We elect here, to expound on the noted, J. Stuart Russell, as exemplary among pioneer eschatology exegetes and contributing much to this critique author’s own knowledge base. No reading assignment is more contributory to insight than Russell’s, The Parousia.
Expounding on a unique viewpoint concerned with Parousia, or last days, we have J. Stuart Russell at his best. In fact, this renowned author did write a book with the very intriguing caption, The Parousia. In this greatly acclaimed work of interpretative science, Russell wrote extensively of Bible topics related to eschatology, the ‘study of end times’; his perception of eschaton evidence had great impact on modernist constituencies. Without undue praise or criticism to preface our critique, we investigate an example quote from The Parousia.
“But we have seen that John the Baptist predicted a judgment which was then impending - a catastrophe so near that already the axe was lying at the root of the tree - in accordance with the prophecy of Malachi, that 'the great and dreadful day of the Lord' was to follow on the coming of the second Elijah. We are therefore brought to the conclusion, that this discrimination between the righteous and the wicked, this gathering of the wheat into the garner, and burning of the tares in the furnace of fire, refer to the same catastrophe, viz., the wrath which came upon that very generation, when Jerusalem became literally 'a furnace of fire,' and the aeon of Judaism came to a close in 'the great and dreadful day of the Lord.'“
Ever mindful of Russell’s scholarly work in this respect, we take issue with his treatment of Judaism chronology. Here, the hermaneutics scion shows a remarkable unconsciousness of timeliness in the allowance of Age or aeon, as follows: “and the aeon of Judaism came to a close in ‘the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’”
In THE GREAT DECEPTION: Symbols And Numbers Clarified, this author, Ben Winter, writes a considerably detailed exposé of Ten Ages or aeons, extant if not clearly elucidated, in the visions of both the Daniel Beast and John’s Revelation Beast. Daniel envisioned ten episodic intervals, Ten Horn Ages, as a directory of chronologies comprising the entire God covenant experience. Suffice to say, this work required some 965 pages to tie in major Bible topics to Daniel’s Ten Ages prophecy. One can imagine the complexity encountered in this major work; no previous pathway existed with definitive signposts to point the way, only a complexity never invaded or encountered in other works of greatly esteemed writers perceived in those numerous works produced from pens worthy of mention such as Farrar, King, Russell, and many other great theologians.
Evidently, more than casual interest is required to intercept and digest the coded meanings resident in prophecy endeavors. Russell is no exception, for he misses the significance of aeon timeliness in his own statement of fact. Let us be clear, there was never, in any measure of covenant time frame, a portion of time designated ‘Aeon of Judaism.’ Judaism existed only as a form of worship from the death of Solomon in 975 B.C. until A.D. 30, but this chronological era was known time wise, successively, as the Divided Kingdom Age, followed by the Exilic Kingdom Age, and up to the Messianic Kingdom Age at A.D. 30. And, the great and dreadful day of the Lord was still yet a generation future to an A.D. 30 finish to Judaism!
As exegetes can readily see, one must search much more deeply than casual survey to elicit ultimate truth. Only in THE GREAT DECEPTION: Symbols And Numbers Clarified can one find an ultimate solution to the King James edition’s purposefully complex language.
To learn more about the Ten Ages, a Kindle version of various chapters can be found at the following Amazon link: