Charles Taze Russell (although he stated his views firmly as his beliefs) was never dogmatic about his beliefs on chronology and time prophecy, nor did he ever assume authority to demand that the Bible Students associated with him or anyone else had to accept his beliefs. His statements were:
"Our own views are not prophecy, but interpretations of the holy prophets of old." -- Watch Tower, October 1890, page 8.
Here he refers to his expectations as being his own views and directly disclaims that his views are "prophecy." The "holy prophets of old" are the prophets in the Bible, and thus, the only divinely-inspired prophecies that Russell believed in were the prophecies recorded in the Bible.
"Neither must you lean upon the DAWN and the TOWER as infallible teachers. If it was proper for the early Christians to prove what they received from the apostles, who were and who claimed to be inspired, how much more important it is that you fully satisfy yourself that these teachings keep closely within their outline instructions and those of our Lord; -- since their author claims no inspiration, but merely the guidance of the Lord, as one used of him in feeding his flock." -- "The Watch Tower", June, 1893,
The expression, "the DAWN", refers to Russell's series of Biblical studies. The name of this series was later renamed to "Studies in the Scriptures." The "Tower", of course, refers to Russell's Watch Tower magazines. Russell, referring to himself as "their author', directly declares that he claimed "no inspiration", obviously referring to a likeness of the inspiration he attributed to the Bible itself.
"We are not prophesying; we are merely giving our surmises, the Scriptural basis for which is already in the hands of our readers in the six volumes of SCRIPTURE STUDIES. We do not even aver that there is no mistake in our interpretation of prophecy and our calculations of chronology. -- Watch Tower, January 1, 1908, page 5.".
"Neither must you lean upon the DAWN and the TOWER as infallible teachers. If it was proper for the early Christians to prove what they received from the apostles, who were and who claimed to be inspired, how much more important it is that you fully satisfy yourself that these teachings keep closely within their outline instructions and those of our Lord; -- since their author claims no inspiration, but merely the guidance of the Lord, as one used of him in feeding his flock." -- "The Watch Tower", June, 1893,
The expression, "the DAWN", refers to Russell's series of Biblical studies. The name of this series was later renamed to "Studies in the Scriptures." The "Tower", of course, refers to Russell's Watch Tower magazines. Russell, referring to himself as "their author', directly declares that he claimed "no inspiration", obviously referring to a likeness of the inspiration he attributed to the Bible itself.
"We are not prophesying; we are merely giving our surmises, the Scriptural basis for which is already in the hands of our readers in the six volumes of SCRIPTURE STUDIES. We do not even aver that there is no mistake in our interpretation of prophecy and our calculations of chronology. -- Watch Tower, January 1, 1908, page 5.".
Russell often referred to himself as the editor of the Watch Tower with editorial plural, such as "we" or "our'. Thus, in 1908, Russell again, referring to his expectations, showed that his expectations are not prophecies. He follows this up with a declaration that he did not even claim that he had made no mistakes in his interpretations of prophecy or in his calculations related to chronology.
"I am not a prophet." (What Pastor Russell Said, Q272:1, 1910)
"I am not a prophet." (What Pastor Russell Said, Q272:1, 1910)
This statement in 1910 is very straightforward.
"Some people try to make out that I claim I am infallible, and know everything. You are all witnesses that that is not true." (What Pastor Russell Said, Q14:1, 1911)
"We try to be careful about every word that goes into the Watch Tower, but we do not claim to be infallible; we are doing the best we can." (What Pastor Russell Said, Q56:1, 1910)
In 1912, Russell stated:
"I disclaim any special inspiration. In some particulars my views agree with those of other Bible students, and in other respects they disagree. Each hearer must use his own judgment, do his own Bible study, and reach his own conclusions." — "Battle of Armageddon" - Sermon given November 3, 1912, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as reproduced in the St. Paul Enterprise, November 21, 1916, page 1.
Thus throughout the years of his ministry, Russell consistently disclaimed being a prophet, or that his conclusions were divinely-inspired prophecies. Likewise, he did demand authority over others, as would a false prophet. Indeed, Russell at times presented beliefs of others regarding the prophecies in the pages of his Watch Tower. For instance, in the Watch Tower of June 15, 1905, Russell presented some parallels of John Edgar that pointed apparently pointed to 1915 as being the end of the time of trouble. In the same issue, he presented the parallels of U. G. Lee, who pointed to the year 1920.
"We have never set forth anything to indicate that our view in the matter was infallible. I do not know positively that the times of the Gentiles will end in October, 1914, or at any other particular time. We think there is strong reason for believing that the Gentile Times will end in October, 1914. We give it as our opinion, and set before you the Scriptural reason. Some may believe and some not. This is our thought and if it is correct, about that time, or shortly thereafter, a great time of trouble will come upon the world." -- What Pastor Russell Said, Q313:2, 1914.
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Many more quotes could be provided.
What one will not find anywhere in Russell's writings is that he claimed that his writings were a direct revelation from God, or that his expectations were directly from God.
We will say that many of the Bible Students were making many claims for Russell that Russell did not claim for himself, and despite the fact that Russell often disclaimed such. After Russell died, Rutherford and his associates further promoted many claims for Russell that Russell himself never claimed for himself.
Nevertheless, since Russell never originated any prophecies, there certainly were never any "failed prophecies" from Russell. And yet many false claims are being spread about Russell. For instance, some falsely claim that when "the end of the world" did not come in 1914, that he changed it to 1915. The reality is that Russell was not expecting the end of the world to come in 1914, and plainly stated such. Nor did change 1914 to 1915 due to any alleged failure of 1914. Russell, however, had expected that the remainder of the church would be glorified in 1914, although before 1914 had arrived that he could be wrong. His greatest expectation since 1904 was the time of trouble was to begin in 1914. From the year 1904 onward, Russell was expecting the "time of trouble" to begin in 1914, which indeed it did, and we have been in that "time of trouble" with its spasms ever since. In 1904, Russell rejected his earlier view that the time of trouble was to end in 1914, thus he was expecting almost the opposite, trouble and warfare such as the world had never seen before. Several dates were suggested for how long after 1914 the "time of trouble" might last; Russell stated that he could not find a scripture that shows how long "the time of trouble" would last after 1914. The belief that the time of trouble was to begin in 1914 was never changed after 1914, for the facts indicated that it had begun 1914. Russell certainly never concluded that the "Gentile Times" did not end in 1914, and he continued to believe that until the day he died. As far as we know, even the JWs continue to believe that the Gentile Times ended in 1914 to this day; we know that they did back in the 1990s, so if they have stopped believing this, it would have to be in the last few years, not back in 1914 as allegedly due to some failing of 1914.
"Some people try to make out that I claim I am infallible, and know everything. You are all witnesses that that is not true." (What Pastor Russell Said, Q14:1, 1911)
"We try to be careful about every word that goes into the Watch Tower, but we do not claim to be infallible; we are doing the best we can." (What Pastor Russell Said, Q56:1, 1910)
In 1912, Russell stated:
"I disclaim any special inspiration. In some particulars my views agree with those of other Bible students, and in other respects they disagree. Each hearer must use his own judgment, do his own Bible study, and reach his own conclusions." — "Battle of Armageddon" - Sermon given November 3, 1912, at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, as reproduced in the St. Paul Enterprise, November 21, 1916, page 1.
Thus throughout the years of his ministry, Russell consistently disclaimed being a prophet, or that his conclusions were divinely-inspired prophecies. Likewise, he did demand authority over others, as would a false prophet. Indeed, Russell at times presented beliefs of others regarding the prophecies in the pages of his Watch Tower. For instance, in the Watch Tower of June 15, 1905, Russell presented some parallels of John Edgar that pointed apparently pointed to 1915 as being the end of the time of trouble. In the same issue, he presented the parallels of U. G. Lee, who pointed to the year 1920.
"We have never set forth anything to indicate that our view in the matter was infallible. I do not know positively that the times of the Gentiles will end in October, 1914, or at any other particular time. We think there is strong reason for believing that the Gentile Times will end in October, 1914. We give it as our opinion, and set before you the Scriptural reason. Some may believe and some not. This is our thought and if it is correct, about that time, or shortly thereafter, a great time of trouble will come upon the world." -- What Pastor Russell Said, Q313:2, 1914.
====
Many more quotes could be provided.
What one will not find anywhere in Russell's writings is that he claimed that his writings were a direct revelation from God, or that his expectations were directly from God.
We will say that many of the Bible Students were making many claims for Russell that Russell did not claim for himself, and despite the fact that Russell often disclaimed such. After Russell died, Rutherford and his associates further promoted many claims for Russell that Russell himself never claimed for himself.
Nevertheless, since Russell never originated any prophecies, there certainly were never any "failed prophecies" from Russell. And yet many false claims are being spread about Russell. For instance, some falsely claim that when "the end of the world" did not come in 1914, that he changed it to 1915. The reality is that Russell was not expecting the end of the world to come in 1914, and plainly stated such. Nor did change 1914 to 1915 due to any alleged failure of 1914. Russell, however, had expected that the remainder of the church would be glorified in 1914, although before 1914 had arrived that he could be wrong. His greatest expectation since 1904 was the time of trouble was to begin in 1914. From the year 1904 onward, Russell was expecting the "time of trouble" to begin in 1914, which indeed it did, and we have been in that "time of trouble" with its spasms ever since. In 1904, Russell rejected his earlier view that the time of trouble was to end in 1914, thus he was expecting almost the opposite, trouble and warfare such as the world had never seen before. Several dates were suggested for how long after 1914 the "time of trouble" might last; Russell stated that he could not find a scripture that shows how long "the time of trouble" would last after 1914. The belief that the time of trouble was to begin in 1914 was never changed after 1914, for the facts indicated that it had begun 1914. Russell certainly never concluded that the "Gentile Times" did not end in 1914, and he continued to believe that until the day he died. As far as we know, even the JWs continue to believe that the Gentile Times ended in 1914 to this day; we know that they did back in the 1990s, so if they have stopped believing this, it would have to be in the last few years, not back in 1914 as allegedly due to some failing of 1914.
See also our resource page: Russell - Not a Prophet.
See also our resource page: Russell and 1914
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