Did Russell Start a New Religion?

One of the accusations often made against Russell is that he created a new religion, since, according to some websites, he was dissatisfied with Christianity, or he was dissatisfied with "the church," etc.

Actually, Russell was one of the greatest defenders of the Christian faith and Biblical faith in history. While many apologists defended man's traditions as Christian faith, Charles Taze Russell went to the Bible itself, and he showed from the scriptures the truth concerning the human soul, the Bible hell, the trinity the atonement, and many other doctrines that have to be added to the scriptures by human dogma, or which have been distorted due to adding man's doctrines to the scriptures.

Charles Taze Russell never claimed to have found a new religion, or a new church. His endeavor was to restore the teachings of Christ and the apostles, the "faith once delivered to the saints." (Jude 1:3) He believed in the one true church, of which Jesus is the foundation. The Bible Students movement was never intended to be a sectarian new religion or denomination.

Wasn't Russell the founder of a new religion called "Jehovah's Witnesses?" No, Russell was not the founder of such an organization, nor did he believe in such an organization. The "Jehovah's Witnesses" leadership have rejected the very core doctrine of the scriptures concerning the "ransom for all," replacing it with a doctrine of a "ransom for some," and also a doctrine of eternal destruction for billions of unenlightened unbelievers, as well as their children, in Armageddon's battle. Russell never taught such a doctrine, which doctrine goes contrary to the basic philosophy of the atonement as revealed in the Bible.
The Ransom For All

Unlike the JWs who profess their organization to be the only true religion, Brother Russell, who did not regard the Bible Students to be a religion, never spoke of the Bible Students as being "the true religion." He did speak of "the true church," which he described as follows:

(1913) The one true Church, dear friends, is the church of the Bible. There never has been but that one true Church. All others are false, and if I built up another church I would be building up another false one. That is not our proposition at all. The I.B.S.A. holds out the proposition which the Bible stands for, namely, that all people who are trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ, and consecrated to follow in his steps, are of the church of the living God whose names are written in heaven. The I.B.S.A. recognizes no other church. It does not say that only those in the I.B.S.A. constitute the church.  -- What Pastor Russell Said, page 348.

Russell also stated:

    No earthly organization can grant a passport to heavenly glory.... All are forced to admit that the true Church is the one whose record is kept in heaven, and not on earth. They deceive the people by claiming that it is needful to come to Christ through them – needful to become members of some sectarian body in order to become members of "the body of Christ," the true Church. On the contrary, the Lord, while he has not refused any who came to him through sectarianism, and has turned no true seeker away empty, tells us that we need no such hindrances, but could much better have come to him direct....  When one joins a sect, his mind is supposed to be given up entirely to that sect, and henceforth not his own. The sect undertakes to decide for him what is truth and what is error; and he, to be a true, staunch, faithful member, must accept the decisions of his sect, future as well as past, on all religious matters, ignoring his own individual thought, and avoiding personal investigation, lest he grow in knowledge, and be lost as a member of such sect. This slavery of conscience to a sect and creed is often stated in so many words, when such a one declares that he "belongs" to such a sect....
     They are ashamed to say that they are not in bondage to any sect or creed, but "belong" to Christ only. -- Thy Kingdom Come, pages 185-187.

Concerning the Watch Tower Society of his day, Russell stated:

“Let it be borne in mind that the Society exercises no authority, makes no criticism, but merely gives advice; and that in the interest of the Lord’s Cause and the Lord’s people.” -- Watch Tower, August 1916, page 248

The "Jehovah's Witnesses" today closely resemble the sectarianism that Russell preached against. They, as others in various sects, allow their leaders to do the thinking for them. Indeed, in general, they would not think of doing any "personal investigation" apart from what they have been given from their "governing body." The Jehova's Witnesses' organization/religion did not exist in Brother Russell's day. That organization came into existence later. After Russell died, Joseph Rutherford, through deceit and legal trickery, gained control of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, and used that legal entity as a means of establishing his new religion which he later called "Jehovah's Witnesses." Rutherford created his organization by rejecting the core teachings of Russell and the Bible Students. Jehovah's Witnesses reject the very basis of the atonement as Russell presented in Volumes 1 and 5 of his Studies in the Scriptures. They reject nearly everything Brother Russell presented regarding chronology, time prophecies and parallels in Volumes 2 and 3 of his Studies in the Scriptures. And they reject almost all that Russell presented about Armageddon in Volume 4 of his Studies.

Russell did not claim any special revelation from God, other than the revelation already provided by the Bible. He did believe that God's spirit was allowing him to see things in the Bible that traditionalists could not see, since their eyes were being blinded by the tint of their own traditions and sectarianism.

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