“Blessed is he that cometh to the 1335 days”

1868

Charles T. Russell (1852-1916), raised in a Christian atmosphere, had joined the church at an early age and been active in mission work. But the creeds became a stumbling block to him, because he could not harmonize their teachings (especially eternal hellfire) with his concept of a loving God. But just as the very foundations of his faith were being threatened, he stumbled upon an Adventist meeting seemingly by accident, and its message served to restore his confidence in the Bible. Thereafter he was careful to distinguish between man-made creeds and teachings of the Bible, and determined to return to his Bible study with more zeal than ever before.

1870

At age 18, Mr. Russell and a small group of associates formed a Bible class in Allegheny, Penna. He became convinced that they were living near the close of the Gospel Age, at which time the faithful watchers for the return of Christ would be given a clearer knowledge of the divine plan. The next five year period, in his own words, “was a time of constant growth in grace and knowledge and love of God and his Word.” By 1872, he came to the realization that the atoning sacrifice of Christ would bring about the resurrection of all who had died and provide them with an opportunity for coming to a full knowledge of the truth and for gaining everlasting life.

In later years, Mr. Russell was to gratefully acknowledge the assistance in doctrinal matters which he received from Mr. George Stetson and Mr. George Storrs (the latter, editor of “The Bible Examiner,”) in this early period. He wrote, “We were then merely getting the general outline of God’s plan, and unlearning many long-cherished errors, the time for a clear discernment of the minutiae having not yet fully come.”

1876

Mr. Russell was elected Pastor of the Allegheny Bible class and began to assume more of a leadership role. His warm, loving personality and kindly manner endeared him to the group and proved a great asset throughout the years of his expanding ministry.

Pastor Russell had always been grieved at the date setting practice of the Adventists and what he considered their crude ideas of the object and manner of the Second Coming. But his acquaintance with two Adventist-oriented writers now gave fresh insights into the subject of prophetic time. These were Mr. Nelson Barbour, editor of “The Herald of the Morning” in Rochester, N.Y., and Mr. J. H. Paton from Almont, Mich. They suggested that the time prophecies pointed to the year of Christ’s invisible presence, when he would begin setting up his Kingdom on earth, gather his church and separate the wheat from the tares. Mr. Barbour convinced Pastor Russell from several lines of prophetic testimony that 1874 had seen the beginning of this work.

1877

Pastor Russell and Mr. Barbour jointly published The Three Worlds and Plan of Redemption, which combined the concepts of the ransom sacrifice of Christ, restitution blessings to follow, and time prophecy. Pastor Russell also became assistant editor of “The Herald of the Morning” with Mr. Barbour.

Pastor Russell called a special meeting of all the ministers in Pittsburgh and Allegheny to demonstrate that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874. Many attended, but none accepted the teaching. The following year, he published the pamphlet, “The Object and Manner of the Lord’s Return,” hoping thereby to dispel some of the “doomsday” aspects traditionally associated with the event.

1879

Doctrinal divisions caused Pastor Russell to withdraw support from Mr. Barbour and to begin publishing an entirely new journal, called “Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence.” Pastor Russell was to remain editor of this monthly magazine (semi-monthly from 1892) until his death in 1916. It became the chief means of stirring interest in the doctrines of the divine plan and, in later years, of maintaining that interest.

1881

Pastor Russell published Food For Thinking Christians which carried an illustrative “Plan of the Ages” chart summarizing the various stages of God’s plan of salvation. It was followed by The Tabernacle and Its Teachings, detailing sacrificial aspects of the life of Christ and his followers, drawn from types in the Old Testament.

Local congregations of Bible Students began to spring up around the country, supporting the work of the Watch Tower Society and electing Mr. Russell as their pastor. The largest groups were in Pittsburgh, New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago and Los Angeles. Convention gatherings began to be organized in various cities, attended at first by hundreds, and in later years by thousands.

1886

Pastor Russell published Millennial Dawn, an enlargement of the earlier Food For Thinking Christians, and the work soon became the classic and mainstay of the movement. Its simple, easy-flowing style contrasted sharply with the complicated theological treatises of the day. It laid out the successive stages of God’s purposes as revealed in Scripture, covering such subjects as: Time features, the program of blessing, the permission of evil and its value, ransom and restitution, the Day of Judgment, distinction between spiritual and human natures, the prophetic course of the kingdoms of this world, the great time of trouble, and the nearness of God’s Kingdom upon earth [1]. Circulation eventually surpassed the six million mark, a phenomenal record for a religious work, attesting both to its value as a textbook and to the zeal of those promoting it.

A large group of volunteer workers gradually entered the work, enthusiastically distributing Watch Tower publications throughout the country at a minimal cost to the public. By 1886, the number of these colporteurs, or traveling agents of the Society, reached about 300.

1889

Pastor Russell published The Time Is At Hand, Volume Two in the “Studies in the Scriptures” series. This work concentrated on chronological and prophetic aspects of God’s plan, summarizing studies of earlier devout students of the Bible, especially of the Adventist movement, and adding appropriate refinements and the fuller unfoldings just recently uncovered. Subjects discussed included Bible chronology, the first advent in prophecy, the Time of the Gentiles, the manner of Christ’s return, earth’s great jubilee, and the Antichrist system.

Two teachings were stressed in this volume which were quite unorthodox: First, that the invisible return of Christ, beginning in 1874, would be marked initially by an intense period of distress upon the nations which would give way to an unparalleled time of blessing under the Millennial Reign. And second, that the year 1914 would mark the end of the “Times of the Gentiles” lease of power and herald the earthly establishment of God’s Kingdom. These two dates, 1874 and 1914, henceforth became cornerstones of the movement and elicited great excitement among the believers.

Summary

During his forty-year-plus ministry, Pastor Russell traveled more than a million miles as public lecturer, preached more than 30,000 sermons, and wrote books and tracts totaling over 50,000 pages. He managed a world-wide evangelistic campaign that employed 700 speakers and at the height of his popularity, 2,000 city newspapers with a circulation of 15 million published his weekly sermons. By 1916, there were more than 1,000 Bible study classes around the world that had elected him as their beloved Pastor. But perhaps the highlight of his public witness work was the “Photo Drama of Creation,” a unique slide and film showing with accompanying sound, far ahead of its day, depicting God’s plan from earth’s creation to its perfection in the Millennial Reign. Beginning in 1914, this production was shown throughout the U.S. and several foreign countries to large audiences totaling more than ten million.

Despite the disappointment in the partial failure of the 1914 hopes, when it had been expected that God’s Kingdom would come, the Bible Student movement survived and many continued to rejoice in the blessings of increased knowledge which Pastor Russell’s ministry had provided. Under his leadership, it was felt that a fresh flood of light had been directed upon the Scriptures which revealed and clarified many truths long hidden and misunderstood. Errors of the past regarding the inherent immortality of man, the relationship of the Father and Son, and the nature of eternal punishment gave way to these beams of advancing light. Contemporary Bible Students remain convinced that current crisis events of the world are verifying the predictions of the Bible relative to the “end times,” and that we are on the threshold of a new era in which God will intervene to establish His long-promised Kingdom of blessing.

Bibliography:

• The Bible Student Movement in the Days of C. T. Russell, James Parkinson.
• Jehovah ‘s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, pp. 14-68.
• Thy Kingdom Come, C. T. Russell, pp. 88-89.
• Watch Tower Reprints, “Harvest Gatherings and Siftings,” C. T. Russell, Vol. 6, pp. 3820-3826.

– Contributed

 

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[1] The title of the work was later changed to The Divine Plan of the Ages and it became the first of six volumes under the heading of “Studies in the Scriptures.”

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