On the site ; http://www.pastor-russell.com/legacy/intro.html we can read;-
“ Nearly 100 years ago, utilizing Bible prophecy and with strong faith in God, Pastor Russell foresaw: technology that would instantly spread knowledge and information to everyone on earth; global warming with melting polar ice caps; the eventual restriction of civil liberties; growing political power of Protestants; the rise of Islamic terrorism; social and civil rights movements; globalization; oppression of "corporate giants" (a term he coined); the merging and collapse of world economies; the Jewish holocaust followed by the re-establishment of Israel, and much more. For those with spiritual insight this is what God gave as signs he is setting up His kingdom... and it's happening RIGHT NOW!”
If this was correct, how did he get all these things wrong?
His teachings included;
1. The time of the end started in 1799.
2. In 1874 Jesus Christ returned invisibly.
3. The world would come to an end in 1914.
4. Without the use of His books 'Studies in the Scriptures' he said, reading the Bible would only lead to spiritual darkness.
5. He wrote ' A Divine Plan of the Ages' which proved 1914 by one measurement of the Great Pyramid.
6. He later changed that date to 1915 then to 1918 but he died in 1916 so he did not live to see that date fail as well
7. He had a Cross on the early Watchtower magazines.
8. He taught it is only fitting to worship Christ.
9. He taught that celebrating birthdays was OK.
I am sure there are many more things the WBTS disagree with from his teachings as well.
Was he a prophet?
Answers & Comments
Verified answer
That website seems to be on a par with claims about Nostradamus! It's all too easy to claim writings in centuries past foretold events that happened later, but those familiar with Russell's writings will know that he expected world events to culminate within his lifetime into Armageddon, not 100 years after he'd died!
Russell was predominantly a Bible chronologer, following the 19th century enthusiasm for working out from Bible prophecies when Jesus would return. He said 1874. Wrong. He said the nation of Israel would play a key part in events leading up to Armageddon, but he 'predicted' that God's favour began to be shown to them from 1878 though their national time of punishment from God would not expire until 1914. Ironically, by the time the nation was established in 1948, Russell's ideas had long beeen ditched! Most JWs have no idea that he majored on literal Israel. Yet it can be said with confidence that almost everything he expected not only didn't turn out as expected, but that all the dates he associated with said expected events were completely absurd.
So far removed is current Wt.B.&T.Soc teaching from Russell's, it can be said that the JWs only bear a passing resemblance to Russell's teachings. However, the Wt.B.&T.Soc must retain a link because they still attach such importance to the year 1914 that they need Russell's 'predictions' about it to bolster their own retention of that date. Again, most JWs don't realise that 1874 was a far more important date to Russell than 1914 ever was!
I gleaned this, and much more, from the book below, and would recommend it to anyone wanting to understand the origination of the Bible Students and their break-away from the second President, Rutherford. Because Rutherford knew Russell's time-line was fundamentally flawed, he gradually produced a changed one, whilst retaining the impression that it was still based on Russell. Wrong! It was almost entirely divorced from Russell's reasoning. But if the JWs knew that, they would understand why the Bible Students left en masse in the 1920s and 1930s and then the accusation that they turned out to be "the evil servant" of Matthew 24:48-51 would look silly. Indeed, it might cause them to wonder if the second President & Co. could be "that evil servant"!
The answer to your question is that Russell certainly predicted biblical things that did not come to pass (which made him a false prophet) and Rutherford also predicted biblical things that did not come to pass (which made him a false prophet too). So, whoever follows whichever loyal group of supporters, are supporting the teachings of false prophets, no matter how hard they try to 'up-date' them and project into the future things that they'd said would happen in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
No he wasn't. He was an imperfect human being who frequently got it wrong it seems, as do the Watchtower, the Catholics, Church of England, Pentecostals and many others. All we have are the scriptures which are a book of prophecy from our Creator to us. We should endeavour to read even the imperfect copies we have. Also, those that have the gift of understanding foreign languages ought to be using their skills to go back right now and open-mindedly check them out to ensure the previous churches haven't mistranslated them according to their faiths. It is only the last 400 years that we have had the scriptures freed from Latin and into other languages. The only people who have endeavoured to translate them were already influenced by their religious beliefs and doctrines. E.g. 1 Cor 11:10 and verse 15.
fairly plenty each and every band i admire and a few million/2 the classical composers i admire are so incredibly unpopular that i've got by no skill met somebody else who listens to them and purely infrequently met somebody who's even heard of them. right that's a [short] record: Alkonost Arkona Arvinger Apocalyptica Battlelore Blind father or mom Borknagar babies of Bodom Dimmu Borgir Dragonforce Dragonlord Dream Theater Einherjer Edguy E Nomine Ensiferum Falkenbach Faun Finntroll Finsterforst Fjoergyn Folkearth Funker Vogt Hammerfall Hellveto Iced Earth Imperanon Kalmah Korpiklaani Kraftwerk Leaves Eyes optimum the Hormone Menhir Moonsorow Moonspell Nevermore Nightwish Norther Rhapsody [at present replaced their call to Rhapsody of hearth] Rivendell Samael Sinergy typhoon Stratovarius Sonata Arctica Temnozor The Chieftains Therion Theudho Thornar Thyrfing Turisas Týr Vintersorg Warmen Wintersun Waylander EDIT: definitely, babies of Bodom and Dragonforce are extremely huge-unfold.
No...He was not a Prophet, but someone who was aware of his spiritual needs.....He was a very smart considering that when he was young, he begun a business associated with his own father that grew up.
He used his intelligence to investiguate more about the bible......many things were correct but not all...JWs don't pretend to be infallible.
Many Evangelicals are illogicals in their reasoning.....What you call prophecy is just simple using logical reasoning...it only take 1 minute to realize that
a prophet is a person who receives the word of god to pass onto the people , that person has to be one of great standing , russell was a very poor example to stand before his people , there are still a few like him today
God does not have false prophets, and he doesn't keep changing the stories around either.
From their founders until now, jehovahs witnesses and their entire outfit remain the same..teachers of false doctrine. the blind leading the blind.