Charles Russell And Jehovah’s Witness Charles Russell and Jehovahs Witnesses On February 16, 1852, a child was born that would grow up to lead millions of people astray from families, friends, Christianity, and, most importantly, a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The teachings this child taught later as an adult lead people down a road that will only end in one destinationHell. On this seemingly normal day in 1852, just outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, a son was born to Joseph L. Russell and his wife, Anna Eliza. They named him Charles Taze Russell.
This child would grow up to form The Watchtower Society and later the religious group Jehovahs Witnesses. Because Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Jehovah Witnesses religious group, grew up to be a lying, immoral man and had religious beliefs that went totally against New Testament Christianity, it is imperative that it is exposed both who he really was and the false doctrines around which his religious group was built. Before one can study Russells beliefs and proof of his immorality, one must learn the history of his life and Jehovahs Witnesses. As mentioned before, Russell was born on February 16, 1852, to Joseph and Eliza Russell. He spent most of his early years in Pittsburgh and Allegheny, Pennsylvania.
Not much is know about Russell until 1870, when, at the age of 18, he organized a Bible class in Pittsburgh. In 1875, the group elected him Pastor. From 1876 to 1878, he was assistant editor of a small Rochester, New York, magazine until he resigned when a controversy arose over his counterarguments against Christs atonement. In 1879, Russell married Maria Frances Ackley.
Also in 1879, Russell founded The Herald of the Morning, which eventually developed into todays The Watchtower Announcing Jehovahs Kingdom. From 6,000 initial copies, the publication has grown to 17.8 million copies per month in 106 languages (Martin 79). In 1884, Russell incorporated Zions Watchtower Tract Society in Pittsburgh. In 1886, it published the first of seven books (Russell wrote six by himself.), now entitled Studies in the Scriptures and originally entitled The Millennial Dawn (Martin 17).
From these beginnings, Russell gained many followers and continued teaching and preaching until his death on October 31, 1916, aboard a trans-continental train in Texas. After Russells death, leadership duties were taken over by Judge Joseph Franklin Rutherford. Under Rutherford, the official name Jehovahs Witnesses was taken at Columbus, Ohio, in 1931, to differentiate between the true followers of Russell and other splinter groups (Martin and Russell 11). Following Rutherfords death in 1942, Nathan Knorr, Frederick Franz, and Milton Hanschel have assumed the leadership role, respectively. Through these leaders, Jehovahs Witnesses has grown to a total membership of 5,413,769, as of the end of 1996 (Martin 93).
Now that the history of Charles Taze Russell and Jehovahs Witnesses has been covered, it is now time to move on to a comparison of basic Jehovahs Witnesses beliefs to accepted Christian biblical doctrine. There are many tenets to the Jehovahs Witness faith that are totally against accepted Christian biblical doctrine. The Jehovahs Witness religious group has made an attempt to separate themselves from the name Charles Russell in the years following his death. Even though the following doctrines mentioned are listed as Jehovahs Witness beliefs, a careful comparison between them and the writings of Charles Russell would show a clear connection. The following are just a few of the Jehovahs Witnesses false doctrines followed up with biblical refutation. The doctrines mentioned are taken directly from their official pamphlets and books.
First, here are some of their beliefs on Jehovah God. Jehovah Witnesses believe there is only one true God and that he has many titles but has only one name. That name is Jehovah. Jehovahs Witnesses arrogantly claim that by using Jehovah, they have restored the divine name of God. This is totally untrue. In the ancient Hebrew texts, where Witnesses claim they have found this as Gods name, only the Hebrew consonants YHWH or JHVH appear.
In the Hebrew language, any vowels could be inserted between the consonants, giving any combination from JoHeVaH to JiHiViH, without doing any damage to the grammar of the language. To insist their past leaders had a revelation on this topic is a pathetic and ridiculous claim when Moses himself did not call God Jehovah! The next step in studying Jehovah Witness unbiblical doctrine is to study their beliefs about Jesus Christ. The true Scriptures speak of Gods Son, the Word, as a god. He is a mighty god, but not the Almighty God, who is Jehovah (Martin 102). These lines are taken directly from works published by The Watchtower Society and sum up the Witnesses basic beliefs about Jesus Christ. Witness doctrine teaches that Jesus was the first creation of Jehovah and is therefore the firstborn, only-begotten Son of God, but is not equal with God.
John 1:1 which states In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (NIV 1590). This verse completely disproves the idea Jesus is not equal with God. Nowhere in scriptures does it say Christ was A god but that he WAS God. Further proof of this is seen in Jesus claims to be I am in John 8:58.
John 8:57-59 states You are not yet fifty years old, the Jews said to him, and you have seen Abraham! I tell you the truth, Jesus answered, before Abraham was born, I am! At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds (NIV 1610). In Hebrew law, in only five cases was stoning legal. One of these was blasphemy. Jesus called himself I am. These are the words God used when Moses asked who he was.
Exodus 3:14 states God said to Moses, I AM WHO I AM (NIV 90). Jesus called himself Jehovah by calling himself I am. Two other refutes to the idea of Jesus not being equal with Jehovah are seen in John 20:28 and John 5:18. John 20:28 says Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God! (NIV 1634). John 5:18 says but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God, (NIV 1601). Witnesses believe in the Bible and accept what it says.
These are two verses that substantiate the idea that Jesus is equal with Jehovah. If Jesus were not equal with Jehovah, God would not have divinely instructed John to include these verses in his Gospel. The next logical step in studying Witness doctrine is to study the Holy Spirit. The holy spirit is the invisible active fo …
