Who was Charles Taze Russell?

from the old testament

• Jehovah’s Witnesses teach that Jesus is a created being (the archangel Michael), but the Bible declares Him to be God. The Old Testament calls the Messiah “Mighty God” and “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah 9:6).
• Jehovah’s Witnesses claim the Holy Spirit is only a force, but Scripture reveals Him as God. The Spirit of God was present in creation (Genesis 1:2). God says, “And now the Lord GOD has sent me, and his Spirit” (Isaiah 48:16).
• Jehovah’s Witnesses teach salvation through faith plus works and loyalty to the Watchtower, but the Bible is clear that salvation is God’s gift. Isaiah says, “All our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment” (Isaiah 64:6). Habakkuk says, “The righteous shall live by his faith” (Habakkuk 2:4).
• Jehovah’s Witnesses deny conscious existence after death, but Scripture teaches otherwise. Daniel writes, “Many of those who sleep in the dust… shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2). Ecclesiastes says, “The spirit returns to God who gave it” (Ecclesiastes 12:7).
• Jehovah’s Witnesses hold that the Watchtower is the ultimate authority, but the Bible says God’s Word alone has authority: “You shall not add to the word that I command you, nor take from it” (Deuteronomy 4:2).

from the new testament

• The New Testament confirms that Jesus is God, not a created being. John says, “the Word was God” (John 1:1), and Thomas confesses to Jesus, “My Lord and my God!” (John 20:28). Paul writes, “For by him all things were created… all things were created through him and for him” (Colossians 1:16), showing that Christ is Creator, not created.
• The New Testament also confirms that salvation is through faith, not works. Paul writes, “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Salvation comes by confessing “Jesus is Lord” and believing in His resurrection (Romans 10:9-10). Revelation describes not only 144,000 but also “a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation” in heaven (Revelation 7:9).
• Jesus reveals the conscious existence after death. He tells of the rich man and Lazarus, both conscious after death (Luke 16:19-31). He also says, “These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life” (Matthew 25:46). Paul writes, “My desire is to depart and be with Christ” (Philippians 1:23), affirming conscious life after death with Christ.
• The Bible alone has authority, written by God’s empowerment and inspiration for us. Jesus prays, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Paul writes, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable… that the man of God may be complete” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
• Paul warns, “If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you received, let him be accursed” (Galatians 1:8). The Jehovah’s Witnesses preach a gospel contrary to God’s Word.

implications for today

Charles Taze Russell was an American preacher who turned away from orthodox Christian teaching. A portion of his followers later became known as Jehovah's Witnesses.

He was born in Allegheny, Pennsylvania in 1852 but grew up in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania helping to run his family's clothing stores. Though his family originally attended a Presbyterian church, he became involved with the Adventist Movement in 1870 and started a Bible study for like-minded thinkers called the International Bible Students' Association.

In 1876, after interacting with Adventist preacher Nelson Barbour, Charles Taze Russell began teaching that Christ would return in 1878. He also believed the Gentile Times would end in 1914 ushering in the thousand-year reign of Christ. However, when his prediction of Christ's return did not take place in 1878, Russell split from Barbour over doctrinal differences. He returned to studying scripture from his own misguided perspective. In 1878, he sold his share of the family business to publish his own teaching. In 1881, with the remaining money, he started The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, which was incorporated in 1884 and has gone by a few different names.

Charles Taze Russell married thirty-year-old Maria Frances Ackley when he was twenty-seven years old in March 1879. However, the couple separated in 1897 with the divorce finalized in 1908. During this time, Russell became famous worldwide with his sermons printed in about four thousand newspapers reaching fifteen million people in the United States and Canada. Unfortunately, his teachings were contrary to Christian creeds of the Trinity, Christ’s physical resurrection, and judgment to an eternal hell for unbelievers.Russell misinterpreted biblical scriptures to suit his untrained and misguided personal opinions.

After Russell's death, his followers split into different groups with differing beliefs, but the group who retained control of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society was led by Joseph Rutherford and took on the name Jehovah's Witnesses in 1931, which is why many consider Charles Taze Russell to be a founder of that group.

Charles Taze Russell issued prophecies that failed to come true (Deuteronomy 18:22), taught doctrines contrary to the apostles' teaching (Galatians 1:8–9), and denied essential truths about Jesus Christ (1 John 4:1–3). Faithful followers of Jesus and true students of the Bible could see the fallacies in Russell's teaching, which is why many decried him as a heretic at the time. Yet many unsuspecting people fell prey to his false teaching (2 Peter 2:1). Today, over eight million Jehovah's Witnesses subscribe to false teachings first propagated by Charles Taze Russell.

Russell's life story and lasting impact highlight the need for Christian discipleship (1 Timothy 4:6, 11–16; 2 Timothy 3:16–17; Ephesians 4:11–16; Hebrews 5:11–14; 2 Peter 3:17–18), examining all teaching to assess its adherence to scriptural truth (Acts 17:11), and resisting the temptation to follow teaching that simply feels good instead of teaching that aligns with God's Word (2 Timothy 4:1–5).