Book Creation of 1927 and later releases
BookCreation of 1927 and later releases
Na wstępie informujemy, że artykuł ten powstał tylko w języku angielskim, gdyż po polsku powstała jedna wersja książki pt. Stworzenie (1928). Natomiast po angielsku ukazało się kilka edycji tej publikacji, w której stale nanoszono zmiany nauk. W artykule naszym ukazujemy te ‘korekty’.
The book, entitled Creation (1927), was published in two versions. They do not differ in the dates of publication, but only in the number of print runs and pages.
This publication by Watchtower Society president J. F. Rutherford (1869-1942) was among those 9 new books (known as the rainbow set) that would replace the Studies in the Scriptures, written by his predecessor C. T. Russell (1852-1916). Theoretically, therefore, this work should have been carefully prepared and not subject to doctrinal revisions. However, this was not the case, as corrections were made to it over time.
Book Creation, during the dozen or so years of its publication, was changed, that is, some of its teachings. In the same way as other works that preceded it were changed. Below we describe the changes noticed in the content in various editions of the book. The following editions are available to us, all of which have only Copyrighted 1927 listed:
300,000 Edition (365 content pages) Copyrighted 1927;
1,100,000 Edition (365 content pages) Copyrighted 1927;
1,645,000 Edition (348 content pages) Copyrighted 1927;
1,920,000 Edition (348 content pages) Copyrighted 1927;
2,445,000 Edition (348 content pages) Copyrighted 1927.
https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015006978848&view=1up&seq=5
The editions of 1,645,000 and above were probably published after 1928, as they have the 1928 books Reconciliation and Government listed in their ads on the title pages. On the other hand, the still 1,100,000 edition does not list these titles, so it could be from 1927.
On the Internet you can find information about the sale of the English edition from 1939, but its text has not been published.Circulation of 2,955,000 copies.It is therefore difficult to compare the text to which we do not have access.
God's “Day of Preparation”
In an earlier version of the book, there were two views about the “Day of God's Preparation.”
One that it lasted from 1874 to 1914.
The second is that it has been going on since 1874 and ‘is still going on.’
In the newer edition of the book, the former view has been changed. It has been reconciled with the second.
Here are two different texts from earlier editions:
The Scriptures, and the circumstantial evidence in fulfilment thereof, which is called the physical facts, prove that the second coming of the Lord dates from 1874; that from that date to 1914 was God's “day of preparation”; that in 1914 the Lord Jesus Christ took unto himself his power and ousted Satan from heaven; that in 1918 the Lord came to his temple; (Creation p. 339, 1,100,000 Edition, Copyrighted 1927).
The Scriptural proof is that the period of his presence and the day of God’s preparation is a period from A. D. 1874 forward. (Creation p. 310, 1,100,000 Edition, Copyrighted 1927).
Here are two agreed-upon texts from later editions:
The Scriptures, and the circumstantial evidence in fulfilment thereof, which is called the physical facts, prove that the second coming of the Lord dates from 1874; that from that date forward was ‘God’s day of preparation’; that in 1914 the Lord Jesus Christ took unto himself his power and ousted Satan from heaven; that in 1918 the Lord came to his temple; (Creation pp. 317-318, 1,645,000 Edition, Copyrighted 1927).
The Scriptural proof is that the period of his presence and the day of God’s preparation is a period from A. D. 1874 forward. (Creation p. 289, 1,645,000 Edition, Copyrighted 1927).
Let us add that in the times of Russell and Rutherford there were also other years related to the “day of God's preparation”: 1799-1914; 1875-1918; 1878-1918; 1879-1918. However, this issue is not our main topic, so we limit ourselves to listing the different years.
Adam in
In the early editions of this book, Adam was called king of paradise and Eve was called queen.However, in the newer ones, he is only a prince and she is a princess.It has probably been reflected that God is king:
Adam was the king of the earth and with his beautiful queen by his side, and with everything provided that the heart might desire, he reveled in his possessions and in his glorious home. (Creation p. 59, 1,100,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
Adam was the prince of the earth; and with his beautiful princess by his side, and with everything provided that the heart might desire, he revełed in his possessions and in his glorions home. (Creation p. 54, 1,645,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
This change was also marked in the subject indexes in the entry Adam (Ewa was not recorded in this matter):
originally king of earth, 59, II (Creation p. 366, 1,100,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
originally prince of earth, 54, II (Creation p. 349, 1,645,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
Gathering 'saints' during 'harvest' or 'day of preparation'?
The new editions did not change the date of the beginning of the gathering of the 'saints', which was 1874 (although at that time the importance of 1918 was already emphasized). Instead, the name of the period of this activity was changed, that is, “harvest” was changed to “day of preparation.” Psalm 50:5, which speaks of the gathering of the saints, has been removed three times and written about the “preparation” of their gathering:
During the period of time since 1874 there has been a great gathering together of Christian (...) This seems to be a fulfilment of the prophetic words written conceming the harvest, namely, “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” (Psalm 50:5) (Creation p. 320, 1,100,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
See also:
p. 325 – gathering together the saints (Psalm 50:5);
p. 309 – It must be during that specific period that he gathers together those who make a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice. (Psalm 50:5).
During the period of time since 1874 there has been a great gathering together of Christian (...) This seems to be a fulfilment of the prophetic words written conceming the day of preparation for gathering together the saints that have made a covenant with Jehovah by sacrifice (Creation p. 299, 1,645,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
See also:
p. 304 – omitted the phrase and Ps 50:5: gathering together the saints (Psalm 50:5);
p. 288 – word prepares added and Ps 50:5 removed:It must be during that specific period that he prepares to gather together those who make a covenant with the Lord by sacrifice.
The period of Jesus' activity on earth was changed
In order to justify its calculations for the years 1914-1918 (3.5 years), the Watchtower Society changed the time of Jesus' activity in the new edition of the book:
The events transpiring during the three and one-half years of the ministry of Christ Jesus, from 30 to 33½ A. D., find a parallel in events at the close of the Christian era and during his second presence. (Creation p. 329, 1,100,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
The events transpiring during the three and one-hałf years of the ministry of Christ Jesus, from 29 to
Day of Preparation
It's hard to tell why the following excerpt has been completely changed. No teaching seems to have been changed in it, yet the text of the entire subchapter is replaced.
“Day of Preparation”
Jehovah chooses what men cali commonplace things to teach the wise. Concerning the day of his preparation it is written: “The shield of his mighty men is made red, the valiant men are in scarlet: the chariots shall be with flaming torches in the day of his preparation, and the fir trees shall be terribly shaken.” (Nahum 3:3) Here is a description of the system of rapid transit which has come to pass particularly within the last fifty years, and specifically marks the ‘day of God’s preparation’. In this period of time, God declared, Christ shall prepare the way before him for his kingdom. (Malachi 3:1) That God intended these great truths to be understood by his people during that period of time is plainly testified to by his inspired witnesses, and that time has come for these things to be understood.—1 Corinthians 10:11. (Creation pp. 319-320, 1,100,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
Preparation
The Scriptures designate a specific period of time as “the day of his preparation”. Within that period of time God draws his people together and gives them a knowledge of his plan and purposes, then in due time Christ Jesus suddenly comes to his temple, gathers together those who are in the covenant by sacrifice, and brings them into the temple condition. It is a time of severe testing; and the faithful ones who stand the test, who are approved, are given the garments of salvation and are brought under the robe of righteousness. (Mal. 3:1-3; Isa. 61:10) During that period of time Christ is present and a crucial point is reached in his presence at the time he comes to his temple. The Scriptures also show that within the “day of preparation” God prepares his people and his hosts, as well as conditions, for the great battle of Armageddon in which Satan’s organization will be completely destroyed. Christ, acting as Jehovah’s great executive officer, is present doing the preparatory work and executes God’s vengeance upon Satan and his organization.—Nah. 2:3-6; Ps. 110:2-6. (Creation pp. 298-299, 1,645,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
Great Pyramid
The Great Pyramid was rejected by the Watchtower Society in late 1928. Earlier editions of the book (from 1927) still list its units of measurement.In more recent editions, the words about the “great pyramid” have been removed:
The measurements of the tabernacle are given in cubits, and while there is a difference of opinion as to the length of the cubit used, the Bible is not clear as to which one is here referred to, namely, the measurement from the elbow down to the tip of the little finger or the cubit used in the great pyramid. (Creation p. 183, 1,100,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
The measurements of the tabernacle are in cubits. There was a cubit of twenty-one inches measured by six handbreadths at three and one-half inches to the handbreadth. Ezekiel mentions a cubit of the altar as “the cubit and an hand breadth”. (Creation p. 174, 1,645,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
A minor correction regarding the trouble
It seems that the following correction made in more recent editions of the book is not doctrinally significant:
Clouds symbolically represent trouble, and it will be in the great and final overthrow that all the peoples of earth will understand or discern the presence of Christ. (Creation p. 311, 1,100,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
Clouds symbolically represent his presence in time of trouble. In that time of trouble all the peoples of earth will understand or discem the presence of Christ. (Creation p. 290, 1,645,000 EditionCopyrighted 1927).
Interestingly, the editions of the 1930s did not remove several obsolete teachings: the invisible coming of Christ in 1874, the beginning of the "time of the end" in 1799, the cross of Christ, and Jehovah's dwelling in the Pleiades.True, these teachings were not changed until after 1927, but the book was still in print in the 1930s.It was still recognized in 1937, and even until the beginning of the 1940s, since it was still being distributed:
That was in 1937. This situation caused my father to check on what I was learning. He got himself the book Creation, published by Jehovah’s Witnesses. He read it and became a Witness himself! (Awake! September 22, 1993 p. 15).
One Sunday in 1942, we were practicing hymns at the church when a young white man appeared at the door with three books published by the Watch Tower Society—Creation, Vindication, and Preparation. I thought the books would look nice on my library shelf, so I accepted them for three shillings. Later I learned that the man, Tienie Bezuidenhout, was one of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the only one in the area. On Tienie’s next visit, he brought a phonograph and played some lectures by Judge Rutherford. (The Watchtower February 1, 1993 p. 26).
We see that in the newer editions of Creation (1927) several changes have been made.After 1940, the book in question was discarded because the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses had changed again and it did not contain the actual 'truth'.