Charles Taze RUSSELL, first president of the Watchtower Society, died on Halloween, 1916.
Five miles north of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania he rests, in Rosemont United Cemeteries, on a burial plot that was intended for the use of members of the Watchtower Society's Headquarters staff - the "Bethel family." The plot is not small; it is spacious enough to allow for about 275 adult graves, and in the exact center of this space we can find today a very curious thing: a pyramid.
We are told in the "Souvenir Report of the Bible Students Convention, Pittsburgh, PA.(1919)," that the pyramid was "accepted by Brother Russell as the most fitting emblem for an enduring monument on the Societys burial space." It weighs several tons, is nine feet at the base and seven feet high, and rests on a reinforced concrete pad five feet thick.On each face of the pyramid we find the same design: near the apex a laurel wreath encircles a crown which itself encircles a cross. Beneath this is a text box which bears a different message on each of the four sides - "WATCHTOWER BIBLE AND TRACT SOCIETY," "DEAD WITH CHRIST," "I. B. S. A.," AND "RISEN WITH CHRIST". "IBSA" stands for International Bible Students Association. Beneath the text box we find the largest feature of each face, "cut in four-inch embossment a Teachers Bible, on the pages of which will appear the names of the ones buried there. The burial space for Brother Rutherford was indicated and his name, like that of Brother Russell, will be at the top of opposite Bible pages. A Bible space is being set apart for the Pilgrims all in one lot of forty eight grave space[s], so all their names will appear on the same Bible." - "Souvenir Report..."
The pyramid is partially hollow, and when set in place it contained a sealed metal box in which, according to the "Souvenir Report..." "is a complete set of Karatol Scripture Studies, the Memorial Tower, and one of every tract, photographs of Pastor Russell, a copy of the Societys charter, and many other things to interest the people who at some future date may open the pyramid and find them." It is rumored that the pyramid was opened in 1994 or 1995 and was found to be empty.
Some have mistakenly claimed that Charles Taze Russell lies beneath this pyramid, but they are wrong: the pyramid is only an emblem and a monument.
Russell's headstone is nearby, bearing the inscription, "PASTOR RUSSELL Charles T. Russell February 16, 1852 October 31, 1916 THE LAODICIAN MINISTER." The "Laodician Minister" is a reference to Revelation 3:14
and is a reminder that Russell viewed himself to be the seventh of God's messengers to the Church, the previus six being the apostle Paul, John (who wrote Reveleations), Arius of Alexandria, Waldo (of the Waldensian movement), John Wycliffe, and Martin Luther.
It is interesting that NONE of the "teachings" embodied in these two "stone witnesses" are currently held to be true by the followers of The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society - Jehovah's Witnesses. Also interesting is that, although in 1919, Rutherford had evidently planned to be buried near this enduring monument in Pennsylvania, his actual resting place is either an unmarked grave in San Diego, California or a WTS burial plot on Staten Island in New York City. But that's another story...
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