Russell and the Year 1925

Sometimes we find statements that claim that Brother Russell expected this or that to happen in 1925. For instance, one claims that important dates to Brother Russell "were 1874, 1914, 1918, 1920, 1925 and 1932". The dates 1874 and 1914 were certainly considered important to Russell. We will examine claims regarding 1918 at another time, God willing. Suffice it to say that we do not believe that 1918 was ever regarded by Russell as an important date. We have discussed 1920 elsewhere and shown that Russell himself never accepted this date as being of importance. Russell definitely never viewed 1932 as having any importance. So what about 1925? Did Russell consider this date as being important?  Actually, Russell had examined claims being made for 1925 and rejected those claims. I will give here a brief summary relating to Brother Russell and the year 1925:

1925 was one of the dates floating around among the Bible Students long before 1914.

Sometime before 1911, Brother Russell mentioned 1925 in an article he had written for the Overland Monthly regarding the Jews, entitled: "Their Sabbath and Jubilee". He stated:

Each cycle was forty-nine years, and its Jubilee, the fiftieth year. Seventy times this number would be 3,500 years. And this period measured from the time Israel entered Canaan marks the year 1925 as the time when the antitypical Jubilee will be due to begin. However, there is still another method of reckoning the matter, which, we believe, is the proper one, namely, to count nineteen cycles with their Jubilees partially observed totaling 950 years, and then to count the remaining fifty-one cycles as forty-nine years each, because the Jubilees were omitted. This would total 2499 years plus 950 years with Jubilees totaling 3449 years. This period of 3449 years reckoned from the entering of Canaan ends October, 1874. 

http://www.mostholyfaith.com/beta/bible/OverlandMonthly/overland.asp?xRef=OV99

It should be apparent that although he presented the year 1925, he also rejected that method of calculating the jubilee cycles in favor of the method that brings one to 1874. Russell did not present his conclusions, however, as being divinely inspired. Nor did he ever present any idea of disfellowshiping others who disagreed with him on such matters. He certainly never set forth any idea that one had to agree with his conclusions in order to a Christian.

Nevertheless, in 1911, Brother Russell presented -- without comment -- some work of Kal Kaup (Watch Tower, March 1911, pages 76,77) which includes calculations related to 1925:

http://www.mostholyfaith.com/beta/bible/reprints/Z1911MAR.asp#Z76:8

At this point, one should note that Brother Russell often presented such views by others without comment, allowing the readers to make up their own mind concerning such views. This does not mean that Brother Russell was himself endorsing such views.

Nevertheless, some began to use these calculations to teach that the remaining members of the church on earth would be glorified in 1925. The problem, however, was that some were evidently saying that this was Brother Russell's own view.

In 1915 (Watch Tower, July 1, 1915, page 207), Brother Russell presented a letter (without comment) from a brother signed "W. M. Wisdom" under the title of "False Reports Injurious". Brother Wisdom speaks of some who were claiming that Brother Russell had endorsed the claim that the church "will not be gathered until 1925". Brother Wisdom realized, however, that Brother Russell had NOT endorsed such a view.

http://www.mostholyfaith.com/beta/bible/Reprints/Z1915JUL.asp#Z207:20

In 1916, Brother Russell presented a letter (Watch Tower April 15, 1916, pages 126,127) from one who was concerned about some unnamed elder pointing to the year 1925 as being the view of Brother Russell. In giving his response concerning his own conclusions regarding 1925, Brother Russell stated:

We are not looking forward to 1925, nor to any other date.

http://www.mostholyfaith.com/beta/bible/Reprints/Z1916APR.asp#Z126:8

It should be obvious from the above that Brother Russell did not accept 1925 as having any prophetic significance.