 |
A
SHORT HISTORY
At
the beginning of the 18th Century the
Great Awakening spread over Europe and
America . The churches had become coldly
and lifeless like their stone cathedrals,
but many of their members woke up and
began to occupy with religious topics.
Everywhere small house circles or private
bible study groups were created, in order
to study the word of God personally.
In the late 18th and early 19th Century
a world-wide revival of the interest in
Christ's Advent occurred. Through their
study of bible prophecy many Christians
were convinced of the near by Coming of
Christ.
|
|
|
|
William Miller
|
|
1782 - 1849
|
|
Around 1840 there was an awakening in the
USA, which became known as "The Advent Awakening"
, because the consciousness of Christs near
by coming arouse again. One of them was
the American Baptist preacher William Miller
who expected Christ's Second Coming for
the year 1844. Many members of most diverse
church communities followed his movement.
The message of the near end - Christ's Advent
- was spread by itinerant preachers and
later also from individual believers who
preached from town to town and from house
to house using tracts and magazines.
|
|
|
The more near the forecast time of the end
came, the more largely the tension became
between the established churches and the
supporters of Miller. The churches dissociated
themselves more and more from the "Millerites".
These in contrary designated the churches
as "Babylon". This newly founded group got
acquainted under the name "Millerites".
The year 1844 came and passed. As the event
of Christs Advent was missing, many followers
were disappointed and many of them were
mocked and turned away from the movement.
The whole movement began itself to splinter.
|
|
|
|
George Stetson
|
|
1814 - 1879
|
|
After
this large disappointment of 1844 however
some groups of "Millerites" still held to
the imminent Coming of the Lord Christ Jesus.
One of these groups was the circle around
George Stetson and George Storr. This community
called itself " Second Adventists".
It was around the year 1869, at age eighteen,
as Charles Taze Russell came into contact
with this community. He wrote: "Apparent
by a coincidence one evening I came into
a dusty dirty meeting place, where, as I
had heard, religious meetings were held,
in order to see if those few people had
to offer something more reasonable than
the denominations of the large church communities.
There for the first time I heard something
from the opinions of the Adventists, by
the minister Jonas Wendell".
|
|
|
|
Nelson H. Barbour
|
|
1824 - 1905
|
|
At
this time Russell already studied the Bible
within his closest family circle and friends.
They discovered that many of the traditional
teachings, which had been taught and believed
by them were not in agreement with the Bible.
Spurred by these new realizations, Russell
deepened his study in the holy scripture.
In the year 1876 Charles T. Russell came
into contact with the Adventist Nelson Horatio
Barbour. Russell editorially and financially
took part in the magazine " The Herald of
the Morning". One year later together they
published the book: "Three Worlds and the
Harvest of this World".
1878 theological differences blackened the
co-operation. Therefore starting from 1879
Russell published its own magazine called
"Zion´s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ´s
Presence". Nelson H. Barbour for his part
published "The Herald" until 1903.
|
|
|
|
Charles T. Russell
|
|
1852 - 1916
|
|
The
Watchtower finally tightened the attention
and support of many in America and Europe,
which were convinced by the stated articles.
The reader circle increased rapidly. Together
the believers formed the International Bible
Students Association (IBSA), briefly called
"Bible Students".
1907 Russell changed his theory in purchase
of the church and the New Covenant. If he
had so far assumed that Christians where
under the New Covenant, he now came to the
opinion that Jesus is not the intermediary
of the church, that the body of Christ does
not at all stand under the new federation,
but that the new federation only becomes
effective in the messianic age and is only
valid for natural Israel.
A number of Bible Students adamantly refused
these and further new teachings, among them
some prominent members of the Bible Students
like Ernest C. Henninges (WT branch custodian
of Australia) and his wife Mrs. Rose Ball
(care daughter of the Russells), Magaret
Russell Land (Russells own sister), J.H
Giesey (WT vice-president), M.L. McPhail
(traveling overseer from Chicago).
|
|
|
|
Ernest Henninges
|
|
1869 - 1939
|
|
E.C. Henninges was the first thereupon who
wrote a long protest letter to Russell.
At the same time brothers and sisters from
the New York congregation published an open
letter to all Bible Students in the USA,
which were conscious of the necessity to
take a firm stand for the Lord and his word
despite the temptations and contestations
in relation to the present truth: "to
everybody who values Jesus as his intermediary
and Christ's blood of the new covenant as
the basis of his favor in this gospel age".
Russell in turn reacted sharply to this
critical attitude and used his position
as elected pastor of the International Bible
Students Association to strike any opposition
against his new teachings down. Thus it
became rapidly apparent that it was impossible
to reject the new teachings and concurrently
remain within the IBSA; and the dissident
Bible Students refused remaining silent.
Russell did not seem to notice that he had
strongly contributed to that sectarian thinking,
which he hated so much in his initial years,
and that he had placed the foundation to
that authoritarian attitude, which should
become a marking characteristic of the Watchtower
movement after his death. Within one year
about ten per cent of the Bible Students
left the Watchtower Society at that time
- among them also A.E. Williamson (a nephew
of Russell) from New York - as well as the
majority of the Melbourne congregation and
further brothers and sisters from all around
the world.
|
|
|
|
Geatano Boccaccio
|
|
1906 - 1996
|
|
1909 the separated recognized the necessity
to unite and from now on named themselves
"Free Bible Students". In Australia the
"New Covenant Fellowship" was founded and
in America the "New Covenant Believers".
1928 one further congregation in Hartford
(Connecticut) affiliated the Free Bible
Students. It predominantly was formed by
Italian immigrants and under co-operation
of Geatano Boccaccio, an elder, created
the "Christian Millennial Fellowship". In
1938 for the first time they published the
magazine "The New Creation" in irregular
intervals, then finally starting from 1940
every two months until today it is published
regularly. In 2008 we celebrated the Free
Bible Students conference it's 100th years
- making it the longest running Bible Student
conference in the world. Since then Free
Bible Student congregations developed in
more than 45 countries of the earth.
|
|
Free Bible Student congregations
today are autonomous. There is no central
authority or publishing house. There are
no membership rosters. There is no solicitation
for funds. We meet as an association and
strive for the organizational simplicity
of the early church. We find our head or
central authority in our one Lord and Master,
Christ Jesus.
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
