, 1874. Thus far it has been chiefly a battle of words and a time of organizing forces --capital, labor, armies and secret societies. " So, according to the "view from the Tower," the end of this age began in 1874 and was to culminate in Armageddon in 1914. So in Russell's pre-1914 publications, 1914 marks the violent end (not the "beginning of the end," but the end itself) of the old order and the establishment of Paradise. He also said: "The Scriptures show also that the battle of the great day will begin with the Church of God, and that the overthrow of the great nominal church systems will precede the overthrow of the present civil powers; for the Lord is about to shake, not only the earth (the civil organization of society), but heaven (the ecclesiastical powers) also (Heb. 12:26), to the end that great "Babylon," falsely called Christendom --Christ's kingdom--may be completely destroyed. The great counterfeit kingdom of Christ, with all its allied civil and ecclesiastical powers, must go down as a great millstone into the sea, preparatory to the final establishment of the true Kingdom of Christ." So he understood the Bible to teach: 1. The last great battle would begin with the church. 2. The ecclesiastical representations of "Christendom" would be destroyed wholesale in this battle "as a great millstone into the sea." 3. This overthrowing of the church will precede the overthrow of the secular government. 4. This will happen as PREPARATION for Christ's Kingdom, which according to you was established in 1914. So was Russell right about a world-altering catastrophe culminating in 1914? Certainly people can be mistaken about interpretations of Scripture; however, since 1914 is such a crucial year in Russell's theological system, one would have to wonder what else he could have been wrong about he was wrong about the nature of the end of the age. If you have another way to explain this article in such a way that fits all of the date setting of specific events, I would gladly welcome it. --Joe! |