CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL USED ALL HIS RESOURCES FOR PREACHING AND TEACHING THE GOD NEWS ABOUT GOD'S KINGDOM - HOW ABOUT YOU ? PART I
http://www.watchtower.org/e/bible/index.htm (READ GOD'S WORD - THE HOLY BIBLE DAILY)
WHO IS CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL?
WHAT IS HIS PART IN REESTABLISHING THE TRUTH IN THIS LAST DAYS OF THIS WICKED SYSTEM OF THINGS?
CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL LIFE STORY –PART I
*** w06 1/15 p. 24 par. 16 Do Not Allow Place for the Devil ***
About the year 1868, Charles Taze Russell began a careful examination of long-accepted doctrines of Christendom’s churches and found misinterpretations of the Scriptures. Russell and a few other truth-seekers formed a Bible study class in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, U.S.A. In the nearly 140 years since then, Jehovah’s servants have grown in knowledge and love of God and his Word. Despite the wiles of the foremost apostate, the spiritual vigilance of the faithful and discreet slave class has helped these true Christians to remain loyal to Jehovah and his Word.—Matthew 24:45
*** jv chap. 5 p. 43 Proclaiming the Lord’s Return (1870-1914) ***
C. T. Russell was born in the United States, in Allegheny (now part of Pittsburgh), Pennsylvania, on February 16, 1852. He was the second son of Joseph L. and Ann Eliza (Birney) Russell, who were Presbyterians of Scottish-Irish descent. Charles’ mother died when he was only nine years old, but from an early age, Charles was influenced by both of his religiously-minded parents. As a later associate of C. T. Russell put it, “they trained the small twig; and it grew in the direction of the Lord.” Although brought up as a Presbyterian, Charles eventually joined the Congregational Church because he preferred its views.
Young Charles was evidently quite a businessman. At just 11 years of age, he became a partner with his father in a thriving men’s clothing store. Charles enlarged the business, eventually operating a number of different stores himself. Although things went well for him in business, spiritually he was very troubled. Why was this?
Charles’ parents sincerely believed the creeds of Christendom’s churches and brought him up to accept them too. Young Charles was thus taught that God is love, yet that he had created men inherently immortal and had provided a fiery place in which he would eternally torment all except those who had been predestined to be saved. Such an idea repulsed the honest heart of teenage Charles. He reasoned: “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.”
But young Russell was no atheist; he simply could not accept the commonly understood teachings of the churches. He explained: “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.” Indeed, in the creeds of the churches, “elements of truth” were buried under a morass of pagan teachings that had infiltrated tainted Christianity during the centuries-long apostasy. Turning away from church creeds and searching for truth, Russell examined some leading Oriental religions, only to find these unsatisfying
Reestablished in Faith
The twig, though, had been trained by God-fearing parents; it was inclined “in the direction of the Lord.” While he was still searching for truth, one evening in 1869, something happened that reestablished Charles’ wavering faith. Walking along near the Russells’ store on Federal Street, he heard religious singing coming from a basement hall. In his own words, this is what took place:
“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.”
That meeting renewed young Russell’s determination to search for Scriptural truth. It sent him back to his Bible with more eagerness than ever before. Russell soon came to believe that the time was near for those who served the Lord to come to a clear knowledge of His purpose. So, in 1870, fired by enthusiasm, he and a few acquaintances in Pittsburgh and nearby Allegheny got together and formed a class for Bible study. According to a later associate of Russell, the small Bible class was conducted in this manner: “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 Russell later acknowledged, the period “from 1870 to 1875 was a time of constant growth in grace and knowledge and love of God and his Word.”
As they researched the Scriptures, a number of things became clearer to these sincere truth seekers. They saw the Scriptural truths pertaining to the mortality of the human soul and that immortality was a gift to be attained by those who became joint heirs with Christ in his heavenly Kingdom. (Ezek. 18:20; Rom. 2:6, 7) They began to grasp the doctrine of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ and the opportunity that this provision made possible for humankind. (Matt. 20:28) They came to recognize that although Jesus first came to the earth as a man in the flesh, at his return he would be invisibly present as a spirit person. (John 14:19) They further learned that the object of Jesus’ return was, not to destroy everyone, but to bless the obedient families of the 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.”
The Scriptural truths that became clear to this little Bible class were certainly a departure from the pagan doctrines that had filtered into Christianity during the centuries-long apostasy. But did Russell and his spiritually-minded associates gain these truths from the Bible unaided by others?
“Not as New, Not as Our Own, But as the Lord’s”
C. T. Russell used the Watch Tower and other publications to uphold Bible truths and to refute false religious teachings and human philosophies that contradicted the Bible. He did not, however, claim to discover new truths.
From the latter part of the 18th century, many ministers and Bible scholars had been exposing the false teachings of the immortality of the soul and eternal punishment for the wicked. This exposé had been thoroughly reported in the book Bible Vs. Tradition, by Aaron Ellis, originally published in England and then in the United States in 1853 by George Storrs. But no one at that time did more than C. T. Russell and his associates to make this truth known.
What about other Bible doctrines that were discussed in the Watch Tower and other publications? Did Russell take full credit for uncovering these gems of truth?
Explained Russell: “We found that for centuries various sects and parties had split up the Bible doctrines amongst them, blending them with more or less of human speculation and error . . . We found the important doctrine of justification by faith and not by works had been clearly enunciated by Luther and more recently by many Christians; that divine justice and power and wisdom were carefully guarded tho not clearly discerned by Presbyterians; that Methodists appreciated and extolled the love and sympathy of God; that Adventists held the precious doctrine of the Lord’s return; that Baptists amongst other points held the doctrine of baptism symbolically correctly, even tho they had lost sight of the real baptism; that some Universalists had long held vaguely some thoughts respecting ‘restitution.’ And so, nearly all denominations gave evidence that their founders had been feeling after truth: but quite evidently the great Adversary had fought against them and had wrongly divided the Word of God which he could not wholly destroy.”
Concerning the chronology he often presented, Russell stated: “When we say ‘our’ chronology we merely mean the one we use, the Bible chronology, which belongs to all of God’s people who approve it. As a matter of fact it was used in practically the form we present it long before our day, just as various prophecies we use were used to a different purpose by Adventists, and just as various doctrines we hold and which seem so new and fresh and different were held in some form long ago: for instance—Election, Free Grace, Restitution, Justification, Sanctification, Glorification, Resurrection.”
Then how did Russell perceive the role that he and his associates played in publishing Scriptural truth?
He explained: “Our work . . . has been to bring together these long scattered fragments of truth and present them to the Lord’s people—not as new, not as our own, but as the Lord’s. . . . We must disclaim any credit even for the finding and rearrangement of the jewels of truth.” He further stated: “The work in which the Lord has been pleased to use our humble talents has been less a work of origination than of reconstruction, adjustment, harmonization.”
Russell thus was quite modest about his accomplishments. Nevertheless, the “scattered fragments of truth” that he brought together and presented to the Lord’s people were free of the God-dishonoring pagan doctrines of the Trinity and immortality of the soul, which had become entrenched in the churches of Christendom as a result of the great apostasy. Like no one at that time, Russell and his associates proclaimed worldwide the meaning of the Lord’s return and of the divine purpose and what it involved.
C. T. Russell took an approach to explaining Bible teachings that was distinct from many writers of his day. He believed the Bible to be the infallible Word of God and that its teachings should be harmonious. Therefore, if any part of the Bible is difficult to understand, he felt, it should be clarified and interpreted by another part of the inspired Word. He did not try to support the explanations he presented with the testimony of theologians of his day or with the views of the so-called early church fathers. As he wrote in Volume I of Millennial Dawn: “We believe it to be a common failing of the present and all times for men to believe certain doctrines because others did so, in whom they had confidence. . . . Truth-seekers should empty their vessels of the muddy waters of tradition and fill them at the fountain of truth—God’s Word
*** jv chap. 5 pp. 49-52 Proclaiming the Lord’s Return (1870-1914) ***Building Each Other Up in the Most Holy Faith’
Honesthearted persons quickly responded to the liberating truths that C. T. Russell and his associates were proclaiming both through the printed page and in lectures. Russell, still less than 30 years of age, soon realized that there was a need for the readers of the Watch Tower to get acquainted with fellow believers and encourage one another. The Bible Students in Pittsburgh were doing this by regularly meeting together, but what could be done to help Watch Tower readers in other places?The answer came in the Watch Tower issues of May and June 1880. There Russell announced his plans to visit a number of towns and cities in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and New York. For what purpose? “Our readers,” the announcement explained, “are much scattered, some places 2 and 3, and on up to 50. Many places they are totally unacquainted with each other, and thus lose the sympathy and comfort which our Father designed should come to them by ‘The assembling of themselves together as the manner of some is.’ It is His design that we should ‘Edify one another,’ and build each other up in the most holy faith. The proposed meetings we would hope, might conduce to personal acquaintance.”—Heb. 10:24, 25.
The “proposed meetings” were held during Russell’s trip, and they proved very successful; readers of the Watch Tower were drawn closer together. These and other trips to visit “little bands of waiting ones” soon resulted in the forming of a number of classes, or ecclesias (later called congregations), located in the aforementioned areas as well as in Ohio and Michigan. These classes were encouraged to hold regular meetings. But what kind of meetings?
The Pittsburgh class had established the custom of meeting together at least twice each week. One meeting of the Pittsburgh class often included a lecture by a qualified speaker to the entire ecclesia, perhaps in a rented hall. But at the other meetings, usually held in private homes, those in attendance were invited to bring Bible, concordance, paper, and pencil—and to participate.
The warm spiritual fellowship experienced at those regular weekly meetings was a refreshing change from the cold, impersonal atmosphere at the services of many of the churches of Christendom. But Russell and his associates did not pioneer the idea of regularly meeting together. That custom of assembling, even in private homes, was established by the first-century Christians.—Rom. 16:3, 5; Col. 4:15.
“ARE YOU PREACHING?”
C. T. Russell and his associates strongly believed that they were in a time of harvest and that people needed to hear liberating truth. Yet, they were few in number. The Watch Tower was filling a vital need, but could more be done? Russell and his coworkers thought so. During 1880 they began to produce Bible Students’ Tracts (later also called Old Theology Quarterly), and these were provided to readers of the Watch Tower for free distribution to the public.
Yes, readers of the Watch Tower were encouraged to share with others the precious truths they were learning. “Are you preaching?” was the question raised in the combined Watch Tower issue of July and August 1881. How important was it for them to preach? The article went on to state: “We believe that none will be of the little flock except preachers. . . . Yes, we were called to suffer with him and to proclaim that good news now, that in due time we might be glorified and perform the things now preached. We were not called, nor anointed to receive honor and amass wealth, but to spend and be spent, and to preach the good news.”
It is appropriate that those early Bible Students felt keenly the need to preach the good news. In fact, the commission to preach was placed upon the first-century Christians; it is a responsibility that rests upon all genuine Christians to this day. (Matt. 24:14; 28:19, 20; Acts 1:8) But what was the objective of the preaching done by Russell and the early readers of the Watch Tower? Was it simply to distribute Bible literature or awaken churchgoers to Scriptural truths?
“You Must . . . Leave Her”“
Get out of her, my people,” the Bible long ago warned. Out of what? “Babylon the Great, the mother of the harlots and of the disgusting things of the earth.” (Rev. 17:5; 18:4) Why get out of Babylon? “For her sins have massed together clear up to heaven, and God has called her acts of injustice to mind.” (Rev. 18:5)
Who is this mother harlot from whom people should separate themselves?
Martin Luther and other leaders of the Reformation identified the Catholic Church and its papacy as Babylon the Great. What about the Protestant churches that sprang up as a result of the Reformation? The fact is, apart from their rejection of the primacy of the pope, some were not much different from Catholicism in church structure, and they retained unscriptural doctrines, such as the Trinity, immortality of the soul, and eternal torment. For this reason some preachers urged people to break free not only from the Catholic Church but also from the main Protestant church systems.
C. T. Russell and his associates also realized that this infamous harlot was not merely the Catholic Church. Thus, while the Watch Tower of November 1879 identified Babylon the Great with the “Papacy as a SYSTEM,” the article added: “We must go further and implicate, (not the individual members, but the church systems) other churches united to the Empires of earth. Every church claiming to be a chaste virgin espoused to Christ, but in reality united to and supported by the world (beast) we must condemn as being in scripture language a harlot church.”
What, therefore, were readers of the Watch Tower encouraged to do? Russell wrote: “If the church with which you are connected, lives in adulterous union with the world, you must, if you would keep your garments white, leave her.” Russell and his associates did not then understand the full range of the influence of Babylon the Great. Nevertheless, readers of the Watch Tower were urged to separate themselves from church systems that were corrupt and worldly.—John 18:36.
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