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Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), known as Pastor Russell, was an American evangelist from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania who founded what is known as the Bible Student movement. He is known for founding the religious journal Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence in 1879, as well as one of the first Bible Societies in America, Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, in 1881. A schism in 1917 resulted in the formation of the present-day movements known as Bible Students and Jehovah's Witnesses.

Early life

Charles Taze Russell was born to Joseph Lytel Russell and Ann Eliza Birney on Monday, February 16, 1852 in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA. Charles, the second of five children, was one of only two to survive into adulthood. The other Russell children included Thomas, (1850–September 4 1855), Margaret ("Mae", married name Margaret Land) who died in the late 1940s, Lucinda (1857–July 21 1858), and Joseph Lytel, Jr. (1859–April 25 1860). Their mother died on January 25 1861 at the age of 29. The patriarch, Joseph, died December 17 1897, at the age of 84.

The Russells had lived in Philadelphia, as well as Allegheny. Once established in Pittsburgh, the Russells became respected members of the Presbyterian Church. In his early teens, his father made him partner of his Pittsburgh haberdashery store. By age twelve, he was writing business contracts for customers, and given charge of some of his father's other clothing stores. At age thirteen, he left the Presbyterian Church to join the Congregational Church due to a preference in their organizational style. In his earlier youth, Russell would chalk Bible verses on the downtown sidewalks to draw attention to the punishment of hell awaiting the unfaithful. When sixteen, a discussion with a childhood friend on faults perceived in Christianity (such as perceived contradictions in creeds, and medieval traditions) led him to question his faith. He then began to investigate other views and philosophies, including Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and Hinduism, but abandoning them in short order. In 1870, at age eighteen, he cautiously attended a presentation by the famous Adventist preacher, Jonas Wendell. Wendell focused on what 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. The presentation left him with, he later related, a renewed zeal that not only was the Bible the word of God, but that all Christians had a responsibility to preach the gospel.

Ministry

Beginnings

From 1870 through 1875 the Russell family, and others, participated in an analytical study of both 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 the Spring of 1876, while on business in Philadelphia, Russell found a copy of "Herald of the Morning", published out of Rochester, New York by Nelson H. Barbour. (1824-1908) 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, the Rapture would occur 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 dollars. (the buying power of $5.5 million in the year 2005) Through Russells' encouragement and financial backing, Barbour wrote an outline of their current views, in the book "Three Worlds; or Plan of Redemption" published in 1877. A text Russell had written in 1874, entitled "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, and stressing of the Rapture's imminence, was rejected both times.

Split with Barbour

In April 1878, the Rapture did not occur as Russell, Barbour, and their associates had anticipated. According to the book Faith on the March, page 27, written by one of Russell's associates, A.H. Macmillan, "While talking with Russell about the events of 1878, I told him that Pittsburgh papers had reported he was on the Sixth Street bridge dressed in a white robe on the night of the Memorial of Christ's death, expecting to be taken to heaven together with many others. I asked him, "Is that correct?" Russell laughed heartily and said: "I was in bed that night between 10:30 and 11:00 P.M. However, some of the more radical ones might have been there, but I was not. Neither did I expect to be taken to heaven at that time, for I felt there was much work to be done preaching the Kingdom message to the peoples of the earth before the church would be taken away.""

Confused by what was perceived to be an error in calculation, Russell re-examined the doctrine to see if he could determine that it had Biblical origins, or if it was, in his view, simply Christian tradition. His conclusion that it is tradition led him to begin teaching, through the pages of the Herald, what he believed to have discovered on the subject. Barbour, however, highly embarrassed by the failure of their expectations, rejected Russell's explanation, and a debate ensued in each monthly issue of the journal from the Spring of 1878 through to the Summer of 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. As their disagreements turned into a debate over Christ's ransom, a split between them resulted. Russell removed his financial support, and started his own journal, entitled "Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence," with the first issue July, 1879, while Barbour formed "The Church of the Strangers" that same year, continuing to publish the "Herald of the Morning."

(See the article Nelson H. Barbour for a more detailed history)

Russell's marriage

On March 13 1879, Russell married Maria (pronounced 'moriah') Frances Ackley (1850-1938) after merely a few months' acquaintance. Although expressing a fondness for each other, the marriage was not based on a romantic love, but was a mutually agreed upon celibate partnership established for preaching the gospel. In 1897 they separated following disagreements over the propriety of her role in the management of Zion's Watch Tower magazine. Russell recorded his version of events in the July 15 1906 issue that can be read here. In 1906, she sued him for divorce under the claim of mental cruelty as a direct result of their marriage agreement of perpetual celibacy. During the trial she indirectly alleged sexual misconduct by Charles with a Watch Tower stenographer whom they had long been caring for as a foster child. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle published what was claimed to be segments from the court transcript, which can be read by visiting this link. Maria Russell, as she was named in her obituary, died in St. Petersburg, Florida in August of 1938 from Hodgkin's disease.

Major publications

In 1881 Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society was founded 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'. The Society was officially chartered in 1884. From this point 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 elected him "Pastor". Other congregations that eventually formed in other nations also followed this tradition.

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 set-back resulting from the immense outlay on these three titles, he published the long promised The Plan of the Ages (later renamed The Divine Plan of the Ages). In the course of preparation, Russell concluded the book was to be merely the first of a seven-volume series. The remaining volumes, originally called Millennial Dawn, but later renamed Studies in the Scriptures to clarify that they were not novels, were:

  • The Time is at Hand (1889)
  • Thy Kingdom Come (1891)
  • The Day of Vengeance" later retitled "The Battle of Armageddon'' (1897)
  • The At-one-ment Between God and Men (1899)
  • The New Creation (1904)

The delayed publishing of the seventh volume eventually 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 and advertised as his "posthumous work". True to Russell's plan, this seventh volume was a detailed interpretation of the book of Revelation, but had included interpretations of Ezekiel, and the Song of Solomon. Immediate controversy surrounded both its publishing, and contents. 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.

In 1903, newspapers began publishing his written sermons. These newspaper sermons were syndicated worldwide, eventually reaching an estimated readership of twelve to fifteen million in the United States. Through the syndicated sermons, and advertising efforts made by the newspaper syndicators, Pastor Russell's face became one of the most recognizable images in the world. Russell, however, had many critics, and was labeled a heretic, amongst other things. As he became more prominent the number of critics increased.

Death, aftermath, and legacy

During his return from a ministerial tour of the western and southwestern United States, the already ill Pastor Russell died from the result of multiple ailments on the night of October 31 1916 in a train car as it approached Pampa, Texas. His death was a major front-page headline in many newspapers across the globe. He was buried in Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh. The gravesite is marked by both a headstone, and an eight-foot tall pyramid memorial gifted from friends of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society * in 1924.

In January 1917 Joseph Franklin Rutherford was successfully elected second 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 in Russell's Last Will & Testament dealing with the future contents of Zion's Watch Tower magazine, as well as who, if any, had authority to print new literature. Nearly three-quarters of the congregations chose not to accept Rutherford's increasing number of changes in doctrine, openly published in the pages of the Watchtower magazine, as early as 1918. For many Bible Students, Rutherford's rejection of the Great Pyramid in November, 1928, and Russell's role in restoration of the truth in February, 1927, was considered the last straw. Those remaining supportive, however, eventually adopted the new name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931, and changed the name of the Society from Watch Tower to Watchtower. As their numbers began to grow, Rutherford sought to change the organizational structure of the Watchtower Society, shifting the long-held independence of the congregations, to a more centralized role, where elders began to be chosen by the Society, instead of by the local congregations. 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 Pastor Russell. These conventions were held yearly, but the process of regathering took nearly twenty years.

(See the article Bible Student movement for a more detailed history)

Several Protestant denominations have either formed around, or adopted some style of, Pastor Russell's views, among them the Worldwide Church of God, the Concordant Publishing Concern, the Assemblies of Yahweh. Among the numerous Bible Student off-shoot groups include the Pastoral Bible Institute, the Layman's Home Missionary Movement and others.

Theology and teachings

Following his analytical examination of the Bible, Pastor 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, although adopting some of his views in later decades. Pastor 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. Pastor 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, included the following:

  • Russell disputed the concept of a burning 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.
  • He did not accept the concept of the Trinity as usually presented. 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.

  • Russell calculated 1874 to be the year of Christ's Second Coming, and until his death taught that Christ was invisibly present, and ruling from the heavens from 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.
  • He rejected the common chronology of the Bible, published by Bishop Usher, and used a direct approach, and deductive reasoning, to calculate the 6,000 years from Adam. Correlating it with prophetic interpretations, the year 1874 was seen to be prophetically and chronologically significant, and seen as the date of the invisible return of Christ.
  • Russell backed up some calculations using pyramidology. Following the view 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, to be understood only in our day. He adopted and used the English phrase, referring to it as "the Bible in stone". Based upon certain biblical texts, such as Isaiah 19:19,20, and others, the various ascending and descending passages were viewed as representing the fall of man, the provision of the Mosaic Law, the death of Christ, and the exultation of the saints in heaven. 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. A detailed review of his thoughts can be found in the appendix of "Thy Kingdom Come".
  • Russell was one of the earliest of Christian preachers to promote what was later termed Zionism. Borrowing an idea promoted by Nelson Barbour, he taught as early as 1879 that God's favor had been restored to Jews as the result of a prophetic "double" which ended in 1878. (favor from Jacob to Jesus, then disfavor from Jesus to 1878) In 1910 he conducted a meeting at New York's famous Hippodrome Theatre, 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 to the Jewish race, 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 believed Jews would flock to Palestine and form their own nation by 1910, but this did not occur. Shortly before his death, he utilized the Jewish press to stress that 1914 prophetically marked the time when all Jews should flock to Palestine, and boldly reclaim the land. (see also Christian Zionism)

Criticisms and controversies

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, cheated one of them out of financial gains, and 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 pre-empt 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 trumped up, and those involved were guided by Satan in an attempt to subvert his work as a "minister of the gospel".

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. She 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 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. After appealing this decision, Russell received a cash settlement of $15,000 (the same buying power as $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.

On March 22, 1911, The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a tabloid newspaper, 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. Once other newspapers read this claim, 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. He sued the Eagle for libel, but lost. 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. None claimed a refund.

During 1913, other matters of interest were addressed by John Jacob (J.J.) Ross, a minister from Hamilton, Ontario, Canada in his booklet entitled Some Facts about the Self-Styled "Pastor" Charles T. Russell. Russell had taken Ross to court on the charge of libel. Ross attempted to show that when Russell was asked in trial if he possessed knowledge of the Greek alphabet he first claimed he did, then retracted the claim when cross-examined and shown the alphabet. Ross also claimed that Russell blatantly lied when asked if he was an ordained minister by answering "yes". In answer to Ross's accusations, Russell stated that he never claimed knowledge of the Greek language, merely the alphabet, and that due to the Judge's objection to the line of questioning, the book was taken away before he could even see it. 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.

In recent times, Russell has been accused of having had close ties with Freemasonry. Critics have not only attempted to connect him with any of several different rites of the Free Masons, but have also attempted to show that such associations are connected with occult practices. It has been pointed out that in later editions of his Studies in the Scriptures series a winged solar disk appears on the front cover, which some have claimed is an exclusively Masonic symbol. In his writings, Russell stated that membership in Freemasonry, Knights of Pythias, Theosophy, and other similar groups are unscriptural. He also denied having direct knowledge of Masonic practices and considered such things to be "grievous evils" (1895; Zion's Watch Tower, June, 1895, pg. 143). His use of the winged solar-disk originated from his understanding that Malachi 4:2, (which denotes a sun with wings), is a symbol that Christ's millennial Kingdom had begun.

References

External links

General

Specific biographical

  • St. Paul Enterprise Nov 7, 14, 21 and 28, 1916 articles "Regarding the Death and Burial of, and Memorial Services for, Pastor Russell"

  • The Bible Student Movement in the Days of C.T. Russell; by James Parkinson, 1975

1852 births | 1916 deaths | Christian ministers | Watchtower Society presidents | Bible Students

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