You know, what I find hard to accept and even harder to understand is how someone can pick apart a particulair speech or say the crown and cross are symbols of christianity and then make a blanket statement that this one piece of evidence proves inconclusively that Russell was NOT and in no way associated with freemasonry.
Huh?
How ignorant. The perponderance of circumstantial evidence COMBINDED TOGETHER must certainly get someone's attention, shouldn't it?
It has gotten someone's attention. But the perponderance of circumstancial evidence adds up to less proven than hidden and subliminal images in the WT publications.
Are the egyptian symbols used by Russell Christian in origin too?
Does the pyramid Russell is buried under honestly supposed to represent the Trinity?
Is it just a coincidence that words such as Watchtower/Golden Dawn happen to be prevalant in Masonic lingo?
You see, you were not listening. Russell is NOT buried under a pyramid. He is buried NEAR a pyramid erected by the WTBTS AFTER his death. That Mason lingo you speak of really sounds more like the general manner of speaking and writing of that period.
If I'm not mistaken members of Russell's family were Masons, and Russell was also known to associate with prominent Rosicrutians.
Were they Masons? Who? Where are the records of their member ship?
Again, you can find actual records of membership of those who were and are Masons. There is NO SUCH RECORD of Russell being a Mason.