Charles Taze Russell, (February 16, 1852 - October 31, 1916), founded the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society in 1881 as well as the International Bible Students organization in 1914, both of which came under the control of who are now known as Jehovah's Witnesses. There are still many groups of Bible Students who closely follow the teachings of Charles Taze Russell found worldwide, which operate independently of one another, but remain in contact and share fellowship.
Brief biography
Russell was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, USA, second son of Joseph L. Russell and Ann Eliza Birney who were Presbyterians of Scots-Irish descent. Their first son died in youth.
Russell entered partnership with his father in a lucrative clothing store at the age of 11 and later became a skilled businessman, eventually opening several shops of his own throughout New England.
By the time he was 18, Russell had left both Presbyterianism and Congregationalism because he could not reconcile the idea of an eternal hell with God's mercy: "A God that would use his power to create human beings whom he foreknew and predestinated should be eternally tormented, could be neither wise, just nor loving. His standard would be lower than that of many men."
Russell was no atheist but could not accept the teachings of the churches:
Gradually I was led to see that though each of the creeds contained some elements of truth, they were, on the whole, misleading and contradictory of God’s Word.
Influenced by Adventist
Turning away from church creeds and searching for truth, Russell examined some leading Oriental religions, only to find these unsatisfying to him. His faith in the Bible was rekindled by Adventist Preacher Jonas Wendell. Adventists introduced him to the idea that the Bible could be used to discern God's plan of salvation and understand the timing of Christ's return. In Russell's own words:
Seemingly by accident, one evening I dropped into a dusty, dingy hall, where I had heard religious services were held, to see if the handful who met there had anything more sensible to offer than the creeds of the great churches. There, for the first time, I heard something of the views of Second Adventists (Advent Christian Church), the preacher being Mr. Jonas Wendell . . . Thus, I confess indebtedness to Adventists as well as to other denominations. Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, . . . it was sufficient, under God, to re-establish my wavering faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the apostles and prophets are indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before, and I shall ever thank the Lord for that leading; for though Adventism helped me to no single truth, it did help me greatly in the unlearning of errors, and thus prepared me for the Truth.
Thus, in 1870, Russell and some of his aquaintances began a systematic study of the bible. An associate later described their study this way:
Someone would raise a question. They would discuss it. They would look up all related scriptures on the point and then, when they were satisfied on the harmony of these texts, they would finally state their conclusion and make a record of it.
As they researched the Bible, they concluded that immortality was a gift to be attained by those who became co-rulers with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom. (Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 2:6, 7) They saw the doctrine of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the opportunity that this provision made possible for humankind. (Matt. 20:28) They independently concluded that although Jesus first came to the earth as a man visible in the flesh, at his return he would be invisibly present as a spirit person. (John 14:19) This view, while not popular, was secretly held by many Protestants and Catholic dissenters for over a thousand years, including Sir [Isaac Newton]. They further came to understand that the reason for Jesus' return was not to destroy the world, but to bless all the inhabitants of earth. (Gal. 3:8) Russell wrote:
We felt greatly grieved at the error of Second Adventists, who were expecting Christ in the flesh, and teaching that the world and all in it except Second Adventists would be burned up.
Charles Taze Russell founded the International Bible Students Association, the forerunner to the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. In 1872 before they became known as the Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931 (fifteen years after his death), they were called International Bible Students. Outsiders often referred to them as Russellites, Millennialsts or Millennial Dawnists.
Nelson H. Barbour
From the early to mid 1800s Christians around the world were trumpeting that the return of Christ and the end of 6,000 years from creation would occur somewhere between 1864 and 1872. (most focussed on the year 1868) In January, 1876 when he was 24 years old, Russell received a copy of The Herald of the Morning, an Adventist magazine published by Nelson H. Barbour of Rochester, New York. Barbour's group believed Christ returned invisibly in the year 1874, and this concept as presented in The Herald captured Russell's attention. It meant that this Adventist splinter group had not lost hope, as others had, when Christ failed to appear in the flesh as some Adventist leaders had predicted for various years from 1844 through 1874.
Russell, by this time a wealthy clothing manufacturer, brought Barbour to Philadelphia and became the magazine's financial backer. He was added to the masthead as an Assistant Editor, contributing articles for publication as well as finances, and Russell's small study group similarly became affiliated with Barbour's. Russell and Barbour believed and taught that Christ's invisible return in 1874 would be followed soon afterward, in the spring of 1878 to be exact, by the Rapture--the bodily snatching away of believers to heaven.
When this expected Rapture failed to occur, Barbour, out of embarrasment, felt the need to divert attention away from the apparent error. Russell, however, rejected Barbour's views and began a systematic study of New Testament Scriptures in an attempt to discern what had gone wrong, why, and what the Bible actually taught in regards the topic of the Rapture. Russell concluded, based upon Scripture and history, that their expectations had been false, and that the resurrection of the saints ("rapture") would be invisible, and occur as each Christian died in the flesh.
Zion's watchtower
After a public dispute printed in the pages of the Herald regarding the philosophy and function of the ransom provided by Jesus, Russell quit the staff of the Adventist magazine and started his own. He called it Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence and published its first issue with the date July 1879. In the beginning considerable space was devoted to refuting the latter on points of disagreement, Russell having taken with him a copy of that magazine's mailing list when he resigned as assistant editor. At this point Charles Russell no longer wanted to consider himself an Adventist, nor a "Millerite", but he continued to view William Miller and Barbour as instruments used by God to lead His people in the past. The formation of a distinct denomination around Russell was a gradual development. His immediate break was not with Adventism, but with the person and policies of N. H. Barbour.
Perhaps the most prominent view taught by Russell was that prophecies of the Bible indicated a world-wide conflict would emerge in 1914. This was understood to be the end of the "times of the Gentiles" or "Gentile Times", a phrase used by Jesus and recorded at Luke 21:24.
Jonas Wendell
Russell acknowledged assistance from other individuals such as Jonas Wendell. Two men whose ideas Russell was most fond of were, George W. Stetson, pastor of the Advent Christian Church in Edinboro, Pennsylvania and George Storrs, publisher of the magazine Bible Examiner, in Brooklyn, New York. He acknowledged indebtedness to Joseph Agustus Seiss, a Lutheran clergyman, for his initial views on an invisible return of Christ. He was also influenced by Henry Dunn, and numerous other Protestant leaders of note.
In 1877, Russell wrote The Object and Manner of the Lord’s Return. Though later Watchtower publications give a publication date of 1873, all known copies have an 1877 publication date. Around 50,000 copies were published.
Full time ministry
Convinced of the need to promote what he considered to be the truth of the Bible’s message, Russell dissolved his partnership in his father's men's clothing business (Little Quaker Shop) and devoted his entire fortune, approximately a quarter of a million dollars, to the promulgation of the Christian religion and the distribution of Bible literature.
Russell was never ordained by any denomination or institution of Christendom, but believed his ordination came from God and Scripture, and was elected Pastor by his adherents worldwide. He dedicated his life and his fortune to preaching Christ's millennial reign. In 1881 he founded Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society, known today as the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, which became a flourishing publishing enterprise. His own books and booklets (notably six volumes of Studies in the Scriptures, a seventh attributed to him but compiled after his death) reached a circulation of 16 million copies in 35 languages, and 2,000 newspapers published his weekly sermons.
Russell died at the age of 64 on a train in Pampa, Texas on October 31, 1916 while on a lecture tour of the midwestern and southwestern parts of the United States.
Judge Rutherford
Following his death in 1916, an intense struggle ensued over who would take the lead. Members of the Board of Directors who had been appointed by Russell were summarily dismissed on supposed legal grounds by Joseph Rutherford. (himself subject to the 'legal' claims he made, but refusing to apply them to himself) Through the help of high-level individuals supporting him, Joseph Franklin Rutherford became the second President of the Watchtower Society. In an attempt to distance himself from Russell's influence altered numerous doctrinal conclusions, and eventually adopted the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" in 1931. As a result of Rutherford's influence, tens of thousands of former followers of Russell had left the Society by 1928. However, literature published by the WTB&TS today continues to acknowledge the role that Russell played in its history.
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