607 - What Russell taught.

So, he first taught that Jesus became king in heaven in 1874, and that Armageddon would come in 1914? He started teaching the date came from 606, and changed this to 1915 when he realised there was no 0 C.E?

Russell taught that the time of the end began in 1799, that Christ became invisibly present in 1874, and was crowned as king in 1878. He taught that 1874 would introduce a harvest period of 40 years marked by ever increasing trouble which would culminate in 1914 with the overthrow of all institutions. As 1914 got closer, history was obviously not unfolding the way he had predicted. He began to waiver somewhat in the certainty of his views, and in 1904, stated that the end would speedily follow, rather than precede 1914. (e.g. In 1915) Russell knew that there was no zero year, but this was simply not a serious issue before 1914 when the date was still only a prediction. He actually addressed this issue in the December 1912 Watch Tower and his attitude was very casual. As far as he was concerned it would not matter if he was a year off. However, after the 1914 date became doctrinally speaking, "Set in stone" a descrepancy of 1 year obviously couldn't be tolerated as easily.

When was the 606 changed to 607? Was this after WW1 begun?

This change occured in two stages in the years 1943 and 1944. (See, The Truth Shall Make You Free and The Kingdom is at Hand.)

After Armageddon didn't come in 1914, did this then get changed to become the date of Christ's return, or was the date temporarily dismissed and reintroduced later?

No. The change of 606 to 607 was not directly related to the failure of Russell's predictions. It was an ad hoc means of preserving the 1914 date

607 - What Russell taught.

Zico

TD

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