enth book which he entitled, The Finished Mystery. Now when you take up the “ six trumpets”— the books of Russell—be sure to read the flyleaf. I want you to see how completely hypocritical Russell really was. Here is the dedi cation with which his books begin: “ To the King of Kings, the Lord of Lords, in the interest of HIS CON SECRATED SAINTS, waiting for the adoption, and of ‘all that in every place call upon the Lord,’ ‘The Household of Faith,’ and of the groan ing creation, travailing and waiting for the manifestation of the Sons of God, THIS WORK IS DEDICATED.” People who read this immediately say, “My, Russell must have been a godly man to dedicate his books that way!” Then he goes on to deny every thing the Scriptures say. A great portion of Russell’s books are given to the study of the book of Revelation, and a more confused and jumbled hodge-podge of everything under the sun you never read. You remember that in the first chapter of the book of Revelation, John records that the risen Christ directed him to “Write the things which thou hast seen” (Rev. 1:19), and in chapters 2 and 3, He dictates messages to the seven churches ex isting in Asia Minor at the time. For instance, “ Unto the angel [pastor] of the church of Ephesus write” (Rev. 2:1) and so on. Now Russell tells us to what actual persons these seven messages were directed: the angel of the' church of Ephesus was Paul; of Smyrna, John; of Pergamos, Arius (Arius was the father of the Unitarians from whom came the main tenet of Jehovah’s Witnesses); of Thyatira, Waldo; of Sardis, Wyc- liffe; and of Philadelphia, Luke. But to whom do you think the Lord was speaking when he dictated the let ter to the church at Laodicea? To none other than “ Pastor” Russell himself. Now, my friends, I say it kindly, but if you can believe that, you can believe a n y th in g ! Russell also claimed to be the man in the linen suit mentioned in Ezekiel 9:2-4 whom the Lord commanded to “ set a mark upon the foreheads of the men that sigh and that cry for all the abomin ations.” This he understood to be a call to him to destroy all organized religion. He classed himself with Paul, Wycliffe and Luther as the greatest men of the Christian era, and his successor, Rutherford, mod estly called himself “ the mouthpiece of God” (p. 62, W hy Serve Jehovah?). Next month: “ Jehovah Witnesses’ Ap praisal of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
God’s purpose to conceal the truth for 6,000 years until he should ar rive on the scene! Someone wrote very effectively, “According to Rus sell, the Word of God was never a lamp to anyone’s feet, or a light to anybody’s path, until it was Russell- ized!” You may think that I am exagger ating; that Russell would not be so presumptuous as to say his writings were on a par with the Bible— or worse, capable of replacing the Word of God. Let me show you Russell’s claims. On page 298, of the September 15, 1910 issue of the Jehovah’s Wit nesses magazine, The Watchtower, appeared this startling statement: “ If the six volumes of Scripture Studies [Russell’s books] are prac tically the Bible, topically, arranged with Bible proof texts given, we do not improperly name the volumes, ‘The Bible in an Arranged Form.’ That is to say, they are not mere comments on the Bible, but they are practically the Bible itself. Further more, not only do we find that peo ple cannot see the divine plan in studying the Bible itself , but we see, also, that if anyone lays the Scripture Studies aside, even after he has used them, after he has become familiar with them, after he has read them for ten years— if he then lays them aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has un derstood his Bible for ten years,.our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness [italics are mine]. On the other hand, if he had merely read the Scripture Studies with their references and had not read a page of the Bible as such, he would be in the light at the end of two years, because he would then have the light of the Scriptures.” When you read that, you know exactly where to classify this cult, and if you sincerely believe the Bi ble is the Word of God, you will re pudiate this group at once, and find fellowship with those who believe the Scriptures alone to be the only inspired writings. T hese original textbooks of Scriptures. Russell claimed they were the seven trumpets of chapters eight and nine of the Revelation. When “ the first angel sounded” (Rev. 8:7), that was the “ Pastor” writing his first book, and so on. But, strangely enough, before the seventh angel could blow his trumpet, Russell died, and Rutherford had to write the sev-
LOUIS T. TALBOT
A b o n t th e A u t h o r A ustralian-born Dr. Louis T. Talbot has for years been one of America’s strongest pro- claimers of evangelical Chris tianity. He is a noted writer (10 books; numerous pamphlets and magazine articles), pastor (for ¿0 years at the Church of the Open Door in Los Angeles) and educator (long-time presi dent, now chancellor, of the Bible Institute of Los Angeles and Talbot Theological Semi nary). Dr. Talbot and his research ers have made a wide study on cults and false religions. For years he has presented his il lustrated sermons on this sub ject to audiences the world over. Just completed this summer, this series represents years of work. It is believed to be the most complete and certainly the most up-to-date work on the subject. The articles are being planned to run for six months in K ing ’ s B usiness . Should readers care to have a friend or loved one follow this series orders should be sent within the week. Specify that- order is to start with the September issue. Also specify if gift card is to be sent and if so how it is to be signed. Price is $2.50 per subscription. Address: K ing ’ s B usiness magazine, 558 So. Hope St., Los Angeles 17, Calif. —ED.
Jehovah’s Witnesses written by Russell were first called The M illennial Dawn and afterwards renamed Studies in the
OCTOBER, 1954
13
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker