Regular readers of this blog will know that Bruce
contacted the Watchtower Society for certain information and documentation. The
Office of Public Information replied to one request and this is now shared
below.
The Proclaimers book on page 642 describes how the
books of C T Russell were publicly burned in parts of the United States.
Quoting from part of one paragraph:
“Many of the clergy used their pulpits to denounce
Russell’s writings. They commanded their flocks not to accept literature distributed
by the Bible Students. A number of them sought to induce public officials to
put a stop to this work. In some places in the United States – among them,
Tampa, Florida; Rock Island, Illinois; Winston-Salem, North Carolina; and
Scranton, Pennsylvania – they supervised public burning of books written by
Russell.”
Bruce asked for supporting evidence for this book
burning, and scans of four items were sent.
The first, and familiar to many readers already, was
this page from J F Rutherford’s Great Battle in Ecclesiastical Heavens, which
reproduced the charred remains of one copy of the Divine Plan of the Ages.
The caption ‘Rescued from the Flames of the
Destroyer’ lists the places where public burnings had taken place up to 1915.
This is the list reproduced in the Proclaimers book.
Such events made the newspapers. The Harrisburgh
Telegraph (PA) for January 23, 1915, reported on a proposed public burning of
books in front of the United Brethren Church.
With an ecumenical touch some books of Christian Science were to be
added to the same bonfire. However, the paper did announce that “the books most
bitterly condemned by Evangelist Hillis were Russell’s ‘Millinial (sic) Dawn’
and the publications of the ‘Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.’”
The next year, the Hopkinsville Kentuckian for
August 19, 1916, reported on a similar event.
The longest newspaper account was from 1919. The
Alexandria Gazette (Virginia) for December 5, 1919, gave quite a favourable
review of Russell’s work, noting that they “abound in quotations from holy
writ.” It suggested that most of the protestors had probably not actually read
them. The book burning was part of a revivalist drive at a Primitive Methodist
Church. The books were dumped on a street corner, doused in kerosene, and the
paper painted an entertaining picture of two hundred “religionists” (their
words) dancing around the flames while singing hymns.
The newspaper story ended with the paragraph:
“Pastor Russell’s books have given an impetus to
Bible study. This fact alone should save them from the bonfire.”
2 comments:
Jerome:
I can't thank you enough for your hard work.
Very interesting !
Andrew Grzadzielewski
Thanks to Bruce and Jerome!
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