Back to Jehovah's Witnesses Overview Russell

Charles Taze Russell, Zion's Watch Tower, and the Studies in the Scriptures.

Charles Taze Russell (1852-1916) was an American haberdasher-turned-preacher who, after losing confidence in the creeds of his youth, organized a Pittsburgh Bible study that became the Bible Student movement. He founded and edited Zion's Watch Tower from 1879, authored the seven-volume Studies in the Scriptures, taught that Christ returned invisibly in 1914, and left a publishing and preaching movement that survived, and outgrew, his own expectations.

Bible Student ClaimRussell restored the primitive Christian faith by separating Scripture from creed and tradition, restoring the divine plan of the ages and the hope of Christ's second presence.

Main ReceiptsDivine Plan of the Ages (1886), The Time is at Hand (1889), Thy Kingdom Come (1891), The Finished Mystery (1917).

Live DisputeCritics called Russell a false prophet, a millennial speculator, and an autocratic editor; his defenders insist the movement always revised prophetic detail while keeping the Bible as its only creed.

Component Map

6 pieces that have to be kept distinct.

Youth and DoubtRaised Presbyterian then Congregationalist, Russell rejected eternal torment in his teens and searched Adventist and restorationist teaching for a coherent biblical plan.

The Pittsburgh CircleIn the early 1870s Russell gathered a small study group in Allegheny/Pittsburgh that concluded Christ had returned invisibly and that the Gentile Times would end in 1914.

Zion's Watch TowerIn 1879 Russell began publishing Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, first with Adventist editor N.H. Barbour, then independently as the movement's teaching organ.

Millennial Dawn to Studies in the ScripturesRussell's six volumes of Millennial Dawn, renamed Studies in the Scriptures after his death, presented the divine plan of the ages from creation to the millennium and made the 1914 chronology central.

Publishing and Traveling MinistryRussell built a tract society, a colporteur (pioneer) work, and a lecture circuit; he spoke to large audiences and used newspaper syndication to spread the Watch Tower message.

Death and SuccessionRussell died on October 31, 1916, on a train in Texas; the society's legal staff, especially J.F. Rutherford, took control and redirected the movement after his death.

Receipt Trail

Start here before drawing conclusions.

The Divine Plan of the Ages (1886)Russell's foundational statement of the divine plan, from creation to the ages to come.

The Time is at Hand (1889)The Studies volume defending the 1914 chronology from the Times of the Gentiles.

The Finished Mystery (1917)The posthumous seventh volume whose wartime publication sent Rutherford and colleagues to prison.