Transcripts: Enjoy Life Forever!

Transcript: Rediscovering Bible Truth
[In the mid-1800’s, a port bustles with people. A couple smile as they hold their belongings and walk away from the dock]
Presenter: It was in 1845 that Joseph and Ann Eliza Russell emigrated from Ireland to Pennsylvania, U.S.A. They would have five children, among them Charles Taze. But times were hard. His brother Thomas died at age five.
[A photo of the two young brothers]
Before Charles turned nine, two more of his siblings died.
[On a dreary, stormy day young Russell weeps over a grave, then glares up at the sky as he continues to sob]
Then his mother died.
Father: It’s OK, Son. Everything is going to be all right.
[His father leans down and puts his arm around him consolingly. The large tombstone is set by three smaller tombstones. Rifles point and fire]
Presenter: That same year, 1861, the United States became embroiled in a civil war that would send 618,000 to their graves.
[Black and white photos of dead soldiers]
Thousands perished on battlefields not far from where the Russell’s lived and worked.
[By a long dirt road in the country, several dead soldiers lie next to a wooden fence. Another photo shows countless bodies spread across a large field. David H. Splane. Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses]
David: They would be able to see first-hand the havoc that war wreaks on people —the suffering, the death.
Presenter: Young Charles Russell thought often about what happens to the dead. Most religions held that God created man immortal and that He made a fiery hell in which to torment people forever, except for those predestined for salvation.
[Russell now a young man]
Russell’s feelings about such teachings came through in what he wrote.
[Sits outside and writes in a journal]
A God that would use his power to create human beings whom he foreknew and predestinated should be eternally tormented, could be neither wise, just, nor loving. His standard would be lower than that of many men.
David: He could never reconcile the teaching of eternal torment with the description in the Bible of a loving God. As he examined the creeds of the great churches, when he saw that they taught that the wicked are tormented eternally, why, he just could not accept that!
[Geoffrey W. Jackson. Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses]
Geoffrey: The whole culture, the religious culture, at that time was a matter of believing that God was a God of vengeance.
[John Wischuk. Brooklyn Bethel]
John: And Russell knew that the Bible said, as it does at 1 John 4:8: God is love. How could a God of love do this? And so, his faith wavered. He felt that he could do the most good for people through business and philanthropy. As a preteen, he became his father’s partner in a growing chain of clothing stores. Charles Russell enlarged the business, eventually operating a number of stores by himself.
Charles Russell: Here’s your change. Thank you for coming.
John: By age 25, he possessed over three hundred thousand dollars, the equivalent of seven million dollars today.
[At night in his store, Russell puts away money and jots notes. He sighs and lifts a lantern off the desk and exiting the store]
Yet, his search for truth continued. In 1869, something happened that would help re-establish his faith.
[With lantern in hand, he strolls through the town and slows to a halt, looking all around, eye searching. He walks down a dark staircase light emerging from a room at the bottom]
Charles: Seemingly by accident, one evening, I dropped into a dusty, dingy hall to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches.
[He slowly enters and sits next to a man who shares his Bible]
Preacher: Let us take note of the words of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus himself, to the apostles
Charles: There, for the first time, I heard something of the views of Second Adventists from the preacher Mr. Jonas Wendell.
Preacher: And he said unto them, . . .
Charles: Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, it was sufficient, under God, to re-establish my wavering faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible.
[He nods in approval]
David: Now, remember at this point, Russell is not an atheist; he’s just discouraged. He doesn’t feel the truth can be found anywhere. And that sermon by a Second Adventist was enough to get him to take his well-worn Bible off the shelf and to start digging again.
Charles: As we’ve already seen, the word Trinity doesn’t appear anywhere in the Bible.
Presenter: Fired with enthusiasm, Charles; his father, Joseph; and a few acquaintances in Pittsburgh and Allegheny formed a class for Bible study.
David: They would take a subject. They would get a Bible concordance. They would look up every single scripture that had a bearing on the subject. And then they would write down their conclusions. And then they would say: ‘All right. This is what the Bible teaches. We are going to believe this.’
Charles: Yes, and God’s Word is clear.
Presenter: After five years of study, the religious thinking of these men had undergone remarkable change. Christ’s return will mean great blessings . . . Their study of the Bible led them to major conclusions that challenged the prevailing religious views of the day.
[From a pulpit, a preacher lectures and shakes his finger]
Presenter: For example, while most religions taught that man has a soul, Russell and his associates concluded that man is a soul and that the soul can die.
[Text: Genesis 2:7]
And, whereas Christendom’s churches teach that the Father, the Son, and the holy ghost are one person, these students held that Jehovah is one God and not part of a Trinity.
[Text: John 14:28; 1 Corinthians 11:3]
In addition, while some churches were teaching that Christ would return in the flesh and that the earth would be destroyed, this small group came to understand that Christ would return invisibly, in the spirit, with the purpose of blessing obedient mankind.
[Text: Matthew 24:37; Acts 1:11; Galatians 3:8]
Geoffrey: So it wasn’t just philosophizing, just talking about ‘what if’ or ‘perhaps this way,’ but they were focused on actually trying to find the truth. And the fact that they decided to write down those conclusions showed that they had a belief that there is some truth to be found.
David: We see light only when it’s Jehovah’s time to reveal light. And so, this was the beginning of Jehovah’s time to lead his people out of darkness into the wonderful light.
(Logo: Black capital letters JW.ORG inside a white box. Copyright 2010 Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania)