Finished with "The Finished Mystery"

Well folks, having finished the studying of Russell's six volumes of Millennial Dawn (Studies in the Scriptures), I took on the daunting read of the 1917 book "The Finished Mystery." Actually I am only half done, as the first half covers Revelation, and the second half, Ezekiel. Here is my concise summation. :oops: The punchline of the Revelation section was worth the tortuous read. It was the first time the book made me laugh out loud. And again I laughed as I related it to my wife. Here we go:

The nature of this book calls into question the entire premise that Christ came for inspection during the years just leading up to 1919, and then approved the leaders of the Watchtower movement as "the faithful and discreet slave." This "appointment" premise is current "truth" as put forth by the organization.

What were these leaders "feeding" the "household of faith" during those few years after Russell's death? What would Jesus have seen if he was indeed inspecting? Well, there was the Watch Tower Magazine, and just one new book, the 1917 "The Finished Mystery." (And the previous 6 Volumes in print.)

What do we find in "The Finished Mystery"? Well, in my opinion, they managed to turn almost every verse in the Book of Revelation into unrecognizable gibberish.

We start out at Revelation 1:1 with the revelation that "his angel" is none other than C.T. Russell. (It goes downhill from here.)😖

Revelation 8:5 "and the angel took the censer" "the angel" = "THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY" and "the censer" = "The Seventh Volume of Studies in the Scriptures, Divinely provided."

Revelation 14:20 "the blood" "as high as the bridles of the horses" the depth of "1,600 stadia" was the distance from Scranton PA where the two writers of the Seventh Volume lived, to Brooklyn Bethel.

Revelation 18:1 "the earth was lighted up with his glory", This was all the new bright inventions of mankind, listed in alphabetical order: "adding machines, aeroplanes, aluminum, etc. etc."

Revelation 19:15 "the ANGER of Almighty God" (at Armageddon) "The Lord assumes an interest in, and responsibility for the complete series of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, the last one of which especially represents the winepress feature. (Rev. 14:18-20)"

Well, you get the idea. But the end of the discussion of the Book of Revelation, contains this ironic gem:

Revelation 22:18 "if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." = "His penalty will be, when he comes forth from the tomb in the Times of Restitution, that he will have to read the Seven Volumes of SCRIPTURE STUDIES, and get the matter straightened out in his own mind."

(And I thought Russell and company did not ascribe to eternal torment.) :ROFLMAO:
 

White Stone

Well-known member
Well folks, having finished the studying of Russell's six volumes of Millennial Dawn (Studies in the Scriptures), I took on the daunting read of the 1917 book "The Finished Mystery." Actually I am only half done, as the first half covers Revelation, and the second half, Ezekiel. Here is my concise summation. :oops: The punchline of the Revelation section was worth the tortuous read. It was the first time the book made me laugh out loud. And again I laughed as I related it to my wife. Here we go:

The nature of this book calls into question the entire premise that Christ came for inspection during the years just leading up to 1919, and then approved the leaders of the Watchtower movement as "the faithful and discreet slave." This "appointment" premise is current "truth" as put forth by the organization.

What were these leaders "feeding" the "household of faith" during those few years after Russell's death? What would Jesus have seen if he was indeed inspecting? Well, there was the Watch Tower Magazine, and just one new book, the 1917 "The Finished Mystery." (And the previous 6 Volumes in print.)

What do we find in "The Finished Mystery"? Well, in my opinion, they managed to turn almost every verse in the Book of Revelation into unrecognizable gibberish.

We start out at Revelation 1:1 with the revelation that "his angel" is none other than C.T. Russell. (It goes downhill from here.)😖

Revelation 8:5 "and the angel took the censer" "the angel" = "THE WATCHTOWER SOCIETY" and "the censer" = "The Seventh Volume of Studies in the Scriptures, Divinely provided."

Revelation 14:20 "the blood" "as high as the bridles of the horses" the depth of "1,600 stadia" was the distance from Scranton PA where the two writers of the Seventh Volume lived, to Brooklyn Bethel.

Revelation 18:1 "the earth was lighted up with his glory", This was all the new bright inventions of mankind, listed in alphabetical order: "adding machines, aeroplanes, aluminum, etc. etc."

Revelation 19:15 "the ANGER of Almighty God" (at Armageddon) "The Lord assumes an interest in, and responsibility for the complete series of STUDIES IN THE SCRIPTURES, the last one of which especially represents the winepress feature. (Rev. 14:18-20)"

Well, you get the idea. But the end of the discussion of the Book of Revelation, contains this ironic gem:

Revelation 22:18 "if any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book." = "His penalty will be, when he comes forth from the tomb in the Times of Restitution, that he will have to read the Seven Volumes of SCRIPTURE STUDIES, and get the matter straightened out in his own mind."

(And I thought Russell and company did not ascribe to eternal torment.) :ROFLMAO:
I tried also reading it so I can imagine the Bible’s Students perspective back then. At first as reading the introduction or foreword, it encouraged me. But as I start reading the commentary on Revelation to chapter 13 , I have this feeling of like sea sickness, like I was to vomit what I was reading. Clearly, Rutherford used this published “The Finished Mystery” to make have power for himself, to take over the authority in the congregation back then. And it was so, many have followed Rutherford when he disassociated the watchtower with the International Bible Students Association.
 
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