Charles T. Russell: A PROPHET BUT… WHAT “PROPHET”!

Translated from the original by Chris Tsilikas

As we all know when Lord was talking to His disciples about His glorious Second Coming, he warned them that false prophets will appear throughout the centuries, who will define the day and the time of His Second Coming. We also know that the Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses “The Watchtower” has proved to be one of the GREATEST FALSE PROPHETS OF ALL ERAS and has additionally turned out to be hilarious with its continuous predictions and contradictions...

So, the Society of “The Watchtower” has said: “Christ will come in…1878, oops… sorry in… 1914 we meant… hm!….. no you didn’t get that right, we said in….. 1925 and of course when we say 1925 we definitely mean in… 1975.”

But let’s put everything in order. While Christ – in Mathew’s Gospel, chapter 13, verse 32 – certifies that nobody knows the day He will come back, not even the Angels in Heaven, not even He himself (as human of course), but only His Father, the Society “Watchtower” as another prophet has been defining dates of the impeding end of the world and of the Second Coming of Christ since 1874 – the year it was founded – and up to the current years.

So it first defined the year 1878 as the year of The Second Coming. According to the book of the Society “Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, p 632, they expected Christ to come back on Earth in the spring of the year 1878 and reign as Heavenly King. They also believed that the contemporary Jehovah’s Witnesses will go to Heaven to live with Christ!

Were Their Expectations Correct?

«Based on the premise that events of the first century might find parallels in related events later, they also concluded that if Jesus’ baptism and anointing in the autumn of 29 C .E. paralleled the beginning of an invisible presence in 1874, then his riding into Jerusalem as King in the spring of 33 C .E. would point to the spring of 1878 as the time when he would assume his power as heavenly King. They also thought they would be given their heavenly reward at that time.»

“Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, page 632: Christ will take over as Heavenly Kingdom in 1878!

When the year 1878 passed by, without any comings of course, they weren’t daunted at all! On the contrary, they defined a new year for the end of the world. So, in the book of the Society “The Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, on page 62, we can read really comical things. In October, 1914 they expected to acquire spiritual bodies! And, moreover, one of the greatest founders of the Society, Macmillan, believed that the speech he delivered on 30th September was his last one because soon they would all flee to Heaven!!! And on the same page the same Jehovah’s Witness admits that he wouldn’t be surprised if an announcement made by the current president and founder of the Society Charles T. Russell, became the signal for their heavenly ascension!!! How naive! What nonsense!

“Some of Us Had Been a Bit Too Hasty”

As October 1914 approached, some of the Bible Students expected that at the end of the Gentile Times they, as spirit-anointed Christians, would receive their heavenly reward. Illustrating this is an incident that took place at a convention of the Bible Students in Saratoga Springs, New York, September 27-30, 1914. A. H. Macmillan, who had been baptized 14 years earlier, gave a discourse on Wednesday, September 30. In it he stated: “This is probably the last public address I shall ever deliver because we shall be going home [to heaven] soon.”

“Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, page 62: Jehovah’s Witnesses believed that they will get spiritual bodies in 1914!

And on the same page:

In fact, recalling the morning that Russell announced the end of the Gentile Times, Macmillan admitted: “We were highly excited and I would not have been surprised if at that moment we had just started up, that becoming the signal to begin ascending heavenward—but of course there was nothing like that.”

“Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, page 62; Russell’s announcement was the signal for Jehovah’s Witnesses to begin ascending heavenward!

It’s also worth noticing everything that is written on page 63 in “The Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, which overtly shows what these people are and how they cope with The Scriptures and with God. They imagined!, it says, that the Bible Students (an older name for Jehovah’s Witneses, they acquired their current name in 1931) would go to dwell in heaven, although the Scriptures according to their own statement didn’t mention anything like that! If it was due to naivity it would be acceptable and comprehensible. But since the Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses has continuously done that, it can’t show anything but opportunism of the worst kind, since they don’t mind playing with the lives of their followers who naivly have followed them. They should have known better, of course! They are the ones who claim to be students of the Bible! If they were studying the Bible indeed, they would have read Christ’s words about the false prophets and would have willy-nilly left the ‘false-conductor of Jehovah’. Please enjoy the opportunism of the leaders of the Society “The Watchtower” in the following document:

“Some of Us Had Been a Bit Too Hasty”

«As The Watch Tower of September 1, 1916, put it: “We imagined that the Harvest work of gathering the Church [of anointed ones] would be accomplished before the end of the Gentile Times; but nothing in the Bible so said. . . .»

“Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, page 63; Jehovah’s Witnesses imagined that they would go to Heaven!

After Russell’s death (1916) the second president of the Society, J.F. Rutherford takes on the responsibility of continuing the ‘tall story’ of the Watchtower about defining Lord’s Second Coming. Rutherford was an unscrupulous, authoritarian person with lots of passions, one of which was alcohol. He goes far beyond his predecessor, Russell, in inventiveness because he not only defines the 1st April 1925 as the day Lord will come back, but he also claims that the righteous people of the Old Testament (Abraham, Isaac, Noah, Jonah, etc) will resurrect and reign with Christ! So he sends the masses of Jehovah’s Witnesses out to sell the leaflets of the Society in order for a house to be built to shelter...God’s government! Indeed, the house is built in San Diego, California, the well-known Beth–Sarim, a small palace with multiple rooms and gardens whose opulence was beyond any imagination and of which even today’s ‘Croesus’ of wealth would be jealous. Well, even if that luxurious palace became the house of J.F. Rutherford instead of the righteous of the Old Testament, it doesn’t matter. In all eras there will always be some naive people, some...suckers, who will be taken advantage of by some dexterous people who know how to manipulate people’s faith. And before you haste to blame us for slandering the Watchtower, we quote the corresponding extract from page 632 from the known by now book of the Society “The Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, to see for yourself:

Were Their Expectations Correct?

«In the lecture “Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” delivered by J. F. Rutherford on March 21, 1920, at the Hippodrome in New York City, attention was directed to the year 1925…
On the basis of what was said there, many hoped that perhaps the remaining ones of the little flock would receive their heavenly reward by 1925. This year also was associated with expectations for resurrection of faithful pre-Christian servants of God with a view to their serving on earth as princely representatives of the heavenly Kingdom….
Though mistaken, they eagerly shared it with others.»

“Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, page 632: The Return of Christ in 1925 and the formation of a Government!

The 1st of April passed by but unfortunately for “The Watchtower” neither the righteous of the Old Testament resurrected nor Christ returned. After all, it was April’s Fool Day, wasn’t it? And then, once again we would like our reader to pay heed of the opportunism of the Society of Jehovah’s Witnesses. Did Jehovah’s Witnesses come to apologise for their mistake as they should have done? No, of course not. On the contrary, as it is obvious in the document we quoted above, they EAGERLY – as it is stated in their text – continued to share their mistake! IN OTHER WORDS THEY DELIBERATELY CONTINUED LYING!! So are these people unscrupulous and opportunistic or not?

But to be honest, there was a good outcome from this story. A satisfactory number of Jehovah’s Witnesses disgusted and indignant with that new disappointment of their expectations about Lord’s Second Coming, leaves the Society, a fact that even the Society admits in its leaflets.

After a grave silence of 50 years on the issue, we reach 1975, a year which is defined afresh by “The Watchtower” as the new world’s end and the beginning of the Millennium (that’s why they are also called Millenarians) of God’s Reign. Of course anyone who decides to read the leaflets of the Society thoroughly, he will find out that, at least unofficially, various incidents of the World’s History – as for example the beginning of World War II – are taken by Jehovah’s Witnesses as the beginning of the war of Armageddon and of Lord’s Second Coming. As for defining 1975 as the year of Lord’s return the book of the Society “The Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, page 633, will help us once again:

Were Their Expectations Correct?

«This later led to the idea—sometimes stated as a possibility, sometimes more firmly—that since the seventh millennium of human history would begin in 1975, events associated with the beginning of Christ’s Millennial Reign might start to take place then.»

“Jehovah’s Witnesses – Proclaimers of God’s Kingdom”, page 633: 1975 is defined by Jehovah’s Witnesses as the year of Lord’s return

Delirium and excitement for the impending Second Coming reach their peak among Jehovah’s Witnesses during that period and in some cases exceeds the limits of logic with tragic for some people results. Because, showing total trust to the false prophet “The Watchtower”, THEY DO NOT HESITATE TO SELL THEIR HOUSES AND ALL THEIR PROPERTY, since they believe that these will not be of any use any more.

And the rulers of the Society not only happily accept all these, but they also praise those people for their deeds and in the leaflet of the Society entitled “Our Kingdom Ministry”, which constitutes a kind of encyclical within the Society, indirectly urge more Jehovah’s Witnesses to imitate such actions. This leaflet of “Our Kingdom Ministry” is of May, 1984, pages 3-6 and the extract we are talking about is included in the text entitled “God’s Will for Us”. Read it below to clear all doubts:

God’s Will for Us

«Yes, since the summer of 1973 there have been new peaks in pioneers every month. Now there are 20,394 regular and special pioneers in the United States, an all-time peak. That is 5,190 more than there were in February 1973! A 34-percent increase! Does that not warm our hearts? Reports are heard of brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service. Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world’s end.—1 John 2:17.»

«Our Kingdom Ministry», 5/1974, p.p. 3 – 6: Jehovah’s Witnesses sell their houses and their property in 1974 awaiting Christ’s Millennial Reign!

The disappointment of their expectations for this year too, was a severe blow to the reputation of “The Watchtower” and it took it a while to come over again. Despite the ridicule that it met with and still meets whenever someone refers to that year, it was abandoned by thousands of its followers, even by people who were in the Governing Body (the supreme governing and guiding body of Jehovah’s Witnesses which has its headquarters in Brooklyn, New York. Jehovah’s Witnesses all over the world must obey its orders without having the right to argue. Otherwise they are thrown out of the Society) such as Raymond Franz (nephew of the current vice president and later president of the Society Frederick Franz). He became one of the worst enemies of the Society. He shed light to dark and secret sides of “The Watchtower” with interviews, articles, books – especially with the renowned “Crisis of Conscience”- and tours.

But “The Watchtower” doesn’t seem to be dejected. Only six years after its last false prophecy for the end of the world, we have a come-back with a new prophecy. In The Watchtower of 1/3/1981, p 30, we read that it is highly unlikely for the world to survive up to the end of the century, meaning the year 2000.

Not only the world survived, but it also proved what a false prophet “The Watchtower” is. And since the Society has the guts to quote the Scriptures in order to justify its false prophecies, let’s see what the Scriptures say about the false prophets and about the end that they deserve:

"But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die.
And if thou say in thine heart, How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?
When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him." (Deuteronomy, 18/20-22)

To sum up we would like to show the audacity the Society is possessed with by quoting another document. In “The Watchtower” of 1/5/1997, page 8, we astonishingly see the Society turning against others without showing any sign of shame. They call other people false messengers and self-appointed prognosticators whose signs and messages have been falsified by God Himself! And here is the document:

Identifying the Right Kind of Messenger

«JEHOVAH GOD is the Grand Identifier of his true messengers. He identifies them by making the messages he delivers through them come true. Jehovah is also the Great Exposer of false messengers. How does he expose them? He frustrates their signs and predictions. In this way he shows that they are self-appointed prognosticators, whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning—yes, their foolish, fleshly thinking! »

“The Watchtower” of March 1st, 1997, p 8: Jehovah exposes others as false prophets and not “The Watchtower”!

Is there really a need to comment on the opportunism, insolence and audacity of the greatest false prophet ever, the Society of “The Watchtower”? We let you make your own judgements.

Writer Christos Pal