Accordingly,
evangelization of the majority of mankind was reserved for the Millennial Age. In
what he called “the gospel age,” the age in which they lived, the heaven-bound
Bride of Christ was the target of their evangelism. They would be transformed,
counted as justified, perfect humans, and then counted as the sprit creatures
they would become in fact on their translation or resurrection to heaven:
During this age, as many as now hear (“He that
hath an ear let him hear,”) the good news are by it informed that Christ
died for our sins, that the price of sin has been paid, and they are justified,
if they believe it, and that they can come unto God not as sinners but
as righteous persons, and by faith call God “Father.” It is as justified
(perfect) fleshly beings that they now call God Father – because
in God’s sight restored to the condition occupied by Adam before he became a
sinner ... . The next step for these justified beings to take, is to consecrate
their justified flesh (being) to God. “Present your bodies a living
sacrifice,” present it to God alive, for his service.[1]
That
salvation for the majority of mankind would await salvation until after Christ’s
return was not original to Russell. None of his theology was. His belief that
the world of mankind came to salvation after Christ’s second advent was an
extension of Reform [in this case Congregationalist] theology as represented by
Jonathan Edwards [1703-1758] and other American colonial era participants in
the first Great Awakening. Edwards’ view of the matter was:
It is very dangerous for God's professing people to
lie still, and not to come to the help of the Lord, whenever he remarkably
pours out his Spirit, to carry on the work of redemption in the application of
it; but above all, when he comes forth, to introduce that happy day of God's power
and salvation, so often spoken of.' That is especially the appointed season of
the application of redemption. The appointed time of Christ's reign. The reign
of Satan as god of this world lasts till then; but afterwards will be the
proper time of actual redemption, or new creation, as is evident bv Isa. Ixv.
17, 18, &c. and Ixvi. 12. and Heb. xxi. 1. All the outpourings of the
Spirit of God before this, are as it were by way of anticipation. There was
indeed a glorious season of the application of redemption in the first ages of
the Christian church, which began at Jerusalem, on the day of Pentacost;but that was not the proper time of ingathering. It was only as it were the
feast of first-fruits; the ingathering is at the end of the year, or in the
last ages of the Christian church, as is represented, Rev. xiv. 14-16. and will
probably as much exceed what was in the first ages of the Christian church,
though that filled the Roman empire, as that exceeded all that had been
before, under the Old Testament, confined only to the land of Judea.[2]
Edwards
thoughts echoed through American Congregationalism into Russell’s day. It is
hard to imagine that Russell did not hear preaching that restated Edwards. He
accepted it a soundly Biblical.
With
some considerable quibbling and qualification, traditional churches found
Russell’s explanation of justification questionable. For William Coit Stevens,
objections derived from the non-Trinitarianism behind Watch Tower theology, and
Watch Tower teaching that the Bride has a role in the sacrifice of Christ.[3]
Current Watchtower teaching strongly resembles Russell’s exposition here,
though it rejects any thought of the heavenly Bride of Christ as part of the
ransom sacrifice. The key point, however, is that Watch Tower adherents were to
present their bodies as a living sacrifice to God, doing his will and seeking
others of God’s choosing.
[1]C. T. Russell: In the Flesh, Zion’s Watch Tower¸
April 1881, pages 3-4.
[2]The Works of Jonathan Edwards, William Ball,
London, 1839, Volume 1, page 383.
[3]W. C. Stevens: Why I Reject the “Helping Hand” of
Millennial Dawn, M. G. McClinton & Co., San Francisco, California,
1915, pages 111-112.
It
seems to me that there is a lot of discussion about what Russel was teaching
but much of it is left out. In particular, what he was professing would soon
occur and the dates he put forward. Much of the focus is on his teachings which
do have a lot of Biblical backing for them but little or no discussion on his
false teachings. For instance, what exactly was this upcoming 'gospel age' that
he was advocating and did he set a date for this or for Armageddon?
As
side issues, this presents us with interesting fare. The tracts were free, paid
for primarily out of Russell’s pocket and secondarily by contributions to the
Tract Fund. The modern Watchtower Society declined to allow us access to the
ledger book from this period, which still exists. We do not know why.
Do you have any proof that the tracts were primarily paid for from Russell's
pocket primarily? This is especially in view of the fact that you admit to not
having access to the ledgers of that time.
It is possible that what was printed in publications about the
funding at that time was deceptive, just as the current Watchtower is today. So
much discussion is made about the free tracts and little on the publications/bibles
he sold.
The tracts served the purpose of advertising and it was
through them that individuals were encouraged to purchase more substantial
publications.
But
in terms of income levels in the 1880s, an immense amount of money was expended
to provide evangelizers with free tracts. This gives the lie to the claims of
some former-adherents that the Watch Tower was founded by Russell as a money
making scheme. It was a money-losing proposition
The fact that the tracts were distributed at no cost in no way proves that
Russell was not establishing a money making scheme. In many businesses you've
got to create a market who is ready and willing to part with their money for
more of your products. Many businessmen expect a loss in the initial years in
order to reap profits in the following years. There are various methods that
businesses use to encourage people to purchase their products. Providing free
samples or advertising in brochures are just two, both methods being used by
Russell and who knows what else because there is little discussion about this.
His venture into his Photo-Drama of Creation was another
innovative project which he was prepared to gamble on.
The
message of God’s Love contrasted with the message of fear preached in
Christendom. In Russell’s view God would save the bulk of humanity, in what
some call “near-universal salvation.”
I cannot see any substantiation regarding the claim that his message did not
include a measure of fear, just as Christendom's does. If the idea is that more
humans would be saved under Russell's idea's than under Christendom’s, this
doesn't mean you can claim there was no fear being taught through his
doctrines. To also claim that all of Christendom were preaching fear is not
proven and may well be false.
His
passion for individual and public testimony shows through despite his
questionable punctuation and grammar. And to his readership it was the passion
that mattered. They saw it as founded on Biblical “truth.”
I find this comment intriguing. It would have been more correct to claim
"His passion for individual and public testimony shows through despite his
questionable teachings of Biblical 'truth'." And then you follow on with a
significant comment in saying that it was his passion that mattered to his
readers. That seems to be very much the case because his teachings could not
hold water on their own.
In
conclusion, I find the blog very biased and it seems that the writer has been
moved by his passion.
de vienne
Dear Listener,
You misapprehend the
nature of what you read. We do not write either a polemic or defense of the
Watch Tower. We write history based on the original documents. What you read is
a partial of a much larger work, not even a complete chapter. We deal with
Russell’s predictive failure elsewhere. For instance in volume one of Separate
Identity we included a chapter entitled Aftermath of Failure. That chapter
discusses the 1878 failure. We have another that will appear in volume two [the
extract you read is part of vol. 2] that discusses Russellite expectations for
1881.
You ask about the
Gospel Age, calling it “up-coming.” Our text makes it clear that in Russell’s
dispensationalist view it was ending. He thought it would end at or near 1914.
We deal with that in another chapter.
Do we have proof
that the tracts were primarily paid for by Russell? Yes, we do, and we include
a chapter [vol. 2, nearing completion] entitled Organizing and Financing the
Work. Put briefly, in the 1880s Russell’s readers were relatively poor due
to a series of post-Civil War recessions and depressions. We have some pages
from the Watch Tower ledger, sent to us by someone connected to the
Watchtower’s writing department and by the Watchtower itself. Most of these
list expenses. One lists the major contributors by name and amount. Russell
leads the list by far. We include the full text of that page in a later
chapter. Additionally, over his lifetime Russell contributed a quarter million
dollars to the WTS. WT ‘shares’ were issued if requested for each ten dollars
in contributions. The number of Russell’s shares reveals the amount he
contributed. He was majority share-holder until his death, and outstanding
shares did not pass his in number until near his death.
Court testimony
(Russell v. Russell and Russell v. Brooklyn Eagle] shows that Society
publications were sold at a loss or simply given away. The partial chapter you
read concentrates on the years 1879-1886. All publications were given away free
except for a few remaining copies of Object and Manner which were available in
large lots for ten cents. Colporteurs got everything for free, keeping money
from subscriptions obtained to defray expenses. In this period there were no “more
substantial publications.” Money for Paton’s Day Dawn went to Paton and A. D.
Jones, his publisher; not to Russell. Russell paid for copies and gave them
away at no cost to those who would circulate them. This was at a financial loss
to Russell.
He offered a few
Bibles and concordances at a break-even discount. From 1881 when Zion’s Watch
Tower Tract Society was founded until 1887, the cut off year for Separate
Identity, our book, the Society was deeply in debt. A donation of Florida lands
by the Russells reduced the debt but did not put the Society in the black.
You write: “It is
possible that what was printed ... about the funding at that time was
deceptive.” Historians shouldn’t speculate. And that’s what this is. Ethically,
we can’t make things up. We must be guided by available documentation – by that
I mean original material, not secondary sources – unless there is a compelling
reason to reject the original claims. If you can find proof that the WTS
financial statements are deceptive, we will happily include it in this chapter.
But ‘proof’ isn’t speculation; it is something in a trustworthy contemporary
document.
In the period on
which we concentrate [to 1887] ZWT operated at a loss. Later when forced to
open the books in the two court cases I mentioned earlier, it was demonstrated
that even Studies in the Scriptures circulated at a net loss. The books did not
pay their way.
By message of
“fear,” Russell meant Hell-Fire doctrine. We should clarify that. You wrote:
“This doesn’t mean there was no fear being taught through his doctrine.” You
mistake current Watchtower practice with Russell era practice. Your statement
exemplifies a common logic fault. You presume something was true because you
want it to be true. At this point you give us unfounded speculation.
Speculation drives research, but alone it is unsound. If you can find in
something Russell wrote some form of fear mongering, point me to it. We’ll
happily use it in the next volume of Separate Identity.
Simply because the
narrowly focused extract from this chapter leads to a conclusion differing from
a commonly expressed opposition narrative is no reason to call us biased. We
present in footnotes our sources. You have no sources except personal opinion.
“Could be” and speculation are not a refutation. Evidence from original sources
would be.
I
should add that admission to the Photo Drama was free, at considerable
expense to the Watch Tower Society. So, how does it contribute to your
belief that Russell made money off of it?
“Put briefly, in the 1880s Russell’s readers were relatively poor due to
a series of post-Civil War recessions and depressions.”
Were these the "Panics" of the latter 19th century? (Crop
failures, financial speculation, unemployment, etc.)
de Vienne
Contributions were
not as forthcoming as he wished. The January 1885 Zion’s Watch Tower reported on the state of the tract fund for the two
previous years, starting with the deficit of $2571.34 that existed at the start
of 1883. Expenditures for the period from January 1, 1882 – December 31, 1884,
totaled $2,366.10. The fund remained in deficit nearly twenty-five hundred
dollars. The loss of ‘two or more’ significant contributors unquestionably
affected the work, as did an economic downturn that started in 1884 and
continued into the next year. Russell commented on it and its effects:
The opening year finds the whole world in a state of
financial depression which will doubtless be worse before improvement comes.
Since we are advised in Scripture that the Day of the Lord’s presence will be a
time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation, some may be inclined
to anticipate too much, too speedily. This is a tendency which all need to
guard against. We should not for a moment lose sight of the apostles striking
illustration of the trouble of this day, as recorded in 1 Thes. 5:3. From this
illustration we should expect spasmodic trouble and distress of nations: and
that these will become more frequent and more serious until they reach the
climax stated by the prophet, and result in the death of present systems and
the delivery of the children of this world into the New and better, the ‘golden’
Millennial age, in which the King of righteousness shall rule and reign Lord of
all, blessing all the families of earth.[1]
The
financial depression of 1885 was the culmination of several years of
compounding problems in the United States, Canada and elsewhere. Edwin Earl
Sparks, a contemporary historian, summarized the complex crisis this way:
The crops of 1883 although surpassing the unfortunate
yield of 1881 were scarcely up to the average, and the corn crop fell nearly
four hundred million bushels behind. Large quantities of stocks and bonds had
been watered by extensions and consolidations which could not be expected to
yield immediate dividends, and they declined steadily during the year. Northern
Pacific threw on the market in October 1883 an issue of twenty million dollars
and created a mild panic. More than ten thousand firms became bankrupt during
1882, a larger number than marked any year since 1873. Causes for the
depression were found in over-production, financial troubles abroad, over-railroad
building, and capital lying idle because rates of interest were unattractive.[2]
This
dry summary doesn’t contribute as much to our understanding as does Russell’s
caution against seeing in the world’s financial travail a prophetic
fulfillment. People were hurting financially. Many Watch Tower readers were not well off, and even those who were had
to watch their pennies. The basics, food to eat and coal to heat with, were
scarce and expensive. Jobs dissipated. A United States government report said:
Out of the total
number of establishments, such as factories, mines, etc., existing in the
country, about eight per cent were absolutely idle during the year ending July
1, 1885, and perhaps five per cent more were idle a part of such time; or, for
a just estimate, seven and a half per cent of the whole number of such
establishments were idle, or equivalent to idle, during the year named. . . .
Making allowance for the persons engaged in other occupations, 998,839
constituted ‘the best estimate’ of the possibly unemployed in the United States
during the year ending July 1, 1885 (many of the unemployed, those who under
prosperous times would be fully employed, and who during the time mentioned
were seeking employment), that it has been possible for the Bureau to make. ...
A million people out of employment, crippling all dependent upon them, means a
loss to the consumptive power of the country of at least $1,000,000 per day, or
a crippling of the trade of the country of over $300,000,000 per annum.[3]
If God supported the work, he
supported it out of the pockets of believers who were in straightened
circumstances. Contributions lagged. With the publication of The Plan of the Ages in 1886, Russell
changed his approach to circulating Watch Tower publications. It soon became
apparent that The Plan of the Ages would
not pay its own way. The volumes of Millennial
Dawn were sold at a loss through most of their printing life. This was a
result of philosophy and practicality. Russell turned to a colportage to circulate
Millennial Dawn and the Tract Society’s
books and booklets. The booklets were often given away freely, and the
agreement with the colporteurs allowed them as much support from the
circulation of books as the Watch Tower Society could manage.
de Vienne:
Dear Eye,
Much of what is written about both men is not exactly true, sometimes
blatantly false. But I'd never claim that their belief systems were Biblical or
that their personal lives were without fault. Because there is so much written
by both sides that is wrong, or incomplete, or misleading, we're taking extreme
care to be accurate; to tell the story as bluntly and plainly as we can. We
base our work on original sources, some of which have been buried for 100 years
or more.
We've found and continue to find material hidden in archives leading us to
places where Proclaimers will not take you. We've also found astounding
misrepresentation in books some of which are seen as authoritative. And example
is a book written in 1945 by a Presbyterian minister who wrote as a
sociologist. He manufactured quotations. Following his work to the sources he
cites shows him to be pretty much a bloody liar.
Then there is plain ignorance. Watchtower books mention people favorably who
never were adherents or who left for other belief systems and they do not tell
you that. I think they do not know it. Watchtower 'histories' are unfootnoted
except for Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose; I have an instant
distrust of something that presents itself as a history that fails to footnote.
In fairness, I should observe that there are respected authors who've done the
same.
We footnote everything because we want our readers to be able to follow our
train. We think those who read our books have working minds. I am never
disturbed by someone making a decision off available information.. We want the
narrative to be refreshed and accurate. As I said earlier, most of what is out
there on the Internet and in already published books is false or misleading.
There are exceptions. Zoe Knox's new book is worth a read. It is very
expensive, but you should be able to read it via interlibrary loan. The trend
among historians now is to question everything. And to dig deeper. No history
is without a least minor faults, but Besier and Stokosa's Jehovah's
Witnesses in Europe Past and Present, a multi volume work with essays be
'experts' in their field is as close as one comes. If we make a decision based
on a group's history, we should verify what we read.
[1]View from the Tower, Zion’s Watch Tower, January 1885, page
1.
[2]E. E. Sparks: The American Nation: A History. National Development, 1877-1885, Harper & Bros. New York, 1907,
pages 328-329.
[3]Report on Industrial Depression,
United States Bureau of Labor, 1886, as quoted in David A. Wells: Recent Economic Changes and Their Effect on
the Production and Distribution of Wealth and the Well Being of Society, D.
Appleton & Co., New York, 1899, page 18.
Restrain you excitement, I haven't improved much and I'm not back on a regular basis. I'm posting this for Bruce who is traveling and has an iffy wifi connection.
Usual rules. You can make a copy for yourself, but never rely on a temporary post. They change. As you will see if you retained the previous version of this, there are changes already. Do not share it off the blog. There is new matter in this post. It will not stay up for many days. Comment NOW. We post these things for comments, and a mere impression will do. Comments provide guidance. We do not always adopt suggestions, but sometimes we do. So your comments are important.
Bernard, I know I haven't answered your email. It makes me tear up and I don't really know what to say back, but I will answer soon.
Herewith:
Evangelical Voice
Russell
era evangelism is the foundation upon which the descendant religions –
Jehovah’s Witnesses and Bible Student congregations – are built. Yet, its
origins are left unexplored. Watchtower writers focus on a few key events: An
article in the April 1881 Watch Tower, Rutherford’s Advertise the
Kingdom speech; the circulation of Food for Thinking Christians. These
events are related with minimal or no connection to their context. Secular and
opposition writers do no better, drawing almost everything they say from
Watchtower Society commentary. The exception, though a regrettable one, is
found in A. T. Rogerson’s D.Phil. thesis. He discusses Russell era evangelism
with the same carelessness that he demonstrated in his previously published
book:
From Zion’s Watch Tower alone there is no
evidence that the Bible students participated in evangelisation regularly or in
an organised way prior to 1881. The emphasis in the magazine articles was
firmly on the doctrinal and devotional aspect of Bible student life. It appears
that Paton and Jones and other contributors to Zion’s Watch Tower
preferred this emphasis, and their articles showed more of an inward-looking
concern with the group itself. Paton’s book was designed for an Adventist
audience and there is little indication of a strong desire on his part (or on
Babour’s before him) to propagate their message, or evangelise for converts –
the initiative for their preaching tours appears to have come from Russell.
This ‘inactivity’ was consistent with their deterministic world-view and their
elitist conception of the ‘little flock’. Russell did tentatively suggest that
his readers might distribute tracts, but it was only in 1881 that Russell’s
emphasis on selling came to the fore. [His British spelling and punctuation
retained, as is his grammar fault.][1]
As is
most of what Rogerson wrote either in his book or his D.Phil thesis, this is
tainted with misstatements, wrong conclusions and simple error. He suggests
here that neither Barbour nor Paton were evangelizers. He based this on what he
did not find in Zion’s Watch Tower. We can, to a small degree,
excuse him for missing key statements in ZWT because he was dependent on
the 1920 reprints which omit many of the earliest readers’ letters, but any excuse
for his ignorance is moderated by clear statements of evangelical intent found
in the reprinted volumes.[2]
Some of this we previously described.
Paton
evangelized near his Michigan home, preaching in nearby churches to whoever
would have him. He never gave up his self-identity as a clergyman, collecting
fees for his ministry. This limited his ministry to congregations willing to
host him and pay for the privilege, but he did evangelize. Day Dawn is
an edited collection of his sermons. That this is so demonstrates a regular,
evangelical ministry. We should observe too – as we did in the Introductory
Essay – that Rogerson misidentifies Adventism. We doubt that Rogerson read Day
Dawn; if he did he was totally unaware of American Literalism and how it
differed from Millerite Adventism. Paton’s book addressed some Adventist
issues, but in a critical way. The book’s content is Literalist. [Readers may
want to refresh their memories by reviewing appropriate sections of volume
one.] It is noteworthy that Paton’s magazine and theology are discussed in the
Age-to-Come/Literalist paper The Restitution but not, as far as we could
discover, in the Adventist press.[3]
The remainder of this temporary post has been deleted.
Bruce and Rachael: thank you for all the time you have so far dedicated to this immense work, taking it from your life and your loved ones. And for the energy you have lavished, drawing on resources unknown to us, or that we do not have, or that we do not know how to find. Thank you for the constancy and patience you have maintained, even when the vicissitudes of your personal life would discourage anyone else. Thank you for not being discouraged when some have unjustly criticized your work. Thank you for appreciating the encouragement of most readers.
Thanks also to you Jerome, for your articles, never crafty, always instructive.
Thanks Bruce!
Thanks Rachael!
Thanks Jerome!
Bruce e Rachael: grazie per tutto il tempo che finora avete dedicato a quest'opera immane, togliendolo alla vostra vita e ai vostri cari. E per l'energia che avete profuso, attingendo a risorse a noi sconosciute, o che non abbiamo, o che non sappiamo trovare. Grazie per la costanza e pazienza che avete mantenuto, anche quando le vicissitudini della vostra vita personale avrebbero scoraggiato chiunque altro. Grazie per non esservi scoraggiati quando alcuni hanno ingiustamente criticato il vostro lavoro. Grazie per aver apprezzato l'incoraggiamento della maggior parte dei lettori.
Grazie anche a te Jerome, per tuoi articoli, mai leziosi, sempre istruttivi.
Grazie Bruce!
Grazie Rachael!
Grazie Jerome!
All we know so far is that he was born in Ontario, Canada, in January 1846. Can you help build his biography?
Rachael sent me this:
Nelson Barbour
Fragments, snippets of things
continue to come our way. Some of them add to the story. [cut ...]
1878
Barbour, Russell and Paton were not
the only active evangelists among readers of the Herald of the Morning. William
Carlton Irish, “a kind of traveling evangelist or itinerate exhorter,”[1]
was born in Ontario, Canada, January 5, 1846. We first meet him, date
uncertain, preaching in Canada across the border from Detroit. Late in 1875 or
early in 1876 he crossed into the United States preaching southward from
Detroit into the American Mid-West. The Emporia, Kansas, News of January
23, 1876, reported his name and message: “The long-haired street preacher who
was here recently, is named Wm. Carlton Irish, and he fixes the end of the
world in 1878. We are glad it’s so near, for we always had a desire to live to
see that event.”
The 1878 message is, as far as our
research informs us, unique to the Barbourite movement. Before 1876 ended Irish
had switched faiths, accepting baptism into the Reorganized Latter-day Saints,
and was ordained a priest in that faith in October 1876. Subsequently, he left
the Reorganized church and moved Westward. He is one of a number who flirted
with, even preached, Barbourite or Watch Tower faith who did not persist.
Included in this list are Feltwell, who drifted into Christian Science, S. I.
Hickey, Presbyterian clergyman turned Watch Tower evangelist but who turned to
Universalism, and others.
We lose track of Irish after 1876,
except for a notice in The San Francisco, California, Morning Call of
October 3, 1893. Under the headline “An Insane Street Preacher” we read: “William
Carlton Irish, a street preacher, was arrested yesterday morning and locked up
in the City Prison. It was evident that he was suffering from religious mania
and will be taken before the experts on Insanity for examination.” As Hickey
was later, he was arrested and thought insane or senile because of his street preaching.
California law enforcement might have found better things to do than harass
street preachers.
[1]J. Smith III: The Memoirs of Joseph Smith III,
Herald Publishing House, Independence, Missoury, 1979.
Separate
Identity volume 1 contains a full page facsimile of the cover of this sheet
music, which is of interest to us because it was published in 1872 by J. L. Russell and Son of Pittsburgh.
The
full words and music can be accessed from the Library of Congress website if
you really want to see what it is like.
The
words were written by Rev. Dr. I. C. Pershing of the Methodist Episcopal Church
and President of the Pittsburgh Female College. The music was by G. Blessner.
It
was dedicated to the Rev. Bishop M. Simpson (1811-1884) who was president at one
time of the M.E. Church Missionary Society.
The
Pittsburgh Female College was founded in 1854.
Although
it was described above as a sectarian institution under the control of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, their charter stipulated that students were to be accepted
from all religious denominations.
The
Rev. Israel C. Pershing (1826-1898) became principal of the college around 1860
and remained so until 1886 when he was accused of fraud.
Gustave
Blessner (1808-1888) was head of music in the 1870s, and the college had a
choir and put on musical concerts.
Blessner
was a highly prolific composer and a lot of his music can still be accessed today.
It covered a wide spectrum, from the Sacred (To Thee We Pray – 1879) to the
less than sacred (Silly Dilly Dally Dolly – 1872). One of the latter oeuvre,
Nanny’s Mammy (1850) starts off…
A
spinster of uncertain age
(But
somewhat past the middle stage)
Who
thought herself extremely sage…
You
get the picture. There are shades of Gilbert and Sullivan here.
Blessner’s
modern claim to fame is that he wrote the music for the first known song to
have the word “Blues” in the title: “I have got the blues today” (1850). The
chorus goes:
I
was the gayest of the gay
But
I have got the blues today.
It’s
about a singer who gets drunk.
Of
course in these instances Blessner wrote the music but was not the lyricist.
However,
one wonders if his music lessons at the straight-laced-ladies-only M.E. College
were sometimes rather fun.
Anyhow,
although a great amount of Blessner’s music was published and can be found
online, the Evening Prayer is the only composition I can find that was
published by the Russells, and then only in tandem with other music publishers.
It appears to be the only item they did publish, maybe because this was a local
item sung by the college choir for one of their concerts.
Pittsburgh
Daily Post (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) 16
Dec 1872
Joseph Lytle Russell stated in his application for naturalization in 1848 that he had been in America for at least five years. It now appears that he had been in the Pittsburgh area since at least 1843. The Pittsburgh Daily Post for Monday, October 16, 1843 (repeated in the following two daily issues) listed those who needed to go the post office to collect mail.
James Russell, also with mail awaiting, was likely Joseph L's older brother.
I've had several queries about this essay. This is the introductory essay in current form but in rough draft. For the usual reasons this will not stay up many days. Assume it will change. Never rely on the rough drafts we post. Do not share it off the blog. You may save a copy for your own use. As always, we post material from vol 2 for comments.
Also, Rachael wants me to tell Bernard that she has his email and was deeply affected by it. She will answer it when she can.
I've kept this up longer than I should. It will come down soon. IF you intend to comment, now is the time to do it.
Introductory Essay – B. W.
Schulz
In
this volume of Separate Identity you will find much that is unfamiliar
to you. Some of what we present changes the narrative – call it the story line
– usually presented by those who write about the Russell years. But more often
we simply elaborate where others have abbreviated. A more complete narrative
gifts readers with a better understanding of Russell era history. This
occasionally makes us myth-busters. Occasionally a reviewer criticized our
impatience with the poor work of some who’ve written on similar topics. Perhaps
we should have lowered the sound level when we expressed our distaste. But
ultimately, we have no apology for having noted partisan, misleading, and false
statements. Writers owe readers their best efforts. Not lies or sloppy
research.
Criticisms
have been few. Some continue to believe that Russell was a Mason, part of a
conspiracy seeking world domination. If he was, he was very ineffective. Though
this conspiracy theory is dying a slow death on Internet boards, we readdress
this in appendix one. Despite irrefutable evidence to the contrary, some
continue to assert that Russell was an Adventist. We think the evidence
presented in volume one is plain. Watch Tower adherents and other Literalist
believers rejected that identity. If it was wrong to identify them as Adventist
then, it remains so today. Those who identify Rusellites as Adventists should
do so on the basis of some evidence other than speculation about what ‘might
have been.’
Among
those who continue to present Russell era believers and descendant religions as
Adventist is Zoe Knox. This is disappointing. We expected better from her,
given her history of thoughtful and careful research. Her most recent book, Jehovah’s
Witnesses and the Secular World, continues the myth of Russellite and Watch
Tower Adventism, which she supports by citing Rogerson: “In 1969, Alan Rogerson
observed that most of Russell’s interpretations were not new and that many or
them originated with various Adventists of his day.”[1]
Rogerson did not support his claim; a critical eye would wonder why he failed
to do so. The reason, of course, is his claim is insupportable. Using
unsupported claims as the basis for your own work – without a minimal amount of
verification – is not best work. Nothing in Rogerson’s claim can be sustained
from contemporary documentation. What can be sustained is that Russell derived
his doctrine from Literalist belief. Much of what we wrote in volume one of
this work proves that. The remainder of this post has been deleted.
Food for Thinking Christians was issued in more than
one edition. The original was a special issue of ZWT for September 1881. Below
is the cover of one of those originals.
The owner commented that this original was not in
the best of condition “but it has
been lovingly read many times over in the past.”
When the publication
was reprinted in large numbers to be used in evangelising work, the cover was
changed in one respect. Here are two copies of the revised cover.
The special issue for
September 1881 ZWT has now become a Free Supplement to Zion’s Watch Tower,
1881.
Any readers who have
access to Tower Archives can see this cover in a greenish-blue color. I don’t
have permission to copy that, but the design is the same as above.
The copy of the Food
on the left in the picture has an extra paper strip and holes near the spine, because
this was originally bound with a copy of Tabernacle Teachings as described in a
recent blog post.
This copy had a brief
inscription on the front end papers.
Homing in for an
enhanced close-up we can see this is from Sunderlin to McCormack.
This would be the
McCormack who went to Chicago in 1882 as described in another recent post.
(With grateful thanks to Mike C and Brian K who supplied the images)
The last name is also spelled McCormack. All we have are his initials. We know he moved to Chicago [with his wife] in 1882. We need full name and as much biography as we can find. We need your help with this. We're swamped with other things, and Rachael is too sick to undertake this.
We're not making real progress with this. But if one presumes that the McCormacks moved from Pittsburgh to Chicago, city directories point to George L. McCormack and his wife Charlotte.
Tabernacle Teachings was an early work of CTR first
published as a special supplement to ZWT for February 1882. It was later expanded
into the more well-known work Tabernacle Shadows.
It followed on quite soon after the publication of
Food for Thinking Christians which was issued as a special issue of ZWT for
September 1881.
There was certain logic in the two small books being
presented together, and in fact, the second from last page of the original
Tabernacle Teachings presented them as companions.
It is not surprising that there are reports of the
two being actually bound together into one volume. However, the one copy that
has been seen shows the two publications being printed separately and just
being bound together without any additional title page. So the second title
page comes after the end of the first book. There were just extra end sheets
added to the combined item. On the inside end sheet of the one example that is
known is an inscription to the effect: “J C Sunderlin to G L McCormick.” So it
may be that Sunderlin had this particular example hard bound or it may be that
there are other examples out there still to be found.
The very end page of Tabernacle Teachings advertises
Zion’s Watch Tower magazine.
There is no mention of price on Tabernacle
Teachings, the booklet was free. The only mention of cost was in the
advertisement for ZWT on the final page. The subscription price for ZWT was 50
cents per year in the United States and sixty-five cents in Britain. The Lord’s
Poor could have it free on request.
(With grateful thanks to Mike C who supplied the images)
