The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1914-06-27
CREATION PICTURES.
To the Editor of The State.

IL,
Surely in vain the net is spread in
the sight Of any bird" In order to
snare any bird the net must be placed
and covered very cunningly. Evil
IDENTITY Pastor Russell Of Brooklyn,
y. Y. knows full we'll the meaning
of this text. His photo drama of
Creation" which is now being exhibit
ed in this city in the Columbia thea
tire. is SO artfully devised that it is
likely to deceive even some of the
most wary. Look at the advertise
ments in the windows and read that
expression, Under auspices of Inter-
national Bible Students association"
At first glance one would naturally
think that the churches are back of
this movement. AS a matter of fact
the churches of this country have
probably no more bitter enemy this
side Of the pit than this association
which is really nothing more than
Russell and his friends.
While much Of this photo drama is
biblical, interesting and dignified,
some Of the pictures are cheap. gro
tesque and some hardly decent. The
poison lies chiefly in the lessons which
the pictures as whole are trying
to teach. This photo-drama is illus-
tratively teaching the many danger
Gus doctrines Of Russelrs pet scheme
|-"Millennial Dawnism." These are
too numerous to discuss in this brief
article, but among other things he
teaches: That the millennium will be-
gin this year; that all the wicked and
impenitent dead will be brought back
and given second chance; that those
who finally reject Christ will be an
initiated; that hell is painless and
really not to be feared One of his
pictures Of hell is tagged TRADITIONAL
theology"
One deliberate perversion Of Bible
truth ought to condemn Russell as
much as twenty. Therefore think of
his setting the dNte Of the millennium
for 1914, when Christ declared that
even the angels in heaven do not
know that day or hour!
too ludicrous to hurt many of the
people, but it places old Pastor Rus
sell in the light as a great public
beenfactor and may pave the way for
Russelrs agents to sell thousands Of
his develsh books. The great pity is
that thousands Of good people are
going to be misled by this benevolent
looking old fraud.
w. T.. Ellis said, after interviewing
Russell, Il went to see prophet and
found a business man." Mr.. Ellis also
makes note Of the fact that Russell
places his Scripture Studies" above
the Bible for spiritual improvement.
saying that IF any one lays the
Scripture Studies aside, even after he
has used them, after he has become
familiar with them, after he has
read them ten years-if he then lays
them aside and ignores them and
goes to the Bible alone. though he
has understood his Bible for ten
years. our experience shows that
within two years he goes into dark
ness" That statement puts Russelrs
wisdom considerably ahead of the
Bible, and if people should be so sim
pie as to believe it the Scripture
Studies" would eventually outsell the
Word Of God.
Jesus said, "By their fruits We shall
know them" Let us take that yard
stick and see what Russelrs religion
has done for him. 1t hasn't made
him truthful. He poses as a student
Of languages giving the most ,ac-
curate renderings Of Greek and
Hebrew, and yet when in court in
1913 (according to "Facts and More
Facts About Pastor Russell by Rev.
j. j. ROss), he couldn't read even
the Greek alphabet. He admitted
also that he knew nothing Of Latin
or Hebrew. The Brooklyn Eagle eX
posed Russell for selling what he call
ed miracle wheat" at about $50 a
bushel. He sued The Eagle for $780,
600 in the civil court Of New York.
The court gave judgment against Rus
sell, thus justifying The Eagle for
exposing him. Another sad thing is
that RuSSells religion hasn't made
n neral man Of him. His wife d.
vOrccd him on the ground OF cruelty
and also of having wrong relations
with other women.
To make long story short, Pastor
Russell is u bad egg and his photo
drama reminds me of a pOacher with
big bi I trap trying to catch tn"
unwary q innocent. Ii seems n
pity TO lc his crafty scheme get 10y