Faith On The March (1957)
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FAITH ON THE MARCH
A. H. Macmillan FAITH ON THE MARCH
BY A. H. Macmillan
PRENTICE-HALL, INC. ENGLEWOOD CLIFFS, N.J.
Copyright 1957 by Prentice-Hall, Inc. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book, or any portions thereof, in any form, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 57-8528
Printed in the United States of America CONTENTS
Part One: "CALLED OUT OF DARKNESS"
1. A TURNING-POINT 3
I Found a Faith 5
The Faith of My Father Tested 6
Hope of a New Life 8
Hope for the Dead 9
Civilization's Shaky Foundation 10
Why My Faith Abides 12
Facing the Future Without Fear 13
2. BEGINNING A NEW WAY 15
Seeking God's Will 16
Traditionalism Encourages Infidelity 18
The Bible Strengthens Wavering Faith 19
Jesus' Ransom Reveals God's Attributes 20
Object and Manner of Christ's Return 22 The Prophecies Show Presence Imminent 23
The Harvest Message Begins 25
Preaching and Publishing 26
Maintaining the Mind of the Lord 26
What Bible Study Revealed 29
3. “GOD’S WORD IS A FIRE” 30
The Identifying Tag 31
Early Background 33
A Family Tragedy 34
Religious Ambitions 34
The Message Unfolds 36
“His Word Is a Burning Fire” 37
Stumbled by Tradition 38
“Made in the Likeness of Men” 40
Fire Not Literal 41
C. T. Russell Greets a Youth 42
Invitation to Headquarters 42
Darkness Lightening into Day 44
4. “END OF ALL KINGDOMS IN 1914” 46
“The Wrong Thing at the Right Time” 48
End of the World Does Not End Work 52
Russell Foresees a Post-War Expansion 54
A Major Fulfillment Obscured by Details 55
The Turning-Point at 1914 56
Russell Recognizes the Rising Communist Threat 57
Jesus’ Disciples Mistaken as to the Kingdom 59
C. T. Russell’s Last Trip 61
Why 1914 Did Not Bring Disappointment 62
Part Two: BIRTH OF A NATION
5. GOD'S JUDGMENT BEGINS AT HIS HOUSE 67
Individuals Are Unimportant to God's Work 68
A New President Takes Office 71 An Administrative Change Provides a Test 73
Personal Ambition Disrupts the Work 75
Rebellious Action Forces a Showdown 78
Spiritual Food for Those Approved 81
6. “MISCHIEF FRAMED BY LAW” 84
A Conspiracy Comes to Light 86
Accused of Opposing the Draft 87
7. SENTENCED TO EIGHTY YEARS FOR PREACHING
THE GOSPEL 91
Tried for Conspiracy 92
The Prosecution Makes Another Attempt 95
Our Defense Shows No Intent 98
Committed to the Penitentiary 99
The Deputy Warden Becomes Disturbed 101
Preaching in Prison 104
An Evidence of Jehovah’s Favor 105
8. A NEW NATION COMES TO LIFE 107
Cleared of an Illegal Judgment 108
A Mark of Confidence 109
A Test of Strength Is Made 111
New Life Stirs Us to Action 113
The “Golden Age” Comes into View 114
World-Wide Preaching Is the Goal 116
Publicity Agents for the Kingdom of Heaven 118
The New World Society Is Born 120
9. JEHOVAH CHOOSES AND CLEANSES HIS CHANNEL 122
Russell Viewed as the Channel 123
Russell Views the Society as the Channel 126
The “Faithful and Wise Servant” Identified 127
One Organization Is Made Responsible 129
Sincerity Alone Is Not Enough 130
Individual Responsibility Demonstrated 132
Spared for God’s Name’s Sake 133 viii
Apostasy Began in the Early Congregation 135
Being Sure of the Right Religion 136
10. INTERPRETATION BELONGS TO GOD 138
Jesus Quoted Scripture as Authority 141
Oneness of Jesus with God in Their Works 142
Prophecy Unfolds with Its Fulfillment 144
Our View of the New World Society Clears Up 145
Resisting God’s Interpretation Leads to Disaster 148
11. BUILT ON A PRIMITIVE FOUNDATION 150
Rutherford Begins To Unify Our Work 152
Preaching the Lord’s Word on the Lord’s Day 153
Dangers Seen in Democratic Congregational Government 155
The Primitive Congregation Was Theocratic 156
Theocratic Structure Restored to the Congregation 157
The Primitive Foundation Provides Maturity 159
12. A SECOND STRUGGLE TO SURVIVE 161
Pioneering in Radio Preaching 163
Sound Cars Take the Road 164
Organizing a Peaceable Counter-Attack 165
One Judge Renders a Decision 167
The Phonograph Is Drafted for Service 169
A Totalitarian Thrust Is Thwarted 170
The U. S. Supreme Court Surrenders a Freedom 171
Respect for God Given First Place 172
The International Noose Draws Tighter 174
Facing the Future Without Fear 176
Part Three: THE NEW WORLD SURVIVES
13. THE TRIUMPH OF THE GOOD NEWS 179
Stability and Strength Despite Persecution 181
A Successful Campaign on the Home Front 183
The Federal Government’s Liberal View 184 CONTENTS 1X
Arbitrary Draft Boards Spurn the Law 186
Covering a Circuit of Twenty Prisons 187
Heeding Scriptural Counsel 189
Overcoming the World 191
14. EXPANDING THE EDUCATION FOR LIFE 192
Knorr Organizes for Expansion 193
Personal Ministry Receives Attention 194
Individual Training Brings Maturity 195
Gilead School Spearheads the Global Front 197
Schooling the Unlearned to Read 199
No Doctrinal Match for the Novice Witness 200
Doorstep Preaching Locates the “Sheep” 203
15. JEHOVAH PROVIDES FOR HIS FAMILY 205
Voluntary Contributions Pay It All 206
“The People Bring More Than Enough” 208
The Family Forms a Pattern 211
Identifying the Family of God 212
16. YOU CAN LIVE FOREVER 215
Jehovah Determines the Way of Life 216
Why My Faith Has Survived 217
The Only Practical Way Is God’s 219
There Is No Middle Ground 221
How You May Take God’s Side 222
Restoration of Edenic Conditions 224
How Much Do You Love God? 225
REFERENCES 227
INDEX 237
INTRODUCTION
To the reader:
A. H. Macmillan is known to Jehovah's witnesses all over the world. His long and prominent association with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and his faithful record of service as a Christian minister have endeared him to his many friends.
Toward the end of 1955 Mr. Macmillan asked permission to use the Society's files to write an account of his experiences in the ministry. Since he is a trusted member of the headquarters staff, he was granted permission. A few months ago he informed me the work was finished, and at his request I agreed to read the manuscript for technical accuracy. I soon found myself engrossed in the story which the account of his life and association with Jehovah's witnesses had produced.
This book is more than the story of one man's growing faith. I believe Mr. Macmillan has made a sincere effort to capture and portray the very essence of the religion that he acknowledges has given meaning to his life. He reveals Jehovah's witnesses as human. He admits their mistakes and explains why no human organization can be infallible. At the same time he reveals their hopes, and presents sound Scriptural reasons for the appeal of these hopes to all kinds of men.
The book is a straightforward and truthful account. It is unique only in the personal experiences of A. H. Macmillan. In many other respects it could be the story of any one of hundreds of Jehovah's witnesses whom I have known.
N. H. KNORR,
President, Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania
Brooklyn, New York PART ONE
"CALLED OUT OF DARKNESS" Chapter 1
A TURNING-POINT
I AM A WHITE-HAIRED OLD MAN, in my eightieth year of life, as I begin to tell you these facts.
For nigh onto sixty years I have been associated with a movement that today is commanding world attention on a widening scale. It is a religious movement that has seemed new and recent to millions of people, a movement that has been fought tooth, tongue and pen by the dominant religions of this world, a movement that has been misrepresented, persecuted, cursed and damned, prayed against to the God of heaven, and subjected to mobbing, bans, confiscation and proscriptions, driven underground by Nazi, Fascist and Communist dictators, all this under the influence of religious leaders, all of them together up in arms against this lone movement.
I know. I have gone through enough of it along with this movement to know whereof I speak and write.
I myself have spent nine long months in prison for my faith before I was released with my fellow-sufferers and then cleared of all the untrue charges that put us behind bars. Since then I have talked to hundreds of young men likewise put behind bars for their faith.
In the course of the years I have traveled through many countries, including Palestine where Jesus and the apostles preached the same message; talked to hundreds of thousands of people from the public platform, frequently through the aid of an interpreter, yes, and from house to house as the apostles did; and at present it is my privilege to address untold numbers by the modern means of radio over a pioneer station in New York City, answering people's questions, giving them Bible counsel delivered straight from the shoulder.
From the horse-and-buggy days, when as a young lad I learned to handle an ox-cart, I have lived down through the years into this age of jet-propulsion and thermonuclear explosives, through two world wars into the most terrifying situation of all human history. But I'm not afraid, for being with this religious movement has made me fearless of the future. I'm not afraid of what is ahead of the human race in the purposes of the great Creator, even though come, as it must, the worst time of trouble that mankind has ever experienced.
To know a movement you've got to live with it, even be an official in it, as I have been. Besides that, I have lived through to the end of two presidencies of the religious society that governs this movement, and I'm now living under the presidency of the third man in that office in the Society. I've seen things grow, I've seen the understanding of things clear up, I've gone through the ups and downs of this religious movement. Yet I am holding on, and that with more zest than ever before. More than ever I am convinced that it is right, that it has the truth, that it is giving a right lead to all the people of good will throughout the earth. Why?
I FOUND A FAITH
Have you ever wondered whether you had the right religion and have you tried to find the right one, to find the truth that solved your questions about God and his purposes toward mankind? I have, and I know what a battle it means. But it's worth the battle. Today people are feeling after religion, because life without the truth about God and man does not satisfy. These people fumbling about don't know where this world is going. Once I, too, did not know. I did not know where I myself was going.
As a lad in my teens, I was just an ordinary boy, with a desire for play and fun that all of us enjoy. Still I had a deep feeling that I would like to know more about God and why this earth was made and people put on it for such a short time, only to die and go no one knows where, perhaps never to see family or friends again.
Asking questions on the subject from those who were supposed to know the answers, I received little or no information. But I kept on looking, believing that the answers must be somewhere to be found. They are, for I have found what I was looking for. I was still a young man. But that makes no difference. What I have found thousands of people are still finding every year. And they are people just like you and me, because they come from all nationalities, races, walks of life and are of all ages. Truth is no respecter of persons. It attracts all kinds of persons and those who are following it find themselves being drawn ever closer together, away from a world that is showing a rapidly diminishing regard for personal, or even national, integrity.
Now I do know where I am going. I am confident too that I know where the world is going. I have been watching it travel that road for almost sixty years. A short space in the span of history, you say? Perhaps, but these years are destinyshaping, never to be repeated. These are years that were longed for centuries ago, years that were seen in prophetic vision, years that are climaxing six thousand years of human history. Why am I so sure of that? Because that is the message I have learned from the Bible and I have seen it being fulfilled with my own eyes during the eighty years of my life.
From my first glimpse of the promises held out to sick and dying mankind my hope in what that message of the Bible has revealed has not faded. Right there I determined to find out more about what the Bible teaches so that I might be able to help others like myself who are seeking knowledge about the Almighty God, Jehovah, and his good purposes toward mankind.
THE FAITH OF MY FATHER TESTED
My first real opportunity came sooner than I had anticipated. After about a year of study I was called home to see my father, who was dangerously ill. Like many people he had always been a strong believer in his religion. I wondered how he would react to my presentation of what I had learned since I last saw him. It was so different from what he had taught me. Being still a youth, I journeyed home to Canada with some misgivings as to my ability to inform my father, for he was a well-educated man. However, I determined to discuss my new-found beliefs with him if at all possible, trusting the Lord to help me show him the things I had learned about Jehovah's purpose to bless mankind.
After arriving home, I went to my father's bedside. I saw he was very weak and would not live much longer. He was an old man, about the age I am now. As I approached the bed, he held out his hand and, with a faint smile, he said: "Son, I'm glad you came home to see me before I pass away. You were the only one of my children that gave much evidence of deep interest in religion, and I want to talk to you about the Bible.
"I believe many more people will be saved than my minister has led me to believe," he continued.
This surprised me somewhat because my father was a Calvinist and believed in predestination. However, I was pleased that he should feel that way and replied, "I agree with you, Father. I'm sure the Bible shows God is willing that all men should be saved, and come to a knowledge of the truth, and if any are lost, it is because they refuse to take the way he has opened up. God did not predestinate that any individuals should be lost and tormented forever, as many believe."
As we went on with our talks I could see father seemed no longer interested in what Calvin taught. Apparently he had been reading and thinking very seriously about the Bible itself. He started asking me questions about the new world mentioned in the Bible. Surprised again, I asked what led him to that line of thinking and he replied: "Before I became so ill I read a book issued by one of the Bible and tract societies in the United States, and that answered many questions that have bothered me." Then he told me the title of the book. You can imagine my surprise and delight to find it was the same book I was studying and from which I had already received so much comfort and satisfying knowledge.
This lively hope being kindled in my father seemed to rally him somewhat and for the next few weeks we had many happy studies together. He would ask the neighbors, who came to visit him, to join us in our studies, and those did. The new world was generally our theme. I pointed out from the Bible that the earth was created to be inhabited by perfect men and women who would live forever in peace without anything to mar their complete happiness. None of them had ever heard of such a possibility. But it sounded good to them.
HOPE OF A NEW LIFE
All who joined us in our studies said they believed the Bible was the Word of God, and they would accept what was written there. Some of them had read only a little in the Bible, and they soon learned that it contained many things they had never realized. We read that the earth would become as beautiful as the garden of Eden was when Adam and Eve were living in it as their God-given estate. I was able to find for them where that was written in the Bible.
Naturally, what the condition of our health would be at that time came up for discussion. I assured them, one of the prophets had said that in that new system of things to be established after Armageddon no one would say he was sick. Furthermore, it had been revealed to the apostle John that there would be no more crying or pain—not even any more death! My father, who was suffering much physical pain, said: "How I wish that time were here now!" And all agreed with him, for they were thinking of their own loved ones, many of whom were no longer with them. Then I read an excerpt from our Bible-study aid that brought tears of joy to my father's eyes: [1]
The human race are God's children by creation—the work of his hands—and his purpose with reference to them is clearly revealed in his Word. Our Lord, and all the prophets since the world began, declare that the human race is to be restored to that glorious perfection Adam had.
This is the portion God has arranged to give to the human race. And what a glorious portion! Forget for a moment the misery and woe, degradation and sorrow that still prevail on account of sin, and picture before your mental vision the glory of the perfect earth.... There sickness shall be no more; not an ache nor a pain-not even the fear of such things. Think of all the pictures of comparative health and beauty of human form and feature that you have ever seen, and know that perfect humanity will be of still surpassing loveliness. The inward purity and mental and moral perfection will stamp and glorify every radiant countenance. Such will earth's society be; and weeping bereaved ones will have their tears wiped away, when Christ's kingdom work is completed.
HOPE FOR THE DEAD
Of course this brought up a number of questions, some of which may be in your own mind. One was, what hope can we have in that new world if we die before that happy time arrives? This I could answer through the clear-cut promise of the resurrection. Then my father asked me the direct question: "Son, will I be lonesome in the grave while I am waiting for the kingdom to begin its work of filling the earth with perfection?"
That was a question a young man could not readily answer to the satisfaction of an older person who had never thought along that line.
In reply I asked him: "Father, did you sleep well last night?"
He answered, "Yes, my son, I did after the doctor gave me some sleeping pills."
"Were you lonesome while you were asleep?"
"No, I was not. I wish I could sleep all the time, for then I feel no pain."
Then I remembered something I had read about Job, who was suffering much bodily pain after he lost everything he had including his family. I read to my father what Job had said: [2]
"Oh that thou wouldest hide me in Sheol [the grave],... until thy wrath be past,... Thou wouldest call, and I would answer thee."... "There the wicked cease from troubling; And there the weary are at rest. There the prisoners are at ease together; They hear not the voice of the taskmaster. The small and the great are there: And the servant is free from his master."
"So you see, father," I explained, "the dead are in a death sleep and know nothing while in that condition, so how could they be lonesome? Too, the Bible says 'the dead know not anything.' When you fall asleep in death no one will bother you; you will have no pain either. When God's proper time comes and Jesus calls you, then you will come to life in a world where there will be no pain, sorrow or death."
As my father breathed his last I read to him the heart-cheering words of the twenty-first chapter of Revelation: "Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away." Yes, my father died with a glorious hope and I know the sting of death was relieved by that hope.
That same hope, as outlined in God's Word, has been mine for over half a century. It has brought me peace of mind and joy of heart. It has sustained me through many dark hours. It has taught me a reverential fear of my God and a deep and sincere love for my fellow man. It has brought to me a new way of life.
CIVILIZATION'S SHAKY FOUNDATION
I do not need to tell you that mankind are enjoying many comforts and pleasures in this life, yet still there is great fear as to what the future holds for this generation. You know the nations are armed to the teeth with the most deadly weapons ever invented or constructed. Those who should know tell us bombs are now made that could destroy a good-sized city in a few moments. They also tell us that deadly guided missiles carrying atomic warheads can be accurately delivered to distant targets in a matter of minutes. They further claim that other death-dealing weapons exist that are too terrible to talk about. Even limited tests are restricted for fear of the results.
Some believe that the Communists are determined to destroy every nation on earth that will not come around to their terms or surrender to their way of life, which is slavery for the many, and all the luxuries of the land for a few ruthless rulers or dictators. The "free nations," at the risk of bankrupting their own economy, are spending billions of dollars to aid others remain "free." But even if compromises are achieved, even if the policy of co-existence is developed to where it seems workable, is there not only one inevitable outcome?
On what kind of foundation do you think modern security rests? Can you truly be happy at prospects of our future, with the nations sitting on stockpiles of thermonuclear explosives? With fear, hatred and suspicion sitting at the conference table, with distrust and deceit undermining even hardwon peace negotiations and efforts at disarmament, how small a spark would be needed to set the world aflame? Is the destiny of modern civilization dependent solely on the volatile emotions of selfish, greedy and unscrupulous dictators who loudly hold forth the palm of peace while only partially concealing the strong arm of fission-fusion might?
What is your honest opinion of world conditions? Beware of shrugging it off with a noncommittal air of, "Oh well, we have survived in the past, we'll find a way out." Is there any evidence whatsoever that the direction of the world has radically changed in the relation of man to man, nation to nation? Does the history of the world-even of the last few decadesreveal we have found a safer, saner approach to solving international controversies?
How far must we go before we have reached "the end"?
Those who turn to the Bible learn that everything we now experience was foretold by the prophets of old, who spoke under divine inspiration. Why do the clergymen of Christendom remain silent? Why do they say nothing about the threatened end of this system of things or about the blessings of the new world, which are certain to follow the battle of the great day of God Almighty so near at hand? It is only by such a war as Armageddon, fought by Jehovah God and his invisible forces, that the earth can be cleansed of all unrighteousness and the way opened for lasting peace on earth. Consider the evidences for yourself. The Bible was written by men like us, men from all walks of life, but men whose faith surpassed all fear of man. You can read the Bible and understand it, too.
WHY MY FAITH ABIDES
When I first began to look for these answers they were not nearly so apparent as they now are. In fact, the evidences we now accept as everyday occurrences did not even exist. They were at that time only prophecies of the Bible that were being interpreted in many different ways by different groups. But one group of earnest Bible students presented matters in a way that made sense to me. Now I see my confidence was well grounded.
You ask me why I am still an active part of that movement, why my zeal is keener and my conviction stronger than ever? I'll tell you. It's because I've lived to realize already much of the hope that so filled my young life. It's because I've lived to see prophecies of the Bible which we held dear and sacred yet which were mocked and scorned by unbelievers-already come true. It's because I've lived to see this same movement hunted and persecuted by those who claimed to serve God until it lay beaten in death—only to survive and come to rebirth in a new way of life, reorganized for an even more powerful work, yet dedicated to the same standards of righteousness which have characterized its operation from the beginning. I have seen this movement hold fast to those standards, refusing to compromise them for the sake of expediency. I have seen ambitious men rise up within the organization and seek to pervert it, only to meet with complete defeat because the majority of those associated with this movement are unalterably dedicated to serve God, not man. I have found companionship, yes, real brotherhood, with people of all races and nations. These are the things I have desired from my youth.
Can you tell me why a man who-not once, but many times-has seen things come into existence that he was told he would see; why a man who has watched the outworking of God's foretold purpose and the fulfillment of prophecies;can you, I ask, tell me why such a man should not have faith? My faith is stronger each day. And having seen so much come true already I am more and more confident that those things for which I still hope will some day be realized as well.
FACING THE FUTURE WITHOUT FEAR
I am most thankful to share with you this message of hope that is now being preached in many lands throughout the earth. Because they see that this old system of things is doomed, hundreds of thousands of people are grasping and devouring the knowledge now available on the subject. This hope is tangible, reasonable and real. Men and women on this earth, even with many troubles, do not want to grow old and die. No, they want to stay right here. Don't you? Well, that is not surprising, for man was created to live on this earth and he enjoys himself when he has a reasonable amount of the blessings now possible to obtain.
To every thoughtful person it is apparent that mankind has reached a turning-point in history. A day of judgment is upon us. Even Satan the Devil himself knows that but a short time remains in which the human race, yes, this generation, must decide the greatest issue ever put before mankind. The issue is this: Will you continue to support and bear up a system of things that has filled the earth with suffering, sorrow, sin and death? Or will you choose, and fit yourself for God's love-filled new world?
Running with the world means, in the near future, eternal death. Walking with God and the New World society and devoting yourself to the principles of the new world will mean peace, happiness and real freedom with an endless life in perfection on a paradise earth.
Everywhere people are rallying to this hope. My personal experience may help you.
With you I hope I can live through the fast-approaching world catastrophe, the most appalling in all universal history, and then enter alive into the new world that Almighty God in his love has promised to establish for all those who seek to know him and to love and serve him. So now let me get along with my story, setting out the facts and experiences of my personal history that have some importance, some bearing on the big, decisive issues that face you and me.
CHAPTER 2
BEGINNING A NEW WAY
WHEN YOU CHANGE OVER the pattern of your thinking it means changing your way of life, yet the apostle Paul said that for Christians it is necessary to: [1] "Quit being fashioned after this system of things, but be transformed by making your mind over, that you may prove to yourselves the good and acceptable and complete will of God." That is the battle that goes with finding the right religion.
It was this interest in solving the questions about God, interest in him as a personality who loves, thinks-even hates that led to the understanding of God's will now being proclaimed world-wide by Jehovah's witnesses. Religions for centuries had been placing emphasis on man and his salvation or damnation, with little regard to the name of the God responsible for these destinies. All concepts of God were fashioned, not particularly from the Bible, but from man's interest in himself.
For centuries men had depended on the religious clergy to attend to the matter of salvation. If the layman concerned himself with the Bible, it was viewed almost as heresy; he was a doubter. This made salvation dependent upon men.
Eventually some rebelled. They wanted to show that men had nothing to do with the salvation of others. So they said Almighty God had fixed their destinies before he ever created one of the human family. Each man was predestined before birth to a heaven of bliss or a hell of fiery torment.
Another reformer said, "This conception of God is my conception of the Devil. If a man is not saved it's his own fault, because God has made all arrangements for him to obtain salvation, but mankind will not accept it." This puts God in competition with the Devil and robs God of his power because it looks like the Devil is getting more converts.
If we are to obtain the Scriptural perspective of God's way of salvation, then we must realize that a period of readjustment is necessary. Throughout this time of revaluation we will be faced with many mental and spiritual pitfalls. Some may seem small and insignificant, but to survive them we must completely subordinate our personal preferences. To rely on Jehovah's direction is the way of wisdom. [2]
SEEKING GOD'S WILL
Sometimes small happenings can affect one's entire life for good or for bad and can extend even into the lives of others to change their course. Some have said that just such a chain of reactions was set in motion when, about 1870, a young man (whose life, later, had considerable influence on my own), upon hearing religious singing in a little dingy hall on one of the dark streets of Allegheny, Pennsylvania, turned aside and walked in.
While in many respects this young man was quite like most boys of his age, in other ways he was unusual indeed. Born of Scottish-Irish parents February 16, 1852, he had been brought up in the Calvinistic doctrine to believe that men before birth were selected or predestinated by God to spend eternity either in the joys of heaven or in the torments of hell. This did not seem reasonable to his inquiring mind; so at an early age he had begun searching for the truth.
From earliest youth he had been extremely devoted to the service of God. In fact, his mother had dedicated him to the work of the Lord when he was born. So he was a serious-minded young man; he wanted to serve Jehovah God to the best of his ability. But when still a lad he had become so concerned about the doctrine of immortality of the soul and eternal torment that he could not rest. He was completely unsettled in mind.
"That's not reasonable," he would insist; "that's not Godlike. It just can't be true."
However, with nothing else to take its place, at the age of fourteen he would go out Saturday nights to where men gathered on Sundays to loaf, and would write Bible texts on the sidewalk with colored chalk. In this way he had hoped to attract their attention, so that they might accept Christ and avoid being lost and going to eternal torment.
At this early age his boundless energy was demonstrated in his eagerness to advertise God's will for man as he saw it. All the time he wanted to be doing something. Finally he left the Presbyterian Church because its teaching on doctrine was too narrow; he joined the Congregational Church, which he found more liberal. He had become particularly interested in the Y.M.C.A. "There's the place I can work with other young men," he reasoned. He had never wanted to sit around the church looking pious or just listening to singing and someone preaching on matters that were unreasonable, horrifying and unlike a God of love. He wanted to be active—trying to save men from going to eternal damnation. So he had worked and studied, continuing to search for the truth.
TRADITIONALISM ENCOURAGES INFIDELITY
He had examined all the different creeds—read up on what they generally taught. He had found disappointment in all of them. All this while he was trying to find something that would blend the obvious attributes of the Most High God, his love, justice, wisdom and power. He reasoned simply that if a theory or a doctrine does not square with those four attributes it must be wrong and any approach to Bible study must keep those four basic principles in mind. Any doctrine that violates any one of the attributes of God or which raises contradictions among them could not originate with God because he does not deny himself.
In discouragement he finally turned to an investigation of the claims of the leading Oriental religions, all of which he found to be unworthy of credence; hence we see him arriving at manhood's estate with a mind unsatisfied, a mind which, despite all efforts to the contrary, was still subject to its occasional bad hours on account of its "first impression" on the eternal torment theory.
"What is left to believe?" he finally asked himself. "If all the different religions that I have investigated can't present a clear and understandable picture of the Bible, then the Bible itself must be unreliable, so why believe it?" Like many serious thinkers before and since, finding the traditional teachings of religious Christendom untenable, he was falling an easy prey to the logic of infidelity.
At the age of seventeen, then, this had become his conclusion: "Now my father is in business here in Pittsburgh and is doing quite well. There is no use in my trying to find out anything reasonable about the future from any of the creeds or even from the Bible, so I'm just going to forget the whole thing and give all my attention to business. If I make some money I can use that to help suffering humanity, even though I cannot do them any good spiritually."
With that in mind he had thrown all of his dynamic force and personality into his father's business and it had really begun to prosper. He and his father had developed the idea of a chain of stores in several communities and soon had expanded their one store in Allegheny into additional establishments there and in adjacent cities. Seemingly he was well on the way to realizing his ambition to organize a corporation that would operate all over the United States. It was while he was in this frame of mind that something happened—the chance encounter that seemed to alter the pattern of his entire life.
THE BIBLE STRENGTHENS WAVERING FAITH
On this evening about 1870 he had been walking along one of the dark streets in Allegheny when he heard singing. He paused for a moment. Being young, he had an insatiable thirst for knowledge. As a reverential lad, he still had a desire for faith in the Supreme Being. He had heard that religious services were conducted here, so he asked himself, "Is it possible that the handful of people who meet here have something more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches?" He turned, entered the dusty little mission, and sat down to listen to the sermon.
The preacher was Jonas Wendell. His exposition of the Scriptures was not too clear; many questions were left unanswered. But one thing was certain: this youth's wavering faith in the inspiration of the Bible was immeasurably strengthened; he was now convinced from what he had heard that the records of the apostles and prophets are indissolubly linked. Here was something upbuilding, something sensible to a sensitive and inquiring young mind.
A renewed determination to continue his search for the truth opened a new chapter in this young man's life. Taking down his already well-worn Bible, he began a careful and systematic study of the Bible itself. As he read he thought, and the more he pondered the more convinced he became that the time was drawing near for the wise watching ones of the Lord's children to get a clear picture of God's purposes.
Fired now with real enthusiasm, he approached several young men with whom he had been associating, some in a business way and others socially. He told them of his rekindled interest, of his purpose to continue his direct study of the Bible without any consideration of established creeds. Immediately recognizing the possibilities, they said, "Well, suppose we get together and study in a systematic way during certain hours each week."
So it started. This young man, who at eighteen years of age organized this little Bible class, was to become one of the best-known Bible students of his generation. He was to become one of the best-loved and the most hated-one of the most praised and most maligned men in modern religious history.
That was Charles Taze Russell, later globally known as Pastor Russell.
JESUS' RANSOM REVEALS GOD'S ATTRIBUTES
The study method these young men adopted was simple but effective and has set the pattern for Bible study of Jehovah's witnesses ever since. It was based on the method used by the Christians of the first century. [3] Someone would raise a question. They would discuss it. They would look up all related scriptures on the point and then, when they were satisfied on the harmony of these texts, they would finally state their conclusion and make a record of it.
Their findings did not come all at once. They soon learned that the Bible clearly taught that the soul is not immortal and that when a person dies he is actually dead, unconscious, and that the wages of sin is death. [4] This was certainly a departure from the spiritual fare they had been receiving through the creeds based on tradition. It enabled them to discern answers to questions they never could have understood otherwise.
They learned that God had not created man to die. The father of the human race, Adam, had been created perfect and had been given a perfect wife; had been placed in a perfect home under perfect conditions and had been advised that obedience to the divine law would enable him to maintain this way of life in perfection. The Scriptures revealed to them that Adam violated the law of God and was sentenced to death and was driven out of his perfect home to eke out a bare existence in the unfinished earth until death overtook him. While he was undergoing this sentence Adam, for the first time, exercised his power and authority to reproduce; and under the law of heredity his children were born under the condemnation of death and without the right to life. Being unconscious in death, they were without hope unless some provision should be made to restore them to life.
Although this early period of study revealed only the general outlines of God's purposes, it was a profitable time of unlearning many long-cherished errors as well. For instance, in considering man's hope of restoration to life they asked themselves, What did Adam really lose? Did he lose a chance to go to heaven?—as they all had been taught to believe. No, they discovered. After careful study of the inspired Record they summed up Adam's loss in these three things: First, he lost fellowship with God; second, his beautiful home in Eden—he was forced out; third, he lost life and his right to it, for he was told that he would have to struggle in the sweat of his face until he returned to the ground from which he was taken. That means that he would die in the effort to keep alive. This added new meaning to Jesus' words, [10] "For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." Now how was this to be accomplished? They began to see that for Jesus to qualify as a redeemer he must at some time and under some condition have an opportunity to buy back these three things that were lost to the human race through Adam.
Now, for the first time, they could see God's attributes in true perspective! His justice required Adam's execution for disobedience, yet his love was revealed in promising a ransom for the obedient ones of Adam's children. His wisdom made it possible for him to provide this means of restoring the way of life begun in Eden and his almighty power made it certain to be carried out.
OBJECT AND MANNER OF CHRIST'S RETURN
After further study it became clear that Jesus left heaven as a spirit creature, came to earth and became a perfect human being and had to do so in order to become the redeemer. [11] That meant he was not part man and part God. [12] Only by becoming a man as Adam had been could Jesus satisfy the righteous requirements of God's just law on the basis of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth and a life for a life. [13] They learned that when Jesus died as a ransom sacrifice he actually died, [14] but when Jehovah raised him from the dead and he returned to heaven he was given the divine nature or immortality, which he now has. [15]
What a prospect this opened up to them! Now, they realized, when Jesus comes again—and the Bible shows that he will—he is coming as an exalted spirit creature to give to obedient humans the benefits accruing from his sacrifice. That was their conclusion; their joy was unbounded. Young Russell wrote of this joyful awakening in the words of the disciples who encountered Jesus on their way to Emmaus after his resurrection: [16] "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?"
But how was Christ Jesus to come? It was during this same period of study, from 1870 to 1876, that they came to recognize the difference between our Lord as "the man who gave himself," and our Lord as he would return, in spirit form. It had become clear to them that spirit creatures could be present, yet invisible; so they could not accept the teachings of the Second Adventists who expected Christ to return in the flesh. These groups were making so many unscriptural predictions as to the object and manner of the Lord's coming, and the things they expected were so fanciful, that they brought great reproach not only on themselves but on all Bible students who were earnestly watching for and proclaiming the coming Kingdom.
Having an unusually logical mind, young Russell would not jump to a conclusion, merely accepting certain premises and theories advanced without foundation. He must have Scriptural support and sound reason. That, of course, excluded the Second Adventists' theories because many of them were unreasoning extremists who believed that when Christ came he would burn up the earth and all people on it except Second Adventists. In a sincere effort to counteract the harmful effect of their erroneous teachings, in 1873 Russell wrote and published at his own personal expense a booklet, The Object and Manner of Our Lord's Return. Thousands of copies were distributed.
TIME PROPHECIES SHOW PRESENCE IMMINENT
However, the time features of the Lord's second coming were still somewhat vague to these young Bible students. They realized it was to be soon, but found it impossible to agree with current claims of chronology. Strangely, it was in this very connection that circumstances were again to alter Russell's course and another seemingly insignificant occurrence was to revolutionize his thinking.
At the age of twenty-four, during the winter of 1875-76, Russell went to Philadelphia. His purpose was to open up some men's furnishing stores there and to buy some merchandise, since this was something of a wholesale center at that time. Still fresh in his mind, also, were the many truths that had been revealed to him, uppermost being that of the "restitution of mankind" at the Lord's invisible presence.
One day in January he came to his office and saw a magazine lying on the desk. It was the Herald of the Morning. Seeing by the picture on its cover that it was connected with Adventism, he picked it up with some curiosity, saying to himself, "I wonder what idea they have now about the Lord's coming and what the new date is that they have set for the burning up of the earth."
He opened it and, much to his astonishment, observed the conclusion set forth somewhat cautiously that the Lord was already present and that Jesus' illustration of dividing the "wheat" and "tares" in judgment [17] was already in progress.
Russell refused to allow his personal views to dissuade him from investigating. Immediately he wrote to the editor, Nelson H. Barbour, at Rochester, New York, where the magazine was published. He learned enough about Barbour's time calculations to arouse his deep interest. Barbour told him that a reader of Herald of the Morning who owned a new Bible translation, The Emphatic Diaglott, had noticed a somewhat peculiar variation in the rendering of Matthew 24:3 (as well as verses 27, 37 and 39). Instead of "What shall be the sign of thy coming" (as in the common version), this new translation read: "What will be the sign of thy presence." [18] Here was a new thought. Surely if our Lord were to return invisibly to mankind he would give some necessary evidence as to the time of his arrival. This was a reasonable conclusion. Still Russell wanted convincing proof, and since there were no books explaining these points of chronology he sent at once to Rochester and paid Barbour's expenses to Philadelphia. Here Barbour proceeded to set forth enough proofs from Bible prophecies to convince Russell that the harvest period had begun in 1874.
THE HARVEST MESSAGE BEGINS
Russell was a man of action as well as conviction, and he was fully dedicated to the Lord.
"Mr. Barbour," he said, "the Lord's time is here for us to tell the people about this. The harvest is already two years under way."
"There's no use in doing anything any more," Barbour replied. "The subscribers to the Herald of the Morning are discouraged because 1874 has passed and the Lord didn't come. Some of them lived in 1844 with Miller and the Lord didn't come then, and now they've become discouraged. The printing outfit we have in Rochester is about worn out and we're just getting out the Herald now and then when we can raise some money. Now there's no use trying to revive it."
Russell was not to be stopped so easily. "Mr. Barbour," he said, "now is the time to get busy; we have something to tell the people-something you never had before."
"What do you mean?"
"We're going to tell them that the time for the harvest is here! We can now carry the good tidings that Christ's kingdom is due to bring to mankind the blessings he purchased for them on Calvary. We've preached restitution before but we have never yet been able to point out that we are living when those blessings are to be restored to mankind. This should be preached on a world-wide scale."
That was Russell's enthusiastic response, and in the years that followed his zeal never diminished.
PREACHING AND PUBLISHING
Immediately he set to work. He gave Barbour some money and authorized him to return to Rochester to begin preparation of a book which they were to co-author. He purposed to set forth for the first time in printed form a Scriptural explanation of the blessings of the restitution combined with the time prophecies of Christ's second presence. This book, The Three Worlds, was published in 1877.
Russell now determined to curtail his business and spend his entire time traveling and preaching. It became clear to him at once that, while public lectures aroused interest, something was needed to hold and develop it. To accomplish this he determined to begin active publication of a monthly journal. Although Barbour was acquainted with printing and had been editor of the Herald for some years, he raised a number of objections as to the advisability of reorganizing the printing establishment. However, Russell had real enthusiasm for the work and finally it was agreed for Barbour to buy new type and other printing equipment, which Russell himself paid for. So publication of Herald of the Morning was resumed, with Barbour as editor and Russell associate editor.
MAINTAINING THE MIND OF THE LORD
Expecting the Lord Jesus to come in 1878 to catch them up miraculously to be with him in heaven, some who had been Second Adventists (including Barbour) were disappointed when that miracle did not occur. Russell, though, "did not for a moment feel cast down," but "realized that what God had so plainly declared must some time have a fulfillment"; and he "wanted to have it just in God's time and way." [19]
On one occasion while talking with Russell about the events of 1878, I told him that Pittsburgh papers had reported he was on the Sixth Street bridge dressed in a white robe on the night of the Memorial of Christ's death, expecting to be taken to heaven together with many others. I asked him, "Is that correct?"
Russell laughed heartily and said: "I was in bed that night between 10:30 and 11:00 P.M. However, some of the more radical ones might have been there, but I was not. Neither did I expect to be taken to heaven at that time, for I felt there was much work to be done preaching the Kingdom message to the peoples of the earth before the church would be taken away."
It was right at the time of this disappointment, as Russell shows, [20] that a permanent breach began between Barbour and Russell. Paul's words at 1 Corinthians 15:51, 52, were being wrongly construed, Russell had pointed out. There, in Paul's statement, "We shall not all sleep," the word sleep is not synonymous with die, though some had so understood. Rather, here sleep means state of unconsciousness of those who in death must wait for Christ's second coming to awaken them out of such sleep. [21] Russell showed how Paul clearly meant by his words that those alive on earth when Christ returned would not need to go into such sleep of death to wait for a future awakening, but at the instant of their death they then would be "changed" or resurrected immediately, to be with Christ in heaven as spirit persons. This harmonizes with Paul's words in this same chapter, verse 36: "That which thou sowest is not quickened, except it die."
But Barbour rejected this simple explanation of Paul's words, feeling that he had to "get up something new to divert attention from the failure of the living saints to be caught away en masse."
Soon afterward Barbour wrote and published in the Herald "that Christ's death was no more a settlement of the penalty of man's sins than would the sticking of a pin through the body of a fly and causing it suffering and death be considered by an earthly parent as a just settlement for misdemeanor in his child." That denial by Barbour of the basic Bible doctrine of the ransom value of Jesus' sacrifice came as a real shock to Russell.
Russell, who now had been regularly contributing to the Herald, immediately wrote and published a powerful defense of the ransom. Then, in the same journal, Barbour and a few supporters continued attacking the ransom doctrine while Russell and others kept on upholding it. Herald readers were confused; it also greatly disturbed Russell. To him the ransom was the keystone, the great foundation of human hope. To attack it was to shake the basis of God's provision for reconciling sinful man to himself.
However, Russell soon realized that continued wrangling would not settle the problem. He determined, therefore, to withdraw his support from the Herald, to which he himself had given new life in order to preach the good tidings of the harvest work. But just to withdraw, he saw, would not be sufficient. The ransom must be defended and the work of proclaiming our Lord's return must be continued. In July, 1879, the first issue of Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence was published by C. T. Russell.
In 1884 the nonprofit, charitable corporation was chartered that now is known as Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. It has served as the legal and business agent of Jehovah's witnesses ever since.
From these small beginnings a tremendous growth has resulted. The message contained in The Watchtower has never halted. From a first distribution of six thousand copies its circulation had grown by 1957 to more than three million copies in forty-six languages. Its message of comfort and hope has assisted an ever-growing host of supporters to change over their thinking and to make straight paths for their feet. [22] By 1957 the number of persons actively engaged in preaching this good news of Jehovah's kingdom had expanded to well over six hundred and fifty thousand.
WHAT BIBLE STUDY REVEALED
Now the issue begun in Eden is to be settled for all time. The good news being preached holds out a prospect of endless life in a world of God's making. You can be sure the way of life begun by God in Eden is not to be lost to mankind. The disobedient act of Adam and Eve has not altered God's purpose. What the first pair did in wrongfully eating of the tree was a little thing, a small happening; but it changed the history of the world. Their yielding to their own personal preference lost for themselves and for their offspring the widest range of individual freedom. It was a corrupting of their minds.23 Do you think if we persist in their way that it will bring us closer to God? Truth is more important than individuals. It is not a matter of adopting "the religion of your own choice." That is what Adam and Eve did. It is a matter of finding and holding to the one true religion that is God's choice for us.
"Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:... he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death." [24] CHAPTER 3
"GOD'S WORD IS A FIRE"
No doubt you have heard some religious observers of Jehovah's witnesses deplore the lack of zeal in their own organizations. They say that if their workers would go from house to house as Jehovah's witnesses do much could be done to stimulate interest in their own way of life.
But is a doorbell-ringing campaign enough to inspire faith? A man is only as strong physically as the food he eats. Spiritually, then, what gives Jehovah's witnesses the vigor that sends them out to the homes of strangers? Obviously it is their spiritual diet, the same food that invigorates those whom they serve to join them in active worship.
Throughout the centuries Jehovah's witnesses have been impelled by the same active force of God. That which moves them is the message they bear. If their belief were not of sufficient vitality to make them speak, how could it possibly stimulate others to respond? However, the apostle Paul pointed out: [1] "I planted, Apollos watered, but God kept making it grow." This is the growth to which Jehovah's witnesses accredit their increase.
THE IDENTIFYING TAG
Shortly after publication in 1886 of C. T. Russell's first Millennial Dawn volume, The Plan of the Ages, a convention had been arranged for Allegheny, Pennsylvania, on the occasion of the annual Memorial celebration of Christ's death. In those early days at our conventions it was customary to have a meeting at which different ones present would rise and give what we called a testimony. On this particular occasion Russell himself had charge of the meeting and was encouraging new ones from other cities present to join in the expressions. He was getting a ready enough response from some of the regular attenders but none of the visiting friends were inclined to volunteer, and yet there were a number of new ones present.
After the meeting had been in progress for some time an elderly man poked his head in the doorway at the rear of the hall, looked around, then straightened up and walked in. Although there were still a few seats at the rear, he struck out for the front row and that's where he sat down. Russell looked at him. He bore unmistakable marks of a traveler who had come from some distance. His clothes were quite dusty and with him he had a small package of personal belongings that he deposited carefully under his seat. For a while he sat quietly, listening to the various testimonies. Then finally he got up.
The chairman wondered, "Now what is he going to say?" But having called for comments from visitors, he thought, "Well, this is the Lord's meeting, so we'll give him a chance." He did not have long to wait.
"Well, I'm here!" the stranger began. That brought a laugh. The fact was obvious; but the old fellow wanted everyone to realize he was glad to be there.
"Now I'm not going to say much," he continued, "but I just arrived in town. I came down from New England and I had to change trains up the road here a piece. I had about an hour, so I thought I'd hand out a few tracts to the people on the platform. I noticed some men standing around a platform truck and they were all laughing; so I walked over to them.
"What's all the excitement?' I asked.
"They pointed to a goat in a crate on the truck.
"What's wrong with the goat?"
"Nothing. They just don't know where to send him, that's all.'
"Well, doesn't he have a tag on him?'
"He had a tag when he started out; but he got hungry and ate it up. Now they don't know what to do with him.'
"Now, folks," the old fellow continued to the audience, "my name's George M. Kellogg. I'm a deacon in the Presbyterian Church and now I'm like that goat. I got a copy of this book and read it (here he drew out of his pocket a copy of The Plan of the Ages, holding it up), and I'm like that goat. At one time I had a tag but I ate it up and now I don't know where I belong; so I came here because I want to find out."
That was all it took to get them started. Stirred by Kellogg's remarks many of the visitors stood up as opportunity afforded and said they were in the same position. They were Methodists, Baptists and Presbyterians, but their tags were gone too and they would like to know where they belonged. Before the convention was over they all found out and Kellogg, for one, lived for a number of years as a faithful minister in Jehovah's service.
EARLY BACKGROUND
Like Charles Russell, my own association with the work began in my youth, as I've already mentioned. I, too, was seeking a way to serve God in an acceptable manner, and, though my first acquaintance with the doctrines and work of Jehovah's witnesses brought me much joy, it required a real change-over in my thinking.
I was born July 2, 1877, in Canada. Both my parents were strict Presbyterians and active church members. However, I was brought up in a Catholic community in Nova Scotia where there was no Protestant church, just a Catholic church. We did have a hall in town where we had Sunday school and prayer meetings, and that was the extent of our religious activities. It was three or four miles out to the regular Presbyterian church, and when we attended church that is where we would go. As a youngster I did not study much about things of the Bible but I had a reverential attitude toward church matters. I accepted what my father and mother told me as true.
My oldest brother was a skeptic and finally shocked us boys greatly by admitting privately he was an agnostic. He said: "If there is a God then he's something different from what the Calvinists say he is. I don't believe what they teach about predestination. If God assigned some humans to eternal torment and others to heavenly glory before they were born, where is there any justice? Then they tell us those in heaven sing God's praises and that's why he takes them there—because he enjoys that. But they also say those in hell-fire are there because it's God's pleasure. All I can say is he must enjoy the groans of those suffering in hell more than he enjoys the singing of those in heaven because he is taking only a little flock to heaven but they claim he has sent billions to hell. I can't believe in such a God." That horrified me.
A FAMILY TRAGEDY
I never became active about my religion until a real tragedy occurred in our family. One winter when I was about thirteen my younger sister and I were out on a Saturday with our hand sleds, coasting. We got overheated. The next morning my little sister came down with diphtheria. They called it membranous croup.
Monday evening she was dead.
This came as a great shock to me. I said, "Life is short and uncertain. If what we do here has any bearing on what we will be hereafter, then we would be very foolish if we didn't devote our time to serving the Lord now with the hope of having something better throughout eternity. As for me, I'm going to take my stand and do what I think will be pleasing to the Lord."
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