Charles Taze Russell (1852–1916) was an American who is known as one of the forerunners of the Jehovah's Witnesses. Russell more specifically was the creator of the Watch Tower Society in Pennsylvania.
The Watch Tower was a non-profit organization that called themselves Jehovah's authentic disciples. They were characterized by having their own translation of the Bible.
Source: Mitchell, via Wikimedia Commons.
Russell's role was so important in this new religious movement that he was also involved in the creation of the Watchtower magazine, which was initially called Zion's Watchtower and Herald of Christ's Presence. It is a religious publication that is still valid today.
Russell's idea was to create a new religion to sanctify his God Jehovah. With the passage of time, he managed to form a church that was independent and with a totally different approach from other religions. The believers of this religion followed a different line from the one it had in Christian mythology.
Charles Taze Russell had a lot of prominence because he made several prophecies, although none of them were fulfilled. This new religion was in charge of carrying out some accounts and they assured that the end of the world would come in 1878.
After having failed in his calculation about the end of the world, Russell rectified and changed his approach for 1914 and later when he failed, he changed again for 1916. Russell did not make any more predictions about the end of the world, or on any other subject, because he died that same year.
Biography
Charles Taze Russell was an American who was born in the city of Allegheny in the state of Pennsylvania. It came to the world on February 16, 1852 thanks to the union between Joseph Lytel Russell and Ann Eliza Birney, who already had a son.
Charles was the second child of the couple with European immigrant ancestry, as they had a mix of Scottish and Irish.
By 1860, Russell's mother passed away and Joseph Lytel was left in charge of educating her children. It is then that he decided to move to the city of Pittsburgh and they began to go to Presbyterian churches, which are a division of Protestantism.
From a very young age, Charles always showed a lot of respect and passion for religion. That his family was devout and prominent members of each of the churches they attended only served in this interest.
In Pittsburgh, Joseph Lytel took over several stores where he focused on selling haberdashery. When Charles reached adolescence, he joined the family business as a partner with his father and even owned several stores.
During this stage, Charles put aside the ideas of the Presbyterian religion and began to go to congregational churches, which like Presbyterians are Protestant, but are called independent.
Family
Charles started his own family on March 13, 1879 when he decided to marry Maria Frances Ackley. The marriage lasted 18 years and the separation was involved in much controversy.
Russell assured that his divorce was as a result of the discussions he had with his partner about the participation that his wife wanted to have in the editorial work of the magazine The Watchtower of Zion and Herald of the presence of Christ.
For her part, María Frances, when filing for divorce, gave very different reasons. She first filed a lawsuit in 1903 in a Pittsburgh courthouse and three years later formally petitioned for Russell's separation.
Throughout this process, Maria Frances accused Charles of mentally assaulting her. Among other things, she noted that Russell was indifferent to her and that he demanded that she be celibate throughout their marriage.
Finally the divorce became official in 1908. María Frances in the separation managed to be granted a maintenance allowance. She died 22 years after Russell in the state of Florida.
First questions
As a child, Charles showed a great interest in religion, but it was in his teens that he began to question certain things and seek the path that most interested him. Many of Charles's objections to the Bible as he knew it began from discussions with friends.
In the search for the ideology that most represented him, Russell even experimented with beliefs from Eastern cultures, although he did not find greater satisfaction there.
At the age of 18, he learned about the ideas of the Adventists. It is another of the religions that emerges from Protestant Christianity. It is a religion that was characterized by ensuring that the return of Christ to earth would occur at any moment.
The only problem was that Russell could not accept that in the same religion there was the idea of a willing and kind God together with the approach of a constant hell.
During the following years, Russell was characterized by always debating the ideas exposed in the different religions belonging to Christianity. The American assured that these ancient dogmas had turned their backs on the proposals of original Christianity.
In the end, he accepted some ideas from Adventists such as that the end of the world had begun in 1799, that the rebirth of all Christians who had died before 1878 was going to occur, and that Armageddon would begin in 1914.
To continue his vocation for religion, Russell made the decision to leave his life as a merchant. He managed to sell the haberdashery stores he owned, valued at several million dollars.
From then on he focused on writing different publications and with all the money he had earned he managed to finance his ideas about the return of Christ to earth.
Separation from Adventism
By 1878 none of the Adventists' predictions had yet occurred, Russell decided to question his ideology again and moved away from this branch of religion a bit. It was then that he decided to start his own magazine.
Russell founded Zion's Watchtower and Herald of Christ's presence, today known as the Watchtower. Three years later he also founded the Watch Tower Society which had millions of publications to help spread his ideas.
Since then, he became known as the pastor of the Watch Tower Society. He had the opportunity to present his thoughts and the number of followers of his ideas grew rapidly throughout the United States.
The transmission of his thoughts became more popular and Russell came to write regularly for different newspapers around the world. This allowed the American's fame to grow rapidly.
This progression of the Watch Tower Society allowed Russell to move the center of his organization to New York, where it remains to this day.
Death
Russell passed away unexpectedly on October 31, 1916. He had complications from cystitis (inflammation of the bladder) when he was in Texas about to return home to New York.
At the time of his death, Russell was one of the most popular authors in the world. Historians have claimed that few publications were more widely circulated than his books or articles on religion.
Contributions
Russell devoted virtually his entire life to religion. When he had economic power, he took advantage of this to make known everything about Christ.
His most important legacy was the creation of the Watchtower magazine and the founding of the Watch Tower Society. He presided over this society until the day he died.
His work at the editorial level was also very important, obtaining millions of copies of the studies he did on the Bible. It managed to be translated into almost all possible languages.
Plays
There are multiple works and articles by Russell's authorship. Among the first publications he made were The End and the Way of the Lord's Return and The Three Worlds and the Harvest of this World.
Both works were published at the end of the 19th century. There Russell asserted that Christ was on earth unseen since 1874 and spoke of the end of the world, which he predicted for 1914.
Russell's writings focused on the study of the Bible, but he also came to analyze other works and prophecies that had to do with religious subjects.
His first two books were written while he was still among the Adventists. Even in The Three Worlds and the Harvest of this World, he shared authorship with Nelson Horatio Barbour.
Later he also wrote The Divine Plan (1986), The Time is Near (1989), The Kingdom Comes (1891) or The Day of Vengeance (1897), which was later also titled The Battle of Armageddon.
critics
Critics of Russell speak of his posts being based on a misinterpretation of the Bible. There were many things about Christianity that Russell contradicted such as the existence of the Holy Spirit or the idea of perpetual punishment.
Additionally, many historians have found Charles Taze Russell's ties to Freemasonry. This would have related it to many esoteric acts and beliefs.
Obviously, his life was not without controversy. Beyond the troubles he ran into during his divorce, Russell also ran into trouble over an accusation for misleadingly selling products that promised to have miraculous effects.
References
- Bible Student Movement: Charles Taze Russell, History Of Jehovah's Witnesses, Bible Student Movement, Annihilationism. General Books, 2010.
- Horowitz, David. Pastor Charles Taze Russell. Shengold, 1990.
- Russell, C. T, and Carl E Prosser. What Pastor Russell Also Said. Carl E. Prosser, 1985.
- Russell, CT A Series Of Articles Written By Pastor Charles Taze Russell For The Overland Monthly. 2000.
- Zydek, Fredrick, and Barbara Kaleta. Charles Taze Russell. Wydawnictwo «Straż», 2016.