Stick to the O.G. Pastor Russell

Keep the old books handy and compare with new or electronic versions...

How many study classes / Ecclesias may have had this experience yesterday during their class? I don't know. 

First:  The manna for March 26th 

"We are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others." 1 Thes. 5: 5, 6.

Next: A sister reads the version from the biblestandard.com .  In brother Russell's remarks, she reads 

a pupil in the school of Christ, is being fitted for a place in the Millennial Kingdom-for a share in its "wonderful blessings and rewards." 

Yet the original book version says "glory honor and immortality." This is where Pastor Russell's words were changed in order to dumb it down for the modern student. 

Then we begin our first Passover study 

we always have 3 weeks prior to Memorial - The Passover of the New Creation chapter 11 volume 6   

When you begin to read, you again see the same words "glory honor and immortality."  Not "wonderful blessings and rewards." 

L.H.M.M altered manna hides the Truth

Without the original manna text we would have missed the connection between our manna lesson and our main study.  God often uses such connections and link-ups of apparent coincidences to impress the Truth upon our minds and hearts. 

How many times have we been in a class where the Manna lesson perfectly fit with the next study lesson when it wasn't planned that way? 

Octa-View

If any might insist upon keeping the original wording from That Servant, a Star Member, perfectly "as is" verbatim without alteration, they might be considered a muckraker in some circles. 

We don't mean for this blog to sound like too much muckraking but goodness, gracious, what a shame that someone during the 1980's took it upon himself to alter the text of our dear Pastor Russell who was the mouthpiece of Jesus Christ at his return to Earth in 1874. What hubris! What arrogance and what folly.  

Respect the Text

We don't like to see the Truth blurred, obfuscated, muddied, sullied or in any way changed or altered. As someone else wrote here:  

"Bro. Johnson never found it necessary to change Pastor Russell’s comments in the Manna – and his own comments were in harmony with Pastor Russell’s, even though he was well aware that all new consecrators would be prospective Youthful Worthies and a prominent class during the Epiphany."

Modern thinkers can figure out for themselves that IF the High Calling is closed (and it is), then Pastor Russell's words can be extrapolated to fit our day in our own reasoning minds.  Altered text is a dumbing down strictly for those who may not know the meaning of words such as "extrapolate" - let alone "glory, honor and immortality."

So stick to the O.G. ("original") words of Pastor Russell.  Every class always should elect Pastor Russell as their elder and respect the text!

Yours in Truth, 

RcB