No he was not. He was however, a very serous student of God’s Word.
Here is how a book written by George Swetnam , an ordained Presbyterian minister, who wrote for years for the Pittsburgh Press newspaper , and is regarded as the foremost historian of the Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania areas, described him.
This is an interesting excerpt from the book Where Else but Pittsburgh! Pittsburgh : Davis & Wade, Inc., 1958 F159 .P6 S86 .
"It is an amazing thing that no Pittsburgh history has ever even so much as contained the name of C.T. Russell, since his influence has easily been the widest of any man who ever lived in a city...including Andrew Carnegie. "He was a pioneer in the Chain store, the Motion Picture industry and other important ventures. He was one of the most prolific and widely read authors of his day, turning out many books and a column carried by more then 1500 newspapers, with some 15 million readers. Russell traveled over a million miles, delivering more than 30,000 sermons and lectures.
"He was always interested in religion, writing Bible verses on the sidewalks with chalk when a youth. As a boy he was quick & alert, so his father took him into partnership in his general store at the age of 11. When he was 15 he was sent out as a buyer.
"Like many other youths Charles was troubled in mind. He battled over the doctrine of predestination and was pondering these things for while he was unable to accept religion he was unable to let it go. It was a successful but skeptical businessman of 18 that he stepped into a dingy basement to see if a handful who met there had anything more sensible than the creeds of the churches. What he heard set him searching the Bible again, which he did for 46 years!
"Soon he rented a hall & started a Bible School where for 5 years he lectured. Then, convinced he had a divine mission, he did a strange thing for a young man of 26 with no formal theological education. He invited ALL the ministers of Pittsburgh to a meeting, explained his beliefs and urged them to unite with him! The fact that they accepted his invitation shows how high young Russell stood in the community. Yet after hearing they declined his offers..
"Rebuffed by the ministers in his home town Russell turned himself to a life of evangelism. He carried on his haberdashery business for some time but his interest in commerce gradually waned and he closed his store for the next year. "Russell was nearly 6 feet tall, well built, with piercing gray eyes. His manner was always CALM, stressing argument rather then emotion, sometimes adding a touch of humor. In later life he was snowy haired, white bearded, and saintly in appearance.
"In 1914 he completed work on the first epic motion picture: "The Photo Drama of Creation" 15 years before any other sound pictures were produced. It ran for eight hours and was viewed by some eight million people! "Late in life he set up his entire fortune, by now amounting to well over a million dollars, into a trust fund for the W.T.B.& T Society, the business organization for Jehovah's Witnesses.
"He made many close friends and bitter enemies. He was the target of many stories accusing him of all sorts of crimes and wrong doing in regard to his marriage, although there appears to be little if any basis for such charges. "All through his life Russell told his followers NOT to revere him; He taught them this so well that the publishing house he founded has never published a biography of "Pastor Russell".
"The movement he founded now has worldwide scope & is still one of the worlds fastest growing religions. In 1958 some 250,000 came to NYC to hear the same doctrines Russell preached to the unreceptive clergy 80 years earlier."
Comments
True he wasn't a prophet just another quack hack
by Findtruth on January 20th, 2006
Findhate... err... Findtruth agrees with you, but rates you answer incorrect.
by RedJohn on January 20th, 2006
Russell was sincere,his successor Joe Rutherford was a tryant
by JWilson on January 21st, 2006
It seems that false prophesying has crept into the Watchtower organization.
by Calsonic on June 11th, 2007