Russell and Peters' "The Theocratic Kingdom"

This is related a series of books entitled The Theocratic Kingdom, by George N. H. Peters. Brother Russell was acquainted with Peters, and spoke highly of him, although Russell thought Peters had not gotten rid of some the “shackles” of “Babylon”. Russell wrote comments regarding Peter’s The Theocratic Kingdom, and provided information about those books, including the purchase price. Lately, however, it is being circulated around that “the May 1883 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower criticized Peters’ work, recommending that readers not purchase the title.” Quotes are given, which on the surface, appear to support this statement; and yet, if one reads what Russell actually wrote in May 1883 concerning Peter’s books, we do not find any place where he recommended either that one should or should not purchase this series of books. Here is the entire notice that appeared in the May 1883 Watch Tower:

THE THEOCRATIC KINGDOM.

Brother G. N. H. Peters, of Springfield, Ohio, is an old acquaintance and friend. He is a believer in the redemptive work of Christ, and hence a Christian brother. He is a believer in the future reign of Christ and the saints, for which cause sake he has suffered the loss of some things — some of the esteem of the nominal church. We regret to have it to state, however, that he is not free from Babylon’s shackles, being yet identified with the Lutheran sect — hence has been hindered from a fuller development in grace and knowledge of the word and plan of God than if he stood in the full liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free.

Our brother has spent a large part of the past thirty years in preparing a very comprehensive work on Eschatology, entitled – -“THE THEOCRATIC KINGDOM.” It treats of the kingdom of God to be established, from the standpoint known as “Premillenarian.” It gives voluminous reports of the hundreds of views entertained on this subject — advocating in the main the so-called “Pre-millenarian” view. While the author does not ignore the teachings of the Apostles, he lays greater stress and value on the opinions of the “Fathers” (the Christian teachers of the first five centuries) than we could acknowledge as proper.

The work will comprise three volumes of about 600 pages each. The publisher says that the price should be $5 per volume, but if sufficient orders — or promises at $3 per volume — are received in advance to justify, then that will be the price.

While we cannot recommend it to you more than as above, to briefly state the facts and circumstances, yet if you should conclude to order it or a prospectus of it you should address our brother and friend as above.

See this series of books online at:

https://archive.org/details/TheTheocraticKingdomPetersVols1-3

It should be obvious that in a sense, Brother Russell recommended the books, yet it was not without pointing out that it does not provide the plan of God as given in the Bible. Thus, Brother Russell could not fully recommend the books. To say, however, that he recommended that the readers of the Watchtower not buy the books would be to distort what he actually stated. While we have not taken the time to read the books, we understand that Peters presents views that, in effect, deny the basis of the atonement as presented in the Bible.  Nevertheless, Brother Russell considered Peters to be a brother in Christ, a believer in the redemption through Jesus. We conclude that Russell was reasoning that the fact that Brother Peters presents some erroneous views does not mean that there is no helpful information to be found in his books, and thus Bible Students could find something useful in those books, just as useful information may be found in the works of many other Christian authors who do not understand the divine plan of the ages. Indeed, we do know that some Bible Students have made use of the books. For instance, Brother Donald Holliday, in his study "The Secrets of the Kingdom," states:

The first seven parables of Matthew 13 describe various developments throughout the long age that was to precede the second advent of earth’s king and the coming of his kingdom. Then the “harvest,” described as the ending of the age, would take place under the auspices of the returned Lord. However, two of these parables, the ‘Mustard seed’ and the ‘Leaven,’ have sometimes been taken out of context and misapplied to a gradual process of kingdom development during this intervening age. There is some resulting confusion, therefore, as to the nature of the promised kingdom and the time of its commencement. One careful Bible scholar has regarded this error to be so serious and widespread even among Protestants that he has devoted three weighty volumes, drawing over a thousand references from Christian resources, in refuting this mistaken idea.(3)

In the footnote reference (3) we find:

3. George N. H. Peters (1825-1909), The Theocratic Kingdom (three volumes, 2,000 pages).

Brother Russell, however, probably viewed himself as having no right to tell anyone to buy or not to buy those books or any other books.  He simply left it up to each reader to decide whether they should or should not buy the books. The fact that he included the purchase prices of the books shows that he expected that some of the readers may want to purchase the books.