NO. 56: RETROSPECT AND PROSPECT

by Epiphany Bible Students


No. 56

Grace and peace through our Beloved Master!

Comes again the beginning of another year, and the manifold evidences of disin­tegration continue to accumulate at every signpost. As we have so often stated, it is our conviction that decay of Capital itself will eventually accomplish collapse of the capitalistic system, and concrete evidence of this conclusion continues to manifest Itself in various ways. During this past year of 1959 the President of the United States has been urgently prodding the Congress to raise the statutory limit on the interest rate of Government bonds – the existing rate having been in force for now over forty years. And why does he wish this? Because it is no longer possible to persuade our citizens to invest their money in Government bonds because of other more attractive avenues of investment. It is proverbial among men of finance that when a man must pay exorbitant rates of interest in order to borrow money for his business operations it is an evidence that he is a bad credit risk, and the one con­tributes to accentuate the other, because the added interest burden makes just that much more difficult the profit which is essential to the successful conduct of any business. This past year other Governments also have been forced to raise interest rates, the Canadian Government having raised the interest rate on some of its bonds from 3% to 6%. One international financial publication of restricted clientele has this to say in an article under the caption of "The Money Mess":

"That the governments of Canada and the United States are having financial difficulties is widely realized ... The financial writers are beginning to cover the subject in a context of dire urgency....It could be suspected that some of the grave pronouncements that one reads are woven into a campaign to persuade Congress to raise the ceiling on longer term bonds beyond the 4.25% that now makes them unsalable, In Canada an obstacle to a free flow of credit exists in the ceil­ing which prevents banks asking for more than 6% interest on loans even though the money they use costs more .......High interests rates can, eventually, lead to large unemployment.  It is no coincidence that commentators, discussing current figures, refer to the highest this or the lowest that since the early 30's....... And it is true that the book of inflation has several chapters yet to be read and used.  But its use will only compound the difficulties the government has of find­ing the money to finance its enormous daily needs, bring ever higher interest rates as the competition for money increase;, and in the end defeat itself..... Writers who remain distrustful of the managed-money policy that has become so popular since displacement of the old automatic Gold Standard have often loudly declared that the new policy must wind up in confusion and chaos ... In the past national bankruptcy has come in countries that lost all sense of money soundness, and em­barked on such wild policies that the currency became near worthless – imposing terrific losses on the citizenry – and had to be replaced with a new currency. But when one looks around and sees how credit-crazy the people have become, even to the point of buying their pleasure, like travel, on time, one must be impressed with the idea that the old virtues of thrift and prudence have been forsaken by people and government alike, and that all live with a narrow safety-factor against financial disaster...Everybody knows that the American fiscal position is getting more uncomfortable all the time. The appeal for Europe to join in foreign aid just advertises gold weakness, and makes more people understand that when America has got to raise the price of gold to stop the erosion it will do so."

Another financial writer of wide recognition, with whom we have been intimately acquainted for some thirty years, has this to say in one of his recent papers:

"The great tragedy of our debt-creating-money-supply system is that it results in the accumulation of debt that can never be paid. We pass it on to posterity and ask that it be serviced according to our scheme of values, placing posterity in bondage until the end of time ... Is it fair and democratic to rivet these huge fixed charges into the lives of future generations? Indeed not! In fact, this is not democracy; it is hypocrisy ... If one dollar had been put into a savings bank in the year 1 A.D., and left to compound annually at three per cent, this dollar today would be worth about $10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 – ten sep­tillion dollars.....All we seem to know about debt is how to make it bigger and more burdensome."

Much more of the same could be included here, but we believe enough has been quoted to convey to our readers the trend of thinking of some of the more solid-thinking seg­ments of present-day society, and to corroborate the conclusions we presented in our paper, The Third Watch, of January 1, 1957 (copy free upon request) – and especially of our analysis of Rev. 18:17, "so great riches is come to naught." The Diaglott rend­ering of this verse says, "in one hour such great wealth is laid waste", the same be­ing a forecast of the wasting collapse of the capitalistic system here in the extreme end of the age, especially so during the Epiphany--the "time of trouble such as never was since there was a nation." "He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."

IN  RELIGION

The decadence of the capitalistic system has been well paced with the deca­dence in the various religious systems; but we shall here concern ourselves only with the cults of Little Babylon. In the September 1959 Watchtower the Jehovah's Witnesses have this to say:

"Even in so-called darkest Africa the truth reaches the people... the people can receive this knowledge that means everlasting life – John 17:3... Jesus told of the dividing of the people into two great classes. On the one side would be the goatlike opposers of the Creator, while on the other the meek and obedient sheep­like ones. This dividing work is now being done. (That Servant and Brother Johnson both said this work would occur at the end of the Mediatorial reign -JJH).. The time for ignorance regarding God is past....It can truly be said that those who remain in ignorance of Jehovah's purposes now do so by choice, because he has made his Word available worldwide...And many nations shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the house of Jehovah, and the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths. This Scripture speaks of the very time we now live in, the latter days."

Surely, no Epiphany-enlightened Truth person will require much help from us to discern the vagaries of the foregoing. The "spirit of a sound mind" will immediately cause us to ask, What about the morons, the lunatics, those possessed of evil spirits, etc. – do these now remain "in ignorance of Jehovah by choice, "as these perverters would have us believe? All about us we see people who "do not know the right hand from the left." Try as they may, could such people determine in their present con­dition what is the "knowledge of God"?

JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES A SECTARIAN NAME

Had space been available, we would have put something like this in The Three Babylons tract: These people claim to be Jehovah's Witnesses and to adhere to the Bible; but the word Jehovah is not to be found in the original texts of the Bible – ­It is a mongrel word, "hybrid," "fantastic," "monstrous." The pronunciation of Je­hovah was unknown until 1520 A.D., when it was introduced by Galatinus, but was at that time contested by other scholars as against grammatical and historical propriety.

Brother Johnson says the nearest we can come to it in the English language is Yahweh, and Dr. Rotherham is very close to this with his Yahweh. In the original Hebrew text the name is presented by the Tetragrammaton (the Greek for 'four letters'), the same being the four Hebrew consonants Yod, He, Vav, He (YHWH). Since there are no vowels, it would be impossible to give the expression any kind of sensible or euphonious pro­nunciation; and it became known over the centuries as the incommunicable or the in­effable name. No Jew in Bible times would dare attempt to pronounce it, although this combination of four letters is to be found over seven thousand times in the Old Testa­ment. The expression Jehovah is coined by filling in the vowels of the word for Lord (Heb. – Adonai); but this is about as hybrid a combination as it would be to spell the name Germany with the vowels in the name Portugal – Namely, Gormuna. As stated, the monstrous combination Jehovah is not older than about 1520, so the Jewish scribes are not responsible for the hybrid combination. Thus, these people who identify themselves by the coined sectarian name of Jehovah's Witnesses, and who claim now to be imparting "The knowledge of God" to darkest Africa, etc., don't even know "the knowledge of God" about their own name, or they would not be using it in the form they do. Yet, they arc vehement in their denunciation of other religious sects, labeling them as part of the "Devil's organization."

AMONG EPIPHANY TRUTH PEOPLE

In fact, right in the Epiphany Movement we find many who are too sleepy or too "sheepy" or too perverse to determine between Truth and error – even when the Truth is pointed out to them. It will be recalled that J. W. Krewson offered the statement, "Error must be defended; Truth can stand for itself." At first we considered that this statement might just be a piece of slipshod thinking written in a moment of weakness ­of which the best of us may sometimes be guilty. But, after we exposed its folly, he came right back in another paper (See March 1, 1959, p. 22 - No. 25) and insisted upon abiding in his error; so we can now but conclude that he is "willingly ignorant" in this and other subjects. Here is what Brother Russell says in the Manna comment for September 23: "Our good fight of faith consists in a considerable measure in our de­fense of the Word of God....As the Apostle says, 'I am set for the defense of the Truth,' We can do no less than defend the Truth..... we must defend our standard, even unto death." In the face of such a clear statement by That Servant, who gave us the "meat in due season," are we in the least uncharitable when we conclude that in this instance J. W. Krewson is a willful perverter? Furthermore, Brother Russell and Brother Johnson both proved from the Scriptures that the Apokalypse and Epiphany as an act and as a period of time are synonymous; the Epiphany period is the Time of Trouble. J. W. Krew­son also now wilfully perverts this teaching of both Star Members.

And we have similar comment for R. G. Jolly and his gross revolutionism on the Epiphany and the Time of Trouble, on his Campers Consecrated, and many other items – where he directly and persistently contradicts the teachings of the Star Members, even after these are clarified for him. And, when he would place himself and his kind in the class of The Faithful, in antitypical Abraham, in the Salt and Light Class, the "ye" and the "us" class, which apply exclusively to The Christ Company, we believe he comes within the comment of Brother Johnson in E-11-369 (bottom): "God adds a final prohibition that in approaching The Christ as God's Altar, either in this or the next Age, thereon to offer one's sacrificial service, one should not in vaunting ambition exalt himself by grasping for powers not given him by God." And to his partisan sup­porters we would quote Ex. 23:2, "Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil"; nor should they, contrary to truth, righteousness and holiness favor the Great Company as a whole or in any of its groups--(See E:11-394). As Brother Johnson has so well stated, When these people fall into the hands of Azazel, they talk all sorts of nonsense; nor can they longer think clearly on any Scriptural subject. Perhaps the outstanding ex­amples of nonsense by R. G. Jolly in 1959 are his "sage" observations that God does not move the furniture out of the Holy with the Great Company when He moves them out, and having antitypical Abraham rescue Campers Consecrated a full four years before even R. G. Jolly himself claims there were such. And, when we observe such a situation we are fully warranted in concluding that he is still in the hands of Azazel.

And at this last Chicago Convention one of R. G, Jolly's ardent Yes-men attempted some comment on Campers Consecrated by admitting that they were no more than restitu­tionists – now on "a narrow way" and being persecuted for Truth and Righteousness, but would subsequently be transferred to the Highway of Holiness. Thus, they will re­ceive a demotion for their present sacrificing. And he urged all to take this step now, and not to wait for a more favorable day! Just note the close similarity be­tween this and the teaching of the Jehovah's Witnesses, which we have presented earl­ier In this article. NOW is the time to convert the world, according to their reasoning!

In his effort to have his Campers Consecrated teaching in proper balance, R. G. Jolly has indeed produced some weird calculations; and it would be unbelievable that people long under the sober instruction of Brother Russell and Brother Johnson would now "close their eyes, open their mouths, and swallow what is put therein." Especially so, is this true in view of the opposition that has been presented in our papers, oppo­sition which has been in defense of Brother Johnson's teachings that the Epiphany Camp In the finished picture would be composed of the formerly tentatively justified, but unconsecrated persons – those who in the end of this Age will have "received the Grace of God in vain" for elective purposes, (Will R. G. Jolly's Consecrated Campers be dead in the finished Epiphany picture, as will be true of all others of the Epi­phany Household of Faith?) It is ardently hoped that the analysis herein contained will sober all his adherents, especially those in teaching positions, to recover them­selves from "wandering from the Truth and turn back from their path of error"–Jas. 5:19-20

As we have repeatedly stressed, Brother Johnson taught that "to see new doctrines, under Jesus, is the exclusive privilege of star-members." (E:11-495) It is also taught in E-9-388 that "strange fire types false doctrines"; and those who persist therein can expect only the same penalty as came to Korah and his band. Clearly, R. G. Jolly has been treading the same footsteps of other Levite leaders, and he is reaping the same consequences – he inherited gold, and he quickly turned it into ashes. Since 1950 he has lost many of the truest and best of Brother Johnson's staunch supporters; and he still continues to lose them. Strange, isn't it, that the choice of the flock always appear as the "sifters"? In their latest book, Jehovah's Witnesses also quote St. Paul, "Mark them that cause divisions among you, and avoid them"; and this they hurl at Brother Johnson and others who forsook them after Brother Russell's death – ­just as R. G. Jolly has been doing since 1950 – all the while they themselves have been the real sifters, as evidence their defilement by more and more error. In 1950 we were wholeheartedly In support of R. G. Jolly, and gave him the strong assurance at the funeral that we would uphold his hands so long as he remained faithful to the trust delivered into his hands; and many others had the same attitude then – while many of those who have forsaken him since that time have done so only because of prin­ciples–AND FOR NO OTHER REASON!

 In 1951 we told him it was a mistake to publish only six Present Truths per year, Instead of twelve, that his first obligation was to "feed the flock of God"; but he would have none of our counsel, and he has been reaping the woes described by Brother Johnson in E-15-525:

 "Satan makes them busy themselves with false religious works (such as Campers Consecrated, etc.–JJH), .... He deceives them into believing they will accomplish great works, win great numbers, gain great favor, etc. The upshot of it all, however, is great disappointments, troubles, losses, frustrations and failures, as is shown of them in Ps. 107:12."

And only those who are so blind they will not see are unable to see in the fore­going a clear and detailed description of the course of R. G. Jolly since 1950.  We believe it In order to mention here that much of R. G. Jolly's present difficulty is due to the errors he accepted from J. W. Krewson, and which he still Insists upon trying to defend. Take, for instance, Brother Russell's Epiphany Parallels, viewing those vagaries "in retrospect," would any babe in the Truth now place one iota of credence in any bit of that foolishness? And, concerning Campers Consecrated: His determined and continued attempts to defend this perversion find him deeper in the mire with each utterance concerning it. In the Question following this article we define briefly the impossibility of Tentative Justification in a works dispensation, a view R. G. Jolly in desperation advances as we continue to devastate and extinguish his "strange fire" on this perversion; and we shall eventually present more on this from the Star Members until he is forced to complete silence on it. If he continues to offer this "strange fire," then he can anticipate only the "sorer punishment" that must surely come to the antitypes of Korah, a punishment which will certainly attach to all New Creatures who encourage, aid and abet him in his continuance of this evil and the loss of Youthful Worthyship to others. At the Chicago Convention it was evi­dent to us – and to others – from his facial expression that he was "beating the air" in much that he said about his "progressive Tabernacle picture"; and we expect to offer more also on this "progressive" perversion in due course, D.v.

At this time we reciprocate the many Holiday remembrances that have come to us, the words of encouragement, the pledges of support, etc., from the United States and foreign countries; and to one and all of God's faithful people do ye send fervent love and all our best wishes, with the hope and prayer "thou mayest prosper and be in health." May the promise continually abide firm and steadfast with all: "I will not fail thee, nor forsake thee:"

Sincerely your brother,

 John J. Hoefle, Pilgrim

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QUESTIONS OF GENERAL INTEREST

QUESTION: – Will Tentative Justification still be operative during the Mediatorial reign?

ANSWER: – Certainly not! One of the speakers at this last Chicago convention made the assertion that Tentative Justification would continue to operate until the end of the Millennium.  Of course, all of us know this is a clear revolutionism against Brother Johnson's teaching that Tentative Justification will continue until Restitution begins. (See E:4-346) And Brother Johnson had a sound basis for his teaching. Tentative Justification is a faith justification and it entails a tenta­tive imputation of Jesus' merit. Under the Mediator there will be no imputation of Jesus' merit in any way whatever for any individual or group of individuals. Once the New Covenant is in operation, Jesus' merit will no longer be available for imputa­tion., thus making a faith justification an impossible thing. A faith justification can operate only in a faith dispensation, and it must end when the faith dispensation ends, A works justification operates in a works dispensation, which dispensation will begin to operate when the Mediatorial reign begins. Therefore, the statement of the speaker at Chicago was just some more Levitical nonsense; and is clear evidence those of the Great Company who teach it are still in Azazel's hands. And we regretfully entertain the "prospect" that such Levites will sink deeper and deeper into the cess­pool of error until they cleanse themselves or are forced out of the Household of Faith. In Brother Johnson's refutation of Concordant-Versionism, PT 1927, p. 113, col. 2,(top), he says this: "The New Covenant must operate after faith justification ceases to operate, i. e. after the Gospel Age," Let all revolutionize against this clear Epi­phany truth who wish to do so, but we counsel our readers to "continue in the things they have learned, and been assured of, knowing of whom they have learned them."

 We should ever bear in mind that neither Star Member ever saw Tentative Justifi­cation in the Camp, and the reason they did not see it is because no Scripture pass­ages, types or prophecies reveal such a perversion, It is exclusively an invention of the Jolly-Krewson twosome. In the finished Epiphany picture those forced from the Court Into the Camp are not thus placed because of any evil they have done; it is because of something they have not done – they fall to consecrate, thus "receiving the Grace of God in vain" for elective purposes, thereby losing their standing in the Household of Faith. Therefore, Brother Johnson said that at that time their ''Tentative Justification would lapse." (See E:11-473) If R. G. Jolly's conclusions about 1954 are correct (and he bases his time features exclusively upon Brother Johnson's statements), then it would seem he has a different meaning for the word "lapse" than the one offered by Noah Webster, who defines it thus: "The termination or failure of a right or privilege through neglect to exercise it within some limit of time, as the lapse of a life-insurance policy through failure to pay the premium." Let R. G. Jolly explain his position in harmony with this definition, if he can! And let him clarify, too, how some will lose their Tentative Justification by being placed in the Camp, while others (his Campers Consecrated) are at the very same time gaining their Tentative Justification by coming into that same Camp. While it is true that Brother Johnson refers to those ejected from the Court In the finished Epiphany picture as the "faith justified," note carefully his summation' of them in E:4-406:

 "The Youthful Worthies are somewhat different from the tentatively justified who do not now consecrate. The latter during the Epiphany cease altogether to be of the Household of Faith, having used the grace of God in vain."

Clearly enough, from the foregoing Brother Johnson has the faith justified leaving the Household of Faith as they go from the Court into the Camp; whereas, R. G. Jolly has his Campers Consecrated entering the Household of Faith in that very same Camp among those very same people who lose their place in the Household by returning to that Camp. Those in Azazel's bands talk all sorts of nonsense, and R. G, Jolly's contention in his picture is indeed a very choice example of the kind of nonsense they can produce in his Consecrated Epiphany Campers.

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LETTERS  OF  GENERAL  INTEREST

Dear Brother Hoefle: – Greetings in His dear Name!

Have just received your kind letter, and thank you for same. I am sorry I for­got ....to ask you to please send me 50 copies of Where are the Dead and 50 copies of What is the Soul, I am an isolated sister and very little I can do, but I want to do that little, for though 90 years young the dear Lord has not retired me.

Christian love, Sister --------- Mass.

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Dear Friend:

I am in receipt of one of your publications, The Three Babylons. The same was delivered by one Mr, ...... resident somewhere in Jamaica, W.T. I should like to get in touch with him and through him your headquarters in Jamaica. Please furnish same at your earliest convenience ...

Thanking you in advance for an early reply.

Yours  by  His  Grace,  Rev.  ------Jamaica

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Dear Brother Hoefle: – Loving Christian greetings of Grace and Peace through our Lord!

 I thank you for the two letters received .. I appreciate your loving interest and prayers! I rejoice in our Lord who knoweth my need and hath bountifully supplied me! I'm seeking to do His will, The Wisdom from Above ... Jas 3:17-18 .. I would like to send out a few tracts every week, D.v. for awhile.  Please send me 100 Where are the Dead ....

I remember you at the throne of grace and send warm Christian love...

Your sister by Grace ....... New York