At:
http://www.alien-earth.org/forum/message.php?message=55674&showdate=10/25/09there is provided a long list of dates that are supposed to be preditions of the "end of the world". Russell is listed amongst them. I replied to the thread on the forum, but when I submitted the reply the form returned a blank, and I received no message as to whether the reply was received, being held, rejected or whatever. I don't know if the post will appear or not, so I posting the reply here.
1874 - End of the World Charles Taze Russell
ANOMALIES Note: This date appears to be an error on James Randi's part. This is in fact the date on which Charles Taze Russell made a prediction, not a date he predicted. It was on this day that Russell predicted that Jesus would return to Earth in the year 1914.
1874: Charles Taze never predicted anything at all concerning the date 1874. Up until 1876, Russell had no interest in prophetic time prophecies. It was 1876, two years
after 1874, that Russell read N. H. Barbour's time prophecies, and Barbour's statement that Jesus had returned invisibly in 1874. Russell had evidently already concluded prior to 1876 that Jesus, having sacrificed his human flesh, would not return in the flesh.
Russell, having no interest in time prophecies in 1874, made no predictions in that year concerning any dates.
1914: Russell never predicted at any time that Christ would return in 1914. He believed that Christ had already returned in 1874, so why would he be expecting Christ to return in 1914?
1914 - Judgement Day Watchtower/Jehovah's Witnesses
Branch 1998, Rubinsky 1982:118, Randi 1995:265
There was no "Jehovah's Witnesses" organization in the days of Russell. Russell did not believe in such an organization.
Russell made known his expectations, but he stated that his expectations were his own surmisings, and that were not to be considered inspired nor prophecy -- certainly not
infallible.
However, Russell was not expecting "judgment day" itself to begin in 1914, although he was expecting (at least from 1904 onward) the "time of trouble" to begin in 1914. For however long the time of trouble was to last, Russell was expecting Satan to abyssed at the close of that time of trouble, and for the blessings of the second judgment day for the world to begin after Satan was to be abyssed. Please note that the two main things that Russell was expecting for 1914 was that the Gentile Times would end, Jesus would begin to rule amongst his nations, and the nations would become wrathful, that is, that the "time of trouble" would begin at that date. Russell was not expecting the "end of world", Christ to return, or that all Gentile Kingdoms would suddenly disappear in 1914.
1918: There had been for many years before 1914 several dates after 1914 suggested by various Bible Students; as far as I know, all were based on parallels. Many different dates were being suggested as to when the possible end of the "time of trouble" after 1914 might be, and Russell sometimes presented the arguments for a date, or made reference to those dates. One of these dates was 1918. Just before he died, Russell suggested 1918 as a possible date for the end of the harvest; however, in the same article he stated that there is no time limit set for the garnering.
Although I do not know of any expectation by him (or anyone else) that the day of judgment was to begin in 1918, one could possibly conclude that if the harvest were to end in 1918, then possbily Satan may be abyssed at the same time, and the judgment of the world would begin, although what was printed in 1916 concerning 1918 certainly would not suggest that view.
However, as far as the "day" in which judgment was to take place, Russell believed until the day that he died, that the "day" had begun in 1874. The first resurrection, the resurrection of the spiritual seed of Abraham who are such because they belong to Christ, would have to take place first before that seed could begin the blessings of the heathen in the judgment day of the world. Additionally, he believed the Jews would have to be restored to Israel, and that Satan would have to abyssed, before the judgment day blessings of the world would begin. -- Isaiah 2:2-4.
I am not with the JWs, and will let them address the statements concerning the dates made by Rutherford and others after Russell died. However, I consider that
Russell was never associated with an organization such the "
Jehovah's Witnesses," since he was a non-sectarian, and did not believe in such an organization. Among many other works, I have studied Russell's works for over 45 years. I believe that, for his day, his works came the closest to the truth, although there is a lot that he wrote that I disagree with.
Ronald
