"Watchtower" - Why did Russell REALLY choose that name? (page 2)

Kenneson

Addendum:

Also, note that part of the original title contained "Herald of Christ's Presence." This was in 1879. Russell believed that Christ had already come invisibly in 1874. He was saying that Christ was ALREADY present in 1879--way before 1914!

Another aside. The Dec. 15, 1908 Zion's Watch Tower under "The Watch Tower Subscription List" tells us why the name "Zion" was dropped from the name.

"With the new year we expect to drop the word 'Zion' in the title of our Journal, because many of the friends inform us that the word is objectionable, having been so much used by Mr. Dowie and his followers. They report that our journal is frequently cast aside under the supposition that it is published under Dowie's auspices, or in some manner associated with Zion City, which he founded. The new name, The Watch Tower, is the one by which the Journal is usually mentioned. It appears, further, that African churches and papers use the word Zion extensively, which has led to the inquiry whether or not our journal is published and generally read by colored people."

Jordan

I don't know if this will help, but I found this on the Official Website for the Freemason's Grand Lodge of British Columbia and Yukon. The website does out and out state that he wasn't a freemason. Whether the Freemason's are lying or not, who knows, but I can't see why the Freemasons would care enough to lie about the founder of some religion being a mason or not, I just don't think it means that much to them.

Charles Taze Russell?
Claims have been made that "Paster" Russell (1852/02/16-1916/10/31), founder of the International Bible Students Association — forerunner of the Jehovah's Witnesses — was a freemason; that the banner on the front of early issues of the Watchtower contained masonic symbols; and that Russell's gravestone bears a masonic cross and crown symbol.
Russell was not a freemason. Neither the symbols found in the Watchtower nor the cross and crown symbol are exclusively masonic. And the cross and crown symbol does not appear on his gravestone in the Rosemont United Cemetery, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania — it appears on a memorial erected some years later.
In an address delivered in a San Francisco masonic hall in 1913, Russell made positive use of masonic imagery by saying, "Now, I am a free and accepted mason. I trust we all are. But not just after the style of our masonic brethren." He further develops this idea: "true Bible believers may or may not belong to the masonic fraternity, but they are all masons of the highest order, since they are being fashioned, chiselled and polished by the Almighty to be used as living stones in the Temple Built Without Hands. They are free from sin, and therefore accepted by the God of Heaven as fit stones for the heavenly Temple." Later in this address, Russell stated quite clearly that "I have never been a mason." Those who claim Russell was a freemason quote this address out of context without noting the rhetorical imagery.
Although Russell wrote about the pyramids and the Knights Templar, the pyramids are not a part of Freemasonry and Russell's understanding of the relationship between the modern Knights Templar and Freemasonry displays an outsider's ignorance of both organizations.

Original Website URL: http://freemasonry.bcy.ca/anti-masonry/anti-masonry03.html

I personally think the Russell's use of Masonic imagery was due to his own interest in the organisation, nothing more. I will admit I haven't done a great deal of looking into this subject matter, but those are just my thoughts.

Cygnus

No, hang on. What I'm really getting at here is - was Russell really a mason?

LOL. Yes, yes he was! Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise! Records can be fudged, speeches later rewrote and edited for print. And as we all know, Freemasons are very secretive and Russell was proven a liar in a court of law. All these things help demonstrate that CHARLES TAZE RUSSELL, FOUNDER OF THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY, WAS DEFINITELY A FREEMASON.

Kaput

A mason may request that his membership remain secret, and for that reason there are many "hidden" masons, possibly including Russell, his father and his uncle.

Satanus

Rummaging through some old files, i ran accross this reference to russel and masonry:

Lady Queenborough's book occult theocracy on pg.737 records C.T. Russells Masonic membership (published in 1933). While this book seems to be the only evidence of his membership the insignia and words used are undeniable.The use of the terms 'society' and 'brotherhood' are used today among the witnesses which show Masonic terminology was carried over from Russell

If someone can verify it, then it may be the only mention of russel being one.

S

Kaput

I have the book Occult Theocrasy by Lady Queenborough (Edith Starr Miller). That is correct about Charles Taze Russell being listed in the index section on page 737 as a Freemason. He has the sign (three dots at the points of a triangle) to the left of his name, as do many other individuals listed there. I would not accept this as conclusive proof that he was a mason as this symbol was simply a designation employed by Lady Queenborough to denote others, as well. Interesting story behind the author and the book, however. Occult Theocrasy was intended for private circulation only and was published AFTER her death, according to her wishes. Seems she was privy to some rather potent info about practically every secret society and their agendas. Certainly a "must have" book for any who are involved in researching the mysteries of Freemasonry.