Charles Taze Russell founded the Bible Student movement that gave rise to Jehovah’s Witnesses, spreading teachings that denied key biblical truths about Jesus, the Holy Spirit, salvation, and the afterlife. Charles Taze Russell’s failed prophecies and false doctrines show the danger of following human ideas instead of God’s Word.
Charles Taze Russell was the founder of the Bible Student movement, which later gave rise to the Jehovah’s Witnesses. Russell was a false prophet, which the Bible warns of (Deuteronomy 18:20-22; Jeremiah 23:16; Matthew 7:15). For example, though Jesus noted that only the Father knows the date of Christ’s Second Coming (Matthew 24:36), that didn’t prevent Russell from predicting Christ’s return in 1878 and the end of the “Gentile Times” in 1914. When his prophecies failed, he continued spreading his views through The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, the main organizational body of the Jehovah’s Witnesses. The Jehovah’s Witnesses reject Christ’s deity and the deity of the Holy Spirit (John 1:1, 20:28; Isaiah 9:6; Genesis 1:2). They also believe in annihilationism, the teaching that the unsaved cease to exist after death; the biblical teaching is that the unsaved exist in hell after death (Daniel 12:2; Luke 16:19-31). The Jehovah’s Witnesses are also legalistic, enforcing guidelines on what members wear, forbidding celebrating birthdays and certain holidays, and requiring mandatory field evangelism. But Scripture teaches that believers are saved through grace by faith in Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9). Russell’s legacy shows the danger of following human speculation over God’s Word and the tragic influence false teaching can have on generations. His life reveals clearly the urgent need for sound discipleship, careful study of Scripture, and testing every teaching against God’s truth.
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).