The International Bible Students' Association has been in existence for some thirty years, is chartered in both England and America, and is composed of Bible students all over the world, and whether you stepped into a Bible class in San Francisco, Portland, Brooklyn, New York, Toronto, Canada, Nova Scotia, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, or wherever you find them they would be of one mind and spirit because they are drawing their inspiration from the word of God, yet the Ministerial association of Warrensburg, Mo., charges the International Bible Students' Association with not being an accredited Christian association. Pastor Russell takes up and answers the following objections made by Professor Morehead, and cited by the ministers of Warrensburg, in a lecture before a convention of students in that city recently:
We will now consider these propositions which Mr. Morehead thinks are false doctrines as taught in Millennial Dawn:
First So-called false doctrines of Millennial Dawn.
"Christ before His advent was not divine."
Well, now, let me say first of all that the object of the professor stating this was not to make known such truths because if he wished to make them known he would have said, "Get the books and find out." On the contrary, his object was simply to prejudice the people so they would not get the books. That is an old trick. So the statement is put in such a form as to make it questionable.
But now, what do the Scriptures say? It is not what Professor Morehead says, for we are not ready to take him instead of God, or the Lord Jesus, or the apostles. What say the Scriptures? If I was to take up this one subject alone, of the pre-existence of our Lord Jesus Christ it would take more than an hour. The other questions would be here still unanswered. So I must divide up between these and give a little on each subject, but remember that all of these are treated in the six volumes of Millennial Dawn or studies in the Scriptures, and are so treated that Professor Morehead cannot answer them because they are thoroughly scriptural, and he does not want the people to read, because they are scriptural, and they would be converted if they did read.
What does St. Paul say? You know Professor Morehead's theory and the one we had something that we never understood, and something that they never understood the doctrine of the trinity. We had two ways of stating it; one says, it is three Gods in one person, God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. They must say one person because the Bible says there is one living and true God, therefore they must get the one in somewhere. The others had to make that fit so they turned it over, and the more they think of it that three times one is three they say that does not sound right. Three is one God in three persons. Now tell us what you do mean, and if they are honest they will say we don't know what they mean. I used to be with them and I knew that I did not know, and that they did not know.
Prof. Morehead would not think of discussing the proposition with me, he would have no foundation on which to set up his theory.
The scriptures say that there is one God (not three Gods); that was the great point God made in telling the Israelites all through the Old Testament, "Hear O Israel, the Lord thy God is one Jehovah" that is the way it reads. Did he say the Lord thy God is three? No. Well, how about the New Testament, does it contradict that? No, indeed. The Apostle Paul says to us (not to trinitarians nor to Brother Morehead but to all Christians who take the Bible,) "To us there is one living and true God, the Father" that is to us. Then what more? "And there is one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." That is but two. One and one equals two one God the Father, and one Lord Jesus Christ. Then he proceeds to say, "One God, the Father of whom are all things, and one Lord Jesus Christ by whom are all things, and we by Him." That is the Bible. Is there any statement of the trinity in the Bible? Not a word; it does not occur in the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. Not a word about it.
Brother Russell, you must be mistaken we have several trinity churches'you may have one in Warrensburg.
But there is nothing like it in the Bible. Did Jesus say He was His own Father? Did He say He was His own Son? How could He be His own Father and His own Son, both at the same time and in the same person? It is absurd. It is strange that we did not use any of our brain power in the past. We did not study our Bible at all. There was some excuse for some people in the past who had to work fourteen to eighteen hours a day for their bread, but there is no excuse now. In the past they had no Bibles except those written upon parchment which cost a fortune; now you can get a good complete Bible for 23 cents. There was an excuse in the days of Abraham Lincoln, for then a person could not read by Mr. Rockefeller's oil, nor by gas light or electricity, but only by tallow candles and pine knots. There was some excuse then, but none now. So, when we come to see what the Bible says, it tells us not a word about three Gods being one God nor one God being three. It does tell us that there is one God and one Lord Jesus. It also tells us that there is one Holy Spirit, the spirit of the Father and of the Son, and of all who are in harmony with the Lord. It is called by different names: "The Spirit of God," "the Spirit of Christ," "the Spirit of Holiness," "the Spirit of Truth," "the Spirit of Sound Mind," "the Spirit of Liberty," "the Spirit of the Father," "the Holy Spirit of Promise," "the Spirit of Meekness," "the Spirit of Understanding," "the Spirit of Wisdom," "the Spirit of Glory," "the Spirit of Counsel," "the Spirit of Faith," "the Spirit of Adoption," "the Spirit of Prophecy." [HGL575]
These various titles repeated many times and used interchangeably, give us the full proper assurance that they all relate to the same Holy Spirit indeed frequently the word "Holy" is added in, combined, as for instance, "The Holy Spirit of God," "the Holy Spirit of Promise," etc. We must seek an understanding of the subject which will reject none of these appellations, but harmonize them all. It is impossible to harmonize these various statements with the ordinary idea of God; but it is entirely consistent with every one of them to understand these various expressions as descriptive of the spirit, the disposition and power of God, our Father; and also the spirit, disposition and power of our Lord Jesus Christ, because He is at one with the Father; and also to a certain extent it is the spirit or disposition of all who are truly the Lord's angels or men in proportion as they have come into oneness, or harmony with Him. All of these names are proper names, and we are exhorted to be filled with the spirit, not filled with a certain person, which is a mistaken idea.
Now what does the Bible state about our Lord Jesus Christ? What was He before He came into the world? Unless Warrensburg and Pertle Springs are different from the majority of cities in this country and Europe, in all probability at least one-third of the ministers do not believe that Jesus had any pre-existence at all. I said one-third, but I really believe that two-thirds do not believe that Jesus had any pre-existence. They believe that He began when He was born the babe at Bethlehem, and the majority tell us that they believe He was born a sinner the same as others. I do not say that is true here in Warrensburg, but two-thirds of our ministers are higher critics and do not believe in Jesus and do not believe that He ever was divine. Yet, in this day when two-thirds do not believe that Jesus was divine, I am pointed out as a heretic and these two-thirds who do not believe in God's word are the gentlemen of the hour.
Let me quote from the first chapter of John's gospel. I will give the exact translation. It should read this way, "In the beginning was the Logos." Let me explain that this is the picture God gives here through John. In the beginning was the Logos, the name of Jesus before He became flesh. We do not know how far back. He was the beginning of God's creation.
Do you mean to say that God created Him? Yes, I am only quoting the Bible. It says He was the beginning of the creation of God, the first-born is the Alpha and Omega, the first and last. God made just one being and never made any more, because all subsequent creations were operated through divine power, working through Jesus in his pre-human condition as the Logos. "The Logos was with the God and the Logos was a god." Mark the difference between a god and the God. A god means a mighty one, any person. The God means the mighty one Jehovah. The mighty one would be higher than a mighty one.
All through the Old Testament the meaning of the word Elohim is the "Almighty One." Logos means mighty not almighty. The angels are mighty ones, because they have great power. On one occasion the seventy elders of Moses are spoken of as Elohims mighty ones, to be the special ones in the nation of Israel, but anything these mighty ones could not judge they were to bring to Moses.
Now coming back to John's statement, "The Logos was with the God, and the Logos was a god, and the Logos was in the beginning with the God. All things were made by Him and without Him was not anything made that was made."
There you have the story from the Bible standpoint: it tells us that the Lord Jesus did not begin His existence as the babe of Bethlehem, and evidently He knew that all of the world and all things that were made were made by Him, and that He Himself was the beginning of Jehovah's creation, and that Jehovah acted through Him that in all things He might have the pre-eminence over all things in the whole universe. That is the Bible statement, my dear friends. We stand by the Bible and it is right. No other proposition is reasonable.
Ask Jesus whether He was the Father or not: Jesus said, "I and My Father are one."
Brother Russell, I thought you said They were not? No my brother, you and I are one. Read that prayer of our Lord's in the 17th chapter of John: "I pray for these that they may all be one even as you and I are one." We are to be one in the same sense. Are we one in person? No. Neither are the Father and the Son. You see the point, my dear friends it. Is very clear when you take the Bible for it.
Ask Jesus again: "I came not to do my own will, but the will of the Father which sent me." Again: "Of Mine Own self I can do nothing." There was no disloyalty on the part of Jesus. He never said He was the Father. When He came in His dying hour He cried, "My God, My God, why hast Thou forsaken Me?" Was He telling a falsehood, was he the Father Himself, and merely pretending that He was dying? That is the theory of the trinitarian when it is boiled down that He was the Father, and could not die because the world could not do without a God for three days, therefore when Jesus died on the cross it was merely a pretense He slipped out of the body and said, let the people think I am dying. They say that He could not die, but merely that he let that old body die that is the theory. But what does the Bible say? Does it say that the body was to die for our sins? No the Bible says that his soul was to die, for it is our soul that was to die for sin, and in order to be our Redeemer, His soul must die. So we read: "He poured out His soul. He made His soul an offering for sin." We will see the fruitage of it by and by. But His soul did travail, and it did die. And it was His soul that was raised up from the dead. Mark you what Saint Peter said. Go to the Bible, dear friends, don't go to the creeds. Saint Peter says in the second chapter of Acts, when telling the people about the resurrection of Jesus. "This is that which was spoken of the by Prophet David, saying, thou will not leave my soul in hell-" hades. Saint Peter then went on to say that David was a prophet and that so far as David was concerned his soul did stay there, and his sepulchre is with us until this day, but he being a prophet spoke of Christ's [HGL576] soul that it was not left in hades, that God raised Him from the dead. So you see it was the soul of Jesus that died, and which God raised from the dead. Take the Bible and we will not get mixed up.
So, then we do agree that Jesus was not divine before He came into the world for if He had been He could not have died because of the peculiar character of the divine nature, which cannot die for it is immortal. If Jesus had been divine He could not have died. Thank God, for He must die for our sins; that was the price.
How was He raised from the dead? The Bible tells us that God raised Him from the dead by His own power but not to be a human being again. He was raised to be a spirit being higher than He was before. God made man a little lower than the angels, which means that angels are higher than men, and if Jesus was raised from the dead a man, He was raised a little lower than the angels, and that would not be a suitable reward. That is what our friends believe, however; that is what our Methodist friends believe, that He has that very body in Heaven. Our Methodist friends have it most particularly stated there; they say, "Christ did surely rise again from the dead, and took again His body, with all things appertaining to the perfections of man's nature, wherewith He ascended into Heaven, and there sitteth until He return to judge all men at the last day." (Article 3 of the Methodist Articles of Religion.) That is very funny; it sounds as though the body was a sort of luggage, or trunk, and that all things appertaining thereto were the straps, etc. I think if our Methodist friends try that over again they can improve on it.
The thought of the Bible is that God allowed His Son to become a man for the very purpose of redeeming man.
He did not get into a human body and masquerade around. No, "He who was rich for our sakes became poor." He did not deceive the people by getting into a body. The Bible says; "He was made flesh and dwelt among men."
Now then Jesus the man was there for the very purpose of rescuing the world, and the Bible says: "A body hast thou prepared for me," for the very purpose of suffering death. And when He had died, He had made the use of that body which God intended and had no further use for that human nature, as God had promised that He would highly exalt Him. Would not that be reasonable? Do you suppose if Jesus was higher than the angels in the Heavenly Father's estimation and love, and it pleased the Heavenly Father for Him to leave the heavenly glory on a spiritual plane and become poor in order to carry out the Heavenly Father's will, that the Father would condemn Him to stay in that condition through all eternity? Indeed not. The Bible tells us that nothing of that kind occurred. It tells us that Jesus took the human nature and that when God raised Him from the dead God raised Him a spiritual being. He was put to death in the flesh and quickened or made alive in the spirit.
Second, so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn.
"When He was in the world He was not divine."
No, my friends, when in the world He was a human being. The Bible is reasonable whether Brother Morehead is or not.
Third, so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn.
"His atonement was exclusively human a mere man's."
Yes, it was, because an angel could not die for a man, nor a bullock be worthy a man, but only for man. No one could be a savior unless he was a man, a perfect man, as we read in 1 Tim. 2:5-6: "There is one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all." That is the way Saint Paul states it: "The man Christ Jesus." But now when Prof. Morehead puts it "mere man," he is intending to try to cause a misrepresentation. What does it mean to your mind? The thought is, "just like other men." That is not true and if Prof. Morehead reads the books, he knows that it is not true that we claim Jesus was a mere man, imperfect. We show from the Bible, "For such an high priest became us, who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the Heavens." (Heb. 7:26) He was not an imperfect savior but the man anointed of God, the man Christ Jesus, the perfect one.
Fourth, so-called false doctrine of Millenial Dawn.
"Since His Resurrection He is divine only no longer human at all."
Certainly He is divine only. How could He be both human and divine? People write and talk as though they did not have any thinking apparatus at all. He must be either one thing or the other. You cannot be a cat and a dog both. You could not be a river and an ocean at the same time, neither a man and a being of the divine nature at the same time.
Fifth, so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn.
"His body was not raised from the dead."
No, we answer, there is a great mistake in nearly all of our creeds. You will read in the so-called Apostles' creed, which was not written by the apostle, which all scholars know, but the laity do not. It declares, "I believe in the resurrection of the body." There is nothing about the resurrection of the body in the Bible; it says the body shall return to the dust, as it was, and that God will give it the soul a body, to each kind its own kind of body those in the human family a human body, but those of the church will get a spiritual body; they will have a change of nature, for they must all be begotten of the spirit and will be spirit beings, and have spirt bodies like unto Christ's glorious body. We quote Peter's statement that God raised His soul from sheol, not his body, but raised his soul on a higher plane, on the divine plane, instead of the human plane. The same personality which was the Logos, and became flesh, and was a human soul, is now resurrected and glorified and is a divine soul. The word soul is also used in the Bible in connection with the Heavenly Father.
Sixth, Seventh and eight so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn.
"His second advent took place in 1874." [HGL577] "Saints were raised up in 1878."
"Christ and the saints are now on earth, and have been for thirty-four and thirty-eight years, respectively."
There are some things of this kind, my dear friends, that would take more time to explain than is at our disposal, and in the time allotted to me. I will not be able to give a satisfactory reply as I would like to give.
To our understanding, however, the second coming of Christ will have two stages, and in the scriptures these stages are called the "parousia," and the "epiphania." Now the difference between these two words is not always apparent in the common English version, because both are rendered by the word "coming," but all scholars should know that in the Greek there is this distinction between these two words. The word "epiphania" signifies the shining forth, the manifestation, and when it is used it refers to the way Christ shall be manifested at His second advent. "He shall be revealed in flaming fire." That will be a revealing in flaming fire, not literal, but symbolical, but fire which will manifest His advent in a time of trouble, such a time of trouble as never before. This flaming fire of trouble in the day of the Lord will be the outward sign by which the world will know that Messiah has accepted His throne, that He has taken His power, and that His kingdom is about to be set up, and then, "Justice will be laid to the line, and righteousness to the plummet." All errors will be swept away and every imperfect thing that can be shaken will be shaken, and only the unshakable things will remain, as Saint Paul says in the 12th chapter of Hebrews.
That epiphania, dear friends, has not yet taken place. But, do we not see the labor trouble, do we not see the army trouble, etc., in Germany, in Great Britain, here and elsewhere? Everything is published abroad and nearly everybody who knowns anything about society today knows that the world is sitting close to the crater of a great volcano. We all know it whether we are Methodists, Presbyterians, or nobody.
Now, that time of trouble we belive will be in connection with the epiphania, at the time of the judgment of the world, or nations or systems. There is more or less injustice and iniquity in all our arrangements of society, political, financial, or ecclesiastical, and more or less that is right, and more or less that is wrong. When the time of trouble comes, the people will recognize it, and then the Scriptures say that they will be calling upon the rocks and mountains to fall upon them. That is not the real thought not crush them, as if a mountain fell upon them, they would not know much about it, but the thought is, cover us, protect us, because of this great day of wrath. These rocks of society are the Free Mason rocks, the Odd Fellow rocks, this insurance society and that insurance society, and the people want to get into these rocks to protect them in this time of trouble, and they want to be identified with the strong governments, such as the United States, for they want to be protected. If they go to Europe they want to say that they have their passports from United States or from Great Britain, etc. So they will say, those great mountains will be my protection. That is the way these things are used in the Bible. Here rock represents stone fortress. When the trouble breaks out they will begin to go into these things so that they may be shielded and protected, but the Scriptures say they will not be able, for it will be at a time of trouble that nothing will be able to deliver from.
But now about this word parousia. "It signifies presence" that is not manifest, not seen. Well, will Christ be present in such a manner, unseen and unknown. Yes, my dear brother, the Bible tells as very plainly that He will be present but not visible to anyone, and not exercising any power that the world can see, but he will be present and doing a work in His church, amongst His people.
In that sense He has been present for the last thirty-seven years. This statement as to the period of time is correct enough, but it is put in a form calculated to deceive people, because of the bluntness in the way it is stated. Do you remember what Jesus said He would do when He would come again? I will remind you. One of the things is that He will receive us, His faithful people, whether in the Presbyterian church, the Methodist, Episcopal, or Roman Catholic, or outside all of these churches whoever they are He will gather all of the elect, the saints, to Himself.
Then another thing will be that He will take His great power and rule the world with a rod of iron. That will be a His second coming. Before that takes place He does something else. To illustrate this our Lord gave, several parables. In one of these parables, of the wheat and the tares, He taught that He was sowing the good seed, and that later when men the apostles slept Satan came and sowed the seeds of error tares. The result of sowing the tare doctrines was a mixture of children of God and of the devil those who believed in the message of God and were begotten of the Holy Spirit and others who were deceived. He said let both grow together until the end of the world. That word "world" does not mean the earth, but in the Greek it means "age," the end of the age; for this earth is never to pass away. "God formed it not in vain, but He formed it to be inhabited." The whole earth, my dear friends, is eventually to be made like Paradise from pole to pole, from shore to shore, and the whole world will be God's footstool, and, "He will make the place of His feet glorious." He has not done this yet, but Messiah's Kingdom will do it. For a thousand years Christ and His church will reign for the blessing of mankind and the purifying of the earth, until it comes to a Paradisaic condition.
Take another parable. He gave this parable because many thought He was about to set up His kingdom. He said, "A certain young nobleman went into a far country to receive a kingdom and return." He here illustrates that while He was to be king of the world, He will not take the kingdom at His first advent, but go into a far country, heaven, there to be invested with authority, and then in due time come again. He said when this young nobleman returns, he will call his servants (not the world), to whom he gave talents, in one parable the pound, and in another [HGL578] parable the talent, saying, trade with these things, and make me as much out of them as you can. At His return He does not deal with the people in general, but calls His own servants, the church, and reckons with them, before He does anything with the world at all. This is done in the harvest time, during the parousia, before the open manifestation of the establishment of His kingdom. This has been going on for thirty-seven years, since 1874.
Ninth, so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn.
"The professing Christian church was rejected of God in 1878."
My dear friends, there is a statement in the Scriptures that at a certain time this will be true. Whether true now or not, the time is coming when the voice of the Bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more in her, in Babylon. That time will come, whether now or at a future time and we believe that those who are in harmony with God will not be in Babylon any longer. As their eyes open, we believe they will see that they are misrepresenting God while they are there, and if they do realize this they will know that the only terms on which they can remain will be that they should not tell God's word.
Tenth, so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn.
"The final consummation and end will take place in 1914."
We are expecting that in October, 1914, that a great change will be due. Now, how quickly will it come? Whether on the stroke of the clock or not we do not know. We believe that it will land upon humanity by that time. Perhaps some of it will come before that, but we believe it will be stayed off until that time. Now, dear friends, what if it does not? We are just as well off as the rest. That is what the Bible states. If it does not state that to you, we have no quarrel. And if it does not come we will not try to bring it about. But on contrary, we will try to practice peace and holiness withal. We are children of peace and peacemakers, not strife breeders. But we believe the Bible teaches October, 1914, as the time. If that is incorrect, for a year or five, or one hundred years, no matter, it is coming some time, whether we have it right or not.
"Eleventh, so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn."
"Silence as to the person and work of the Holy Spirit."
Not at all; if the brother will read he will find three or four chapters in the Millennial Dawn or Studies in the Scriptures bearing on it.
Twelfth, so-called false doctrine of Millennial Dawn.
"Teaches that Christ did not mean what He said regarding the destiny of the wicked."
This brother says I do not believe and teach what Christ said. What does the Bible say? Well the Bible says, "All the wicked God will destroy." Do I believe it? Yes. Does Brother Morehead believe it? No. He believes that all the wicked will God preserve in fire, with devils having tails, pitchforks, etc. The way the preachers go on to tell about it is laughable. One of them went on to tell about it as though he had been in hell and knew all about it. He went on to say that after a person had been in hell for some time the old skin became asbestofied, so to speak. After a while the skin cracks open, he says, and the flames go right in: it is awful. Well I should think if would be. When asked how any man could stand it centuries after centuries, they say God will inject or infuse life, so that he will keep them alive, so as to perpetrate an awful eternity of horror, and all except the saintly few will be roasted in that way. Think of it. Did we not have our heads pretty well meddled when we preached the same things? I believe God will forgive me for attributing such awful doctrines to Him.
I remind you what the great doctor of theology, Jonathan Edwards, said. In answer to a question as to whether we would not feel bad if we got into heaven and knew that our loved ones were in eternal torment, he said: "No, you will look over the battlements of heaven and perhaps see your parents or children writhing in the lake of fire and suffering untold agonies, and then turn around and clap your hands and praise God for His justice." Poor Jonathan did not have a very good idea of justice. I would not like to have him try a case in court for me. My dear friends, it is ridiculous. What did Jesus say? Jesus said, "He that believeth on the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son shall not see life." This means that He will not let them have life; they will not suffer in misery. So the Apostle says, This is the promise that He has promised us, that we might have life and this life is in His Son, and when He shall appear we shall appear also with Him in glory, in the first resurrection. But those who will not come into harmony with God shall not have eternal life; and I thank God for the wisdom and justice of His plan.
I presume Brother Morehead had special thought with respect to the 25th chapter of Matthew, because there we read in the 41st verse, "Depart from me, ye (speaking of the goats) cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels." What is meant by the everlasting fire? This everlasting fire is just as symbolical as the goats. Fire is a symbol of destruction, not preservation. Do you put anything into the fire to preserve it? Why not? Because it would burn up. So this is the picture God gives. "All the wicked will God destroy." In another place fire came down from Heaven and destroyed them all. It did not preserve any of them. So in this chapter Jesus pictured the two classes, and you cannot burn symbolical goats with literal fire. The goats are symbolical and so is the fire. The goats represent a wayward class, and the fire represents their destruction.
Saint Paul said, "They shall be punished with everlasting destruction." Did he say anything about their being punished with fire? No.
Peter said, "They shall perish like the natural brute beast." Do they roast them or torture them? No. Does he state that God will? No all the wicked will God destroy.
But then, there is another answer. The word punishment here used, in the Greek is "Kolasin," and it means pruning or cutting off from life, from the Lord and all hope of life. Before being cut off, however, they will be given every opportunity. That parable does not belong here in this age but this one, and the one about the sheep and the goats both belong to the next age, during the thousand years of Messiah's reign, when the whole world of mankind will be before the great Millennial throne of the great Judgment day, and all the sheep will be at the right hand of favor, and the goats at the left hand of this favor for the thousand years, [HGL579] and at the close the sheep will be received into favor with God, but the goat class will be cut off in the second death. The first death was the penalty for sin. Love sent Christ to redeem the world from the first penalty, but Christ will not die for those who go into the second death, and there will be no hope or redemption for them.