The Rapture (Snatching Away) of Living Saints in the 1st Century [See blog editor's note on the use and meaning of the term "rapture" after Russell's excerpt] Below is the 16th of multiple excerpts of commentary from Parts I and II of The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. The initial 31 posts on this blog deal with the Book of Revelation, which is cogently interpreted in Part III of Russell's magnum opus. (For all blog posts, see russellparousia.blogspot.com) "THE CRUCIAL QUESTION [of whether the rapture happened in the 1st century] "Doubtless most readers will shrink from the demand made upon their faith, when they are asked to believe that the predictions of our Lord in Matt. xxiv. [24:31], and the kindred prophecy of St. Paul in 1 Thess. iv. [1 Thess. 4:15-17, regarding the "rapture" (snatching) of living saints] had a veritable accomplishment [in connection with Christ's ...
How Does God Measure Time? Below is the 39th of multiple excerpts of commentary from Parts I and II of The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell. The initial 31 posts on this blog deal with the Book of Revelation, which is cogently interpreted in Part III of Russell's magnum opus. (For all blog posts, see russellparousia.blogspot.com) "THE CERTAINTY OF THE APPROACHING CONSUMMATION. "2 Pet. iii. 8, 9 [2 Peter 3:8-9].--- ‘But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is long-suffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.’ "Few passages have suffered more from misconstruction than this , which has been made to speak a language inconsistent with its obvious intention, and even incompatible with a ...
Below is the ninth of multiple excerpts of commentary on the Book of Revelation from The Parousia , the late 19th-century masterpiece on the Second Coming by James Stuart Russell: " The First Vision "THE MESSAGES TO THE SEVEN CHURCHES. "[Rev.] Chap. i. 10-20; ii. iii [Rev. 1:10-20; 2, 3] "Notwithstanding what has been said respecting the imagery and symbolism of the Apocalypse [Book of Revelation], it is not to be forgotten that underlying these symbols there is everywhere a substratum of fact and reality. We have only to read the messages to the seven churches to discover that we are in a region of actual fact and intense reality. There is such individuality of character in the graphic delineations of the spiritual state of the several churches, that we cannot doubt that they are accurate and truthful portraits of the Christian communities [in 1st-century Asia Minor] which they describe . There is indeed a strange commingling of figure [symbol] and fact [in ...
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