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Charles Taze Russell
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Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), also known as Pastor Russell, was a Protestant evangelist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and founder of the Bible Student movement.
In 1879, he began publishing Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, known now as The Watchtower. In 1881, he co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, and in 1884, the corporation was officially registered, with Russell as president.
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Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), also known as Pastor Russell, was a Protestant evangelist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA and founder of the Bible Student movement.
In 1879, he began publishing Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, known now as The Watchtower. In 1881, he co-founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, and in 1884, the corporation was officially registered, with Russell as president. From 1886 to 1904, Russell published a six-part series entitled The Millennial Dawn, which later became known as Studies in the Scriptures. (A seventh volume was published in 1917 after Russell's death.)
Russell was a charismatic figure, but claimed no special revelation or vision to authenticate his teachings and professed no special authority on his own behalf. He wrote that the "clear unfolding of truth" within his teachings was due to "the simple fact that God's due time has come; and if I did not speak, and no other agent could be found, the very stones would cry out." He viewed himself – and all other Christians anointed with the Holy Spirit – as "God's mouthpiece" and an ambassador of Christ. Later in his career he accepted without protest that many Bible Students viewed him as the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45, and was described by the Watch Tower after his death as having been made "ruler of all the Lord's goods".
Following Russell's death, a controversy arose concerning the practices of the new president of the Society, and a widespread schism erupted, dividing the movement. The majority of the membership broke away, eventually resulting in the formation of several smaller groups that retained the name, Bible Students, while those who remained in fellowship with the Watch Tower Society took on the name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931. Several denominations later formed around, or adopted some style of, Russell's views, among them the Worldwide Church of God, the Concordant Publishing Concern and the Assemblies of Yahweh. Off-shoot groups of the Bible Student movement include the Pastoral Bible Institute and the Layman's Home Missionary Movement.
Early life
Charles Taze Russell was born to Joseph Lytel Russell (d. December 17, 1897) and Ann Eliza Birney (d. January 25, 1861) on February 16, 1852 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA. Charles was apparently the second of five children, and was one of only two to survive into adulthood.
The Russells had lived in Philadelphia, as well as Allegheny, before becoming established in Pittsburgh, where they became respected members of the Presbyterian Church. In his early teens, Charles' father made him partner of his Pittsburgh haberdashery store. By age twelve, the young entrepreneur was already writing business contracts for customers and given charge of some of his father's other clothing stores. At thirteen, Charles left the Presbyterian Church to join the Congregational Church. In his earlier youth he was known to chalk Bible verses on city sidewalks to draw attention to the punishment of hell awaiting the unfaithful in an attempt to convert unbelievers.
At sixteen, a discussion with a childhood friend on faults perceived in Christianity (such as perceived contradictions in creeds, along with medieval traditions) led Charles to question his faith. He then began to investigate other religious views and philosophies, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, Hinduism, and Islam. In 1870, at age eighteen, he cautiously attended a presentation by a well-known Adventist minister, Jonas Wendell. Wendell focused on what the young Mr. Russell considered to be rational, logical matters relating to biblical prophecy and chronology, drawing attention to the future date of 1874 as the supposed date for Christ's return. He later related that the presentation left him with a renewed zeal and the belief that not only was the Bible the Word of God, but that all Christians had a personal responsibility to preach its gospel.
Marriage
On March 13, 1879, Russell married Maria Frances Ackley (1850-1938) after a few months' acquaintance. The marriage was based on mutually agreed celibacy for preaching the gospel. In 1897 they separated, following disagreements over her insistence for a greater role in the management of Zion's Watch Tower magazine.
In June 1903, Mrs. Russell filed a suit for legal separation in the Court of Common Pleas at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. In 1906, she sued him for divorce under the claim of mental cruelty as a result of their marriage agreement of perpetual celibacy. During the trial she alleged sexual misconduct between Charles and a then teenaged Watch Tower stenographer whom the Russells had cared for as a foster child. After the presentation of evidence the judge ruled for separation, rather than divorce.. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle published segments from the court transcript.
She paid her respects at his funeral on November 1, 1916, placing lilies of the valley, his favorite flower, on his casket, with a ribbon attached that said "To My Beloved Husband". Maria Russell died at the age of 88 on St. Petersburg, Florida March 12, 1938 from complications related to Hodgkin's disease.
Ministry
Beginnings
From 1870 through to 1875, the Russell family, and others, participated in an analytical study of the Bible and the origins of Christian doctrine, creed, and tradition. "Millerite" Adventist ministers George Storrs and George Stetson were also closely involved. Russell's group believed they had found significant errors in common Christian belief. As a result of such study, the Russell family believed they had gained a clearer understanding of true Christianity, and were re-baptized in 1874.
In early 1876, while on business in Philadelphia, Russell found a copy of Herald of the Morning, published in Rochester, New York by Nelson H. Barbour. Russell contacted Barbour to set up a meeting in Philadelphia to compare notes. Barbour introduced him to some new views that convinced Russell, amongst other things, that those Christians who were asleep in death would be raised in April, 1878. Russell was moved to devote his life to what he believed were now the last two years before the return of Christ. He sold his five clothing stores for approximately $300,000 (US$5.5 million in 2005). With Russell's encouragement and financial backing, Barbour wrote an outline of their views in Three Worlds; or Plan of Redemption, published in 1877. A text Russell had written in 1874, The Object and Manner of our Lord's Return, was published the same year. Russell's desire to lead a Christian revival was evidenced by his calling two separate meetings of every Christian leader in Pittsburgh. Russell's ideas, particularly stressing the Rapture's imminence, were rejected both times.
Split with Barbour
When 1878 arrived, failure of the expected rapture of the saints resulted in great disappointment for Barbour and Russell, and their associates and readers. According to one of Russell's associates, A.H. Macmillan:
Confused by what was perceived to be an error in calculation, Russell re-examined the doctrine to see if he could determine whether it had biblical origins or was simply Christian tradition. His conclusion that it was tradition led him to begin teaching, through the pages of the Herald, what he believed to have discovered on the subject. Barbour, embarrassed by the failure of their expectations, rejected Russell's explanation and a debate ensued in successive issues of the journal from early 1878 to mid-1879. In a matter of months, Barbour's embarrassment led to a recanting of some of the views he and Russell had previously shared, including any reliance upon prophetic chronology. Their disagreements turned into a debate over Christ's ransom, resulting in a split between the two. Russell removed his financial support and started his own journal, Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, with the first issue published in July 1879. Barbour formed The Church of the Strangers that same year, continuing to publish the Herald of the Morning.
The Watch Tower Society
In 1881, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was founded, with William Henry Conley as President and Russell as Secretary-Treasurer, for the purpose of disseminating tracts, papers, doctrinal treatises and Bibles. All materials were printed and bound by contract with local printers, then distributed by colporteurs (persons who travel to sell or publicize Bibles, religious tracts, etc.). The Society was officially chartered in 1884, with Russell as President, and in 1886, its name was changed to Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.
In 1908, Russell transferred the headquarters of the Watch Tower Society to its current location in Brooklyn, New York.
Publications
With the formation of the Watch Tower Society, Russell's ministry intensified. His Bible study group had grown to hundreds of local members, with followers throughout New England, the Virginias, Ohio, and elsewhere, who annually re-elected him "Pastor", and commonly referred to him as "Pastor Russell". Other congregations that eventually formed in other nations also followed this tradition.
In 1903, newspapers began publishing his written sermons. These newspaper sermons were syndicated worldwide in as many as 4,000 newspapers, eventually reaching an estimated readership of some fifteen million in the United States and Canada. Russell, however, had many critics and was often labeled a heretic.
Studies in the Scriptures
Russell devoted nearly a tenth of his fortune, along with contributed funds, in publishing and distributing Food for Thinking Christians in 1881. In the same year followed The Tabernacle and its Teachings, and Tabernacle Shadows of the Better Sacrifices. In 1886, after what was reported to be a financial setback resulting from the immense outlay on these three titles, he began publication of what was intended to be a seven-volume series. The volumes were collectively called Millennial Dawn, later renamed Studies in the Scriptures to clarify that they were not novels. Russell published a total of six volumes in the series:
- The Plan of the Ages - later renamed The Divine Plan of the Ages (1886)
- The Time is at Hand (1889)
- Thy Kingdom Come (1891)
- The Day of Vengeance - later renamed The Battle of Armageddon (1897)
- The At-one-ment Between God and Men (1899)
- The New Creation (1904)
The delayed publication of the seventh volume became a source of great anticipation and mystery among Bible Students. Following Russell's death in 1916, a seventh volume entitled The Finished Mystery was published in 1917, which was advertised as his "posthumous work". This seventh volume was a detailed interpretation of the Book of Revelation, but also included interpretations of Ezekiel and the Song of Solomon. Immediate controversy surrounded both its publication and content. In a short time, it was established that it was actually written and compiled by two of Russell's associates, Clayton J. Woodworth and George H. Fisher, and edited by Joseph Franklin Rutherford, later to become the president of the Watchtower Society.
Photo Drama of Creation
Russell directed the production of a worldwide roadshow presentation entitled The Photo-Drama of Creation, an innovative eight-hour religious film in four parts. Production began as early as 1912, and the Drama was introduced in 1914 by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. It has the distinction of being the first major screenplay which incorporated synchronized sound, moving film, and color slides. A book by the same name was also published. The expenses related to this endeavor put the organization under some financial pressures; the full cost of production estimated at about $3,000,000 (US$61,000,000 in 2007).
Death and legacy
During his return from a ministerial tour of the western and southwestern United States, the already-ill Russell died from the result of multiple ailments on October 31, 1916 in a train car as it approached Pampa, Texas. He was buried in Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh. The gravesite is marked by both a headstone and a seven-foot tall pyramid memorial erected by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in 1921.
In January 1917, Joseph Franklin Rutherford was elected president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, despite a series of disputes over the election process. Further disputes arose over interpretation of sections of Russell's Last Will & Testament dealing with the future contents of Zion's Watch Tower magazine, as well as who, if anyone, had authority to print new literature. By the end of the 1920s, nearly three-quarters of existing Bible Student congregations had rejected Rutherford's on-going changes in organizational structure, doctrinal interpretations, and congregational practices, some of which began to appear in material printed by the Watch Tower Society as early as 1917. Many Bible Students were disaffected by Rutherford's rejection of Russell's views regarding his role in the restoration of the "truth" and support of the Great Pyramid as having been built under God's direction.
Those remaining supportive of Rutherford adopted the new name "Jehovah's Witnesses" in 1931, and changed the name of the Society from "Watch Tower" to "Watchtower". Many of those Bible Students who had ceased association with the changing Watchtower Society attempted to regroup in 1929 with the First Annual Bible Students Convention held in the old Pittsburgh "Bible House" long used by Russell. These conventions were held yearly, but the process of regathering took nearly twenty years.
Theology and teachings
Following his analytical examination of the Bible, Russell and other Bible Students came to believe that Christian creeds and traditions were harmful errors, believing they had restored Christianity to the purity held in the first century. Such views and conclusions were viewed as heresy by many Church leaders and scholars in his day. Russell agreed with other Protestants on the primacy of the Bible, and justification by faith alone, but thought that errors had been introduced in interpretation. Russell agreed with many 19th century Protestants, including Millerites, in the concept of a Great Apostasy that began in the first century AD. He also agreed with many other contemporary Protestants in belief in the imminent Second Coming of Christ, and Armageddon. Some of the areas in which his Scriptural interpretations differed from those of Catholics, and many Protestants, include the following:
- Hell. He maintained that there was a heavenly resurrection of 144,000 righteous, as well as a "great multitude", but believed that the remainder of mankind slept in death, awaiting an earthly resurrection.
- The Trinity. Russell believed in the divinity of Christ, but differed from orthodoxy by teaching Jesus had received that divinity as a gift from the Father, after dying on the cross. He also taught that the Holy Spirit is not a person, but the manifestation of God's power.
- Christ's Second Coming. Russell believe that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874, and that he had been ruling from the heavens since that date. He predicted that a period known as the "Gentile Times" would end in 1914, and that Christ would take power of Earth's affairs at that time. He interpreted the outbreak of World War I as the beginning of Armageddon, which he viewed to be both a gradual deterioration of civilized society, and a climactic multi-national attack on a restored Israel accompanied by worldwide anarchy.
- Pyramidology. Following views first taught by Christian writers such as John Taylor, Charles Piazzi Smyth and Joseph Seiss, he believed the Great Pyramid of Giza was built by the Hebrews (associated to the Hyksos) under God’s direction, but to be understood only in our day. He adopted and used Seiss's phrase referring to it as "the Bible in stone". He believed that certain biblical texts, including Isaiah 19:19-20 and others, prophesied a future understanding of the Great Pyramid and adopted the view that the various ascending and descending passages represented the fall of man, the provision of the Mosaic Law, the death of Christ, the exultation of the saints in heaven, etc. Calculations were made using the pattern of an inch per year. Dates such as 1874, 1914, and 1948 were purported to have been found through the study of this monument.
- Christian Zionism. Expanding upon an idea suggested by Nelson Barbour, Russell taught as early as 1879 that God's favor had been restored to Jews as the result of a prophetic "double" which had ended in 1878 (favor from Jacob to Jesus, then disfavor from Jesus until 1878). In 1910, he conducted a meeting at New York's famous Hippodrome Theater, with thousands of Jews attending. Jews and Christians alike were shocked by his teaching that Jews should not convert to Christianity. Russell believed that the land of Palestine belonged exclusively to the Jewish race, that God was now calling them back to their land, and that they would be the center of earthly leadership under God's Kingdom. Early in Russell's ministry, he speculated that the Jews would possibly flock to Palestine and form their own nation by the year 1910. Shortly before his death, he utilized the Jewish press to stress that 1914 prophetically marked the time when Gentile nations no longer had earthly authority with the result that all Jews were, from that time onward, permitted and guided by God to begin their flock to Palestine and boldly reclaim the land for themselves.
- Climate change. In writings as early as 1883 (and through to the end of his life) Russell repeatedly expressed the view that the world would see a significant but gradual change in global climate conditions as a prelude to the re-establishment of Eden-like conditions. These changes, he said, would include the gradual melting of the Greenland ice sheet, the Arctic and Antarctic polar ice caps, and the general warming up of the earth's temperatures.
Criticisms and controversies
Accusations by former associates
As early as 1892, Russell's views and management style were strongly criticized by certain individuals associated with his ministry. In 1893, a paper was written and circulated to Bible Students in Pittsburgh by associates Otto van Zech, Elmer Bryan, J.B. Adamson, S.G. Rogers, Paul Koetitz, and others. It expressed concern that Russell was a dictatorial leader, a shrewd businessman who appeared eager to collect funds from the selling of the Millennial Dawn books, that he had cheated one of them out of financial gains, and that he issued thousands of Millennial Dawn books under a female pseudonym. A booklet entitled A Conspiracy Exposed and Harvest Siftings was written by Russell and issued as an extra to the April 1894 Zion's Watch Tower magazine in order to preempt attempts to have their views circulated to a wider audience of Bible Students. Russell printed copies of letters he had received from these former associates in order to show that their claims were false, and that those involved 'were guided by Satan in an attempt to subvert his work' as a "minister of the gospel".
Marital separation
In 1897, Russell's wife left him, after disagreeing over the management of Zion's Watch Tower magazine. She expressed that, as his wife, she should have equal control over its administration, equal privilege in writing articles, preaching, and traveling abroad as his representative. In 1903, she filed for legal separation on the grounds of mental cruelty, related to what she considered to be forced celibacy, and frequent cold, indifferent treatment. The separation was ultimately granted in 1906, with Russell charged to pay alimony. During the trial, her attorney made the claim that Russell had been inappropriately intimate with Rose Ball, a young woman the Russells had cared for as a "foster daughter" since age ten.
Mrs Russell alleged that Ball had told her Russell claimed to be a "jellyfish floating around" to different women until someone responded to his intimacy. Russell defended himself by claiming that not only was she "poisoned" by the women's suffrage movement, but that all her claims were false. Following her attorney's claim, page 10 of the court transcript records that Mrs. Russell was asked by the Judge to clarify if she was, in fact, accusing her husband of adultery, and she replied, "No". The Washington Post and Chicago Mission Friend reprinted the claim that Russell was a "jellyfish", and was sued by him for libel. The jury voted in his favor, awarding him one dollar. Following an appeal, Russell received a cash settlement of $15,000 (equivalent to $310,000 in 2005) as well as payment of all court costs, an agreement for an article of retraction defending his character, and an agreement that his weekly syndicated sermons be published in their newspapers. James Penton has charterized the "jellyfish story" as Maria's "vicious way" to hurt her husband.
'Miracle Wheat'
On March 22, 1911, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle began publishing articles accusing Russell of gaining profit from a strain of wheat named "Miracle Wheat" by its discoverer, K.B. Stoner of Fincastle, Virginia in 1903. Many critics began to insist that Russell had deceived and defrauded many by selling this supposedly advanced strain of wheat for $60 a bushel, far above the average cost of wheat for the day. Throughout 1912 and 1913, the Eagle continued to report on this alleged fraud on Russell's part. Russell sued the Eagle for libel, but lost. A Government expert investigated the "Miracle Wheat" and said it "was low in the Government tests". Prior to entering the court, the Eagle had published: "The Eagle goes even further and declares that at the trial it will show that "Pastor" Russell's religious cult is nothing more than a money-making scheme." Russell defended himself publicly, and in writing, by claiming that the wheat was donated to the Watch Tower Society, and although sold for $1 per pound, Mr. Stoner routinely sold it for a $1.25 per pound. Russell claimed to have no financial connection to the wheat, and that any who were dissatisfied by their purchase and donation were offered a refund as much as one year following purchase. No one claimed a refund.
Qualifications
In June 1912, Reverend J.J. Ross, pastor of the James Street Baptist Church in Hamilton, Ontario, published the pamphlet, Some facts about the Self-Styled 'Pastor' Charles T. Russell, heavily denouncing Russell, his qualifications as a minister, and his moral example as a Pastor. Russell promptly sued Ross for "defamatory libel". Ross seized upon the opportunity as a means of exposing Russell. During the examination on March 17 1913, Russell admitted that at most he had attended school only seven years of his life at the public school, and that he had left school when he was about fourteen years of age. As Counselor Staunton pressed him further, Russell admitted that he knew nothing about Latin and Hebrew, and that he had never taken a course in philosophy or systematic theology, and had never attended schools of higher learning. The Hamilton and Toronto Newspapers while reporting the claims made by Ross, never made charges of misconduct on the part of Russell, instead criticized Ross for his personal behavior and unprofessional demeanor. In answer to Ross's accusations, Russell stated through various printed and public sources that he never claimed knowledge of the Greek language, merely the alphabet. He believed that his ordination was "of God" according to the 'biblical pattern', not requiring any denominational approval, and that his annual election as "Pastor" by over 1,200 congregations worldwide constituted him as "ordained", or chosen, to be a minister of the gospel.
Alleged connections with Freemasonry
After his death, Russell was accused of having close ties with Freemasonry, with claims that he employed various Masonic symbols in his publications, and further suggestions that such associations are connected with occult practices. For example, in later editions of the Studies in the Scriptures series, a winged solar disk appeared on the front cover, which critics claim is an exclusively Masonic symbol. However, Russell's use of the winged solar-disk originated from his understanding of Malachi 4:2, which denotes a sun with wings, as a symbol that Christ's millennial Kingdom had begun. The Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology says: "The Witnesses have, like many Christian churches, shown a marked aversion to Spiritualism and other occult phenomena. Very early in the group’s history Russell attacked Spiritualism (which he called Spiritism)". In his writings, Russell stated that membership in Freemasonry, Knights of Pythias, Theosophy, and other similar groups is unscriptural. He denied having direct knowledge of Masonic practices, considering them to be "grievous evils". In a public discourse given in 1913 in San Francisco he discouraged joining such organizations, and openly stated that he had "never been a Mason". The official Freemason website states: "Russell was not a Freemason. Neither the symbols found in the Watchtower nor the cross and crown symbol are exclusively Masonic."
External links
- Official website of Jehovah's Witnesses
- Pastor Russell website
- (1959), Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
- The Bible Student Movement in the Days of C.T. Russell, James Parkinson, (1975)
- (1974), Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
- (1959), Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
- (1993), Watchtower Bible and Tract Society.
- , Vol. 12, No. 308, p. 655-657, (1931) published by the "Watchtower Bible & Tract Society", Brooklyn NY
- , Vol. 13, No. 315, p. 21-27, (1931) published by the "Watchtower Bible & Tract Society", Brooklyn, NY
- , A.H. Macmillan, (1957)
- , December 1 1916
- , June 1, 1916, p. 170.
- , Chicago, 1917
- , Chicago, 1908
- .
- , July 1, 1879, Supplement
- , 1919
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- - information page at the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh’s website.
- - Database of Russell's writings
- (Real Player required)
- (Real Player required)
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- from Biblestudents.com
- Nov 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1916 articles "Regarding the Death and Burial of, and Memorial Services for, Pastor Russell"
- from Barbara G. Harrison's Visions of Glory: A History and a Memory of Jehovah’s Witnesses, New York, 1978 Simon & Shuster. See also chapters and .
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- 1974 Bob Chastain, Master's Thesis
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