VERY long subject.
Yeah that was a pretty retarded question of me to ask in retrospect.
Have you ever heard of the 'Burned-over District'?
Not in detail, but I have heard of it in relation to Joseph Smith. He predicted a religious revival at a specific date that did not come to pass until a few decades later. I think I heard Charles Tay Russell had something to do with it as well, but not sure about that
It is a super interesting topic, one of which I can't write a lot about right now, but it was a region, traditionally defined as Western Upstate NY, near the Finger Lakes, where many New Thought/New Christian Religions were born in the 1900s, like Mormonism and Millerism.
But a lot of those religions, at least the ones that survived, ended up being strange, and eventually Zionist.
I've worked up around those parts back in the day, moving wealthy people into nice homes, and I can tell you, there are still some strange religious ideas up there.
The reason I mention it is because, it appears that people who were influential in the early Jehovah's Witness movement, like , appear to have lived around about those parts.
Also, probably Apropos of Nothing, I always thought it was weird how
Mormonism fascinates me to no end, for a LOT of reasons. I think one of my biggest questions I'd want to find out in the afterlife is whether the rank and file Mormon, who explicitly believes in Jesus and proclaims Him, even if their CONCEPT of him is wrong, is still saved. The simplicity of the gospel leads me to think Yes. But then you muddy the waters with mormon doctrine and their incorrect beliefs, does that mean that the path to salvation is lost through the dogma?