What an intellectually provocative consensus of opinion. And more could be said;
much more. Thus was Charles Russell correct in 1910, when he told Carlo Perantoni and
others in Warsaw that 1914 would be as the end of the world. And James Cameron
therefore, in 1959 and as quoted above, does but echo Mr. Russell in his saying, “In 1914
the world, as it was known and accepted then, came to an end.” (Our italics)
With that thought in mind then – if Mr. Russell and Mr. Cameron are correct –
this portion of an article that appeared in the Sunday magazine section of The New York
World newspaper is more than deserving of our attention. Under date of August 30, 1914;
on pages 4 and 17 and addressing Mr. Russell by a title never used by himself or his
associates, namely, “Reverend,” we would have read what follows:
“According to the Calculations of Rev. Russell’s 'International Bible Students,'
This is the 'Time of Trouble' Spoken of by the Prophet Daniel, the Year 1914 Predicted in
the Book, 'The Time Is at Hand,' of Which Four Millions Copies Have Been Sold, as the
Date of the Downfall of the Kingdoms of the Earth.
“The terrific outbreak in Europe has fulfilled an extraordinary prophecy. For a
quarter of a century past, through preachers and through press, the “International Bible
Students,” best known as 'Millennial Dawners,' have been proclaiming to the world that
the Day of Wrath prophesied in the Bible would dawn in 1914. 'Look out for 1914!' has
been the cry of the hundreds of traveling evangelists who, representing this strange creed,
have gone up and down the country enunciating the doctrine that 'the Kingdom of God is
at hand.' ...
“Although millions of people must have listened to these evangelists ... and
although their propaganda has been carried on through religious publications and a
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secular press service involving hundreds of country newspapers, as well as through
lectures, debates, study classes, and even moving pictures, the average man does not
know that such a movement as the 'Millennial Dawn' exists. ...
“Rev. Charles T. Russell is the man who has been propounding this interpretation
of the Scriptures since 1874. ... ‘In view of the strong Bible evidence,’ Rev. Russell wrote
in 1889, ‘we consider it an established fact that the final end of the kingdoms of this
world and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God will be accomplished by the end
of A.D. 1914’ ...
“But to say that the trouble must culminate in 1914 – that was peculiar. ... And in
1914 comes war, the war which everybody dreaded but which everybody thought could
not really happen. Rev. Russell is not saying, 'I told you so;' and he is not revising the
prophecies to suit the current history. He and his students are content to wait – to wait
until October [corresponding to the Jewish 7th month of Tishri, 607 B.C.E.], which they
figure to be the real end of 1914.”
The above article was published when the First World War was still an infant; it
had only begun to be organized. Suddenly, like a virus worldwide, declarations of war
were proclaimed, treaties were broken and frontiers violated. Invasions began. The first
large-scale bloodbath had already taken place the previous week, when more than 27,000
French soldiers were slaughtered in a single day. It was an event that shocked the world,
and all the nations began to realize the calamity they had stepped into. By the day the
article was printed, 250,000 Russian soldiers had been added to the carnage. This was but
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the beginning, and in September the infamous war trenches began to appear all along the
western front. The war had dug in to stay.
So what did happen in October of 1914? Did Charles Russell and his Bible
Students really wait for an “October miracle” to happen, as the August article implied;
did they wait until October for a decisive confirmation of their understanding? No.
Beyond doubt, by October 1914 the world’s condition validated what the Bible Students
had been expecting: Namely, that the 2,520 years of Daniel’s “seven times” prophecy had
been exhausted. Since 1914, human governments are on borrowed time; they exist due to
God’s patience; allowing all to clearly see that man can dominate man, only to his injury.
In conclusion then, the authors of Arrivederci Leopolis - The Lion's War are
hopeful that the World War experiences of the Perantoni family and their friends may
alert others to the critical and historical importance of 1914. For the Greater Lion's War,
that of the “Lion that is of the tribe of Judah” – the one whom history knows as the man
Jesus Christ – has yet to be fought; a war that will permanently eliminate all that is
deterrent to mankind's happiness.
The 'Good News of that Kingdom' and of its pending warfare is currently being
“preached in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations.” And the imminence
of its Sovereignty is clearly seen in the earth-shattering events of 1914 and thereafter.
Truly, we are in what the prophet Daniel called “the time of the end.”
May you prove to be a survivor.
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