Martin: Are JWs Followers of Russell's Interpretations?

By Ronald R. Day, Sr.

In the book, Kingdom of the Cults, (2003 edition), on pages 17 and 18, we find the following statement: "Jehovah's Witnesses, for the most part, are followers of the interpretations of Charles T. Russell and J. F. Rutherford." This could be misleading, since most people do not know that Rutherford created the "Jehovah's Witnesses" organization by rejecting the core teachings of the Russell and the Bible Students, especially as related to Christian liberty, organization, and the atonement. 

Along this line of reasoning, one site claims "as far as the core doctrines are concerned Jehovah’s Witnesses still believe and teach what Charles Taze Russell and the International Bible Students believed and taught." This, however, is false, as anyone truly familiar with the work of Russell and the Bible Students would know.

The Ransom For All

The Jehovah's Witnesses reject Russell's teaching that the ransom for all provides salvation for Adam as well as well as absolutely all who are dying in Adam. This is the core teaching of Russell's books: The Divine Plan of the Ages and The Atonement Between God and Man. Jehovah's Witnesses, in effect, deny the basis of the ransom as Brother Russell presented from the Bible, for they say that Adam is not covered by that Ransom. Rutherford claimed that the first man, Adam, died the second death (which would, in effect, mean that Adam did not die the "Adamic" death).  Of course, since all who are dying in Adam came under the same condemnation as Adam, then if Adam came under the condemnation of the second death, it would mean that all of Adam's descendants likewise come under the condemnation of the second death.

We have discussed this in our studies:

Adam and the Ransom Sacrifice

Did the Ransom Cover Adam's Sin, But Not Adam?

Links to Studies Related to the JWs and the Ransom

Chronology and Time Prophecies

The Jehovah's Witnesses reject practically everything Russell presented concerning Bible chronology and time prophecies. This means that they reject practically everything that Russell presented in his books The Time Is At Hand and Thy Kingdom Come. Brother Russell presented from the Bible Biblical evidence that the time of the end had begun in 1799, that Christ had returned in 1874 and that the times of the Gentiles were to end in 1914. And there are many other dates Russell believed to be designated in the Bible that the Jehovah's Witnesses reject. The Jehovah's Witnesses still accept the date 607/6 as the year of Jerusalem's destruction, but the chronology they present before that date is not in the same as that Brother Russell presented in his book The Time Is At Hand. The only prophecy that the Jehovah's Witnesses still use that Brother Russell presented in his books is that of the "seven times" of Daniel 4. Without all the supporting chronology and time prophecy applications as Russell presented, this lone application for the year 1914 would seem very paltry, as far as evidence for the date 1914. Of course, the JWs accept the date based on the authority they ascribe to their leadership.

Church Organization and Christian Liberty

And the Jehovah's Witnesses reject most of what Brother Russell presented concerning Church organization as he disclosed in his book The New Creation, as well as elsewhere. After Russell died, Rutherford created an organization dogma with a structure very similar to that of the Papacy.  See our resource page: Russell, Authority and Organization.

Armageddon

They also reject most of what Brother Russell presented concerning "Armageddon" in his book The Battle of Armageddon. Russell was never expecting an "Armageddon" that was to eternally destroy millions or billions of unregenerated men, women and children, as the Jehovah's Witnesses teach. Russell believed Armageddon was to chastise the people of the nations, not eternally destroy them.

Thus, it can be seen that the Jehovah's Witnesses reject most of the basic teachings that Russell presented in all of his six volumes of studies called the Studies in the Scriptures. Such rejection could hardly mean that that they "are followers of the interpretations of Charles T. Russell", or that the Jehovah's Witnesses still believe the core teachings of Charles Taze Russell.

Brother Russell's books online

Studies in the Scriptures - Chicago Bible Students

Studies in the Scriptures - Archive.org

Studies in the Scriptures - bible411.com

Studies in the Scriptures - mostholyfaith.com

We should point out that Brother Russell never fully edited his books to reflect the view he adopted in 1904, that is, the time of trouble was to begin, not end, in 1914. The only edition we know of that has been edited to reflect this change is Paul Johnson's edition, which may be found online:

Editions of Paul Johnson

Russell's Alleged Denunciation of "Organized Religion"

By Ronald R. Day, Sr.

Walter Martin and Norman Klann make the claim that, as a result of Charles Taze Russell's alleged rejection of the doctrine of eternal punishment, Russell "entered upon a long and varied career of denunciation aimed at 'organized religion.'" Russell, of course, never rejected the Biblical doctrine of "eternal punishment." We have discussed this elsewhere.

On one site, we find the following: "Watchtower founder, Charles Taze Russell despised organized religion, and preached that all one needed to serve God was the Bible and Jesus Christ."

Evidently, it is thought that "organized religion" is a good thing, and that to oppose "organized religion" would be a bad thing.  Actually, it depends on what is meant by such a denunciation. Russell did not believe in sectarianism nor did believe in setting men here on the earth with authority to govern God's people.

While it is true that Russell denounced sectarian religious organizations since such organizations divide God's people and often seek subjugate them to men here on the earth, Russell, himself, possibly never used the phrase "organized religion". Indeed, we did a digital search of Russell's works, and we find that phrase only once in his Watch Tower, and this is from the Watch Tower of September 1, 1906, under the article "Views From the Watch Tower". Here Brother Russell himself did not use the phrase "organized religion," but he quotes a periodical by the name of The Christian Work and Evangelist. Possibly what he quoted was written by its editor, Joseph Newton Hallock. 

Another instance where we find the phrase "organized religion" is in the periodical entitled, Old Theology Quarterly, Volume 4, Number 5, in the "Miscellaneous Column" under the subtopic, "Waning Church Life". Again, we find that the phrase is not used by Brother Russell himself. It is contained in a quote from Rev. Dr. Waddy Moss, of Didsbury College, Manchester, England, which appeared in the Manchester Dispatch.

Other than these instances, we found no more instances where the phrase "organized religion" is used in Russell's works.

Russell, being a non-sectarian, believed that the true church consists of all who actually belong to Christ, regardless of denominational or sectarian ties. Many protestant ministers have stated the same thing, although many -- if not most -- of them would exclude any who do not believe in the trinity.

We suspect, however, that Martin and Klann may have confused Rutherford's later campaign against organized religion with the ministry of Russel. Rutherford's denunciation of "organized religion" included the promotion of his new "organization" as "Jehovah's organization." Part of Russell's dogma was that all other religions and/or religious groups are part of "Satan's organization". Rutherford began to promote the idea that anyone not of his organization would be eternally destroyed in the battle of Armageddon. In other words, Rutherford was promoting the very kind of sectarianism that Russell had preached against; indeed, Rutherford created an "organized religion" himself.

At any rate, we give links below to the only three instances wherein we could find the expression, "organized religion" in Russell's works, all three of which are actually within quotes from other authors:

WANING CHURCH LIFE WESLEYANS, IN COMMON WITH OTHERS, LOSING MANY ADHERENTS

THE LACK FELT--CRYING ALOUD

Of course, Russell did believe that sectarian Churchianity must be destroyed; God is not going to allow such divisions in His kingdom. Russell, however, was NOT teaching the eternal destruction of individuals within these sects. 

For links to what Russell taught on the true church, CLICK HERE.

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Russell Founder of WTS - Not the JWs

One has responded to our finding that Russell was not the founder of the JWs, and several assertions have been made that are misleading, to say the least.

The claim is evidently that since Russell was the principal founder of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and since the JWs are now using that legal entity as their "legal instrument", that this is supposed to mean that Charles Taze Russell was actually the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses organization. Of course, in reality, the legal instrument as Russell envisioned it, was not designed to be the legal instrument of an organization such as the "Jehovah's Witnesses." As he designed the Society, it was a legal entity for coordinating communication among the Bible Students and as a service organization.

When Russell died, Rutherford -- by means of deceit and legal trickery -- gained control of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and almost immediately began to use that legal entity as a means of slowly producing what would become known as the JW organization. As a result many of the Bible Students rejected Rutherford's new ideas, and thus indirectly stopped supporting the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. At first, the vast majority of the earlier Bible Students did not fully realize what was happening, or simply believed that the matter would correct itself in time. Thus, as reported, on the jwfaq.blogspot.com site, about 20% of the Bible Students stopped supporting Rutherford in 1917. This does not mean, as the Watch Tower leaders later stated, that they left "Jehovah's organization". That which the JWs mistakenly call "Jehovah's organization" did not exist in 1917, although Rutherford had already begun to implement ideas as a basis for such an organization. Rutherford slowly created his organization by rejecting the core teachings of Russell and the Bible Students. What is not stated on the jwfaq site, however, is that in the years that followed, many more of the Bible Students either voluntarily stopped supporting Rutherford, or else they found themselves disfellowshipped by Rutherford's followers for not accepting Rutherford's new teachings. Thus, according to the Watchtower's own published statements, by 1928 more than seventy-five percent of the Bible Students had stopped supporting the Society. Nevertheless, there were thousands who were associated with the Watch Tower after 1914 who evidently were never fully appreciative of the scriptural testimony concerning the local church organization, nor even in the central teaching of the "ransom for all." These, along with some of the earlier Bible Students, became the followers of Rutherford, and could not actually be called "Russell's followers" as is done on one of the sites.

Russell, however, was a non-sectarian, and he was not the founder of any religion; he did not believe in such an organization as Rutherford later formed after Russell died. Rutherford, in fact, rejected the core teachings of Russell, and replaced them with his own teachings. Rutherford, not Russell, was the one who set up an authoritative organization. Rutherford evidently realized that the core teaching of the "ransom for all" would not be an effective doctrine to sustain an organization such as he envisioned, and thus he dropped that teaching to make it a ransom for some, but not all, and he adopted a teaching of eternal destruction for almost all who disagreed with him, something Russell never thought to do. Russell was certainly not the founder of that which he did not believe in.

The fact that Russell and his associates started the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society does not mean that Russell was responsible for what happened afterwards, anymore than Jesus, in instituting his church can be held responsible for others who came after to him who sought to lord it over the church, and sought to kill others who disagreed with them. That organization came into being after Russell died. At the protest of thousands of Bible Students all over the world, Rutherford, after Russell's death, proceeded to form his organization, and began to teach almost the opposite of what Russell taught concerning the atonement. Over the next 15 years, most of the Bible Students around the world no longer supported Rutherford's new organization, so that the Bible Students movement, as a whole, continued to exist separate from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society.

The statement is made that "Russell’s group, the International Bible Students, had their name formally changed by Rutherford in 1931 to Jehovah’s Witnesses." This is misleading since the name of the Bible Students movement itself was not changed in 1931 to "Jehovah's Witnesses." Rutherford did have the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" adopted by his followers in order to distinguish his organization from the Bible Students who continued their own work separate from the WTB&TS. This is admitted in the resolution that was printed in The Watchtower, September 15, 1931, page 279, in that the name of "Jehovah's Witnesses" was being adopted because "shortly following the death of Charles T. Russell a division arose between those associated with him in such work, resulting in a number of such withdrawing from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and who have since refused to cooperate with said Society and its work and who decline to concur in the truth as published by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society in The Watch Tower and the other recent publications of the said above-named corporations, end have opposed and do now oppose the work of said Society in declaring the present message of God’s kingdom and the day of the vengeance of our God against all parts of Satan’s organization; and said opposing ones have formed themselves into divers and numerous companies and have taken and now bear such names as, to wit, 'Bible Students, ' 'Associated Bible Students,' 'Russellites teaching the truth as expounded by Pastor Russell,' 'Stand-Fasters,' and like names, all of which tends to cause confusion and misunderstanding." Although I doubt that most 'Bible Students' today would agree that the statement is totally accurate, it does point out that the "Bible Students" were separate from the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and that this is the reason for the "new name."

The name "International Bible Students Association" is the name of a legal entity in England; that name was never changed, and the legal entity still has that name to this day. The Bible Students movement itself continues to this day separate from the Watch Tower Bible & Tract Society. Brother Russell did use the term "International Bible Students" as well as "International Bible Students Association" to describe the Bible Students movement. Thus, legally, it had two different applications, one as referring to the legal entity by that name, and the other regarding the Bible Students movement as a whole. However, Russell, in the Photo Drama of Creation presentation, also spoke of the conference in Jerusalem that is spoken of in Acts 2:16-18 as the first I.B.S.A. convention. In doing so, he was not referring to the legal entity in London.

From the Photo Drama of Creation

Today, however, Bible Students rarely use "International Bible Students Association" to describe themselves, evidently because many would confuse such an expression with the legal entity that still bears that name. The phrase "International Bible Students", however, is used in reference to an international convention, not as a "name" for the movement, but simply because the convention of Bible Students is international in scope. Some Bible Students have recently put a site called "International Bible Students Association", but this is obviously not the legal entity in London that is of the same name.

----- Ronald R. Day, Sr.

This above was originally published in Aprit of 2009; it has been edited several times since. Republished in September of 2014; Updated in August, 2021.

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