1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:12,800 From the unexplained to the mundane, come join us on a journey to the fringe. 2 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,880 Hello and welcome to Journey to the Fringe. 3 00:00:15,880 --> 00:00:18,400 Kind of like how you can pickle most anything. 4 00:00:18,400 --> 00:00:21,200 So too can you fringe up any topic. 5 00:00:21,200 --> 00:00:24,960 We are your podcast and or pickling hosts, Taylor and Chelsea, sometimes it's hard to 6 00:00:24,960 --> 00:00:25,960 remember which. 7 00:00:25,960 --> 00:00:29,600 Here today, take somewhat of a mundane topic. 8 00:00:29,600 --> 00:00:32,480 Chelsea, I think this is an interesting topic. 9 00:00:32,480 --> 00:00:33,880 We're going to see how it goes. 10 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:36,360 Okay, I thought we were here to pickle. 11 00:00:36,360 --> 00:00:40,200 Maybe later and in any event, pickling a lot of the time is sitting and waiting so you 12 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:42,480 could get your pickling done beforehand. 13 00:00:42,480 --> 00:00:43,480 Okay. 14 00:00:43,480 --> 00:00:48,920 But no, in fact, right now we're here to discuss people who have predicted the end of the world. 15 00:00:48,920 --> 00:00:54,600 But unlike those cowards who give up on it after one attempt, I have strictly decided 16 00:00:54,600 --> 00:01:01,000 to look at people who just kept on going and say, I'm sure second, third or onward times 17 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:03,600 the charm in predicting the end of the world. 18 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:07,400 I mean, are we talking end the world as we know it? 19 00:01:07,400 --> 00:01:08,960 Like the earth? 20 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:11,480 Or are we talking like a mass extension event? 21 00:01:11,480 --> 00:01:16,400 For the most part, we're usually talking about the ones that I found, they're raptures. 22 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:19,960 So the end of the Christian world, I guess would be a good way to put it. 23 00:01:19,960 --> 00:01:20,960 Okay. 24 00:01:20,960 --> 00:01:23,320 Well, I don't know that that's actually going to happen. 25 00:01:23,320 --> 00:01:26,280 Well, that's not what everybody thinks Chelsea. 26 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:30,800 And in any event, I like to think that these guys get better with age and they just keep 27 00:01:30,800 --> 00:01:33,760 going at it, not like those cowards with the 2012. 28 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,000 They kind of gave up on 2012. 29 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:38,160 As soon as it happened, they should have kept going. 30 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:43,720 I was thinking the earth exploding into like oblivion and the earth is no longer the world 31 00:01:43,720 --> 00:01:44,720 is ending. 32 00:01:44,720 --> 00:01:45,960 Oh, you know what? 33 00:01:45,960 --> 00:01:48,160 I'm acting like I've never heard this before. 34 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:49,640 They don't predict that. 35 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:51,160 Anyhow, let's look at this. 36 00:01:51,160 --> 00:01:55,160 We'll see if anybody got it right and we're just going to keep going from there. 37 00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:56,160 So Chelsea, 38 00:01:56,160 --> 00:01:57,400 There's got to be someone that gets it right. 39 00:01:57,400 --> 00:01:59,840 I've got three different people we're going to look at. 40 00:01:59,840 --> 00:02:03,240 The first one's kind of outside and there's not a lot of info on it. 41 00:02:03,240 --> 00:02:07,840 I just had to include this story because it includes Chinese tourists and cowboy hats. 42 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:09,120 I love that. 43 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:11,600 And I have to ask, is one of them a pope? 44 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:12,600 You know what? 45 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:15,720 I didn't convert everything from Chinese and there's not enough information. 46 00:02:15,720 --> 00:02:17,400 He may have ordained himself a pope. 47 00:02:17,400 --> 00:02:20,640 Yeah, I was like, do the Pope speak Chinese? 48 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:24,240 Yeah, no, none of these pokes speak Chinese. 49 00:02:24,240 --> 00:02:29,640 Some of them, the very concept of another language is confusing them. 50 00:02:29,640 --> 00:02:32,040 None of them seem to know the guy. 51 00:02:32,040 --> 00:02:35,640 So the first man we're going to look at his name is Hanming Chen. 52 00:02:35,640 --> 00:02:41,520 He started a group called Chen Tao, which is the true way, also known as God's salvation 53 00:02:41,520 --> 00:02:42,520 church. 54 00:02:42,520 --> 00:02:44,920 He founded this in 1955 in Taiwan. 55 00:02:44,920 --> 00:02:49,640 At first it was associated with UFOs, but later claimed that the group had been misrepresented 56 00:02:49,640 --> 00:02:53,680 as a New Age UFO cult and it was later known as God's salvation church. 57 00:02:53,680 --> 00:02:55,920 Oh, this sounds familiar. 58 00:02:55,920 --> 00:03:00,160 Chen was a former professor who claimed to be an atheist until he joined a religious 59 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:05,080 cultivation group that dated back for two generations to the original female founder, 60 00:03:05,080 --> 00:03:07,200 teacher, Yuxia Chen. 61 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:10,520 But he broke with the group headed by the third generation teacher in 1993. 62 00:03:10,520 --> 00:03:11,520 Oh, sorry. 63 00:03:11,520 --> 00:03:14,360 I said earlier that it was founded in 1955. 64 00:03:14,360 --> 00:03:15,360 That's when he was born. 65 00:03:15,360 --> 00:03:16,720 Okay, same thing. 66 00:03:16,720 --> 00:03:21,720 So he broke with the group headed by the third generation teacher in 1993, created with another 67 00:03:21,720 --> 00:03:25,280 fellow cultivator, Tao Hongma, their own groups. 68 00:03:25,280 --> 00:03:29,560 It was later when he broke with Ma and decided to move to the United States that new elements 69 00:03:29,560 --> 00:03:33,920 such as pseudoscientific information and cosmology and flying saucers as well as Christian 70 00:03:33,920 --> 00:03:38,480 motifs of the prophecies of the end and the Great Tribulation were introduced to the group. 71 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:44,080 In Taiwan, the group was originally officially registered as the Chinese Soul Light Research 72 00:03:44,080 --> 00:03:45,080 Association. 73 00:03:45,080 --> 00:03:48,880 And when the group moved to the United States from Asia, it was registered in the U.S. as 74 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:50,520 God's Salvation Church. 75 00:03:50,520 --> 00:03:56,520 It first relocated to San Dimas, California, and then it moved to Garland, Texas. 76 00:03:56,520 --> 00:03:57,520 And I love it. 77 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,840 The reason they chose Garland, Texas is because it sounds like Godland. 78 00:04:01,840 --> 00:04:06,200 That's as good as a reason as any. 79 00:04:06,200 --> 00:04:10,920 And I found a way back machine copy of their website with a few of their key points. 80 00:04:10,920 --> 00:04:12,200 And I actually love it. 81 00:04:12,200 --> 00:04:16,520 They had contact information, including phone numbers for the people you can speak to about 82 00:04:16,520 --> 00:04:17,520 this group. 83 00:04:17,520 --> 00:04:18,600 I never actually phoned them. 84 00:04:18,600 --> 00:04:22,800 My guess is the phone numbers don't work anymore, but I'm going to leave that out. 85 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:26,240 Just I don't want to have some people being harassed out there. 86 00:04:26,240 --> 00:04:27,600 But anyhow, this is their website. 87 00:04:27,600 --> 00:04:31,800 And it starts out with the topic, the headline, Chelsea, the supernatural power of God's 88 00:04:31,800 --> 00:04:40,120 super high technology hyphenated, but not high technology, super dash high technology. 89 00:04:40,120 --> 00:04:44,240 For the purposes of the salvation of human beings and witnessing the great power of God's 90 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:47,640 creation of the universe and planets, this is what their mission statement is. 91 00:04:47,640 --> 00:04:52,360 To help exercising demons and suppressing devils and join with God in Buddha, the messengers 92 00:04:52,360 --> 00:04:55,520 from the kingdom underground in the operating of devil sweeping. 93 00:04:55,520 --> 00:05:00,680 Trindu's people to contact and meet the human great ancestors who are more than 8,000 94 00:05:00,680 --> 00:05:06,160 years old, the Christ and Amitabha Buddha with physical body in the underground kingdom 95 00:05:06,160 --> 00:05:08,320 of eternal life and the UFO. 96 00:05:08,320 --> 00:05:12,440 To help construct super high tech equipment to eliminate various natural disasters and 97 00:05:12,440 --> 00:05:17,440 diseases and reconstruct people's imperfect inheritance and physical disposition such 98 00:05:17,440 --> 00:05:21,680 as the solar storms, typhoon, earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, droughts, cancer, AIDS 99 00:05:21,680 --> 00:05:22,680 and so on. 100 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:27,400 To use scientific and practical means that is the super high tech equipment to communicate 101 00:05:27,400 --> 00:05:32,280 with the world of Buddha and God and the extra celestial beings in every planet of the solar 102 00:05:32,280 --> 00:05:36,440 system to prepare for God's physical bodies dominance over the earth and recover the 103 00:05:36,440 --> 00:05:40,400 egalitarian force of justice that all living beings are created equal. 104 00:05:40,400 --> 00:05:44,200 People are urged to brave up the responsibility of self-salvation. 105 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,920 Weirdly, kind of sounds like some of the stuff we learned about the Falun Gong and very broken 106 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:49,920 English. 107 00:05:49,920 --> 00:05:52,880 This couldn't have been Google Translate because it came from the year 2000. 108 00:05:52,880 --> 00:05:56,920 Then it gives contact information for Professor Han Ming Chen, the one who prepares the way 109 00:05:56,920 --> 00:05:57,920 for God. 110 00:05:57,920 --> 00:05:58,920 I love that. 111 00:05:58,920 --> 00:06:02,560 You think that's more of a cultural thing that it has similarities in that? 112 00:06:02,560 --> 00:06:09,520 I do in fact because Christian cults in Asia are a specific thing that are fundamentally 113 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:12,080 different from Christian cults in the rest of the world. 114 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:14,000 At least from what I've learned about them. 115 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:19,040 I find them absolutely interesting because they always seem to fuse Buddha into it too. 116 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:24,840 But anyhow, this group that come to Garland, Texas in August of 97, Chen immediately predicts 117 00:06:24,840 --> 00:06:25,840 when they get there. 118 00:06:25,840 --> 00:06:32,080 March 31st, 1998, God would be seen on channel 18 all across North America. 119 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:36,480 At the time, the group had roughly 140 to 160 members and members purchased more than 120 00:06:36,480 --> 00:06:39,680 20 homes in an upper middle class South Garland neighborhood. 121 00:06:39,680 --> 00:06:43,400 Like those neighborhoods, these followers were white-collar professionals, some of whom 122 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:48,120 were reportedly wealthy and they dressed in white or cowboy hats and drove luxury cars 123 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,320 according to a Dallas Morning News article from the time. 124 00:06:51,320 --> 00:06:54,480 Can you imagine living in that neighborhood? 125 00:06:54,480 --> 00:07:00,640 The weirdest Chinese Christian cult. 126 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:04,400 The Garland Police Department understanding the potential gravity of the situation coordinated 127 00:07:04,400 --> 00:07:09,000 resources including religious studies professor Lonnie Cleaver and were on standby when the 128 00:07:09,000 --> 00:07:13,240 international media began arriving in what had previously been an upper middle class 129 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:15,160 section of the Dallas suburb. 130 00:07:15,160 --> 00:07:18,960 One person stated, its presence unsettled many Garland residents. 131 00:07:18,960 --> 00:07:20,440 Can you believe this? 132 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,480 Chinese people and cowboy hats just walking around. 133 00:07:23,480 --> 00:07:24,480 No, I couldn't ever. 134 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:25,480 Fancy cars. 135 00:07:25,480 --> 00:07:31,040 And the predicted appearance did not occur, so March 31st, 1998 comes and goes, nothing 136 00:07:31,040 --> 00:07:32,040 happens. 137 00:07:32,040 --> 00:07:34,200 Surprisingly, the group gets very confused. 138 00:07:34,200 --> 00:07:38,520 The Chen Tao leader announced that he obviously had a misunderstanding with God's plan. 139 00:07:38,520 --> 00:07:40,840 A lot of the members quietly return home. 140 00:07:40,840 --> 00:07:45,200 Chen, however, offered to be stoned or crucified for the event. 141 00:07:45,200 --> 00:07:47,680 Ah, got it wrong. 142 00:07:47,680 --> 00:07:49,120 Nobody took him up on the offer though. 143 00:07:49,120 --> 00:07:52,320 I think mostly because you know that would likely have to be charged with murder. 144 00:07:52,320 --> 00:07:54,440 Oh yeah, in the United States for sure. 145 00:07:54,440 --> 00:07:58,960 And the funny thing is with this as well, Chen Tao seems to have effectively fallen apart 146 00:07:58,960 --> 00:08:01,480 after its leader's prophecies went unfulfilled. 147 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:05,800 Immediately after the failed prediction, many of the members had to return to Taiwan owing 148 00:08:05,800 --> 00:08:08,600 to visa problems, which I think makes a lot of sense. 149 00:08:08,600 --> 00:08:12,160 If you think the world's gonna end, you're not gonna go for a long term visa. 150 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:14,160 No, you're not. 151 00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,600 So screwed up and they had to leave. 152 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:18,520 That's thinking about it logically. 153 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:20,080 Why would you pay more? 154 00:08:20,080 --> 00:08:21,080 Exactly. 155 00:08:21,080 --> 00:08:23,560 That's actually gonna come up in the, oh no, sorry. 156 00:08:23,560 --> 00:08:25,400 That was on one of the ones I deleted. 157 00:08:25,400 --> 00:08:28,720 There's one guy who wouldn't return the money because he said, well, for people who are 158 00:08:28,720 --> 00:08:31,640 donating to advertise the end of the world, and he's like, well, it's gonna end later 159 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:33,960 anyway, so I'm gonna spend the money on that. 160 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:34,960 Exactly. 161 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:36,280 It's a sound reasoning. 162 00:08:36,280 --> 00:08:39,960 So roughly two thirds of the people abandoned the group and later the remaining members moved 163 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:44,640 to Lockport, New York and continued to wear cowboy hats but began stating that a war between 164 00:08:44,640 --> 00:08:50,360 China and Taiwan was going to lead to a nuclear holocaust that would result in much death. 165 00:08:50,360 --> 00:08:55,640 Also God would arrive in a God plane, which is in quotation marks, to save the members 166 00:08:55,640 --> 00:09:00,040 and then they originally state that this was going to occur in 1999. 167 00:09:00,040 --> 00:09:02,280 But again, they revise it to a later date. 168 00:09:02,280 --> 00:09:05,640 Unfortunately, I couldn't actually find anything about that though. 169 00:09:05,640 --> 00:09:08,760 What is the significance of the cowboy hat? 170 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:12,200 I don't know, but I love it. 171 00:09:12,200 --> 00:09:15,080 More cults should wear cowboy hats. 172 00:09:15,080 --> 00:09:16,080 It's just stylish. 173 00:09:16,080 --> 00:09:17,720 There doesn't need to be a reason. 174 00:09:17,720 --> 00:09:22,320 I generally dislike cowboy hats because I feel they're a cultural appropriation of a group 175 00:09:22,320 --> 00:09:26,680 who has a hard time farmers by upper middle class people for fun. 176 00:09:26,680 --> 00:09:29,200 But no, this is perfectly fine in my mind. 177 00:09:29,200 --> 00:09:30,400 Cult, take it. 178 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:31,400 It's fantastic. 179 00:09:31,400 --> 00:09:32,400 Totally acceptable. 180 00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:36,720 I just thought that's a fun story. 181 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:37,720 Cowboy hats. 182 00:09:37,720 --> 00:09:38,720 Oh, that was a good one. 183 00:09:38,720 --> 00:09:39,720 Willing to crucify. 184 00:09:39,720 --> 00:09:40,720 That's where it goes. 185 00:09:40,720 --> 00:09:42,120 No, I like that one. 186 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:44,360 Next one we're going to talk about is William Miller. 187 00:09:44,360 --> 00:09:49,360 So William Miller is born on February 15th, 1782 in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. 188 00:09:49,360 --> 00:09:51,320 Holy crap, that's a long time ago. 189 00:09:51,320 --> 00:09:53,560 In 1803, Miller married Lucy Smith. 190 00:09:53,560 --> 00:09:55,160 These nets, too, were actually kind of connected. 191 00:09:55,160 --> 00:09:57,880 It has some real world implications, these ones, actually. 192 00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:02,280 And they moved to a nearby hometown of Pultney, where he took up farming. 193 00:10:02,280 --> 00:10:05,480 While in Pultney, Miller was elected to a number of civil offices, starting with the 194 00:10:05,480 --> 00:10:06,640 office of constable. 195 00:10:06,640 --> 00:10:11,480 In 1809, he was elected the office of deputy sheriff and at unknown date was elected to 196 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:13,160 be the justice of the peace. 197 00:10:13,160 --> 00:10:17,120 He was recently well off owning a house, land, and at least two horses. 198 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,000 I really liked that that was included in the Wikipedia for this guy. 199 00:10:20,000 --> 00:10:21,000 Horses. 200 00:10:21,000 --> 00:10:22,000 It's notable. 201 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:28,040 They couldn't get a square number, but they knew it was at least two. 202 00:10:28,040 --> 00:10:32,840 Shortly after his move to Pultney, Miller rejected his Baptist heritage and became a 203 00:10:32,840 --> 00:10:33,840 deist. 204 00:10:33,840 --> 00:10:36,800 In his biography, Miller records his conversion. 205 00:10:36,800 --> 00:10:39,960 A deist is basically there is a God, but they don't really interact with us. 206 00:10:39,960 --> 00:10:42,120 So there's no point in having any religiousness. 207 00:10:42,120 --> 00:10:46,960 Quote, I became acquainted with the principal men in the village, Pultney, Vermont, who 208 00:10:46,960 --> 00:10:51,880 were professedly deists, but they were good citizens and of a moral and serious department. 209 00:10:51,880 --> 00:10:57,120 They put into my hands the works of Voltaire, Hume, Thomas Paine, Ethan Allen, and other 210 00:10:57,120 --> 00:10:58,680 deistical writers. 211 00:10:58,680 --> 00:11:02,200 So he kind of gets this idea that there's no real reason to have a strong connection 212 00:11:02,200 --> 00:11:03,200 with God. 213 00:11:03,200 --> 00:11:05,640 However, then the war of 1812 breaks out. 214 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:06,640 He gets involved in this. 215 00:11:06,640 --> 00:11:10,520 He gets transferred to the 30th Infantry Regiment in the regular army of the United States 216 00:11:10,520 --> 00:11:11,680 in the rank Lieutenant. 217 00:11:11,680 --> 00:11:16,320 He saw his first action at the Battle of Plattsburgh, where vastly outnumbered American 218 00:11:16,320 --> 00:11:17,840 forces overcame the British. 219 00:11:17,840 --> 00:11:18,840 This is a quote from him. 220 00:11:18,840 --> 00:11:21,080 The fort I was in was exposed to every shot. 221 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:25,720 Bombs, rockets, shrapnel, shells fell as thick as hailstones. 222 00:11:25,720 --> 00:11:29,720 One of these many shots exploded two feet from him, wounding three of his men and killing 223 00:11:29,720 --> 00:11:32,400 another, but Miller survived without a scratch. 224 00:11:32,400 --> 00:11:36,040 Miller came to view the outcome of his battle as miraculous and therefore, odds with his 225 00:11:36,040 --> 00:11:40,000 deistic view of a distant God far removed from human affairs. 226 00:11:40,000 --> 00:11:44,480 He later wrote, quote, it seemed to me that the Supreme Being must have watched over the 227 00:11:44,480 --> 00:11:50,160 interests of this country in a special manner and delivered us from the hands of our enemy. 228 00:11:50,160 --> 00:11:55,080 So surprising as a result, against such odds did seem to me like the work of a mightier 229 00:11:55,080 --> 00:11:57,160 power than man, end quote. 230 00:11:57,160 --> 00:12:01,520 So almost dies, doesn't get scratched at all, so becomes religious again. 231 00:12:01,520 --> 00:12:03,720 After the war, Miller returned to Pultney. 232 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:07,640 Shortly after, moved with his family to Low Hampton, where he purchased a farm. 233 00:12:07,640 --> 00:12:10,960 About this time period, Miller was deeply concerned with the question of death and an 234 00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:11,960 afterlife. 235 00:12:11,960 --> 00:12:15,680 This reflection opened upon his own mortality, followed his experience as a soldier in the 236 00:12:15,680 --> 00:12:18,160 war, but also the recent deaths of his father and sister. 237 00:12:18,160 --> 00:12:22,840 Miller apparently felt that there were only two options possible following death, annihilation 238 00:12:22,840 --> 00:12:25,560 and accountability, neither of which he was comfortable with. 239 00:12:25,560 --> 00:12:29,640 As soon as he moved to Low Hampton, Miller took a tentative step toward regaining his 240 00:12:29,640 --> 00:12:30,760 Baptist faith. 241 00:12:30,760 --> 00:12:35,760 At first he attempted to combine both publicly espousing deism, while simultaneously attending 242 00:12:35,760 --> 00:12:37,240 his local Baptist church. 243 00:12:37,240 --> 00:12:41,440 His attendance turned to participation when he was asked to read the Day's Sermon during 244 00:12:41,440 --> 00:12:45,800 one of the local minister's frequent absences, and his participation changed to commitment 245 00:12:45,800 --> 00:12:50,080 one Sunday when he was reading a sermon on the duties of parents and became choked with 246 00:12:50,080 --> 00:12:51,080 emotion. 247 00:12:51,080 --> 00:12:55,000 Following his conversion, Miller's deist friends soon challenged him to justify his 248 00:12:55,000 --> 00:12:56,000 new faith. 249 00:12:56,000 --> 00:12:59,800 He did so by examining the Bible closely, declaring to one friend, quote, if he would 250 00:12:59,800 --> 00:13:04,200 give me time, I would harmonize all these apparent contradictions to my own satisfaction 251 00:13:04,200 --> 00:13:06,800 or I will be a deist still, end quote. 252 00:13:06,800 --> 00:13:10,880 Miller commenced with Genesis 1-1, studying each verse and not moving on until he felt 253 00:13:10,880 --> 00:13:12,280 the meaning was clear. 254 00:13:12,280 --> 00:13:16,440 In this way he became convinced that the time of Christ's second coming was revealed in 255 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:17,800 Bible prophecy. 256 00:13:17,800 --> 00:13:24,920 Basing his calculations principally on Daniel 814, quote, unto 2300 days, then shall the 257 00:13:24,920 --> 00:13:27,240 sanctuary be cleansed, end quote. 258 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,920 Miller assumed that the cleansing of the sanctuary represented the earth's purification by fire 259 00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:36,280 at Christ's second coming, then using the interpretive analysis of the day-year principle. 260 00:13:36,280 --> 00:13:39,800 Typically they think the day means year, so they can just substitute it. 261 00:13:39,800 --> 00:13:44,560 Miller and others interpret a day in a prophecy to read not as 24-hour period, but rather 262 00:13:44,560 --> 00:13:45,560 as a calendar year. 263 00:13:45,560 --> 00:13:51,200 Further, Miller became convinced that the 2300 day period started in 457 BC with the 264 00:13:51,200 --> 00:13:55,960 decree to rebuild Jerusalem by Arteserxes, one of Persia. 265 00:13:55,960 --> 00:14:00,360 There's too many X's in that for me to be comfortable pronouncing it. 266 00:14:00,360 --> 00:14:05,280 Simple calculations then revealed that this period would end in 1843. 267 00:14:05,280 --> 00:14:10,000 Miller records quote, I was thus brought to the solemn conclusion that in about 25 years 268 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:15,160 from that time 1818 all the affairs of our present state would be wound up, end quote. 269 00:14:15,160 --> 00:14:19,640 It's always really nice too when they can get it wrapped up in their lifetime so that 270 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,120 they can make another prediction if it fails. 271 00:14:22,120 --> 00:14:24,520 That end, most people think they are living through the end times. 272 00:14:24,520 --> 00:14:29,040 Like it is weird that every generation seems to have people like that. 273 00:14:29,040 --> 00:14:32,360 Having it predicted within your lifetime has its pros and cons. 274 00:14:32,360 --> 00:14:36,200 You got away with what you're going to go with obviously. 275 00:14:36,200 --> 00:14:40,360 If you predict it for everybody that's following you at the time and you predict it for after 276 00:14:40,360 --> 00:14:42,200 you're gone, you might be in the clear. 277 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:47,320 Whereas if it's within a couple years, you might be around still probably. 278 00:14:47,320 --> 00:14:50,000 And then you're safe to make another prediction. 279 00:14:50,000 --> 00:14:51,480 And that's what I always liked. 280 00:14:51,480 --> 00:14:54,240 Isaac Newton did his own analysis of the Bible. 281 00:14:54,240 --> 00:14:58,840 He was born in the 1700s, or sorry 1600s he lived in the 1700s. 282 00:14:58,840 --> 00:15:02,400 But he predicted the end of the world from his reading of the Bible to be 2060. 283 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,720 So he's one of those people that's bold enough to say, yeah, I'm going to predict it out 284 00:15:05,720 --> 00:15:06,720 here. 285 00:15:06,720 --> 00:15:07,720 It's not during my life. 286 00:15:07,720 --> 00:15:08,720 I'm with him on it. 287 00:15:08,720 --> 00:15:12,160 If I was going to predict it, I mean, I might just put it out there by the end of this 288 00:15:12,160 --> 00:15:13,160 episode. 289 00:15:13,160 --> 00:15:14,560 I'm going to think on it while you're talking. 290 00:15:14,560 --> 00:15:15,560 Oh, I'm sorry. 291 00:15:15,560 --> 00:15:18,480 Please let the world go longer than the end of this episode. 292 00:15:18,480 --> 00:15:19,480 Well, we'll see. 293 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:21,800 But yeah, so what do I think? 294 00:15:21,800 --> 00:15:25,000 Am I going to go bold or am I going to go, oh, we'll see. 295 00:15:25,000 --> 00:15:26,000 We'll see. 296 00:15:26,000 --> 00:15:27,000 We'll see. 297 00:15:27,000 --> 00:15:28,000 Okay. 298 00:15:28,000 --> 00:15:32,120 So, as he was convinced of his calculations by 1818, he continued to study privately until 299 00:15:32,120 --> 00:15:35,760 1823 to ensure his correctness of his interpretation. 300 00:15:35,760 --> 00:15:40,880 In September of 1822, Miller formally stated his conclusion in a 20-point document, including 301 00:15:40,880 --> 00:15:44,960 Article 15, quote, I believe that the second coming of Jesus Christ is near even at the 302 00:15:44,960 --> 00:15:49,480 door, even within 21 years, on or before 1843, end quote. 303 00:15:49,480 --> 00:15:53,640 Miller did not, however, begin his public lecturing until first Sunday in August of 304 00:15:53,640 --> 00:15:55,680 1831 in the town of Dresden. 305 00:15:55,680 --> 00:16:01,120 In 1832, Miller submitted a series of 16 articles to the Vermont Telegraph, a Baptist newspaper. 306 00:16:01,120 --> 00:16:05,600 The Telegraph published the first of these on May 15th, and Miller writes of the public's 307 00:16:05,600 --> 00:16:10,320 response, quote, I began to be flooded with letters of inquiry, respecting my views and 308 00:16:10,320 --> 00:16:13,680 visitors flocked to converse with me on the subject, end quote. 309 00:16:13,680 --> 00:16:18,160 In 1834, unable to personally comply with many of the urgent requests for information 310 00:16:18,160 --> 00:16:22,640 and the invitations to travel and preach that he received, Miller published a synopsis of 311 00:16:22,640 --> 00:16:27,240 his teachings in a 64-page tract with the lengthy title Evidence from Scripture and 312 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:33,080 History of the Second Coming of Christ, about the year 1844, exhibited in a course of lectures. 313 00:16:33,080 --> 00:16:38,360 And I also like, because he predicted 1843, but he also put in his title of the lecture 314 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:41,600 on or about the year 1844. 315 00:16:41,600 --> 00:16:43,040 Like just plain and safe. 316 00:16:43,040 --> 00:16:45,360 You gotta, if it's within your lifetime. 317 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,320 And it's getting closer, like he's been predicting this for 12 years now. 318 00:16:48,320 --> 00:16:49,320 You gotta give it a little wiggle. 319 00:16:49,320 --> 00:16:53,600 Like a, gotta, like a year at least in or about a year. 320 00:16:53,600 --> 00:16:58,600 So this gives rise to a religious movement called Millerism, which is just his last name. 321 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:03,480 From 1840 onward, Millerism was transformed from an obscure regional movement into a national 322 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:04,480 campaign. 323 00:17:04,480 --> 00:17:08,400 Despite the urging of his supporters, Miller never personally set an exact date for the 324 00:17:08,400 --> 00:17:09,880 expected second advent. 325 00:17:09,880 --> 00:17:14,540 However, in response to their urging, he did narrow down the time period to some time 326 00:17:14,540 --> 00:17:20,120 in the Jewish year beginning in the Gregorian year 1843, stating, quote, my principles in 327 00:17:20,120 --> 00:17:24,760 brief are that Jesus Christ will come again to this earth, cleanse, purify, and take possession 328 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:31,320 of the same with all the saints sometime between March 21st, 1843 and March 21st, 1844. 329 00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:37,200 So Chelsea, I don't know if you know your history, but March 21st, 1844 passes and 330 00:17:37,200 --> 00:17:38,840 the world does not end. 331 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:39,840 Hold on, it passed. 332 00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,920 In fact, nothing really important happens in that time period. 333 00:17:43,920 --> 00:17:45,360 It passed, you say? 334 00:17:45,360 --> 00:17:46,360 Yes. 335 00:17:46,360 --> 00:17:47,360 Okay. 336 00:17:47,360 --> 00:17:48,360 Wow. 337 00:17:48,360 --> 00:17:49,360 It wasn't prepared for that. 338 00:17:49,360 --> 00:17:51,920 And further discussion and study resulted in the brief adoption of a new date. 339 00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:53,040 And I love this. 340 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:56,040 His outside date was March 21st, 1844. 341 00:17:56,040 --> 00:17:59,840 If you're going to amend your end of the world date, Chelsea, what are you going to go with? 342 00:17:59,840 --> 00:18:02,320 I'm still thinking on it. 343 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,400 Feel like there needs to be a three in it. 344 00:18:04,400 --> 00:18:06,640 Feel that's the end of the world type number. 345 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:07,640 I'm going to go like... 346 00:18:07,640 --> 00:18:09,120 Okay, I'm going to stop you here. 347 00:18:09,120 --> 00:18:12,120 He moved it three weeks, April 18th, 1844. 348 00:18:12,120 --> 00:18:13,120 Okay. 349 00:18:13,120 --> 00:18:16,800 He's done a different calendar and he's like, oh, just use the wrong calendar. 350 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,040 No, I would probably push it out another at least 20 years, at least. 351 00:18:21,040 --> 00:18:22,720 He wanted to be around for it. 352 00:18:22,720 --> 00:18:26,160 At this point, I know you probably don't remember this from history class all that 353 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:31,360 well, but April 18th, 1844 also two passes without much happening and most importantly, 354 00:18:31,360 --> 00:18:33,680 no return of Christ as we are aware. 355 00:18:33,680 --> 00:18:38,840 Yeah, this passes and Miller responds publicly by writing, quote, I confess my error and acknowledge 356 00:18:38,840 --> 00:18:39,840 my disappointment. 357 00:18:39,840 --> 00:18:44,720 Yes, I still believe that the day of the Lord is near even at the door and quote. 358 00:18:44,720 --> 00:18:49,760 And I love just looking back at this guy who lived roughly 200 years ago that yeah, he's 359 00:18:49,760 --> 00:18:52,360 he was not that close, but he was sure of it. 360 00:18:52,360 --> 00:18:54,840 I love that he had such a fear of death. 361 00:18:54,840 --> 00:19:00,400 Yeah, he like wanted it to be like, he wanted to take everyone with him. 362 00:19:00,400 --> 00:19:01,400 Yeah. 363 00:19:01,400 --> 00:19:02,760 Sorry guys, I didn't predict it right. 364 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:03,760 You're all still alive. 365 00:19:03,760 --> 00:19:07,400 Hopefully it'll come in a few weeks. 366 00:19:07,400 --> 00:19:13,480 Yeah, in August of 1844 at a camp meeting in Exeter, New Hampshire, Samuel S. Snow presented 367 00:19:13,480 --> 00:19:18,760 a message that became known as the seventh month message or the true midnight cry. 368 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:21,360 Don't know who this guy is, but it is important for the story. 369 00:19:21,360 --> 00:19:24,640 And a discussion based on the scriptural typology. 370 00:19:24,640 --> 00:19:30,520 Snow presented his conclusion still based on the calculations that came from Miller 371 00:19:30,520 --> 00:19:36,120 that the date is actually the 10th day of the seventh month of the present year. 372 00:19:36,120 --> 00:19:40,720 Or which he calls October 22nd, 1844. 373 00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:42,600 Dave refused to even leave the year. 374 00:19:42,600 --> 00:19:44,000 Like they're just keeping it tight. 375 00:19:44,000 --> 00:19:47,200 We can't see that far. 376 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,200 After the failure of Miller's expectation of October 22nd, 1844. 377 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,640 And I, sorry, I should say that like this is in addition to what Miller has been talking 378 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:56,640 about. 379 00:19:56,640 --> 00:19:59,760 So they come to the agreement of understanding under Millerism that October 22nd is going 380 00:19:59,760 --> 00:20:00,760 to be. 381 00:20:00,760 --> 00:20:04,000 You know, Chelsea again, October 22nd came and went. 382 00:20:04,000 --> 00:20:09,600 This became known to the Millerites as the great disappointment. 383 00:20:09,600 --> 00:20:14,000 Herem Edson recorded that quote, our fondest hopes and expectations were blasted and such 384 00:20:14,000 --> 00:20:17,960 a spirit of weeping came over us and I never experienced before. 385 00:20:17,960 --> 00:20:20,760 We wept and wept till the day dawn. 386 00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:24,760 And quotes because they had to keep going on a living. 387 00:20:24,760 --> 00:20:28,320 Following the great disappointment, most Millerites simply gave up their beliefs. 388 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:29,440 Some did not. 389 00:20:29,440 --> 00:20:32,640 And viewpoints and explanations proliferated. 390 00:20:32,640 --> 00:20:36,040 Miller initially seems to have thought that Christ's second coming was still going to 391 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:40,360 take place that quote, the year of expectation was according to prophecy, but that there 392 00:20:40,360 --> 00:20:45,560 might be an error in Bible chronology, which was of human origin that could throw the dates 393 00:20:45,560 --> 00:20:48,360 off somewhat and account for the discrepancy. 394 00:20:48,360 --> 00:20:51,160 Miller never gave up his belief in the second coming of Christ. 395 00:20:51,160 --> 00:20:53,760 You just get pushing it back two weeks. 396 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:54,760 Really? 397 00:20:54,760 --> 00:20:55,760 Yeah. 398 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:56,760 He's like, maybe that's how far they were off. 399 00:20:56,760 --> 00:20:58,040 Like there was just a miscommunication when they're writing. 400 00:20:58,040 --> 00:21:01,880 They were pen pals and they didn't account for the time between. 401 00:21:01,880 --> 00:21:04,560 I enjoyed that one. 402 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:05,560 That one was good. 403 00:21:05,560 --> 00:21:10,880 And estimates of Miller's followers, they vary anywhere from 50,000 to 500,000 during 404 00:21:10,880 --> 00:21:12,360 kind of his like peak. 405 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:13,360 Wow. 406 00:21:13,360 --> 00:21:18,120 Miller's legacy includes the Advent Christian church with 61,000 members today and the seventh 407 00:21:18,120 --> 00:21:21,720 day Adventist church, which has over 19 million members. 408 00:21:21,720 --> 00:21:23,600 So those are both offshoots of Millerites. 409 00:21:23,600 --> 00:21:24,600 What? 410 00:21:24,600 --> 00:21:25,600 What? 411 00:21:25,600 --> 00:21:30,520 I guess he was he like took he was a was a like, what do you call him? 412 00:21:30,520 --> 00:21:31,720 Giving sermons. 413 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,320 Both these denominations have a direct connection with Millerite and the great disappointment 414 00:21:35,320 --> 00:21:40,440 of 1844 and a number of other individuals who ties the Millerites founded various short 415 00:21:40,440 --> 00:21:43,320 lived groups, which we don't really need to talk about. 416 00:21:43,320 --> 00:21:49,600 But yeah, Miller died on December 20th, 1849, still to the end, so the second coming was 417 00:21:49,600 --> 00:21:50,760 imminent. 418 00:21:50,760 --> 00:21:52,120 Just kept going with it. 419 00:21:52,120 --> 00:21:53,320 Love that. 420 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:54,600 You know what it was missing? 421 00:21:54,600 --> 00:21:55,600 The end of the world. 422 00:21:55,600 --> 00:21:56,600 Cowboy hat. 423 00:21:56,600 --> 00:22:01,680 No, you know what the cowboy hat as we envision it wouldn't have been invented by that point. 424 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:04,960 We'd have to do some collective historical work for that. 425 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:07,840 But okay, I can live with it then. 426 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:12,960 We're going to move on from Miller to a man by the name of Charles Taze Russell. 427 00:22:12,960 --> 00:22:17,760 He was born February 16th, 1852, as foretold by Miller. 428 00:22:17,760 --> 00:22:18,880 Maybe maybe he did. 429 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:20,080 We didn't write it down. 430 00:22:20,080 --> 00:22:22,720 Who knows in Allegheny, Pennsylvania. 431 00:22:22,720 --> 00:22:27,000 Now Russell lived for a time in Philadelphia before moving to Pittsburgh where they became 432 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:28,720 members of the Presbyterian Church. 433 00:22:28,720 --> 00:22:33,520 When Charles was in his early teens, his father made him partner of his Pittsburgh based Haberdashery 434 00:22:33,520 --> 00:22:37,320 store, which I looked up is really just like a sewing store. 435 00:22:37,320 --> 00:22:40,720 A Haberdashery that needs to make a comeback for sure. 436 00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:42,320 Never heard that word before. 437 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:44,120 Like where would you use that word though? 438 00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:47,560 Oh, you need to make up some stuff from the Haberdashery because you've got a hole in 439 00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,400 your shirt or something. 440 00:22:50,400 --> 00:22:52,000 You would become an empty empty. 441 00:22:52,000 --> 00:22:53,240 I'm pretty sure. 442 00:22:53,240 --> 00:22:57,280 So yeah, he has brought in by age 12, Russell was writing business contracts for customers 443 00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:00,120 and given charge of some of his father's other clothing stores. 444 00:23:00,120 --> 00:23:05,240 In age 13, Russell left the Presbyterian Church to join the Congregational Church and in his 445 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:06,240 youth. 446 00:23:06,240 --> 00:23:08,720 Then by the way, we talked about a lot of offshoots of Christianity. 447 00:23:08,720 --> 00:23:11,000 We're not really going to talk about any of them. 448 00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:12,400 There's just not enough time. 449 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,880 And like it's such minute details that separate a ton of these that it's not worth discussing 450 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:19,520 unless you have like a PhD in religious studies. 451 00:23:19,520 --> 00:23:23,200 I also really like that the dad trusts a 12 year old to write up those contracts. 452 00:23:23,200 --> 00:23:24,200 I mean, why not? 453 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:26,560 It takes the work off you. 454 00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:30,480 Yeah, you're busy just trying to specify. 455 00:23:30,480 --> 00:23:32,400 He's owning a Haberdashery. 456 00:23:32,400 --> 00:23:35,080 He's owning 12 Haberdashery. 457 00:23:35,080 --> 00:23:38,040 It's like the only Haberdashery ever, right? 458 00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:39,440 Yeah, you know what? 459 00:23:39,440 --> 00:23:42,120 I don't see the word after this finishes. 460 00:23:42,120 --> 00:23:45,360 So I think it dies out with them. 461 00:23:45,360 --> 00:23:47,160 I think it does. 462 00:23:47,160 --> 00:23:51,800 Russell in his youth was known to chalk Bible verses on fenceboards and city sidewalks in 463 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:53,560 an attempt to convert unbelievers. 464 00:23:53,560 --> 00:23:56,920 We particularly noted the punishment of hell awaiting the unfaithful. 465 00:23:56,920 --> 00:24:00,920 I have a hard time calling him a rebel, but he is vandalizing things. 466 00:24:00,920 --> 00:24:01,920 It's okay. 467 00:24:01,920 --> 00:24:03,320 I love that. 468 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:07,280 At age 16, a discussion with a childhood friend on faults perceived in Christianity, such 469 00:24:07,280 --> 00:24:11,400 as contradictions and creeds along with the medieval traditions led Russell to question 470 00:24:11,400 --> 00:24:12,400 his faith. 471 00:24:12,400 --> 00:24:15,880 He investigated various other religions, but concluded that they did not provide the answers 472 00:24:15,880 --> 00:24:16,880 he was seeking. 473 00:24:16,880 --> 00:24:22,480 At 1870 of age 18, he attends a presentation by Adventist minister, Jonas Wendell. 474 00:24:22,480 --> 00:24:27,240 And you'll remember that the Adventist church is a direct offshoot of Millerites. 475 00:24:27,240 --> 00:24:31,440 So Russell later said that although he had not entirely agreed with Wendell's arguments, 476 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,560 the presentation had inspired him with a renewed zeal and belief that the Bible is the word 477 00:24:35,560 --> 00:24:36,560 of God. 478 00:24:36,560 --> 00:24:41,240 So Russell, a charismatic figure, however, did not claim any special revelations or visions 479 00:24:41,240 --> 00:24:44,120 for his teachings and no special authority on his own behalf. 480 00:24:44,120 --> 00:24:48,640 He said that he did not seek to found a new denomination, but intended to gather together 481 00:24:48,640 --> 00:24:53,000 those who were seeking the truth of God's words during this harvest time. 482 00:24:53,000 --> 00:24:57,040 He wrote that clear unfolding of truth within his teachings were due to the simple fact 483 00:24:57,040 --> 00:25:02,520 that God's due time has come and if I did not speak and no other agents could be found, 484 00:25:02,520 --> 00:25:05,880 the very stones will cry out. 485 00:25:05,880 --> 00:25:10,720 So in about 1870, Russell and his father established a group with a number of acquaintances to 486 00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:15,480 undertake an analytical study of the Bible and the origins of Christian doctrine, creed, 487 00:25:15,480 --> 00:25:16,480 and tradition. 488 00:25:16,480 --> 00:25:21,800 The group strongly influenced by the writings of Millerite Adventist minister George Storrs 489 00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:23,560 and George Stetson. 490 00:25:23,560 --> 00:25:27,560 So yeah, there's two Russells here. 491 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:32,600 These people are also frequent attendees and concluded that many of the primary doctrines 492 00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:36,720 of the established churches, including the Trinity, Hellfire, and the inherent immortality 493 00:25:36,720 --> 00:25:39,760 of the soul, were not substantiated by the scriptures. 494 00:25:39,760 --> 00:25:44,680 Around January of 1876, Russell received a copy of Nelson Barber's Carrold of the Morning 495 00:25:44,680 --> 00:25:45,680 in the Mail. 496 00:25:45,680 --> 00:25:49,880 Barber was an influential Adventist, writer, and publisher, and Russell telegraphed Barber 497 00:25:49,880 --> 00:25:51,240 to set up a meeting. 498 00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:57,280 Barber and John Henry Patton visited in Allahenny in March 1876 at Russell's expense so that 499 00:25:57,280 --> 00:26:01,120 he could hear their arguments and compare the conclusions that each side had made in 500 00:26:01,120 --> 00:26:02,120 their studies. 501 00:26:02,120 --> 00:26:06,360 Russell sponsored a speech by Barber in St. George's Hall, Philadelphia in August of 502 00:26:06,360 --> 00:26:09,360 1876 and attended other lectures by Barber. 503 00:26:09,360 --> 00:26:13,060 Among the teachings Barber introduced was the view that Christians who had died would 504 00:26:13,060 --> 00:26:18,280 be raised in April 1878, meaning the end of the world. 505 00:26:18,280 --> 00:26:23,760 Russell was moved to vote his life to what he was convinced were now the last two years 506 00:26:23,760 --> 00:26:36,480 before the invisible spiritual return of Christ, and he sold his five clothing stores for $300,000 507 00:26:36,480 --> 00:26:41,680 at that time, which is roughly worth $8.5 million today. 508 00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:45,440 With Russell's encouragement and financial backing, Barber wrote an outline of their 509 00:26:45,440 --> 00:26:50,040 views in Three Worlds and the Harvest of This World, published in 1877. 510 00:26:50,040 --> 00:26:54,000 A text Russell had previously written titled The Object Manor of Our Lord's Return was 511 00:26:54,000 --> 00:26:57,000 published concurrently through the Office of the Herald of the Morning. 512 00:26:57,000 --> 00:27:00,320 Russell was eager to lead a Christian revival and called to two separate meetings with the 513 00:27:00,320 --> 00:27:01,680 Christian leaders in Pittsburgh. 514 00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:06,240 Russell's ideas, particularly stressing the imminence of the rapture and the second advent 515 00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:08,760 of Christ, were rejected both times. 516 00:27:08,760 --> 00:27:13,800 When 1878 arrived, failure of the expected rapture brought great disappointment for Barber 517 00:27:13,800 --> 00:27:17,520 and Russell, and their associates and readers, but one of Russell's associates claimed that 518 00:27:17,520 --> 00:27:19,040 Russell was not upset. 519 00:27:19,040 --> 00:27:21,400 This is a direct quote from Alexander Humick Millen. 520 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:25,280 While talking with Russell about the events of 1878, I told him that Pittsburgh Papers 521 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:29,160 had reported he was on the 6th Street Bridge dressed in a white robe on the night of the 522 00:27:29,160 --> 00:27:33,440 Memorial of Christ's death, expecting to be taken to heaven together with many others. 523 00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,080 I asked him, is that correct? 524 00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:39,360 Russell laughed heartedly and said, I was in bed that night between 10.30 and 11.00 525 00:27:39,360 --> 00:27:40,360 pm. 526 00:27:40,360 --> 00:27:43,280 However, some of the more radical ones might have been there, but I was not. 527 00:27:43,280 --> 00:27:47,240 Neither did I expect to be taken to heaven at that time, for I felt there was much work 528 00:27:47,240 --> 00:27:51,160 to be done preaching the kingdom message to the peoples of the earth before the church 529 00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:52,520 would be taken away. 530 00:27:52,520 --> 00:27:56,400 Confused by what was perceived to be an error in calculation? 531 00:27:56,400 --> 00:28:00,120 Russell then reexamined the doctrine to see if he could determine whether it was a biblical 532 00:28:00,120 --> 00:28:02,240 origin or simply Christian tradition. 533 00:28:02,240 --> 00:28:05,360 He concluded that the doctrine was Christian tradition. 534 00:28:05,360 --> 00:28:09,720 Through the pages of the herald, he wrote about what he had concluded on the subject. 535 00:28:09,720 --> 00:28:13,400 Barber, embarrassed by the failure of these expectations, rejects Russell's explanation 536 00:28:13,400 --> 00:28:19,280 and they conducted a debate in successive issues of the journal from early 1878 to 1879. 537 00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:22,280 Funny enough, the guy who actually came up with the original one, he's like, yeah, let's 538 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:23,800 just give this up. 539 00:28:23,800 --> 00:28:26,200 But nope, Russell's in it to win it. 540 00:28:26,200 --> 00:28:27,480 He's gonna get this right. 541 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:31,360 In a matter of months, Barber changed some of the views which he and Russell had previously 542 00:28:31,360 --> 00:28:33,480 shared and no longer relied on the prophetic chronology. 543 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:38,040 They began a debate over the issues of Christ's ransom and who eventually separated because 544 00:28:38,040 --> 00:28:39,320 of their disagreement. 545 00:28:39,320 --> 00:28:43,600 Russell withdrew his financial support and started his own journal, Zion's Watchtower 546 00:28:43,600 --> 00:28:46,000 and Herald of Christ's Presence. 547 00:28:46,000 --> 00:28:50,680 Publishing his first issue in July of 1879, Barber formed the Church of the Strangers 548 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:53,800 that same year, continuing to publish Herald of the Morning. 549 00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:59,080 At an 1881, Russell founded Zion's Watchtower Tract Society with William Henry Conley as 550 00:28:59,080 --> 00:29:01,880 President and Russell as Secretary Treasurer. 551 00:29:01,880 --> 00:29:07,520 They intended to disseminate tracts, papers, doctrinal treatises, and bibles. 552 00:29:07,520 --> 00:29:12,400 Society was incorporated in 1884 with Russell as President and in 1886, its name was changed 553 00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:14,840 to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. 554 00:29:14,840 --> 00:29:17,000 Chelsea, have you ever heard any of those words? 555 00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:18,000 I don't think so. 556 00:29:18,000 --> 00:29:20,920 Okay, they were in for a good surprise at the end here then. 557 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:21,920 Okay, I love the prize. 558 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:28,040 So, by 1881, Russell had found a biblical basis for extending the harvest to a new date. 559 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:33,000 Later that year, he explained, coming to the spring of 1878, we naturally and not unreasonably 560 00:29:33,000 --> 00:29:37,880 expected some change for our condition and all were more or less disappointed when nothing 561 00:29:37,880 --> 00:29:39,120 supernatural occurred. 562 00:29:39,120 --> 00:29:43,200 But our disappointment was brief, for we noticed that the Jewish Church was the pattern of 563 00:29:43,200 --> 00:29:47,760 ours and therefore we should not expel parallels to Pentecost or to anything which happened 564 00:29:47,760 --> 00:29:49,640 in the beginning of this Church. 565 00:29:49,640 --> 00:29:54,360 Russell wrote that the light upon our pathway still shines and is more and more glorious 566 00:29:54,360 --> 00:29:57,240 and that since 1878, the light had glowed stronger. 567 00:29:57,240 --> 00:30:03,080 Quote, we know not the day or hour but expect it during 1881, possibly near the autumn where 568 00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:07,960 the parallels show the favor to Zion, complete and due to end, the door to the marriage to 569 00:30:07,960 --> 00:30:11,320 shut and the high calling to be the bride of Christ to cease. 570 00:30:11,320 --> 00:30:12,320 End quote. 571 00:30:12,320 --> 00:30:16,600 So sometime near the end of 81, and I keep hitting spacebar, I hate this. 572 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:21,960 The second failure in 1881 precipitated a more serious crisis in the Bible student ranks 573 00:30:21,960 --> 00:30:26,640 and for several years, Russell's followers waited for the belated translation to occur. 574 00:30:26,640 --> 00:30:31,640 Russell's chronological timetable had already identified 1914 as the ultimate end of the 575 00:30:31,640 --> 00:30:32,640 time of trouble. 576 00:30:32,640 --> 00:30:37,000 And it's important because invisible Jesus shows up in 1881, but the world doesn't end 577 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,160 until 1914, that was kind of the whole prediction. 578 00:30:40,160 --> 00:30:41,960 But Jesus didn't show up in 81. 579 00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,800 So he basically just says, oh yeah, well then 1914's the new date. 580 00:30:45,800 --> 00:30:48,160 Obviously, he got it a little bit backwards. 581 00:30:48,160 --> 00:30:53,120 Yeah, but many members of his group found it inconceivable that their earthly departure 582 00:30:53,120 --> 00:30:58,400 might be delayed that long, 33 years. 583 00:30:58,400 --> 00:31:00,720 Maybe you got to make it a lot short. 584 00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:01,800 Maybe that's why. 585 00:31:01,800 --> 00:31:06,000 And I almost feel like that they took into account the age of Jesus when he was crucified 586 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:07,560 because he was in his 30s. 587 00:31:07,560 --> 00:31:10,520 So maybe that's why he said 33 years or something like that. 588 00:31:10,520 --> 00:31:14,560 Like he's got to get up to crucify an agent to take everybody up or something like that. 589 00:31:14,560 --> 00:31:16,680 It's just an invisible baby Jesus for now. 590 00:31:16,680 --> 00:31:21,560 So Russell consoled members with the news that 1881 had still marked the time when death 591 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:26,200 became a blessing in the sense that any saint who died would henceforth be instantaneously 592 00:31:26,200 --> 00:31:27,720 changed into a spirit being. 593 00:31:27,720 --> 00:31:32,280 The revised view provided comfort for the early believers who had held the view that 594 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:36,920 living faithful would never experience a physical death and yet had seen other members in fact 595 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:39,320 dying while they awaited their upward call. 596 00:31:39,320 --> 00:31:44,080 After 1881, physical death was defined as one of the ways in which some of the saints 597 00:31:44,080 --> 00:31:46,360 might undergo their translation. 598 00:31:46,360 --> 00:31:50,640 Russell's studies in the scripture series had explicitly identified October of 1914 599 00:31:50,640 --> 00:31:55,320 as the full end of the times for the Gentiles and consequently the farthest limit of human 600 00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:56,320 rulership. 601 00:31:56,320 --> 00:32:01,200 It would bring a beginning of Christ's millennial reign and all the followers expected the immediate 602 00:32:01,200 --> 00:32:05,280 translation of the saints to rule with the revealed Christ that year. 603 00:32:05,280 --> 00:32:08,880 Following the earth's tribulations and unrest the Jews would return to God's favor. 604 00:32:08,880 --> 00:32:10,880 The nominal church would have fallen. 605 00:32:10,880 --> 00:32:13,480 The final battle between Christ and Satan would have ended. 606 00:32:13,480 --> 00:32:15,680 The kingdoms of the world would be overthrown. 607 00:32:15,680 --> 00:32:19,160 Christ would have gathered his saints into heaven and they would reign and when the millennium 608 00:32:19,160 --> 00:32:20,160 would begin. 609 00:32:20,160 --> 00:32:21,160 That's incredible. 610 00:32:21,160 --> 00:32:26,400 The belief was unequivocal based on his studies of the Bible and the Great Pyramid and satisfied 611 00:32:26,400 --> 00:32:29,080 only upon the establishment of an earthly paradise. 612 00:32:29,080 --> 00:32:33,640 Russell remarked that altering the prophecy by even one year would destroy the perfect 613 00:32:33,640 --> 00:32:36,120 symmetry of its biblical chronology. 614 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:40,920 Which is a real big thing for a guy who's already been wrong twice to say you can't 615 00:32:40,920 --> 00:32:42,440 change the state. 616 00:32:42,440 --> 00:32:43,600 This one is perfect. 617 00:32:43,600 --> 00:32:46,200 Those other two I didn't put my all into it. 618 00:32:46,200 --> 00:32:49,040 If it's off or all fucked if it doesn't happen. 619 00:32:49,040 --> 00:32:53,280 In the second book of his studies in the scripture series he described it as quote an established 620 00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,760 truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world and the full establishment of the 621 00:32:56,760 --> 00:33:01,160 kingdom of God will be accomplished at the end of AD 1914 end quote. 622 00:33:01,160 --> 00:33:04,840 The result he wrote was that quote all present governments will be overthrown and dissolved 623 00:33:04,840 --> 00:33:09,200 end quote along with the destruction of quote what God calls Babylon and what men call 624 00:33:09,200 --> 00:33:10,920 Christendom end quote. 625 00:33:10,920 --> 00:33:16,520 And in 1894 watchtower which is his newspaper responding to readers who questioned whether 626 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:20,720 because of recent political upheavals the world could last until 1914. 627 00:33:20,720 --> 00:33:25,200 He wrote quote we see no reason for changing the figures nor could we change them if we 628 00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:26,200 would. 629 00:33:26,200 --> 00:33:30,040 They are we believe God's dates not ours but bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not 630 00:33:30,040 --> 00:33:34,240 the date for the beginning but for the end of the time of the trouble end quote. 631 00:33:34,240 --> 00:33:39,240 As 1914 approached excitement mounted over the expected change of anointed Christians 632 00:33:39,240 --> 00:33:43,000 early that year some Bible students convinced that the end of the world had arrived began 633 00:33:43,000 --> 00:33:47,600 distributing their material belongings abandoning their jobs and eagerly anticipating the future. 634 00:33:47,600 --> 00:33:52,440 In May of 1914 five months from the expected end Russell warned followers against coming 635 00:33:52,440 --> 00:33:57,400 to doubt quote there is absolutely no ground for Bible students to question the consummation 636 00:33:57,400 --> 00:34:02,280 of this gospel age is now even at the door and that it will end as a scripture foretells 637 00:34:02,280 --> 00:34:06,600 in a great time to trouble such as never was since there was a nation. 638 00:34:06,600 --> 00:34:11,080 We see the participants in this great crisis banding together themselves the great crisis 639 00:34:11,080 --> 00:34:16,440 the great clash that will consume the ecclesiastical heavens and the social earth is very near 640 00:34:16,440 --> 00:34:17,440 end quote. 641 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:21,120 However by September Russell was pairing readers for the possibility that quote Armageddon 642 00:34:21,120 --> 00:34:27,240 may begin next spring yet it is purely speculation to attempt to say just when end quote. 643 00:34:27,240 --> 00:34:31,440 Yet the evidence he wrote still pointed to quote the year just before us particularly 644 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:36,120 the early months end quote when again nothing takes place predictions regressed to their 645 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:37,760 earlier short term orientation. 646 00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:41,240 The watchtower wrote quote it may be that many of the Lord's people were expecting 647 00:34:41,240 --> 00:34:46,960 more than they should have looked for to occur with the opening of the Jewish year 1915 which 648 00:34:46,960 --> 00:34:48,840 began with September 21. 649 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,520 The human mind seems to have a natural tendency and one with which we should have sympathy 650 00:34:53,520 --> 00:34:58,320 to expect matters to culminate more rapidly fulfillments to come more suddenly than they 651 00:34:58,320 --> 00:34:59,960 ever do come. 652 00:34:59,960 --> 00:35:05,080 Studying God's word we have measured the 2520 years the seven symbolic times from that 653 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:11,400 year 606 BC and have found that it reached down to October 1914 as nearly as we were 654 00:35:11,400 --> 00:35:16,640 able to reckon we did not say positively that this would be the year we merely left 655 00:35:16,640 --> 00:35:21,880 everyone to look at the facts of history and reckon for himself end quote I love that just 656 00:35:21,880 --> 00:35:23,400 completely backs out of it. 657 00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:27,280 Yeah he took the opportunity to remind readers of some cautionary pronouncements he had made 658 00:35:27,280 --> 00:35:31,280 several years earlier in 1912 he had left open the possibility that nothing happened 659 00:35:31,280 --> 00:35:35,040 in October of 1914 it could still happen in October of 1950. 660 00:35:35,040 --> 00:35:39,280 He also pointed out that the period of transition could quote run a good many years. 661 00:35:39,280 --> 00:35:43,840 In a lengthy article of consolation Russell wrote that it was a testing time for Christ 662 00:35:43,840 --> 00:35:48,160 disciples and that some Bible students had unreal expectations and he said it was also 663 00:35:48,160 --> 00:35:51,840 possible that God's kingdom on earth would be established gradually. 664 00:35:51,840 --> 00:35:57,760 We find that some have one idea others another some think that just the next hour after midnight 665 00:35:57,760 --> 00:36:03,360 would see a great great change everywhere evil blotted out in 60 minutes or in 60 seconds 666 00:36:03,360 --> 00:36:07,240 but would it be a reasonable expectation that the Gentile Kingdom would be snuffed out inside 667 00:36:07,240 --> 00:36:11,360 of an hour inside a day if God had said so it would be different. 668 00:36:11,360 --> 00:36:15,800 We know that God has all power to do his will everywhere but are we in any sense of the word 669 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:20,760 to expect such a sudden transition that going to bed on the night of September 20th we 670 00:36:20,760 --> 00:36:24,520 would find on the morning of the 21st all the kingdoms of the world destroyed in the 671 00:36:24,520 --> 00:36:26,280 kingdom of Christ set up. 672 00:36:26,280 --> 00:36:28,200 The saints in glory etc. 673 00:36:28,200 --> 00:36:32,840 Such would be a lightning change we do not think that and he would have been justified 674 00:36:32,840 --> 00:36:38,320 in so thinking if any such expectations it was unwarranted despite the fact he said that 675 00:36:38,320 --> 00:36:39,720 like three years before. 676 00:36:39,720 --> 00:36:41,800 I love how he gaslights everybody. 677 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:46,520 Yet on October 2nd 1914 he entered the staff dining room at the Watchtower Society headquarters 678 00:36:46,520 --> 00:36:50,760 and declared that the Gentile times had ended and that their kings have had their day. 679 00:36:50,760 --> 00:36:55,280 It signaled that God had withdrawn his benevolent disposition towards the Christian nations. 680 00:36:55,280 --> 00:36:58,680 The statement implied that the legitimacy of earthly governments had been downgraded 681 00:36:58,680 --> 00:37:03,440 in the eyes of God which sociologist Joseph Zygman suggested may have contributed to the 682 00:37:03,440 --> 00:37:08,120 subsequent adoption of bolder tactics and condemning global political systems. 683 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:11,600 Russell viewed the outbreak of World War I as the beginning of Armageddon which would 684 00:37:11,600 --> 00:37:16,800 soon descend into a world wide revolution and in 1916 shortly after his death he reaffirmed 685 00:37:16,800 --> 00:37:21,640 his conviction that the end was close and the harvest of saints was going on. 686 00:37:21,640 --> 00:37:25,720 Quote, some of us were quite strongly convinced that the harvest would be ended by now but 687 00:37:25,720 --> 00:37:30,480 our expectations must not be allowed to weigh anything as against the facts. 688 00:37:30,480 --> 00:37:34,760 We see no reason for doubting therefore that the times of the Gentiles ended in October 689 00:37:34,760 --> 00:37:39,520 of 1914 and that in a few more years we'll witness this utter collapse of the full establishment 690 00:37:39,520 --> 00:37:41,640 of God's kingdom in the hands of Messiah. 691 00:37:41,640 --> 00:37:45,480 In post-humus editions of the studies of the scriptures entire sections were rewritten 692 00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:49,840 to accommodate the failures of the anticipated events in 1914 now identified as the beginning 693 00:37:49,840 --> 00:37:51,600 of the end of the Gentile times. 694 00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:55,640 The outbreak of World War I was taken to be its confirmation, sociologist James Bechford 695 00:37:55,640 --> 00:38:01,400 claimed that Russell's sometimes ingenious ex-post facto rationalization events in 1914 696 00:38:01,400 --> 00:38:04,320 contributed to the survival of the Bible student movement. 697 00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:08,880 None are doctrinal changes introduced by his successor Joseph Franklin Rutherford. 698 00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:13,400 It was later decided that the millennium would come within the generation of those who saw 699 00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,040 the events of 1914. 700 00:38:15,040 --> 00:38:20,160 The years of 1799 and 1874 until then significant dates in Russell's millennial chronology 701 00:38:20,160 --> 00:38:21,640 were also abandoned. 702 00:38:21,640 --> 00:38:26,840 So yeah, he dies, they come up with a new date of 1918, this is running long so I'm just 703 00:38:26,840 --> 00:38:27,840 gonna... 704 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,560 Chelsea, this is still around, you want to take a guess at who this is? 705 00:38:30,560 --> 00:38:31,840 One of the popes. 706 00:38:31,840 --> 00:38:34,280 Not quite, it's the Jehovah's Witnesses. 707 00:38:34,280 --> 00:38:35,280 What? 708 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:36,280 Yes. 709 00:38:36,280 --> 00:38:39,120 And are they still just like running it on like a couple of... 710 00:38:39,120 --> 00:38:42,080 Not only that, they're still guessing the end of days. 711 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:43,080 Is that the whole thing of the... 712 00:38:43,080 --> 00:38:44,080 The guest? 713 00:38:44,080 --> 00:38:45,080 They move it to 1918. 714 00:38:45,080 --> 00:38:46,080 The Jehovah's Witness. 715 00:38:46,080 --> 00:38:47,680 They move it to 1920. 716 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:57,000 They move it to 1921, 25, 32, 35, 40s, 51, 75, 80, 86 and 2000. 717 00:38:57,000 --> 00:38:58,000 And now they're at 2033. 718 00:38:58,000 --> 00:38:59,000 So... 719 00:38:59,000 --> 00:39:00,000 233, hey? 720 00:39:00,000 --> 00:39:03,720 That's a good guess, that's not a bad guess, 2033. 721 00:39:03,720 --> 00:39:04,720 That's a good even number. 722 00:39:04,720 --> 00:39:06,720 Oh, an even number. 723 00:39:06,720 --> 00:39:08,840 That was the twist I didn't think you'd see coming. 724 00:39:08,840 --> 00:39:13,120 But their writings are called the Watchtower and it comes from Russell. 725 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:14,560 He started it all. 726 00:39:14,560 --> 00:39:15,560 Really? 727 00:39:15,560 --> 00:39:16,560 Interesting. 728 00:39:16,560 --> 00:39:17,560 I love that for them. 729 00:39:17,560 --> 00:39:19,320 They're still going strong and they're still... 730 00:39:19,320 --> 00:39:22,520 I guess technically his predictions are still going strong and wrong. 731 00:39:22,520 --> 00:39:23,520 I love that. 732 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:24,680 Steeped in tradition. 733 00:39:24,680 --> 00:39:26,480 He can't just stop predicting. 734 00:39:26,480 --> 00:39:27,960 No, he can't. 735 00:39:27,960 --> 00:39:30,240 Not like that towered at the beginning of the Russell story. 736 00:39:30,240 --> 00:39:31,640 He was like, no, I'm done. 737 00:39:31,640 --> 00:39:32,920 I was wrong. 738 00:39:32,920 --> 00:39:33,920 Or David Wilcock. 739 00:39:33,920 --> 00:39:37,440 I can throw him under the bus too, because he was one of the 2012 people. 740 00:39:37,440 --> 00:39:39,000 Sure was. 741 00:39:39,000 --> 00:39:40,000 He just... 742 00:39:40,000 --> 00:39:42,720 He went another way with it though, I don't think he ever acknowledged it. 743 00:39:42,720 --> 00:39:46,160 No, he kind of says that while I was never predicting like the end of the world, it was 744 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:49,160 a spiritual change that did definitely happen. 745 00:39:49,160 --> 00:39:53,280 Oh yeah, I was thinking that while I was going on, I was like, hold on. 746 00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:58,640 I remember a lot of people from 2012 saying that it was just like a gradual change that 747 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:00,000 has happened. 748 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,320 Does that not follow Russell exactly? 749 00:40:02,320 --> 00:40:05,160 Where he just doesn't throw away 1914? 750 00:40:05,160 --> 00:40:07,280 And like, no, all these things, the world did end. 751 00:40:07,280 --> 00:40:09,400 You can tell from all the things that happened. 752 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:10,400 Exactly. 753 00:40:10,400 --> 00:40:11,600 But yeah, that's I think where I'm going to end off. 754 00:40:11,600 --> 00:40:16,040 I did not expect in my research to end up with, and the Jehovah's Witnesses are still 755 00:40:16,040 --> 00:40:17,840 continuing this tradition today. 756 00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:23,080 They're still predicting it, and they keep moving it up. 757 00:40:23,080 --> 00:40:28,400 They'll never stop, because I assume they'll never stop, because it's steeped in tradition. 758 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:30,920 And everybody should look at this, because I find it really interesting. 759 00:40:30,920 --> 00:40:35,920 There's the Wikipedia article called the Unfulfilled Watchtower Society Predictions, and there's 760 00:40:35,920 --> 00:40:39,880 a specific section in it called Adherence Responses to the Failed Predictions, which 761 00:40:39,880 --> 00:40:43,560 kind of gives you an idea of the psyche of the people who continue to follow it, despite 762 00:40:43,560 --> 00:40:46,120 the fact that they've been wrong so many times. 763 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:50,720 I'd like to take a look at the article as well, but here I'm going to have my say on 764 00:40:50,720 --> 00:40:52,720 things that I haven't looked at. 765 00:40:52,720 --> 00:40:58,000 If somebody believes it, and it's a core belief of theirs, they're just going to accept anything 766 00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:00,800 for continuing to believe that the end of days are coming. 767 00:41:00,800 --> 00:41:04,400 Yeah, and that's one of those things where too, it kind of just isolates you. 768 00:41:04,400 --> 00:41:09,000 If you continue to follow something like this, the normal people in your life are going to 769 00:41:09,000 --> 00:41:12,880 believe, and you're just going to end up with this group, and you're just going to continue 770 00:41:12,880 --> 00:41:16,880 to believe what they're saying even more so because they're more people you have than 771 00:41:16,880 --> 00:41:17,880 you need it. 772 00:41:17,880 --> 00:41:18,880 Because you all hold the same beliefs. 773 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:19,880 Yeah, but bleak. 774 00:41:19,880 --> 00:41:21,280 At least add cowboy hats. 775 00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:25,360 And yeah, if Joe Hope is with us, if you learned nothing else from this episode, please just 776 00:41:25,360 --> 00:41:30,600 add cowboy hats to the story. 777 00:41:30,600 --> 00:41:32,600 Thanks for listening, Joe Hope, with Witnesses. 778 00:41:32,600 --> 00:41:35,560 Yeah, and I think with that, I have been Taylor. 779 00:41:35,560 --> 00:41:36,560 Here with Chelsea. 780 00:41:36,560 --> 00:41:37,560 We are Journey to the Fringe. 781 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:39,560 We'll see you all for listening and we'll see you next week. 782 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:40,560 Goodbye. 783 00:41:40,560 --> 00:41:44,320 Thank you for listening to Journey to the Fringe. 784 00:41:44,320 --> 00:41:50,520 If you have liked what you have listened to, please like, share, subscribe, or follow, 785 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:53,480 depending on what venue you are listening to us through. 786 00:41:53,480 --> 00:41:59,840 Also, please, if possible, leave a five-star review, as that really helps us in the algorithms. 787 00:41:59,840 --> 00:42:04,640 Should you wish to interact with us, please check us out on your social media of choice. 788 00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:09,280 I bet you we are there, and if you really want to communicate with us and give us ideas 789 00:42:09,280 --> 00:42:13,640 for new episodes or tell us that we're wrong and terrible, either way, please send us an 790 00:42:13,640 --> 00:42:17,760 email at journeytothefringe at gmail.com. 791 00:42:17,760 --> 00:42:35,680 For now, I'll see you in the next episode.