Great. I’m glad to see someone got this right after Christians have had it wrong for 2000 years. I am glad in the same way I am that Charles Taze Russell got it right that Jesus died on a “torture stake” rather than a cross as so many stupid Christians believed for all that time, and that also Joseph Smith was told by no less than Kolob-dwelling “Heavenly Father” and Lucifer’s brother Jesus that all the other denominations got it wrong, and that there was need for “another Testament of Jesus Christ.”
Really, what did all those other benighted people do for all those years. Sheesh!
I just thought it was an interesting discussion.
So that means you have an answer for what shepherds were doing outside in the fields at night, with their flocks of sheep, at the end of December, in winter?
In doing an electronic search of Russell’s works, I do not find any place that Russell ever said anything about the instrument of Jesus’ death being a “torture stake” rather than a cross.
Often many make the claim that Russell was the founder of the JWs, and confuse the JWs’ organization stance as the only true church with Russell. Russell did not believe an outward, earthly “Jehovah’s organization,” as Rutherford and the JWs speak of.
In truth Charles Taze Russell was not the founder of the JWs, nor did he believe in such an authoritative organization as the JWs. Russell believed that one can be saved by grace by faith in the blood of Jesus, regardless of denominational affiliation.
Russell stated: “the Lord in Heaven records as members of His true Church all the saintly — whether Roman Catholics, Anglican Catholics, Greek Catholics, Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, etc. — and none others.... Do we not see that a part of our mistake was in calling the outward organization the Church of Christ, instead of remembering that the Lord alone writes the names of the Church, that He alone reads the hearts, that He alone is the Judge, and that He alone has the right to blot out the names of those who become reprobates? ... We must see that the Church is a comparatively small company of saintly footstep followers of Jesus, irrespective of sectarian lines.” — Bible Students Monthly, Volume 7, Number 9 (1915), Under the title, “The Catholic Church — St. Peter’s Kingdom Keys.”
And Russell stated: “all who are worshiping any church organization should be warned. See thou do it not.’ These are thy fellow servants. ‘Worship God.’ `Rev. 22:9`.” — “Dialogue Rev. 13”, The Watch Tower, January 1880, page 2.
He further stated: “the only authority in it is the Lord, the Head of the Church, and his Word, and the words of those whom he specially chose to be his mouth-pieces, the apostles.” — “Love As Brethren, Be Sympathetic, Be Courteous”, The Watch Tower, July 1, 1900, page 195.
And, “we believe that in every nation and denomination there are some true saints of God, members therefore of the true Church of God.” — “The Golden Age At Hand”, What Pastor Russell Wrote for the Overland Monthly, page 385.
It was Rutherford, who, after Russell died, brought forth a “new organization,” which he later called “Jehovah’s Witnesses,” along with a new set of teachings that form much of the basis for the JW organization to this day.