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Why I am a Bible Student

 Click here to check out this link for a very interesting article written by Daniel Torluemke, a Bible Student, in response to Robert C. Hill, ThB’S article “Why I Am Not A Bible Student”

Bible Students are not a sectarian organization.   We are organized like the Early Church and the Bible Students at the time of the Early Watchtower, without any Governing Body.  Each Bible Student Congregation is independent.  As in the Early Church, elders are elected by vote of the Anointed Congregation members.  Bible Students permit liberty of thought and differences of opinion, yet the Holy Spirit and our agreement on all the basic doctrines holds us together as a unified group.  Our most important foundational doctrine is the Ransom for ALL.  That “Jesus tasted death for every man” (Heb 2:9)  and that ALL will come forth from their tombs (Matt 5:28, 29).  (This is the same word tomb mentioned throughout the Bible and has not special thought of only those whom Jehovah remembers.)  When ALL return to life upon Paradise Earth, it will be a time a judgment and education that will take place during the 1,000 years.  Isa 26:9  says “when Your judgments are in the earth, The inhabitants of the world will learn righteousness.”

 

38 comments to Why I am a Bible Student

  • That is the part that is so bizarre to me. The vast majority of Russell hating sites are completely inaccurate as to what the man actually taught. If it were not so serious it would be comical.

    • Jacqueline

      Br. Daniel I think I can add some insight on some of the sites. Normally they began talking and go straight on down to present day thru the Jehovah Witness organization.
      So you see they aren’t aware most of the time about Bible Students being different from Jehovah witnesses. Unless you have the opportunity to talk in detail to them and help them to understand, they equate him with the present day organization.
      Also we have to be truthful people, and truthfully most ex JW know nothing about Br. Russell except a couple lines or a paragraph. They equate holding him on high with the same type of honor given the governing body. So in this regard we all want to give glory to Christ and to our Father Jehovah and whatever insight any of us have delivered comes from God.
      That is my take on why there is so much criticism of Br. Russell. And the watchtower society until recently claimed to be from Br. Russell and no one knew any better. Now they say as of last year that any before 1919 were doing the work of John and are the John class. I find that odd and bizarre as John was a forerunner for the Christ not the “Faithful and Discreet Slave class” of 9 men in New York city. (They now say the slave had to have lived in the buildings in New York). Many that I have had the time to talk to at length understands the difference. Just to explain some of the sites. In Christian Unity Jacqueline.

    • Dupin

      The fact is, Br. Daniel,

      Most critics don’t even bother to research what Br. Russell taught. They just look at what other critics write and may go as far as to look at the Watchtower’s histories. But as far as doing something as simple as googling “bible students,” where Br. Rolando’s site will come up and they can get easy access to what he wrote, they’re just too lazy to do that and go through it to find out.

      But then, all they are interested in is undermining the Watchtower, which was founded by Russell and associates after all. And because of the libel authored by one “Reverend” J. J. Ross they have just exactly what they want to find so they aren’t interested in looking any further. George Orwell wrote that the further a society grows away from the truth the more they will hate it is pretty much a truism. The witnesses have gone quite a distance in many ways from the truth, but their, and Russell’s, enemies are much, much further away.

  • Anonymous

    Why isn’t the “Dawn” listed with the other Bible student websites on this page?

    • Jacqueline

      I don’t know. All of us know about the Dawn. This is a very different type of website, even for the BS. We (I) will bash and angry xjw might bash or vent a little. Most sites that are BS won’t. This is a site to help people heal. You have to weep when they weep, laugh when they laugh and cry when they cry. Most BS don’t understand the pain, hurt and anger. Dawn is well represented and I talk to them all the time at conventions. Sit and eat with them, I don’t see the great divide that some xjw see. The Dawn are as nice as other BS, there is no organization, anonymous. In fact I found the first BS convention in Chicago from the Dawn site. If they want us to link out we will although I think we are already. Maybe Br. Peter will answer but I don’t see wha the problem is.
      I think there are a lot more BS sites that are not directly linked out but there is a huge site that has them all I will look and post it for you to see. I like that the BS don’t promote sectarianism among themselves.

    • Jacqueline

      Go to this one that is listed and it has many BS websites. http://www.mostholyfaith.com/ . Some the same that we might have and some additional ones. There are lots to chose from and any BS site can ask to have their name included if they want to.

  • Anonymous

    James

    Your info made it look just as bleak. Mine was The Random House Dictionary Concise Edition tenth printing 1989.

    On destruction it reads,”the act of destroying.” “the fact or condition of being destryed.” “a cause or means of destorying.”

    note the word destruct,”the intentional destruction of a missle.”to destroy.” to be destroyed automatically.”

    Would you agree, that when they destroy or destruck the missle, it would mean its done?

  • Anonymous

    Mat 23:15 Diaglott, “make him a Son of Gehenna.”yee’vvng=of gehenna

    West Cott and Hort did the same. And Pastor Russell agreed with them in his sixth book. VI page 641 reads,”make him twofold more the child of Gehenna[the Second Death] than yourselves.” (Matt. 23:15.)…”It is as true to-day as it was at the first advent that-“His servants ye are to whom ye render service.” Surely, then, Satan is doing a great business in the nominal churches of Christendom, and especially in their pulpits. No wonder the chief-priests scribes and doctors of divinity to-day hate the Truth-hate the light and combat it in every possible manner.”

  • Anonymous

    To James and Peter ;

    11 “A I am not being any more in the world,but these are in the world, but I, Iam coming unto thee: my holy Father, keep them in thy name which thou gavest to me, that they should be one, according as we are.” 12 “At this time being with them, I was keeping them in thy name which thou gavest to me; and I kept them; and not any out of them was lost, except the son of the perdition, that the scripture might be fulfilled.”

    The dictionary on the word perdition says,1. “a state of final spiritual ruin.” 2. “hell(def.1.)”

    hell 1. “the place or state of punishment of the wicked after death.”

    “Final”

    • James P.

      To Anonymous,
      There is a variety of Webster’s Dictionaries. Neither of mine reads just like yours, nor does the Oxford. My Webster’s New Universal Unabridged Dictionary 2nd edition, comes closest, with its second definition: “in theology, (a) the loss of the soul or of hope for salvation; damnation; (b) the place or condition of damnation; hell.” Its first definition is “complete and irreparable loss; ruin.”
      The fundamental definition here should come from the Greek word, ‘apoleia,’ not from theologians. Like the name ‘Apollyon,’ it means “destruction,” as given in McReynolds’ diaglott, to which Liddell & Scott, and even Thayer, agree.

  • zablon

    halo brothers,..am zablon,..and i just want to ask a question allitle,..the question is that, here i read about “bible student” and ” jehovas witnesses” so please is there different between the two?
    Because i read somewhere that in 1934 bible students changed there name to jehovas wittness. Is it true? Someone help.

    • Anonymous

      zablon, this site will answer all your questions.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible_student_movement

    • Jacqueline

      Hi Zablon, This site has articles to explain what happened and the wiki link explains also, They all were once Bible students but Rutherford formed an organization and to distinquish himself from the Bible Student groups that didn’t agree with him he coined the Name Jehovah Witnesses. That way people would not confuse JW with the Bible Students. He also changed many of the truths, one especially the fact that Jesus is a ransom for all of Adams children as he ransomed Adam and all that came from his progeny. Witnesses believe that Christ didn’t ransom the flood victims and others that God may have destroyed but admit Sodom and Gomorrah is ransomed. They say armageddon is judgement day for man as well as the system. That any dying at that time will not come back. They are not ransomed by Christ. They and the BS believe in the millenium as judgement day but they are not consistent. If you will look to the left on this site there are subjects that will help you see the difference in the two.
      We will help you with your questions. In Christ, Jacqueline

      • Zablon

        Hi again jacline,…i read all the mesages u have droped me,…thank you for that. Mmm,…am from kenya and av been one of jehovahs wittneses from 2001. Though am not baptised. Second, can bible students be found in kenya?? Please reply.

        • Jacqueline

          Zablon, welcome and thanks for commenting. Please excuse me for taking so long to answer I am traveling and working away from my city. Neither an organization nor a religion can lead you to life, it is having a personal relationship with Jesus and Jehovah. As a wiitness you aren’t allowed to do that or ask questions. Everyone agrees and thinks alike because only one set is allowed to think and that is the governingbody. The Bible Students ask questions, disagree and lovingly challenge a thought also. If you will read some of the differences in the explanation of for instance armageddon, you will see that the witnesses are very misleading. They use armageddon like the hellfire doctrine. Read these articles and you will see they use scare tactics to keep the witnesses in line. When you lie like this I can’t trust. If I can’t trust I will not listen. They knew the Bible Students were alive and well yet they told us they were dead abandoned by Jehovah. That was a deliberate action on their part. Read if you will this section from this site and notice the differences in what the Bible really says without all the additions and interpretations of the witneses governing body.
          https://www.friendsofjehovahswitnesses.com/category/armageddon-2/. I feel your pain in your comments an6d we will help you by God’s grace stabilize. We will have contact info for you in a bit.

          PS: Yes there are many Bible Students in Kenya. Please hit the contact tab and leave us your email so we can get you in touch.

  • Ken

    I have a question about the Bible students belief that ALL mankind will be resurrected……does this include Judas Iscariot the one whom Jesus called “the son of destruction”?

    • Peter K. (admin)

      Ken – Let me ask you. Do you have an opinion on that and scriptural support for it? I don’t have with my my study notes on this topic. I will tell you that Bible Students are divided on this issue. Some would say that although the Ransom applies to ALL, that under this unique circumstance Judas would have received a sufficient trial to condemn him to second death with no hope of a resurrection. If that is the case, I feel quite uncomfortable making exceptions to the following scriptures, among others.

      Acts 24:15-16 – “there will be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just and the unjust.” NKJV
      John 5:28-29 – “the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will … come forth” NKJV
      Rom 5:18 “through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life” 1 Cor 15:22 – “as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive.” NKJV
      1 John 2:2 – “He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. – Weymouth
      1 Tim 4:10 – God…is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe. NKJV
      Luke 2:10 – “the angel said…I bring you good tidings of great joy… to ALL people.” NKJV
      Heb 2:9 – “But we see Jesus … that He … might taste death for EVERYONE.” NKJV
      John 12:32 – “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw ALL peoples to Myself.” NKJV
      John 1:29 – “John …said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! NKJV
      John 6:51 – “the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.” NKJV

      If Judas is raised from the dead, he will have to face the music so to speak. What will he say when people look on him with disgust? Would such humiliation be sufficient to cause him to repent? Is Jesus so loving that he could even forgive Judas?

      Whatever conclusion you come to Ken, I would say that this is once of those issues where I wouldn’t make a big issue out of it. Just my thought.

      • Ken

        Hi Brother Pete, I don’t have my reference Bible handy right now in which I could reference the word “son of destruction” but as I recall, that term involved gehennic death.

        • Peter K. (admin)

          Ken – This is a good scripture well worth considering. Maybe others have comments. It may take me a couple of days to get back to you on this.

        • James P.

          I think John 17:12 is the scripture. A literal translation, comparing with McReynolds’ diaglott, would be: “When I was with them I was keeping in Thy name them that Thou hast given me, and I guarded [them], and not one of them destroyed himself except the son of destruction, in order that the scripture might be fulfilled.” I did not find a reference to Gehenna; that would be interpretive. The word for ‘destroy/destruction’ can mean total destruction, but need not, as in Matthew 10:6, “…go [continually] to the sheep having been destroyed of [the] house of Israel.” Revelation 9;11 tells us Abaddon and Apollyon [both meaning destruction] is a name of Satan (as it is in the Hindu trinity). Being a “son of destruction” is less severe than being Destruction.
          We see something parallel in the Old Testament. “A man of Belial” (2Sam 20:1) is a master of worthlessness, whereas disciples are “two sons of Belial” (1Kings 21:10, 13) or “a daughter of Belial” (1Samuel 1:16).
          The god of this world hath blinded the minds of them that believe not; so Satan is more responsible. It is clear Judas was lost from being one of the twelve Apostles. But in that he is called only a SON of destruction, the case against him may not be so strong.

          • Jacqueline

            Along these lines of Gehenna versus Hell. The New World Translation by JW says at
            Matt 23:15 “Woe to you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites! because you traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte, and when he becomes one you make him a subject for Gehenna twice as much so as yourselves.
            Other translations use Hell. Which is more acurate as the use of Gehenna versus hell makes a difference. KJV, LB, Phillips uses destruction, RSV, NEB, Jerusalem translation, NIV, Today’s English Version.
            Some xjw and myself was discussing your answer above and we wondered about this. Thanking you for your thoughts, Jacqueline

  • John Stoutenburg

    Dear Daniel’ well written and simply presented.You covered a lot of ground in a brief yet well bolstered way. Recently I started reading the Studies in the Scriptures as well as the Photo-Drama of Creation.I was at first very excited about everything I read,because having resigned from being a J.W. several years ago,I have had “0” association with worshipers of Jehovah.My efforts to convert any Baptists down here in Mississippi bore no results,so I was getting refreshed thru studies with a small group in MS as well as a Wednesday nite study Peter K. set up for ex-J.W.s.I seemed to hit a land mine along in vol. 2 and some others with other doctrine Russell taught,which I won’t go into here.One truth the Bible states is that in the abundance of words there does not fail to be transgression,so of the approximately 50,000 pages of Bible commentary(I read somewhere of Russell), there is bound to be a lot of speculation.Personally ,I find Bro, Russell’s Anointing rings true as he gets the Christian relationships and purposes right yet seems to go overboard on seeing anti-typical symbolism of Christian dynamics in too many things-even the unholy pagan Pharoanic Pyramid,which I was under the understanding that there was a burial sarcophagus down inside the Giza Pyramid,(a large one that had to have been installed as the pyramid was being constructed).So as is also the case with the other pyramids,all archaeologists seem to feel that they were primarily monuments glorifying Egyptian rulers for life or death.Russell also taught in “Studies” that Melchizedek,king of Salem(ancient Jerusalem)went down to Egypt with his band of subjects and built the Giza Pyramid.I find that extremely unbelievable,and was disturbed that a thinking person could imagine such a feat for a small group of people from Canaan who actually worshiped Jehovah would want to do something like that,and for what? Who would have funded such a thing? The current estimate of manpower involved was a 100,000 people,I read somewhere. Even Abraham was honored, after taking back Lot and his family from the kings who overthrew the land of Sodom,and his spoils were tithed out to Melchizedek,who honored Abraham for this.These little “Players” from Canaan,although great in Jehovah’s sight and with grand futures ahead seem determined to down play their roles in that land,waiting on Jehovah’s timing for the real power to come in.(which it did 400 years later when Jehovah did LEVEL Egypt and certainly did leave an eternal monument to his fame thereby). But I am still reading and associating with Bible students and at the same time trying to encourage any ex-J.W.s out there who are going thru this shunning persecution too.Thank you for your testimony of faith.All 2 billion Christians in the world would do better if they studied the Bible as much as you,although most of them are also Bible students.

  • Richard

    Dear Friends,
    I am looking for a Bible Student group near Scranton/wilkes Barre,Pa. area.
    I am having great difficulty finding anyone that knows of any.
    Please help if possible.

    Thank You,
    Richard

  • Davis 76

    Good article. The Russell haters are so filled with hatred that they are blinded by it. Ihave yet to see any of them take an honest look at the Biblical teachings of Charles Taze Russell.

    There is apparently a new book out written by a Catholic author who took an objective look at Russell. Like others, he found all the character assassination directed at him to be completely false.

    • Kris K. (admin)

      Hello Davis 76
      Thanks for your reply. We do have a link on this website to the new book you mentioned, i.e. Pastor Russell Biography by Fredrick Zydek. It is a super-interesting reading. The author begins the book describing his fascination with Russell. He found it regrettable that Russell’s accomplishments are all but forgotten less than 100 years later. Mr Zydek writes, “One day it dawned on me that I should write his biography. And who better? I am neither a follower of Russell’s teaching nor Fundamentalist holding a ridged view of the Christian narrative”. His book does a great job of objectively writing about Pastor Russell and includes a vast array of important and some little known facts about Russell as a person. The end result is, in my opinion, a stronger familiarity with his character and a better ability to formulate an informed judgment about the life and message of Charles Taze Russell.

      • James P.

        Hello Davis 76 and Kris. K.
        I am glad to have Fred Zydek’s book, but the reader needs to know that some known mistakes remain in the second edition. Most may not be serious. One that comes to mind, for example, is the account of what C.T. Russell’s older sister was doing for him after their mother died (ca. 1861), when in fact she couldn’t have done most of them because she was his younger sister.
        Nevertheless, I think the author has done well overall and it is good he published. I hope there will be a third edition with some of the other things corrected also.

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