Did Russell Rewrite the Bible?

One has asked the question: "Was it Russel [sic] who didn't like the Bible's teachings about hell so he re-wrote it himself, leaving out the doctrine of hell, which is now known as the New World Testament [sic]?" Another writes: "Russell rewrote the Bible to agree with many of his unorthodox positions." Another claims: "Russell rewrote the Bible and called it the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION." Another, false claiming Russell was the founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses, claims: "He rewrote the Bible according to his wrong beliefs, twisting it to suit his purposes." Another states: "The best thing you can show a Jehovah's Witness is the giant New World Order pyramid parked on top of Charles Taze Russell's grave stone ... and remind them why Russell rewrote the Bible and called it the NEW WORLD TRANSLATION." One falsely claims that the Jehovah's Witnesses "sect" "was founded by Charles Taze Russell ... who rewrote the Bible to suit his whims and caprices."

Our responses:

Actually, Russell stayed very close to what the Bible says about hell, and for that reason he rejected the traditional teachings of eternal torment of the supposed immortal souls of unbelievers. He was not the first to do this, as many had done the same long before Russell began his study of the Bible. Nevertheless, we do not accept every detail of his explanations on sheol, hades, gehenna, tataroo, etc., but we are in general agreement concerning the basic ideas he presented. We have written many things on these topics, and much of what we have written can be found online at:

https://ransomforall.blogspot.com/p/life.html

Assuming that by "New World Testament" is meant the JWs' New World Translation, Russell had nothing to do with producing the New World Translation, which was published by the WTS for use by the Jehovah's Witnesses many years after Russell's death. We understand that the principal translator of the NWT was Frederick Franz. Russell, however, was never a member of the Jehovah's Witnesses, and his views on many Biblical topics were quite different from those of the Jehovah's Witnesses. The NWT translation does sometimes reflect the view held by the leadership of the Jehovah's Witnesses. We know from Russell's writings that there is much Russell would have disagreed with about the NWT. 

Regarding Hell: The NWT transliterates the Hebrew and Greek words for hell. Many translations do that; not just the NWT. We believe that the NWT translation, like any other translations, is not 100% accurate, but as a whole we do find it more in accord with many of the suggested translations of various Bible scriptures as offered by Paul S. L. Johnson (a Hebrew and Greek Bible scholar who was a private secretary to Brother Russell) than most other translations. Brother Johnson himself recommended Rotherham's Emphasized Bible translation for overall accuracy. Brother Johnson died in the same year that the first section of the New World Translation was published, so we doubt that he ever saw this translation at all.

 "Orthodox" refers to that which is generally or traditionally accepted as right or true; established and approved by men. Because men approves of such and proclaims such as "orthodox" does not necessarily mean that God also approves of such as being "orthodox". 

Russell, of course, never "rewrote" the Bible. He did sometimes offer a suggested rendering of various verses into English that was different from what is used in the King James Version. While he generally used the King James Version (which he referred to as the "Common Version") he also quoted from many other translations. He often referenced the works of many Bible scholars, most of whom were trinitarian. None of this means that Russell rewrote the Bible. It appears that some confuse rejecting man's self-proclaimed "orthodox" teachings as being the same as rewriting the Bible.

Nevertheless, any translation of the Bible into English is, in effect, a rewriting of the Bible, and that includes the King James Version. All translations in some way or other do reflect the doctrine held by the translators, and thus may or may not reflect the original intent of what was stated by the original writers of the Bible. For instance, when the King James translators rendered the Greek word often transliterated as "Gehenna" (referring to the Valley of Hinnom) by "hell-fire", the King James translators were, in effect, rewriting the Bible to interpret Gehenna to suit their own beliefs. Russell's endeavor was to correct what has been, in effect, rewritten, especially as found in the King James Version. See our resource page for Gehenna.

Below, we are presenting links to some other things discussed in the links referred to in the first paragraph:

Was Russell the Founder of the Jehovah's Witnesses?

John 1:1

New World Order

Russell and the Occult

Russell was never a member of the Freemasons

Russell preached against an organization such as the Jehovah's Witnesses

Russell is not buried under or in a pyramid