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Was Pastor Russell wrong about 1914?

After 1948, Hal Lindsey and many fundamentalists, on the basis of Israel and the generation of Luke 21:29-31, predicted that Jesus would return within 40 years of 1948.  Excited over the new state of Israel, Billy Graham in 1950 told a rally in Los Angeles, “Two years and it’s all going to be over.”  For several years before 1994, Harold Camping of Family Radio fame vigorously predicted on radio and by printed page the return of Jesus in 1994.  All of these 20th Century theologians were wrong, but they were never accused of being false prophets.

In 1920 Rutherford predicted that “1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old”  (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, pp. 89-90).

Pastor Russell was the only Christian teacher to accurately predict the date of a major future event (WWI), and he is accused of being a false prophet.  Can anyone out there tell me of a Christian Leader who accurately predicted a future date and event based on scriptural evidence and got it right?  I will be anxious to hear from you.

In a 1909 Watchtower, page 371, Pastor Russell said, “While our faith and hopes would be equally clear and logical whether this age ends in October, 1914, or a century later, nevertheless our expectation that “Gentile Times” will conclude October, 1914, undoubtedly has a stimulating effect upon our hearts and influences all of life’s interests and helps to “wean” us from earthly joys and ambitions and to set our affections on things above!”

Notice that Pastor Russell did not say that “this age” would end in 1914, but that he expected the Times of the Gentiles to end in 1914.  He indicated our faith would be equally clear even if this Gospel Age continued another hundred years.

In the 1916 forward of “The Time is at Hand,” Pastor Russell said the following.

This Volume sets forth, what its author has been preaching for over forty years, that the “Times of the Gentiles” chronologically ended in the fall of A.D. 1914. The expression, “Times of the Gentiles,” in Bible usage signifies the years, or period of time, in which the Gentile nations of the world were to be permitted to have control, following the taking away of the typical kingdom from natural Israel, and filling the hiatus between that event and the establishment of God’s Kingdom in the hands of Messiah– “whose right it is.” Ezekiel 21:27

We could not, of course, know in 1889, whether the date 1914, so clearly marked in the Bible as the end of the Gentile lease of power or permission to rule the world, would mean that they would be fully out of power at that time, or whether, their lease expiring, their eviction would begin. The latter we perceive to be the Lord’s program; and promptly in August, 1914, the Gentile kingdoms referred to in the prophecy began the present great struggle, which, according to the Bible, will culminate in the complete overthrow of all human government, opening the way for the full establishment of the Kingdom of God’s dear Son…


The author acknowledges that in this book he presents the thought that the Lord’s saints might expect to be with Him in glory at the ending of the Gentile Times. This was a natural mistake to fall into…


Our mistake was evidently not in respect to the ending of the Times of the Gentiles; we drew a false conclusion, however, not authorized by the Word of the Lord. We saw in the Bible certain parallels between the Jewish Age and the Gospel Age. We should have noted that these parallels follow the nominal systems to destruction in both cases, and do not indicate the time of the glorification of the New Creation. This explanation will help the reader as he studies “THE TIME IS AT HAND.”

In the September 1916 Watchtower, Pastor Russell said the following: (R5950, p263)

It still seems clear to us that the prophetic period known as the Times of the Gentiles ended chronologically in October, 1914. The fact that the Great Day of Wrath upon the nations began there marks a good fulfilment of our expectations. The Gentile nations were guaranteed a certain amount of possession and control for a certain period of time. That time having expired, dispossession proceedings are now in process. The winds of strife, winds of war, are let loose with great damage to the whole world, weakening the kingdoms of Europe in respect to their best blood and their financial strength.

83 comments to Was Pastor Russell wrong about 1914?

  • Vanderhoven7

    I concur NotaManFollower. Russell was mistaken on many dates. I believe he had a lot of truth, gained largely from the Adventists, but the importance many Bible students attach to him and his eschatology has served to separate Christians unnecessarily.

    1914 is a man-conceived date based on questionable interpretative practice. Russell never did see 1914 as the date for Christ’s second advent.

    Nothing has changed on the spiritual front since then either, except that when one assumes 1914, then one can interpret other eschatological passages in the light of that assumption.

    Vander

    • Peter K. (admin)

      Thanks Vander. We can agree to disagree. I beleive there is a lot of scriptural support for 1914. Rather than give all the details, let me give a simple and partial summary of some of the evidence.

      Luke 21:24 – Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.
      We arrive at the date 1914 AD as the End of the Gentile Times by performing a time prophecy calculation. The word “times” from Luke 21:24 is the same Greek word for “times” used in Rev 12:14.
      Rev 12:14 – she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.
      In this prophecy each of the 3 ½ times is composed of 360 years for a total of 3 ½ x 360 or 1,260 years (The reign of the Papacy from 539 AD to 1799 AD). So each time in the times of the Gentiles is 360 years. But how many times are there? The answer is found in Lev 26, which speaks of blessings and penalties to Israel for their obedience or disobedience,
      Lev 26:18 says -if you will not hearken unto me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins.
      Four times in this chapter the seven times of punishment are mentioned (see also verses 21, 24 and 28). We think the mentioning of these seven times four times alludes to the four Gentile empires that would rule over the Jews, namely, Babylon, Media Persia, Greece and Rome. Verses 31-33 refer to the land being desolate & the Jews being scattered. Since Lev 26 reveals that the number of times is 7 we can arrive at a period of the Time of the Gentiles being 2,520 years. [7 x 360 = 2,520 years]. Starting with 606 BC as the date Jerusalem was overthrown and adding 2,520 years brings us to AD 1914.

      The times of the Gentiles ended in 1914 AD with the beginning of World War I. This war led to the Balfour Declaration in 1917 AD which openly encouraged the Jews to immigrate to Palestine. The World Book Encyclopedia sates, “The (Balfour) declaration stated Britain’s support for the creation of a Jewish national home in Palestine, without violating the civil and religious rights of the existent non-Jewish communities.” Page 401 of the book “Jews, God and History” states, “Between 1918 and 1936 about 150,000 Jewish immigrants settled in Palestine, speeding its transformation from desolation to fertility. Towns sprang up in the desert and boomed into cities. Villages, factories, schools and orange groves dotted the formerly barren fields from Haifa to Ascalon.”

  • nota manfollower

    It seems to me you all are betting everything on a doctrine based on a date that is completely man-made and 100% extrabiblical. There are a lot of numbers in the bible that people can use to come up with dates to co-inside with future prophesies, none of which have we been told to use by the bible itslelf. These new age revelations that individual humans come up with must be able to be derived irrefutably by anyone else that reads scripture. My point is, you are all basing a belief on something that is subjective.

    It is 100% possible that Russel’s date is a coincident. You all say that you are bible students, but you all still hold one man above all others for biblical interpretation. One single teacher, 1900 years after the inspired scriptures were complete should not have any kind of authority to form a new sect, or belief system! You are all resting on one man’s interpretation, the same way the Seventh day Adventists hold up Ellen White as their teacher and sole interpreter of scripture.

    There are many good Christian teachers, historically and currently that have reformed or brought to light and completely changed the way people practice Christianity, (mostly from the reformation period) and many of these teachings were not ever hidden, they have always been in scripture, but the RC Church hid true biblical knowledge from the populace so they could have power and control of the people. Those teachers were not saying something that wasn’t already written. They were exposing the bible for what it really was. (they also didn’t come up with their own translation, they used the same bible as the Catholics did).

    Bible teachers are very important, God uses them to teach and help others understand the word of God. But it takes proper discernment, critique and scrutiny to make certain what they teach is accurate. So when it is all said and done, your not taking the authority of the individual, but using the bible to prove that what they are teaching is accurate.

    When it comes to setting dates, I believe that God is very clear that we are not to do so, partly because Jesus said himself, that no one knows the day, and we also need to understand that where the bible is silent, it is telling us something by being silent in the matter. Jesus never said for us to try and figure out a date for his return, and other end-times prophesy. He made it quite apperantly clear that it would be absolutely obvious to believers of the bible that these things are happening.

    Drop Russel. You don’t need him, he is muddying the water for what the scripture really teaches. This doctrine has completely (and erroneously) changed the way many people understand eschatology.

    • Peter K. (admin)

      We welcome all who are not followers of man on our site and we really like your name.

      Just some clarification, we are not betting everything on a date. Please see the “We Believe” section. The Ransom for all and the heavenly call and future mission of the bride of Christ are among our most important beliefs.

      There are a number of prophecies from Daniel, Revelation, etc. that include time periods. For example, 70 weeks, 1260 days, 1290 days, 1335 days, 42 months, 3 ½ times, 7 times, etc. None of these are man made. They all come from the Bible. It is in the interpretation that you can argue whether it is man made or not.

      In the 70 weeks prophecy of Daniel, a day represents a year, so you have a total of 490 years (70 weeks times 7 days in a week times a year for a day). The beginning of the last week (483 years) brings you to Jesus baptism in 29AD, with him being cut off in the middle of the last week or 33 AD. So we have an example of a time prophecy that pointed to a future event that was not really fully understood until after the events had taken place and the Apostles received the Holy Spirit and could look back and fully understand what had happened. However, people seem to have had a general idea, since we are told in the Bible that at the time of Jesus birth, “the people were in expectation” (Luke 3:15).

      We have already provided a partial list supporting that there are various time prophecies in the Bible. It is fair game to discuss these. C.T. Russell’s views were merely an outgrowth of what many other ministers, particularly Adventists, had been preaching during the 1800’s. His views reached such wide acceptance in his day that his sermons were published in 2,000 weekly newspapers reaching over 15 million people world wide. All the other Pastors and Bible Teachers combined did not have that popular acceptance and influence. Now, that doesn’t prove he was correct. However since he was commonly considered the world’s pastor in his day, I would imagine that his thoughts are worth reading in the Studies in the Scriptures series to see if they make sense to you and are supported by the scriptures.

      One thing I am very disappointed in is that I frequently see people criticizing C.T. Russell’s views when they have never really carefully examined what he has to say to see whether it has Biblical support. For those of you who say we should not be influenced by anything other than the Bible, I have yet to meet a Christian who either isn’t learning from another (i.e. Pastor, Elder etc.) or isn’t teaching others. In either case, it seems hypocritical to me to say that we are a man follower if we read anything C.T. Russell wrote.

      Friend – I speak in Christian love, so I hope I have not offended you.

  • Novi

    Peter,
    I very much apreciate your loving replies. I too hold no ill will toward any student of the Bible. There will be differences of opinions any time people study the scriptures. If that was not the case we would not have so many different religions.
    I take what you said in the spirit it was intended. Even if we can not come to an agreement we can still respect each others views. I will continue to read your web site with interest and research the links you’ve provided.
    Thank you in brotherly love…

  • Peter K. (admin)

    Novi,

    Until now, I have been waiting to see if anyone else would reply to you, but I shall take up the honors to do so. Thanks for a spirited and intelligent discussion. You bring out some good thoughts, but I lovingly and respectfully have some disagreements with what you have said.

    Charles Russell expected the glorification of the Church around or shortly after 1914. He was wrong. Yet when 1914 came and went, it became clear to Charles Russell and the Bible Students that the Times of the Gentiles had in fact ended, although not exactly in the way they had thought. 1914 was simply the beginning to the Time of Trouble, not the end of it. Since then we have had the Great Depression, World War II and much more. The magnitude of trouble since 1914 has only grown and is unprecedented in history. This is the process of the symbolic burning up the heavens (government – civil and ecclesiastical) and earth (society) that now are (2 Peter 3:7)

    It would be silly for Bible Students to reject the Jubilees, Parallels, Days of Daniel, Times of the Gentiles, etc., since we believe that they all worked out according to scripture and history. Most people discount these time prophecies, simply because they have never taken the time to study and understand them. I would be happy to have a friendly debate on any one of these prophetic periods, however, let’s take one at a time.

    I don’t know where Charles Russell ever taught that the Parallels continued past 1914. The 1918 date you note was only offered as a passing suggestions by Russell. He made no strong assertion as to its validity.

    However, since you seem to want to see some proof going beyond 1914, let me offer this. Let’s start with the “Jewish Double.”

    The period from B.C. 1812 (Jacob’s death) to the year A.D. 33 (Jesus rejects Israel – “your house is left desolate”) is 1,845 years. An equal portion from that point would point forward to the year A.D. 1878, when the Berlin Congress of Nations opened the land of Palestine to Jewish colonization for the first time since the Diaspora. It was in 1878 that the first Jewish colony, Petach Tikvah, a name aptly meaning “Gate of Hope,” was established by Jewish refugees from Russia.

    But this “double” can be looked at from a still different standpoint. A Jewish scholar might well say that the Diaspora did not really fully begin until the armies of Titus began to amass against Israel and drive them out of their homeland in the year A.D. 68.

    If we take this date, A.D. 68, as the turning point of this double, the period of favor stretches out to 1,880 years. An equal period of 1,880 years, going forward from the year A.D. 68 brings one to the spectacular date of A.D. 1948, the very year in which the State of Israel became a reality.

    Is this yet another lucky coincidence?

    Your thought is that the destruction of the Church-State systems of Europe could not have begun in 1914 because of the power of the Religious Right in the United States. However, the Religious Right does not have the power to crown kings or direct civil government as the Christian church once did in Europe. The ten toes of the image (from Dan 2) mixed with iron (civil power) and clay (church) were in Europe, not America. Look at all the empty churches in western Europe today.

    You feel that if Bro. Russell were alive today, past the year 2,000 AD, he would have changed his chronology. We Bible Students have studied the chronology, find it to be the Bible chronology, and disagree with your conclusion. I encourage you to check out our Bible Chronology website, especially the amazing chronological parallels charts.

    Novi – Please accept my comments as stated in Christian love. Even if we have some disagreements, I appreciate your studios approach and your knowledge of the scriptures.

  • NOVI

    The issue is not whether CT Russell was right about the end of the Gentile Times, the problem is that without the predictions he made coming true his whole chronology, parallels and days of Daniel fall apart. Did the Jews expect too much at the coming of Jesus? Yes they did. The difference is that as Bro. Russell said, in reprint 4067, if his predictions did not come about, then his chronology, the Great Jubilee, the parallels and the days of Daniel would all be proved wrong.
    The parallels were meant to show that what happened in the Jewish era was a prophecy of what was to happen in our times. As your link to the Gentile Times shows, AD 29 was a parallel to 1874; 33 AD to 1878 and 70 AD, The destruction of Jerusalem, was to parallel the destruction of the world governments and Babylon the Great, culminating in the restoration of Israel, the elect taken to heaven and Jesus establishing God’s kingdom on Earth. He had all of these things tied to Israel’s double of 1845 years, which began with Jacob’s death in 1813 BC, according to him. It was to also to coincide with the Great Jubilee which also was to happen in 1874. Br Russell never expected this system of things to continue past 1914 and it must have been a great disappointment to him when his expectations did not occur. As he states, “None of these would be available longer. What a blow that would be! One of the strings of our ‘harp’ would be quite broken!”
    When 1914 came and went without these things occurring, he tried to push the date to 1918 to coincide with the Jewish defeat at Masada in AD 73. In your answer to Observer you say that was a passing comment. However, Bro Russell goes into some detail to show how the parallels work up to 1918.
    “Our mistake was along the very line that we pointed out. Time and again, we reminded our readers that the parallelism between the Jewish Age and the Gospel Age could not include anything belonging to the New Dispensation. The parallels affected merely the nominal Jewish House there and the nominal Christian House here. Both were rejected because of failure to be in the right condition of heart for the truths that were due to them–both rejected for destruction. The Jewish System was a Church-State affair, paralleled here by the great Church-State systems of Europe, whose destruction began in 1914.”
    JEWISH-NOMINAL CHURCH CHRISTIAN-NOMINAL CHURCH.
    A.D. 29-33 A.D. 1874-1878
    “They knew not the time of their visitation.”
    A.D. 33-36 A.D. 1878-1881
    The Most Holy Anointed, Divine favor prolonged for three and a half years to complete the 70 weeks of favor promised to Israel, their rejection being deferred.
    A.D. 36-73 A.D. 1881-1918
    Because of the overspreading of abominations, He shall make it desolate, even until the consummation of utter destruction–until all that God has predetermined shall be accomplished.–Daniel 9:24-27.

    “No parallels as between the Pentecostal Church and the true Church now are to be looked for. But the resurrection of Jesus before the Church harvesting began may well be considered to have its parallel here in the resurrection of the sleeping members of the church–1878 A.D. (R5951)”
    Can we really say the destruction of the Church-State systems of Europe began in 1914? It’s true that the “divine right of kings to rule” no longer exists in most counties. But we have only to look in our own USA to see how much influence the religious right has on our government. So if all the parallels of 1914 did not occur, how do we know that the parallels of 1874, 1878 and 1881 did occur?
    Br. Russell claimed that the end of 6000 yrs of man’s creation and the millennium of Jesus began in the spring of 1873, even though few of the prophecies regarding the millennium have come to pass. He thought 40 years later, Oct. 1914 would be the establishment of God’s kingdom on Earth, with the elect class number complete, ruling in heaven with Jesus.
    A quote from the forward of Vol. 2 printed in 1916:
    “The Bible chronology herein presented shows that the six great thousand-year Days beginning with Adam are ended, and that the great Seventh Day, the thousand years of Christ’s Reign, began in 1873. The events of these 43 years, which this Volume claims as the beginning of the Millennium, we still find fully corroborating Bible prophecies, as herein set forth. During these 43 years, nearly all the inventions of our day have been accomplished. The sewing machine, one of the first, began to reach its perfection 43 years ago. Since then, we have all kinds of farming machinery and tools, and workshop, store, factory and home conveniences, in abundance and cheap–through human invention. These are shortening the hours of labor, and doing away with the “sweat of face,” which the Bible declares to be identified with the curse.”
    “It is entirely safe to say that in these 43 years the world has increased its riches one thousandfold. And when we remember that behind the 43 years lies a total of six thousand years of human endeavor, it seems almost a miracle that the world should accomplish one thousand times more in the past 43 years than in the six thousand years preceding. Surely this well attests the claim of this Volume that we have entered the great Seventh Day, and that what we are already experiencing as a race are only the foregleams of the much greater blessings still to come–when the Sun of [Biii] Righteousness shall arise with healing in His beams, and scatter all the darkness, ignorance, and superstition of the world!”

    I believe that if Br Russell had expected the present system of things continuing past the year two thousand he would have changed his chronology.
    I totally agree with him where he writes, “However, dear friends, our harp would still have all the other strings in tune and that is what no other aggregation of God’s people on earth could boast. We could still worship a God so great and grand that none other could compare with him. We should still see the grandeur of his salvation in Christ Jesus—‘a ransom for all.’ We should still see the wonders of the ‘hidden mystery,’ our fellowship with our Redeemer in ‘his death’ and also ‘in his resurrection’ to ‘glory, honor, and immortality’—‘the divine nature.’”— R. 4067, col. 2, par. 3 and 4

  • Peter K. (admin)

    Friend, your quote is from Reprint 4067:11, an October 1907 Watchtower. I understand what you are saying, but respectfully disagree. In essence, I believe that Russell got the Times of the Gentiles Prophecy right. Church/State rule came to an end. Kings lost their thrones. The war beginning in 1914 led to the 1917 Balfour Declaration. Russell’s mistake was in expecting too much to happen all at once.

    Remember at Jesus birth, that people were in expectation of the Messiah (Luke 3:15). Evidently they know that the 70 weeks prophecy of Dan 9:24-27 pointed to Messiah at their time. But many of these people expected Messiah to be like a conquering General who would deliver them from the Romans. Luke 24:21 says, “But we [the disciples] were hoping that this man [Jesus] was the one destined to deliver Israel.” They were NOT expecting a Messiah who would suffer and die. Just because their expectations were too high did not make the 70 weeks prophecy wrong; nor is the Times of the Gentiles prophecy wrong.

  • NOVI

    I give you a quote from the Watchtower reprints.

    “Let us suppose a case far from our expectations: suppose that A. D. 1915 should pass with the world’s affairs all serene and with evidence that the ‘very elect’ had not all been ‘changed’ and without the restoration of natural Israel to favor under the New Covenant. (Rom. 11:12,15) What then? Would not that prove our chronology wrong? Yes, surely! And would not that prove a keen disappointment? Indeed it would! It would work irreparable wreck to the parallel dispensations and Israel’s double, and to the Jubilee calculations, and to the prophecy of the 2,300 days of Daniel, and to the epoch called ‘Gentile Times,’ and to the 1,260, and 1,335 days, the latter of which marking the beginning of the harvest so well fulfilled its prediction, ‘Oh, the blessedness of him that waiteth and cometh unto the 1,335 days!’ None of these would be available longer. What a blow that would be! One of the strings of our ‘harp’ would be quite broken!

    “However, dear friends, our harp would still have all the other strings in tune and that is what no other aggregation of God’s people on earth could boast. We could still worship a God so great and grand that none other could compare with him. We should still see the grandeur of his salvation in Christ Jesus—‘a ransom for all.’ We should still see the wonders of the ‘hidden mystery,’ our fellowship with our Redeemer in ‘his death’ and also ‘in his resurrection’ to ‘glory, honor, and immortality’—‘the divine nature.’”—R. 4067, col. 2, par. 3 and 4

    Of course the world has not been “all serene” after 1915. For that matter the world was not very serene before 1915. However, no one can say that world affairs haven’t been escalating to a worse state since that year.

    The fact remains that the elect have “not all been changed,” and Israel does not recognize being restored under the “new covenant.” Although the process began in 1917, Israel wasn’t restored to a nation until 1948.

    Brother Russell then asks a question, “What then? Would not that prove our chronology wrong?”

    My question to that would be, is one out of three enough? I would say that’s up to each individual’ conscience.

  • What many do not realize is that in 1904 Russell changed his view concerning what to expect in 1914. From 1904 to 1914 Russell was not expecting the time of trouble to end in 1914 (as he had earlier thought, and as Barbour had stated), but rather that the time of trouble was to begin in 1914, resulting in many things in to happen afterwards, amongst which was “warfare.”

    See:
    Russell’s Expectations Regarding 1914:
    http://ctr.reslight.net/?p=40

  • Peter K. (admin)

    Above, I said, “Pastor Russell was the only Christian teacher to accurately predict the date of a major future event (WWI), and he is accused of being a false prophet.” Novi replied that Russell got this view from Barbour. However, let me reply further. In 1878 Barbour writes articles in The “Herald of the Morning” repudiating his previous views on 1914 and his whole faith. That left Russell defending 1914.

    Today we have an expression, “He owned it.” For example, President Bush owned the Iraq War. President Obama owns the Stimulus Package. The reputation of these Presidents is greatly impacted by how we view the success or failure of these efforts.

    We can say that Pastor Russell “owned” the Times of the Gentiles concept which points to 1914. He is the one who taught, promoted and spread the concept worldwide. His reputation would have been severely damaged had nothing happened in 1914. As it turned out, Church/State rule came to an end. Earthly Kings were dethroned forever. WWI lead to the 1917 Balfour Declaration which set aside Palestine as a homeland for the Jews. Do you think this was all coincidence and that Pastor Russell just lucked out?

  • Novi

    “Pastor” Russell was not “the only Christian teacher to accurately predict the date of a major future event.” I refer you to page 189 of N H Barbour’s book The Three Worlds published in 1877; “And as from the harvest of the Jewish Age began, to AD 70, was forty years so this 2520 years, or the “times of the Gentiles,” reach from BC 606 to AD 1914, or forty years beyond 1874. And the time of trouble, conquest of the nations, and events connected with the day of wrath, have only ample time, during the balance of this forty years, for their fullfilment.” C T Russell financed this book and adopted its teachings and chronology, but N H Barbour wrote it.
    You can find a complete copy to download or print in the Wikepidea under Bible Student Movement.

    • Peter K. (admin)

      Thanks for a great comment! I appreciate how you simply and objectively stated the facts. I apologize for not being technically accurate. I knew that Barbour had presented the chronology to Russell. My point was not so much that Russell was the originator of the 1914 view as that he taught this view and got the date right. And other than 1914, I again ask if anyone can point to a Christian teacher that predicted a future date from scripture and got it right? Had he gotten the date wrong, Pastor Russell would have surely been condemned as a false prophet, even though he never claimed to be a prophet. Getting the date right however, has not stopped his critics from condemning him as a false prophet anyway.

      An important point to take note of is that other than Tabernacle Shadows, Pastor Russell was not the original source of his teachings. He learned from others, going back to the Reformation. He explains this in Volume 3 of Studies in the Scriptures, “Thy Kingdom Come,” chapter 4, “The Cleansing of the Sanctuary.”

      Some have said that Russell borrowed the Chronology from Barbour, as if Russell just took Barbour’s word for it. Russell learned from Barbour and many others, but only after deeply studying each topic and proving each topic scripturally to himself. Along the way, Russell also rejected many ideas as he investigated the scriptures, looking for the Truth. So Russell took responsibility for every chapter he taught in the Studies in the Scriptures series. Over a period of many decades, he never removed any chapters or made any major changes. He consistently stood by what he taught.

      Thanks again for the feedback. Different points of view are welcome here and we hope we can discuss our agreements and differences in the spirit of love, humility and honesty.

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