The Proclaimed and (later) Rejected anointed one: A TIMELINE

by Terry 15 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  Terry

  Charles Taze Russell was born in 1852 (February 16) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He was raised in a strict Presbyterian home.
  
  1868 (Age 16) In an encounter with a non-believer he became disillusioned over the subject of whether God as a heavenly father would burn his children in hell
  
  1869 (Joseph Franklin Rutherford was born and raised a Baptist)
  
  
  1870 At the age of 18 the deeply troubled Russell attended a meeting where Adventism was preached by Millerite Jones Wendall. He heard for the first time the idea that there was no burning hell.
  
  A now changed Russell starts his own Bible study group which elected him as "Pastor". In the course of these studies Russell decides that Christ had returned invisibly in 1874/1875. (Russell was now 23 years old)
  
  Charles Russell decides it is incumbent upon him to publicize this arrival of Jesus by publishing Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence" in magazine form. He sent out 6,000 issues each month .
  
  1880 (Age 28) Russell declares that his system of theology had been "revealed" to him directly from God.

  Russell had taken up with a highly intelligent original thinker whom he eventually married, Maria.

  By 1895 Maria Francis Ackley explained to Russell that both he and she were the "faithful and wise servant" of Matthew 24:45.
  
  Maria Russell conceived of the two of them "Twain" as this mouthpiece of God.
  
  
  
  1881 Zion's Watchtower tract society is formed ( The Henry Ward Beecher mansion, at 124 Columbia Heights, Brooklyn, came into the possession of the Society, and Pastor Russell continued to use the home of Brooklyn's world famed pulpit orator as his study and residence until his death.)
  
  1882 Russell officially denies the doctrine of the Trinity
  
  1884 Russell turns the Watchtower into a Corporation

  • Maria Russell (née Ackley) (director 1884–1897, secretary-treasurer 1884–?, then-wife of Charles Taze Russell) [130] [134] [135]

  1893 Frederick Franz is born (Pastor Russell is 41 years older than Franz) (Judge Rutherford is 24 years older).
  
  1894 Rutherford becomes a missionary for the movement at the age of 25.
  
  During the early days of their marriage both Maria and Charles Russell influence each other's thinking. Russell sees that Maria wants full equality of credit for the development of the theology he is putting into print. When Studies in the Scriptures is finished Russell starts urging people not to read his earlier work (influenced by Maria.)

  1895 Maria's interpretation and identification of the "faithful and wise servant" becomes circulated.

  1. ^ Watch Tower, July 15, 1906, Watch Tower Reprints, page 3811, As Retrieved 2009-09-23, page 215.

  
  
  1896 (Russell is 44) Maria Russell repudiates her stance on her husband being the "Faithful" and wise servant. She now identifies him as the "Evil Slave" of Matthew24:45-47
  1897 Russell is convinced Jehovah reveals his Truth to him alone.
  
  The Russell's arguments grow more and more heated and bitterness ensues.
  Marital relations become strained to the point of outright war. Scandal ensues.

  1903 (Russell is age 51) Maria Russell filed for legal separation. (Maria claimed she was tortured by Russell who denied her sex. She accused Russell of kissing and fondling his "special friend" who was stenographer and foster child.) J.F.Rutherford's words: "Miss Ball came to them in 1889, a child of ten...She was an orphan."*

  Note: Maria had observed Russell with the orphan for 4 years. By the time she accused her husband the 10 year old was a teen.

  (Rose J. Ball (director of Watchtower Corporation 1884–?) [132]
  Charles Russell had been moving his/their assets into the corporation for the previous 19 years to avoid alimony.
  
  1906 Maria Russell writes her views on headship and marital obligations in THE TWAIN revealing an incisive mind with a clear grasp of equality of the sexes.

  1916 Pastor Russell dies on a train in Pampas Texas as J.F.Rutherford rushes into the breach to gain the highest office available.
  
  March 1,1917 One year after Charles Russell's death "The Watchtower unhesitatingly proclaims brother Russell as 'that Faithful and Wise Servant'
  
  Awake! May 8,1951 "who is preaching the teaching of Pastor Russell? Certainly not Jehovah's Witnesses! They can not be accused of following him, for they neither quote him as an authority nor publish or distribute his writing"

  Russell was both proclaimed and denied by his wife and the society which he founded.

  * "Harvest Gleanings III", Watch Tower, April 25, 1894, page 131, "The Corporation is to be managed by a Board of Directors consisting of seven members, and the names and residences of those already chosen directors are (we given names of the present board and officers) as follows: -Charles T Russell, President, W C McMillan, Henry Weber, Vice President, J B Adamson, Maria F Russell , Sec’y & Treas, Simon O Blunden. Rose J Ball ."
• 

  Terry

  Watchtower version of why Maria stopped being on the Board of Directors:

  1. ^ The January 15, 1955 The Watchtower, page 46, referred to the former "Maria Frances Ackley, who had become a colaborer and a contributor of articles to the Watch Tower magazine. They came to have no children. Nearly eighteen years later, in 1897, due to Watch Tower Society members’ objecting to a woman’s teaching and being a member of the board of directors contrary to 1 Timothy 2:12, Russell and his wife disagreed about the management of the journal, Zion’s Watch Tower. Thereupon she voluntarily separated herself"
• 

  Terry

  An interesting note from the Millennial Dawn blogspot:

  Maria Frances Russell was significantly more educated than was C. T. Russell. Charles had a Common School education with some follow up with private tutors. Maria graduated high school in Pittsburgh and attended Curry Normal School, a teacher training college. It is not certain that she graduated college.[4] She was a logical choice for editorial assistance. Within the Second Adventist movement female evangelists and authors were accepted. Neither Russell nor those of his readers who came out of the Second Adventist movement would object to her contributions because of her sex.

  She laid claim to primary authorship of volume 4 in the series. The current state of the evidence does not allow a firm conclusion as to the validity of her claim. An example of exaggeration and misleading statement is found on page 119 of the 1907 transcript. There she claims of Zion’s Watch Tower that “Mr. Russell and I were the only ones that ever wrote for it, except a few who wrote occasionally … There were very few other articles except his and mine that were ever admitted to the paper.”

  In the Preface to the 470.000 edition it says:
  "If these truths shall give the reader one-fourth the pleasure they have afforded the author (and his help-mate -to whom you are indebted for valuable assistance rendered in this connection) yours will be a joy which the world can neither give nor take away"

  Mrs. Russell sued for a divorce on the grounds of "his conceit, egotism, domination, and improper conduct in relation to other women." Upon hearing the evidence, the judge ruled in her favor.

  1909 : it was settled. She was to receive $6,036 alimony.

  1909 "Mrs. Russell's request that the monthly allowance [alimony] be in-
  
  creased from $40 to $100, which was allowed by the Court, but which we were un-
  
  able to comply with, because all of our property, except that which brought the
  
  income of $40 per month (which Mrs. Russell had been receiving), had been do-
  
  nated to the WATCH TOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY." ("The Watch Tower," July 1,
  
  1909, p.4424) (The reason Russell didn''t pay his ex-wife Maria the extra ali-
  mony the court awarded her.)
  
  Russell testified in court that his wife had not divorced him and that he did not pay alimony. Case in Ontario, Canada, December 9, 1912- February 7, 1913, also March 1913.
• 

  Terry

  Russell said he disapproved of her becoming a supporter of women's rights,
  
  overly-ambitious, and had Satanic mental illness to the degree that her word
  
  wasn't reliable.

  - He wrote that it would be improper to say things like "Good morning" to her
  
  (a precursor to current JW shunning rules).

  - She sought a limited divorce because it bought support. The court decided
  
  Charles falsified events--the dispute over editorship began after the couple had
  
  seperated, Maria didn't seem mentally ill, etc.--and decided in her favor over
  
  the divorce, including about her claims about his cruelty.
• 

  Terry

  From the 1975 Yearbook of Jehovah's Witnesses p.67-68:

  At Dublin, during a 1911 tour of Ireland, he was asked: “Is it true that you are divorced from your wife?” Of his answer, Russell wrote: “‘I am not divorced from my wife. The decree of the court was not divorce, but separation, granted by a sympathetic jury, which declared that we would both be happier separated. My wife’s charge was cruelty, but the only cruelty put in evidence was my refusal on one occasion to give her a kiss when she had requested it.’ I assured my audience that I disputed the charge of cruelty and believed that no woman was ever better treated by a husband. The applause showed that the audience believed my statements.”

  Excerpt from a letter sent by Russell to Maria, reprinted in the same Yearbook p.68-69:

  “I have prayed earnestly to the Lord on your behalf, . . . I will not burden you with accounts of my sorrow, nor attempt to work upon your sympathies by delineating my emotions, as I from time to time run across your dresses and other articles which bring vividly before my mind your former self—so full of love and sympathy and helpfulness—the spirit of Christ. My heart cries out, ‘Oh that I had buried her, or that she had buried me, in that happy time.’ But evidently the trials and testings were not sufficiently advanced . . . Oh, do consider prayerfully what I am about to say. And be assured that the keen edge of my sorrow, its poignancy, is not my own loneliness for the remainder of life’s journey, but your fall, my dear, your everlasting loss, so far as I can see.”
• 

  Terry

  
• 

  Terry

  Here is a bit of trivia about Charles and Maria you may not know:

  Charles married Maria Frances Ackley, his widowed father, Joseph, married Maria’s sister Emma. That made Emma both Charles’ sister-in-law and step-mother, and Joseph both his father and brother-in-law.
• 

  Terry

  In their divorce proceedings Maria accused C.T. of a sexual relationship with their foster child, Rose Ball, a teenager at the time who worked as Russell's correspondence secretary.* According to Maria's testimony under oath, Russell had repeatedly molested Rose in 1894, calling her his "little wife." Maria told the jury that when she questioned Rose about this, Rose told Maria that she had not welcomed Russell's advances. Rose responded to him, "I am not your wife," to which C.T. replied, "I will call you daughter, and a daughter has nearly all the privileges of a wife."**
  
  The courts judged C.T.'s behavior towards his wife as "insulting," "domineering" and "improper," enough to make her life intolerable. Keep in mind that this ruling comes in the early 20th century when divorce was still unusual and rarely sought. The court's decision in Maria's favor at a time women held little political or social privileges (America did not grant women the right to vote for another 7 years) made me curious as to what else influenced their decision.
  
  The court found that during their marriage Russell had given Maria the silent treatment for months at a time, refusing to speak to her except in letters. Russell had isolated Maria from society, something much easier for a man to do in 1913 than it would be today. Eventually Russell tried to pronounce his wife insane and put her away. All of this was abusive in light of Maria's own appearance in court, her clarity in judgment and Russell's testimony under oath that Maria was "a woman of high intellectual qualities and perfect moral character."
  
  The courts granted Maria alimony. Russell was required to pay to support Maria, as their original marital agreement had stated.
  
  But Russell refused. He quickly transferred his wealth to the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society. The court ruled that these transfers of monies were "against his wife" and violated his agreement with Maria.*** So Russell's friends covered his bills while he fled to another state. He fought this alimony case appealing twice over the course of five years, eventually losing. In the end his alimony was increased, which seems to confirm, at least if you take the court's view, that Maria was entitled to part of his wealth. http://soulation.org/fledge/fledgev3i15.html
• 

  King Solomon

  1896 (Russell is 44) Maria Russell repudiates her stance on her husband being the "Faithful" and wise servant. She now identifies him as the "Evil Slave" of Matthew24:45-47

  I think this must be the origins of the saying, "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned". :)

  BTW, does anyone know the story behind how the NWT became the only Bible translation to translate the phrase as "faithful and discreet" vs all the others which translate it as "faith and WISE" (including in the earlier days of the WTBTS, as above)? 'Discreet' carries the connotation of having skeletons in the closet that require discretion to prevent loose talk...
• 

  Terry

  This is a most interesting exposition on the marriage of Charles and Maria and the down and dirty in-fighting.

  http://books.google.com/books?id=ZzHsXbXOab0C&pg=PA120&lpg=PA120&dq=maria+frances+ackley+russell&source=bl&ots=8-mYltFxjb&sig=Vl3fuK7PCxvtC1kLP_4vGgnCcIg&hl=en&sa=X&ei=y7oRUMWwLoae8QT0p4CoBw&ved=0CFwQ6AEwBjgo#v=onepage&q=maria%20frances%20ackley%20russell&f=false

  I'm left with the impression that Russell had tricked Maria (pronounced MO-rye-uh, by the way) into traveling around defending him with the promise

  that if she talked HIM up he would give in to her requests for a greater voice in the writing of publications.

  She was obviously taken aback at his trickery when she returned from her travels only to discover he had used her time away to position himself against her and solidify his opposition to her "equality". Russell began belittling her in public and in private meetings in front of others and even forcing her to kiss him to demonstrate her acceptance of his terms!

  Russell's contempt changed Maria's mind about identifying him as FDS. That is when she referred to her husband as Evil Slave.