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Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Because

Everything that matters will start appearing on the private blog. If you have an interest in our research, follow the instructions in the previous post to apply for blog access.

Rachael

A new version of the chapter dealing with Russell's early association with Barbour and Paton in on the private blog. To read it you must be a member. To apply see details below.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have made the comment before about the 1869 Herald of Life. My recollection was that it was the name of J L Russell. I received the tip from a researcher, who had researched Storrs, and decided to check it for myself. But I found no name in that year. That does not mean it is NOT there.
The Russell name does appear in the World's Crisis or Advent Christian Times, so it is possible that the name does appear in the Herald of Life. However Wendell, Ongley, Stetson were preachers of Advent Christian Conference so they would report their activities in Pittsburgh in the Advent Christian papers.
I did not find any evidence of an Adventist congregation in Pittsburgh in the Herald of Life.
But it has been 30 years since I have seen it, so I am going on memory.
There was the series of articles on the Seed of Abraham which would tie with the reference that Russell gives to 1869, but there is no proof that Russell reads those articles, or was alluding to them, only that such topics were current among the Adventists at that time, and that Russell came to age-to-come beliefs early. If he did not get them from Wendell, where did he get them? It is possible that there already were Adventists, age-to-come Adventists in Pittsburgh before Wendell showed up. He might have gathered them together, but could not persuade to his point of view, because maybe their minds had been made up.
There is no evidence that C. T. Russell attended the Adventist congregation, but the network of linked people makes it likely that he did. His account of the formation of the Bible class only makes sense if he and some of the Bible class heard Wendell personally so that they were acquainted with his views, and reacted against them. Russell mentions later in his account that Stetson helped the Bible class, but does not mention that Stetson followed Wendell as pastor, which would continue the narrative of Wendell and the Adventists. Russell fails to continue to explain any connection between the Adventists and the Bible class. But it seems likely there was some connection between them. This is a crucial point that is unfortunately missing here.