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William Branham and the Watchtower Society: Difference between revisions

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Russell, like William Branham, believed that he was chosen for his "great work" from before his birth.
Russell, like William Branham, believed that he was chosen for his "great work" from before his birth.
==Seven Seals==


==Seven Church Ages==
==Seven Church Ages==
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Given that William Branham studied the publications of the Watchtower Society, it is likely that this is where he got his idea of the "seventh church age messenger".
Given that William Branham studied the publications of the Watchtower Society, it is likely that this is where he got his idea of the "seventh church age messenger".
Here are some quotes from "The Finished Mystery" published by the Watchtower Society in 1918:
:''Futhermore, the details of the messages given to these seven churches apply to and fit historically the one Church of the living God, over every member and branch of which the Lord has a care. This thought, that the seven represented completeness, we find emphasized in the other symbolical representations— in the seven golden candlesticks, the seven stars, etc."  Colosse (Col. 1:2), Miletus (Acts 20:17) and Hierapolis (Col. 4:13) were churches in Asia, not here mentioned. The Asia mentioned is the westernmost province of Asia Minor:
#''Unto Ephesus .— The Apostolic Age of the Church.
#''And unto Smyrna .— The Church during the period of persecution by Pagan Rome.
#''And unto Pergamos .— The Church during the period of the rise of Antichrist.
#''And unto Thyatira .— The Church during the Dark Ages, the period of Antichrist's glory, and persecution by Papal Rome.
#''And unto Sardis .— The Church in the dawn of the Reformation.
#''And unto Philadelphia .— The Church in the period of reformation by sects.
#''And unto Laodices .— The Church in the time of the Lord's Second Presence.<ref>Better Bible Bureau; Charles Taze Russell. Studies in the Scriptures: Fast Navigation, Search with NCX and Chapter Index (pp. 2981-2982). Kindle Edition. </ref>
==Seven Seals==


Here are some quotes from "The Finished Mystery" published by the Watchtower Society in 1918:
Here are some quotes from "The Finished Mystery" published by the Watchtower Society in 1918:
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:''"As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man"--in the days of his presence. Not before his days, not after his days, but in (during) his days, the world will be eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting and building. These scriptures, then, clearly teach that our Lord will be present in the end of this age, entirely unknown to the world, and unseen by them.<ref>Better Bible Bureau; Charles Taze Russell. Studies in the Scriptures: Fast Navigation, Search with NCX and Chapter Index (p. 475). Kindle Edition. </ref>
:''"As it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man"--in the days of his presence. Not before his days, not after his days, but in (during) his days, the world will be eating, drinking, marrying, buying, selling, planting and building. These scriptures, then, clearly teach that our Lord will be present in the end of this age, entirely unknown to the world, and unseen by them.<ref>Better Bible Bureau; Charles Taze Russell. Studies in the Scriptures: Fast Navigation, Search with NCX and Chapter Index (p. 475). Kindle Edition. </ref>