For years it’s been said that the Bible Students are guilty of creature worship. What is the creature they are charged with worshipping? None other then Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and International Bible Students. And who are these accusers who make such claims? None other then the very Society Russell founded, the Watch Tower and its current members the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
In the past I would conversed with Witnesses at my door or on the street, today any dialogue with them is through social media, the conversation are usually the same. In discussing the doctrinal changes within the Watchtower since the days of Russell I was told:
“we no longer believe such things although those who still follow Russell carry over his errors….we discarded them long ago and constantly revise what further and deeper study reveals. Unlike Christendom, and those who continued to follow Russell, we are not stuck in the past with no way to move forward. Revelation of truth has always been progressive. We adapt and study, and adapt again as new light is cast on old subjects. (Prov 4:18 ) This is what continual study provides….new facets to an old gem. We make no apology for that…..”
And yet since the death of Russell, they’ve come to no clear conclusions, since they continue to adapt. What I learned in 1982, is no longer taught today. This same person told me that I had an axe to grind, because I couldn’t accept, and I quote:
“that we are living proof of what the Bible clearly reveals, we receive our “food at the proper time”…..”the faithful slave” is appointed by Jesus and given instruction to “feed” his entire household, (Matt 24:45) but not all at once in a big “meal” that is served once and never served again….. If we had nothing new to chew over, how easily we could get bogged down with the same old boring diet? Isn’t this what got the Israelites complaining about in the wilderness? All they had to eat for 40 years was the manna….same food every day, but it could be served in a variety of ways. They got to calling it “contemptible bread” (Num 21:4-5) Yet it was a perfect food nutritionally, just boring to eat day after day.”
Seems to be a contradiction here, Bible Students never consider what we call the “Harvest Message” as “boring” or “contemptible bread.” It was the Watchtower leadership who considered it “boring” and “contemptible bread.” So what this person is telling me, is that they believed Russell’s writings were boring and contemptible bread, even though it could be “served in a variety of ways.”, just as Bible Students have been doing for over 100 years.
But I digress, lets get back to the subject of creature worship.
Notice this statement found in the book; Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Divine Purpose:
“The insistence that Russell had been “that Servant” led many to regard Russell in what amounted actually to creature worship. They believed that all the truth God had seen fit to reveal to his people had been revealed to Russell, and now nothing more could be brought forth because “that servant” was dead.” “[1959, pg 69]
As recent as 1988, in the book Revelation – It’s Grand Climax at Hand! The Watchtower makes this claim:
“The John class, however, emerged from the tumultuous days of the first world war with a love for Jehovah and for the truth that impelled them to serve him with flaming zeal. They resisted those who tried to introduce sectarianism through practically idolizing the first president of the Watch Tower Society, Charles T. Russell, following his death in 1916.” [p. 35, 36]
Who were “those” the “John class” tried to resist? And how did “those” try “to introduce sectarianism”? The answer lies in the book; God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society in 1973. It had this to say concerning the issue of idolizing C.T. Russell:
“This view was prominently featured in the book published in July of 1917 by the People’s Pulpit Association of Brooklyn, New York. This book was called “The Finished Mystery” and furnished a commentary of the Bible books of Revelation and Ezekiel and The Songs of Solomon. On its Publishers page the book was called the “Posthumous Works of Pastor Russell.” Such a book and religious attitude tended to establish a religious sect centered around a man” [pg 347]
Who or what was the People’s Pulpit Association? The answer again can be found in the pages of the book Qualified to Be Ministers published in 1967, by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society. It had this to say about the Association:
“Such a corporation came into legal existence February 23, 1909, and was named People’s Pulpit Association. Thirty years later, in 1939, the name was changed to its present one, Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, Inc.” [pg. 309]
So, in essence, the Watchtower Society itself was to blame for promoting the idolizing of C.T. Russell, not a group of individuals. The Book The Finished Mystery , the so-called “Seventh Volume” of “Studies in the Scriptures” was published by the Society, International Bible Students Association and copyrighted by the People’s Pulpit Association, it was sanctioned by then president J.F. Rutherford, and was the cause of much schism within the Bible Students Association, not because it was promoting Russell, but because it was filled with misquotes, half truths and perversion of thoughts. If you didn’t accept it, you were disfellowshipped, later when they discarded it, if you accepted it, you were disfellowshipped for not moving ahead with the organization.
Nowhere within the pages of C.T. Russell’s writings, is there a thought alluding to worshipping him. Never did he ever claim to be “That Faithful and Wise Servant” mentioned in Matthew 24:45-48. Yes … there were those in his day who believe he filled that office, members of the Association, certain representatives of the Watch Tower Society, even letters published in the Watch Tower were sometimes address to “Pastor Russell, that servant”, but Russell never made the claim for himself.
In fact, Russell originally taught that “that servant” was a class, representing the church as a whole. In October/November 1881 issue of Zion’s Watch Tower on page 5 he wrote:
“We believe that every member of this body of Christ is engaged in the blessed work, either directly or indirectly, of giving meat in due season to the household of faith. “Who then is that faithful and wise servant whom his Lord hath made ruler over his household,” to give them meat in due season? Is it not that “little flock” of consecrated servants who are faithfully carrying out their consecration vows – the body of Christ …?”
This view was reiterated in the April 1, 1895 issue of the Watch Tower. On page 47 of the March 1896 issue of the Watch Tower, his wife, Maria Russell wrote the article, “That Servant”:
“THIS lesson, from Matthew’s account (Matt. 24:42-51), was treated in our issue of April 1, ’95. We have no further comment to make except upon one point: “that [special] servant.” In our examination of this text we seem to have treated the term “that servant” as though the Spirit had erred in saying “that servant” when it meant servants (plural), and we applied it to all true servants of God. Since then we have been met from various quarters with objections to so general an application, and the suggestion that it would be wrong to allow modesty or any other consideration, good or bad, to warp our judgment in the exposition of the inspired Word; to which proposition we agree. God evidently has some purpose in all that he has caused to be written for our admonition; and faithfulness as servants requires that we deliver to the household the Lord’s word, as he gives it.”
Being unable to answer the objections and arguments raised, we candidly present them to the “fellow-servants” and to the “household” of faith as part of the Lord’s message: the subject being forced upon us … by inquiries by letter. Let each “fellow servant” and each member of the “household of faith” use his consecrated judgment in accepting or rejecting this exposition, or any other exposition we may ever offer, according to his ability or inability to recognize in it the voice of our great Shepherd.
In 1897, C.T. Russell published Volume 4 of Studies in the Scriptures, The Battle of Armageddon, where a chapter is dedicated to the Lord’s Great Prophecy, stating “That Servant” was an individual, yet never claiming “I am the faithful and wise servant.” Unlike the Governing Body of today, who on a regular basis, make that claim.
At a convention in 1909, he was asked “ who is that servant…?” He answered:
“I have nothing to say about the subject. What I would say would not change matters any way. You have your right to your opinion and they have their right to theirs. [Convention Reports 1909, pg. 25]
In fact, the thought of promoting Russell as “That Servant” and giving him prominence was J.F. Rutherford. In the December 1, 1916 Watchtower it stated:
“Thousands of the readers of Pastor Russell’s writings believe that he filled the office of “that faithful and wise servant,” and that his great work was giving to the Household of Faith meat in due season. His modesty and humility precluded him from openly claiming this title, but he admitted as much in private conversation. ” [pg 357]
The only ones who admitted to these so-called private conversations were, Rutherford, VanAmburgh and MacMillan, the three individuals responsible for seizing control of the Watch Tower Society. Their motives behind such a promotion was to appease the close friends, colleagues and supporters of Russell. Rutherford vowed to continue the work Russell had started. But in promoting Russell, elevating him and his writings to that of equal par to the Scriptures, he created a monster. Many Bible Students parted company with the Society. Some actually believed and accepted this new idea. It was even taught through the pages of The Watch Tower that Russell was still directing the affairs of the Society from heaven.
Evidently Rutherford, decided to slay the monster he created, by cunningly denouncing all he had stated and written in The Watch Tower. Not only was Russell pushed to the background, but the Scriptures had been reinterpreted. Russell’s books were left to go out of print, with no new editions being published. His name if mentioned at all, was done only in passing, as “first President” of the Society. His writings were replaced by newer ones. This cause more schisms and departures by Bible Students who could not and would not accept the Society’s leadership, and autonomous rule.
For 10 years, between 1917-1927, J.F. Rutherford enforced the thought that C.T. Russell was “That Servant” of Matthew 24.
In the February 15, 1927 Watch Tower, there appears the article “Servant–Good and Evil”. Here Rutherford reconsiders Matthew 24:45. He writes on pages 56-57:
The evil servant clearly does not refer to an individual human being, but does refer collectively to those who were found unfaithful when the Lord arrived at his temple.
So here he is applying the Drunken Evil Servant to a class, namely, those Bible Students who defected and did not accept that Jesus came to inspect his temple in 1919 and appointing the Watch Tower Society as His channel.
He goes on to say:
“There seems to be no ground, within the meaning of the Scriptures, for concluding that “the faithful and wise servant” refers to any individual person, but does have reference to the feet members of Christ on earth–those who are blind to everything except to the will of the Lord, and who are harmoniously lifting up their voices together in declaring his message of the kingdom…”
What is here said is no reflection on anything that has heretofore been written. Some have claimed that the scripture, “The faithful and wise servant,” specifically applies to Brother Russell. He never made that claim himself.
I’m sorry, but didn’t the good Judge say in December 1916, that he did admit to being that servant in private?
For years afterwards, Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses grew apart, animosity and hatred was promoted by the Society towards the independent Bible Student groups who rejected the Society as God’s Sole Channel of communication. The Society rewrote its history, omitting many important facts, and in the cases cited above distorted many events, to place them in a good light and branding Bible Students as evil opposers who would rather follow and worship a man, rather than their organization.
For years, the Society shifted the blame on Professor Paul S.L. Johnson, a colleague of Russell, an ordained minister, born a Jew, who joined the Bible Students Association and became an important promoter of Bible Truths. He was the Society’s scapegoat for many years. Most of the attacks on Johnson came after his death in 1950, and continued until the 1980s, it was as the old saying goes “beating a dead horse”, as Johnson was not alive to defend himself.
The Society tried to silence the Bible Students, by holding on to the copyrights of such works as Studies in the Scriptures and the Watch Tower Reprints. As Bible Students, they relied on their Bibles and nothing more. When the copyrights ran out, Paul S.L. Johnson, decided to reprint the Studies in the Scriptures. He contacted Rutherford, as they at one time were like brothers. Rutherford’s reply came in the destruction of the original plates. It was a slow process, but Johnson in 1937, made the Volumes available to the brethren. In 1940, the Dawn Bible Students Association, also reproduced the volumes. And years later, the original Watch Towers were made available to the brethren by way of the Chicago Bible Students.
The Society’s publications having a much larger circulation then all the Bible Student literature combined, tried a new tactic, every time they mentioned the term “Bible Students” they always had in parenthesis “as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then known as”. Giving the reader the thought that Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses are one and the same. When people came across the name or writings of Russell or Bible Students, they would automatically associate it with the Witnesses.
In recent years, with the advent of computers, and counter cult ministries, Witnesses were being made aware of the Bible Students, and the real issues being raised by the Watchtower Society. Some did their research, many returned to their roots, namely the Bible Students Association. Some were simply enlightened to their history as Jehovah’s Witnesses. It was not until the Society was forced to write a new history, still intent on perverting the truth, they nevertheless, did admit a distinction between Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses:
“After the death of Brother Russell, some former associates refused to cooperate with the Watch Tower Society and the International Bible Students Association, even opposing the work of these societies. Such fragmented groups used a variety of names, some of them clinging to the designation Associated Bible Students.” [Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom, pg. 151]
I guess if refusing to cooperate with the Society is considered “opposing”, then their right. But why would they cooperate with something they don’t believe in?
This however does not state that the Bible Students still exist today, it merely referred to “fragmented” groups during the schism of 1917. However the fact that you’re watching this video … shows that you now know … that Bible Students and Jehovah’s Witnesses are two distinct groups, with distinct beliefs. It is not so much the importance that we stress the individuality of both groups, for we do recognize the Watchtower Society, and do recognize our Jehovah’s Witness friends. But the fact that we have been misrepresented, not by Christians in general, but by the very association we helped build.
It is very strange … that the Watchtower Society, forbids its members from associating with the “evil slave class”, namely the Bible Students, and have chastised those witnesses, who possess and read Russell’s writings, and at the same time, the Society has been in contact with various Bible Student groups, exchanging literature and purchasing one another’s books. This has been verified by both correspondence to and from the Society from Bible Students, as well as eye-witness accounts of Bible Student literature sitting on not only Kingdom Hall libraries, but Watchtower libraries as well.
Back in the days when the Society sold their literature at a price they sold the Emphatic Diaglottto the Dawn Bible Students Association by the cases. The Bible Students Bookstore in the late 1990s received orders from the Society, the checks had the Society’s name on them. The Society was doing business with the Evil Slave Class.
One would be apt to conclude this is a love/hate relationship on the part of the Watchtower Society. But we know the promises contained in Scriptures will not allow this relationship to continue. For one day, in God’s due time, all of mankind will learn the truth, and all will reside under His loving care.
I would like to leave you with one thought by C.T. Russell, a thought that in my mind, should shame the current leadership of the Society. This comment shows the humility of C.T. Russell. At a Convention in 1910, he had a “Special Meeting for Pilgrims, Elders and Deacons.” This is recorded in the 1910 Bible Students Convention Reports. After having some discussion with them, he ended with the following:
“Another thing: Some of the dear brethren seem to find as much about Brother Russell in the Bible as they find about the Lord Jesus, and I think that is a great mistake. I do not find it there. Some of them say that I am blinded on that subject, that they all can see better than I can. Perhaps they can, I do not know, but I think, dear friends, that there is a danger in that direction, and I would like to put you all on guard. I think it is the Lord’s will that we should recognize every agency God uses, but we are not to recognize any agency of God as being in any competition whatever with the Lord or with his divine arrangement. He is the fountain of blessing, he only is most to be praised. I think that is the right sentiment. I believe you all agree with that. And yet I think there is a danger of some dear friends preaching Brother Russell. Brother Russell would like for you not to do so. He thinks it would not be to the glory of God. Let me repeat, then, dear friends, that in my opinion we have so much of the Gospel of God, so much of his plan to study, so many opportunities of showing forth his praises, that we should employ all our time in that way. My advice, therefore, is that we give very little attention to anything outside of that. The Scriptures do indeed say that we may render honor to him to whom honor is due, and that is applicable to anybody and everybody; as, for instance, we look back and we see Martin Luther, and he did a grand work, and we thank God for him; and we might say the same of John Wesley, and very truthfully; I am glad in God’s providence he lived, and that he was a faithful man. And there were others of the Lord’s people in the past. Let us be glad and rejoice in every one, and be thankful to God he has used various agencies in helping us, and in helping others, and in bringing forward his great cause; but let us not go into anything that would be at all like man-worship, for I am sure that would be displeasing to the Lord and injurious to ourselves. I remind you again of the Scripture in Revelations where the Church is pictured, which we called attention to, I believe, thirty years ago. John, the revelator, who was seeing these things, fell down to worship the angel who showed them to him, and the angel said, “See thou do it not; worship God; I am thy fellow-servant.” And so, dear friends, if our Heavenly Father and our Heavenly Lord have used Brother Russell in any measure he is very glad and very thankful to be used. And if the Lord is pleased to use him any more, he will be glad to be used down to the last breath, but he does not want any worship, he does not want any undue adoration, he does not want any praise. He is glad to have the love of all those who are brethren of the Lord and to be considered a fellow-servant with all, striving to bring to pass all the glorious things that God has promised, striving to tell the good tidings of great joy to as many as the Lord, our God, shall call.”