by sinboi 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Some have suggested that Russell was not a cult leader - he did not insist on uniformity of beliefs and each congregation (I think they were called "ecclesias" back then) was independent and not controlled by a central governing body.
Compared with Rutherford, he was indeed more kindly natured - hey, most people would be kindly compared with Rutherford - a cult leader if ever there was one.
Bottom line, though: Russell was as deluded as his successor.
Where are you guys getting this insider info from? I'm not disagreeing with it btw, just I'd like to read more about it that isn't jw revisionist history
I always got the impression Russell had the idea that he could pluck out what he thought was the best principles and concepts from the bib,e and other ancient texts, other religions, faiths and groups (including secular and fringe), various schools of thought etc from various sources and cobble them all together to make something unique - a super belief.
He possibly (?) started out in a noble search for ... answers ? But as is common with charismatic leaders with persuasive rhetoric people placed him on a pedastal and it went to his head.
No one can say what his true motive and intention was except him, but if he was a charlatan or narcissist he would just lie and the people around him would construct a santized history of the man.
Is Russell's life pattern very different from most religious "holy men/leaders" in history?
I thought as I saw this thread, that you could ask the same question about the man Jesus. While three and half years (or, so it is claimed) is not long enough for similar patterns to other historical "holy men/leaders" to form, we can 'see' Jesus as deluded (which word can describe most religious people).
Whatever idea was the spark that set Jesus on fire. we may never know - but some idea did set him on fire, and whatever it was, it was a delusion - just as it was for Charlie Russell.
No.
He was was a rich man by inheritance who got caught up in the riptide of the 2nd great awakening, and sincerely added his voice and opinions on when Jesus was coming back during the 1860s and 1870s. Influenced heavily by Nelson Barbour, he came up with his own theology and thoughts on when Jesus would return (1914!) and started a magazine called The Watchtower. He spent a good chunk of his money, and preached a lot. What came after his death, and especially what Rutherford became was not what Russell wanted for the group if you read the source materials.
In fact, what we know as Jehovahs Witnesses is the creation of Rutherford, refined by Knorr, and ghost written by Franz The myth of Russell is the creation of the fertile mind of Franz and used to great effect by succeeding leaders of the cult to this day
they eventually built a Pyramid monument at his grave site.
WTF! They treat him like a god!
Why a pyramid? Isn't pyramids have something to do with the occult?
Because people at the time were fascinated with all things Egyptian. Pyramid shaped plot monuments were actually fairly common. Here were I live, the tomb of the state's first governor is a pyramid.
For Russell it was more than just a fascination. Based on the idea that the great pyramid of Giza had been built by Israelite slave labor, he believed that its measurements foreshadowed his (actually Barbour's) elaborate chronology.
Why a pyramid? Isn't pyramids have something to do with the occult?
Pyramidology (or pyramidism)[1] refers to various religious or pseudoscientific speculations regarding pyramids, most often the Giza pyramid complex and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt.[2][3] Some "pyramidologists" also concern themselves with the monumental structures of pre-Columbian America (such as Teotihuacan, the Mesoamerican Maya civilization, and the Inca of the South American Andes), and the temples of Southeast Asia.
Some pyramidologists claim that the Great Pyramid of Giza has encoded within it predictions for the exodus of Moses from Egypt,[4] the crucifixion of Jesus,[4] the start of World War I,[5][6] the founding of modern-day Israel in 1948, and future events including the beginning of Armageddon; this was discovered by using what they call "pyramid inches" to calculate the passage of time where one British inch equals one solar year.
Pyramidology reached its peak by the early 1980s. Interest revived when in 1992 and 1993 Rudolf Gantenbrink sent a miniature remote-controlled robot rover, known as upuaut, up one of the "air shafts" in the Queen's
What was CT Russell's motive?
Perhaps he was just a poor little rich boy trying to find himself. His family was wealthy enough for him to be able to afford the luxury of existential angst. Unfortunately he was a man of his time, with no internet he turned to the Bible and religion.
Too early for a library card, Carnegie was still making his fortune. If only Russell had read Origin of Species instead of Bible commentaries, how different his life and ours would be.
