Scripture Studies

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The Scripture Studies (ger .: Studies in the Scriptures ) are one of the Bible Student movement issued religious Series, initially (until 1904) under the title Millennium daybreak , English: Millennial Dawn . The author of the first six volumes was the Bible Student Charles Taze Russell . The series tried to present the content of the Bible using thematic chapters (= "studies").

structure

Volume 1 - The Plan of the Ages (later: The Divine Plan of the Ages ) - published in 1886

Volume 2 - The Time Has Come - published 1889

Volume 3 - Let Your Kingdom Come - published in 1891

Volume 4 - The Day of Vengeance (later: The War of Armageddon ) - published 1897

Volume 5 - Man's Reconciliation with God - published 1899

Volume 6 - The New Creation - published 1904

Volume 7 - The Complete Secret - published in 1917, partly from the estate of Charles Taze Russell.

pads

The volumes of scripture studies appeared in several editions, e.g. Sometimes also in various translations from English into German. Several million copies of Vol. 1 were distributed, and Volumes 2 and 3 each about a million.

Sometimes changed editions appeared. Volume 2, which talks about 1914 in detail, came in three different editions: (a) a pre-war edition , (b) a post-war edition and (c) the last reprint from 1926 . A concrete example:

(a) on p. 214: "the Jew will not have returned to the full grace position before 1914."
(b) on p. 210: "The Jew will only have returned to the full grace position after 1918."
(c) on p. 212: "The Jew will only have returned to the full grace position after 1915."

Using this example, each item can be assigned. As can be seen here, the sides also shift. A quote from one of these volumes can therefore not easily be found in another edition. Therefore, when citing scriptural studies, some historians cite not only the relevant page as evidence, but also the “study” and the page on which this study begins.

In Vol. 3, Russell's evaluation of the length of the Great Pyramid in Egypt can serve as a distinguishing feature. He interpreted the length of a certain corridor inside this pyramid in time: the 3416 inches stand for years; starting from the year 1542 BC Thus Russell came to the year 1874 AD as the beginning of the time of the "great tribulation" . This was changed in the German editions revised after 1914: only the harvest began in 1874 , whereas the time of tribulation did not begin until 1914/15. And the length of the mentioned passage was now given as 3457 inches , so 41 inches more. The text remained otherwise unchanged, and the reference to Russell's source of information was worded identically; Russell relied on the pyramidological speculations of the Scottish astronomer Charles Piazzi Smyth (1819–1900).

Importance of their reading

In a WT article, Russell addressed the question, “Is reading the 'Scriptures Studies' Biblical Studies?” The Bible Students spread their publications in countries that were already Christian. Since Russell felt that God had given them significantly new insights "now at this special time," "at the end of this age," he and his followers wanted to make those insights known.

Now will "the veil be taken off" so that the Bible Students will "see the true meaning of God's word." The theological system designed by Russell was "more wonderful than all other theological systems combined - a thousand times more wonderful". Not because of a special ability on his part, but because “the time of the Lord has come” and God “has led to the right understanding”. Russell said the six volumes of Scripture Studies were "practically the Bible itself," a thematically arranged Bible. Russell saw the importance of Christians engaging in his scripture studies:

not only do we find that people cannot see the Divine Plan when they study the Bible alone, but we also see that when one sets aside scripture studies after having used them, after having become well acquainted with them after reading it for ten years - if he then puts it aside and ignores it and goes to the Bible alone, even though he has understood his Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he will go into darkness . On the other hand, if he had only read the Scriptures Studies with their references, and had not read a page of the Bible as such, at the end of the two years he would be in the light, possess the light of Scripture.

These sentences make it seem like reading the scriptures studies was more important than reading the Bible. Because even if the Bible is quoted again and again in the scripture studies, the selection, compilation and interpretation of Bible verses are still the work of Russell - and not simply a reproduction of the Bible text. On the other hand, Russell reminded his readers: "Let us never forget that the Bible is our standard, and that whatever God-given our tools are, they are only 'tools' and not a substitute for the Bible" and "Our scriptures we consider neither infallible nor equal to Scripture. "

God's rule from 1914

Russell believed that he saw God's plan in terms of time. The most important point in time was the year 1914. He was most specifically written about this in Study 4 of Volume 2 of his Scriptural Studies, entitled The Times of the Gentiles, or Nations . Russell's announcement included the following:

  • The millennium began in 1874 , at the beginning of which was the “40th day of the unrest”, ie the so-called “great tribulation” (1874–1914).
  • The rule of imperfect people would end by 1914 at the latest (the civil and ecclesiastical powers would then be crushed).
  • From October 1914, God's Kingdom would rule worldwide and fully.
  • From 1914 onwards Jerusalem would no longer be "trampled underfoot by the Gentiles".

Russell had referred to the "passing away of the kingdoms of this world" without assigning the believers an active role in it. He believed that the accumulated political tensions in his life phase could only be expressed in an "end in horror". So he saw the end times beginning as early as 1799 and referred - similar to Ellen G. White of the Adventists - in particular to Napoléon Bonaparte .

The perfect secret

After Russell's death, a seventh volume entitled The Completed Mystery was published on July 17, 1917 , as A Left Work by Pastor Russell. His last legacy to the faithful Israel of God (Matt. 20: 9) was published. Volume 7 contained detailed interpretations of the Book of Revelation , the Book of Ezekiel, and the Song of Solomon .

Immediately after the publication a controversy arose within the Watchtower Society about the publication as well as about the content of the 7th volume. It turned out to be largely written by Russell's two collaborators, Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, and compiled by Russell's successor, Joseph Franklin Rutherford . Those who disagreed with the publication of the book and with Rutherford's approach separated from the WT Society and founded the Pastoral Bible Institute with its own magazine, The Herald of Christ's Kingdom . It was the greatest schism in the history of the Bible Students' movement .

On April 6, 1917, the United States entered the conflict of the First World War . The content of the 7th volume was classified as seditious and confiscated by the secret service of the US Army . For the same reason, the Watchtower Society was banned in Canada on February 12, 1918. On March 14, 1918, the United States Department of Justice declared the publication of The Complete Secret book to be a violation of the Espionage Act . On May 7, 1918, the District Court issued an arrest warrant for Joseph Rutherford and several senior members on the grounds that he interfered in the United States' war effort by publishing and distributing the book in large quantities in the United States . The war ended on November 11, 1918, and on March 25, 1919 Rutherford and his associates were released on bail. They were later rehabilitated and the ban on Volume 7 was lifted.

critic

The church historian Friedrich Loofs (1858–1928) criticized the subsequent modification of the prediction for 1914: For this year Russell had predicted the “end of the tribulation time”, but now 1914 had supposedly just ended “the time of the nations” and the general dissolution began.

"Such subsequent improvements in the end expectations have been shown in all sects that counted on the imminent return of Christ;"

Loofs also criticized the view that the nation-states were of satanic origin, and pointed out that the publications of the Watchtower Society that appear in German are also American-dominated. At the same time, however, he attested that Russell had good intentions and defended him against the charge of profiteering.

In 1923, the Protestant pastor Paul Scheurlen wrote several sect reports in which he criticized Russell's future calculations , which in his opinion satisfy "unspiritual curiosity".

Publication and reception

Russell's scripture studies were last reprinted in 1926 by the publishing house of Jehovah's Witnesses (Watchtower Society). With the advent of Joseph Franklin Rutherford's immense literature , they faded into the background. Only the Serious Bible Students with their publishing house “ Dawn of the Bible Study Association ” have largely reissued the scriptures since then.

Mainly by Charles. T. Russell and his scripture studies were influenced by the old Catholic pastor Walter Kueppers .

Web links

literature

  • Franz Stuhlhofer : Charles T. Russell and the Jehovah's Witnesses. The incorrigible prophet. Berneck 1990 (3rd edition 1994)

Single receipts

  1. ZB Volume 1: 1888, and translated again after 1894; Volume 7: 1919, and translated again in 1922.
  2. : Set out of Stuhlhofer Russell f, p. 39 - Dietrich Hellmund: History of Jehovah's Witnesses (from 1870 to 1920) , Hamburg 1971 (unfortunately without page counting) distinguishes three different editions.
  3. This means that a reader who has a different edition can still find a particular quote quickly. As explained by Stuhlhofer: Russell , p. 51.
  4. Vol. 3 of the script studies, in the German editions of 1898, 1913 and 1914 on p. 327 (in study 10, which begins on p. 301).
  5. Vol. 3, in the editions of 1919, 1923 and 1926 on p. 316 f .; in the edition reprinted by the Dawn Biblical Study Association on p. 330. - Quotations compiled by Stuhlhofer: Russell , pp. 42–45: “Pyramid im Wachsen?”
  6. ^ Martin Gardner : Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science . Dover Publications, New York 1957, p. 181.
  7. Watchtower 1910, p. 218 f. (the years were paginated continuously). From this the following quotations. (These sentences were also reproduced in WT 1957, p. 542 f.)
  8. See in this regard Stuhlhofer: Russell , pp. 46–49 (“Bible Students or Russell Researchers?”) And pp. 54–62 (“Did Russell see himself as a prophet?”)
  9. ^ Zion's Watch Tower , 1909, p. 371
  10. Zion's Watch Tower , Dec. 15. 1896
  11. More precise evidence from Stuhlhofer: Russell , pp. 63–77.
  12. Scripture Studies Vol. 2, Study 6; Scripture Studies Vol. 3, Study 10 (in the 1913 edition on p. 327; this study begins there on p. 303).
  13. The Complete Secret Watchtower Society 1917, 2nd inner sheet and page 4.
  14. Jehovah's Witnesses - Heralds of the Kingdom of God, pp. 66–68
  15. Jehovah's Witnesses - Heralds of the Kingdom of God, pp. 647–648
  16. Jehovah's Witnesses - Heralds of the Kingdom of God, pp. 650–651
  17. ^ Friedrich Loofs: The International Union of Serious Bible Students , Leipzig 1921; previously shorter in: Deutsch-Evangelisch 9 (1918) 190 f.
  18. Paul Scheurlen: The sects of the present . Source publishing house of Ev. Gesellschaft, Stuttgart 1923, 3rd edition, pp. 24–44, there p. 42.
  19. The Scriptures, all 6 volumes available online. Dawn Biblical Studies Association