Having studied Russell's works for more than 55 years, I can confidently say that Russell was definitely not a member of the Freemasons. Except for what many imagine, assume, and/or distort, to make it appear that Russell was a member of the Masons, no one has actually presented anything at all that proves him to be a Mason. On the other hand, we have a life time of his work that, if it were printed in regular size type in regular size books, would probably amount to more 100,000 pages, all of which give overwhelming testimony that he was a not a member of any of man's secret societies. He definitely was not in favor of the alleged conspiracy ideas that are often being attributed to the Freemasons, Illuminati, etc. Indeed, if a Freemason were to seriously study Russell's works, and if a consecrated Christian, such a study would lead him away from the Freemasons; indeed, many Christians have withdrawn from the Freemason after studying what Russell wrote. Russell, however, unlike the JW leadership, never claimed authority to demand that any Christian could or could not be a member of any of man's secret societies, although he did several times give his opinion that such would not serve the best interests of consecration to God and Jesus.
Russell's Biblical study of God's Witness in Egypt has nothing at all to do with any alleged agreement with the Freemasons, astrology, heathen occult practices, etc.
Russell's study of God's witness was only a very small part of his ministry; probably less than 1 or 2 percent of his lifetime work was related to the study of God's Witness in Egypt. Nor did Russell present his study with the dogmatism that prevails with the JWs. He did not seek to disfellowship anyone or otherwise refuse association with anyone simply for disagreeing with his conclusions.
Russell was introduced to the study of God's Witness in Egypt through Nelson Barbour in 1876; it was then that he accepted Barbour's conclusions concerning God's Witness in Egypt; Russell later rejected the measurement of the lower part of the descending passageway, which was based on Smyth's measurement of the roof, as no one had actually measured the floor due to the debris in the passageway.
Rutherford authorized the building of a replica of God's Witness in Egypt in honor of the Watch Tower Society.
I do not know of any "ideologies" that Russell actually "derived" from the Freemasons. Since the Knights Templar claim to be Christians, there may some similarities simply based the usage of the Bible itself. Again, some create imaginary links to this or that between the Freemasons and Russell, when in reality the links presented did not actually exist.
Russell rented halls, auditoriums, meeting rooms, from many different organizations, groups, governments, etc., including Baptists, Presbyterians, Methodists, Odd-Fellows, Rotary Club, Armory halls, schools, and many, many more. Just before his death he gave a talk in a "Christian Church". Comparatively, I would say very few of his talks were done in halls rented from the Freemasons. His rental and usage of such halls/meeting rooms/auditoriums, etc., does not make him a member, or in favor of, what those organizations, groups, etc., may have believed, promoted, taught, etc.
There are thousands of Christians of many different denominations and groups that still believe that the Great Pyramid is God's Witness in Egypt. I am one of such, but, like Brother Russell, I would not be dogmatic about it. Having studied the evidence, I believe that it is too overwhelming to simply ignore. Very few, however, actually take the time to seriously study the evidence; many, however, seem to be very diligent in distorting and misrepresenting the evidence.
Russell's Biblical usage of a "sun of righteousness" symbol (often referred to as "the winged sun symbol") , however, is totally different from his study of the God's Witness in Egypt. The study of God's Witness in Egypt would not all have any thing to do with whether one adopted the Biblical "sun of righteousness" symbol that Russell made use of. Neither, however, have anything to do with the Masons, sun worship, Egyptian idolatry, occult practices, etc.
Russell's interest in Egypt was only in connection with the Bible, which tells many things about Egypt. His interest was not connected with some alleged "Egyptian revival."
For more related to the above, see links to some of my research at:
http://rlctr.blogspot.com/2016/12/gp.html
reslight2
JoinedPosts by reslight2
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Charles T Russell -a freemason and the connection to the illuminati...
by dolphman inok, i'm not one for conspiracy theories but lately i've uncovered some interesting facts that i think warrant some attention.. first of all, russell was a freemason.
all the early watchtower and books he authored have freemason symbology and art throughout them.
not a big deal i thought, until i read more about freemasons and the so-called "illuminati", a group of 13 families that supposedly control the world.. supposedly these 13 families, such as the duponts, mcdonalds, kennedys, .
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reslight2
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Russell's Pyramidology Originated In Edinburgh Scotland
by cofty inthe edinburgh city observatory sits atop calton hill at the east end of the city centre adjacent to burn's monument, scotland's national monument modelled on the parthenon, and nelson's monument with the time ball that falls at 1pm every day except sundays.. .
the second astronomer royal of edinburgh was charles piazzi smyth (jan. 1819 - feb. 1900).
smyth was a man of many and varied interests including meteorology, producing weather observations that still form an important part of uk climate records to this day.. building on the work of james taylor, smyth became fascinated by the great pyramid of egypt at giza.
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reslight2
Either by accident or design Russell actually changed one of Smyth's measurements from 3461 inches to 3416 inches when he used it to calculate the date 1874 for the "beginning of the period of trouble". When 'The End' failed to materialise Russell changed the measurement in 1910 to 3457 inches and announced a new date of 1914. Not only had Russell now corrected his transposition of earlier he also removed four inches from Smyth's measurements in order to back up his revised chronology.
The above appears to be referring to the change Russell made to his third volume in 1905 (not 1910). If so, this change was pertaining to only the floor of the lower part of the descending passageway. It was not a change to Smythe's measurement, since Smythe was unable to measure that lower part due to debris; the attempt was to take Smythe's measure of the ceiling of the passageway and try to project it to the floor. Thus there was already some uncertainty concerning the measurement. Nevertheless, evidently the original projection to the floor of the lower passageway was done by Nelson Barbour.
The details surrounding how the change took place in 1905 is not presented in any records I have been able to find. Evidently, Russell or one of his associates began to question the measurement provided, and a new projection was made, This had nothing to do, however, with any alleged failure of "the end", whatever that is supposed to mean. Nor did the change in the third volume announce a new date. 1914 had already been viewed by many Christians as being the end of the Gentile Times based in Bible prophecies. As best as I can determine, the first person to present 1914 as possible end of the times of the Gentiles was E. B. Elliott in 1844. Russell accepted this believe in 1876, and he announced his acceptance of that date in that same year. Russell presented several lines of Biblical proofs of that date in his second and third volumes of this Studies in the Scriptures. Thus, the change in the third volume in 1905 did not create "a new date", and most definitely the change was not because "the end failed to materialise", whatever that is supposed to mean.
I have more regarding this change on my website:
http://rlctr.blogspot.com/2017/01/changes-gp.html
Russell spent his life and his fortune defending the basic teaching of the atonement by means of Jesus Christ. -
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Russell's Pyramidology Originated In Edinburgh Scotland
by cofty inthe edinburgh city observatory sits atop calton hill at the east end of the city centre adjacent to burn's monument, scotland's national monument modelled on the parthenon, and nelson's monument with the time ball that falls at 1pm every day except sundays.. .
the second astronomer royal of edinburgh was charles piazzi smyth (jan. 1819 - feb. 1900).
smyth was a man of many and varied interests including meteorology, producing weather observations that still form an important part of uk climate records to this day.. building on the work of james taylor, smyth became fascinated by the great pyramid of egypt at giza.
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reslight2
The word "pyramidology" basically means study of a pyramid. Russell never used the word "pyramidology", but he did present a Biblical study in which he presented his belief that the Great Pyramid in Egypt is God's Witness in Egypt. I believe the evidence is overwhelming that it is indeed God's Witness in Egypt. There are thousands of Christians today who believe, based on the evidence, that the Great Pyramid is indeed God's Witness in Egypt.
My own website related to God's Witness in Egypt:
https://gpwit.blogspot.com/p/on-this-site.html
Russell's study of God's Witness, however, was not at all the "foundation" for what he believed; indeed, it was simply a method of corroboration of the Bible. His lifetime work overwhelmingly shows that he believed the only foundation for belief is the Bible itself. For some of his own statements regarding this, one might see:
http://rlctr.blogspot.com/2016/11/thebible.html
Russell, however, was never a member of the JW organization. He preached against such sectarian authoritarianism. Unlike the JW leadership, Russell never claimed any authority over fellow believers, and he never demanded that anyone had to accept his conclusions in order to be a Christian. He did not believe in any central authority other than Jesus, the apostles, and the prophets, in the writings of the Bible itself.
http://rlctr.blogspot.com/2016/11/onlyauth.html
For what Russell believed regarding "organization" and his Watch Tower, one might see:
http://rlctr.blogspot.com/2016/10/wtorg.html -
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Pastor Russell letters?
by vienne inmost of those who read my comments and posts here know i'm not a witness but a historian who writes about them.
as my writing partner and i near completion of volume 2 of separate identity, we need scans of any letters, post cards or what have you written by russell, any of his associates or any pre-1916 adherent - no matter how insignificant they may appear.. can you helps with this?
we also need clear scans of watch tower convention programs from that era.. i appreciate any help that comes my way.. rachael.
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reslight2
vienne
I am not sure what you are looking for, but one can find all of Brother Russell's known extant published woks at:
http://mostholyfaith.com
Other material may be found at:
http://heraldmag.org/olb/
http://herald-magazine.com
http//archive.org also has many items related to the Bible Students in Russell's time. Sometimes, however, they are hard to find when trying to use their search or other methods provided on the site. -
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A request to our members living in the USA - Time Magazine
by pale.emperor ini have a request to our friends living in the usa.
im trying to track down an article printed by time magazine in which they interviewed fred franz.
in my local library here in liverpool they have a massive bound volume collection of time going back to the 1930s.
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reslight2
mentalclarity is wrong about Russell's expectation for 1914. Russell was never expecting Christ's Second Coming in 1914.
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Russell's aleged freemasonry on JWfacts.com
by NikL inpaul has written an interesting piece on jwfacts.com .
https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/blog/russell-not-a-freemason.php.
anyway, it jogged my memory and reminded me of something i thought i would pass on to you.back in the late 80s i had the opportunity to chat with ray franz on the phone and i asked him about this very thing.he didn't say yes or no to russel's masonic connection but what he said was something like, "he is buried in the masonic section of the cemetery so draw your own conclusion.
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reslight2
When I posted my last post, I was thinking I had not posted to this thread before. I see now that I have.
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Russell's aleged freemasonry on JWfacts.com
by NikL inpaul has written an interesting piece on jwfacts.com .
https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/blog/russell-not-a-freemason.php.
anyway, it jogged my memory and reminded me of something i thought i would pass on to you.back in the late 80s i had the opportunity to chat with ray franz on the phone and i asked him about this very thing.he didn't say yes or no to russel's masonic connection but what he said was something like, "he is buried in the masonic section of the cemetery so draw your own conclusion.
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reslight2
vienne
Pyramidology did not come from Masonic belief but from two British writers. The one most influential on Russell was Charles Piazzi Smyth. Russell circulated for a brief while a pyramidology book by J. A. Seiss, an American Lutheran pastor. There is nothing in Russell's theology that parallels Masonic belief or practice.
I am a Bible Student; I am not affiliated with the JWs, but I have been studying the writings of Bible Students for more than 50 years, including that of Russell. I am hoping to make a few statements regarding some of the things posted.
Yes, Russell's study of God's Witness in Egypt has nothing at all to do with the Masons. In my discussions with some of the Masons, none of them I have conversed with has any knowledge of God's Witness in Egypt. Indeed, although there might be a some Masons who are Christians who may have taken some interest in the study of God's Witness in Egypt, it does not appear to something generally studied among the Masons. Furthermore, since not all Masons profess to be Christian, it could not be applied universally to the Masons. Nor have a found such an general interest in the study of God's Witness in Egypt among the Knight Templar, although, again, various individual members of Knights Templar may have some interest in such a study. If, however, a Mason were to take a serious interrest in Russell's study of God's Witness in Egypt, it would lead one to the conclusion that being a member of the Masons is actually vanity.
Most of what Russell presented about God's Witness in Egypt came from Nelson Barbour.
Russell never used the word "pyramidology", and as best as I can tell neither did Nelson Barbour. I believe Piazzi Smyth used that word once or twice. The word simply means "pyramid study" or "study of pyramids". As the word was originally used, it did not mean what it is often attributed to that word today: spiritism, pyramid power, etc. Russell did not believe in "pyramid power", spiritism, astrology, etc.
Much of my research related to Russell and the Freemasons may be found at:
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Russell's aleged freemasonry on JWfacts.com
by NikL inpaul has written an interesting piece on jwfacts.com .
https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/blog/russell-not-a-freemason.php.
anyway, it jogged my memory and reminded me of something i thought i would pass on to you.back in the late 80s i had the opportunity to chat with ray franz on the phone and i asked him about this very thing.he didn't say yes or no to russel's masonic connection but what he said was something like, "he is buried in the masonic section of the cemetery so draw your own conclusion.
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reslight2
Finkelstein stated:
<<So what we have then is strange coincidence of Russell's and others adherence to Pyramidology>>
I am not sure what is meant by "adherence to Pyramidology". My concern is that this terminology would create an idea in many reader's minds that would not actually match the reality. Russell never spoke of "Pyramidology" or of any adherence to such. The word "pyramidology" today, however, is often used to describe many beliefs and practices that Russell rejected, yet I have seen many anti-Russell authors make all kinds of false claims about Russell and "Pyramidology". Russell's Biblical study of God's Witness in Egypt had nothing at all to do with any kind of practice of astrology, spiritism, pyramid power, heathen occult rituals, etc.
Additionally, Russell presented his study on the Great Pyramid, not as being dogma, but rather as his own conclusions. Unlike Rutherford, Russell never claimed any authority to demand that anyone had to accept his conclusions in order to be a Christian, or fellowship with the Bible Students, etc.
Finkelstein stated:
<<and the Freemason's adherence to the Great Pyramid in Egypt and their identity as Stonemason builders, simple coincidence ?>>
So far what I have actually found regarding the Masons and Great Pyramid is scattered individual opinions that offer very little similarity to what Russell taught and believed about the Great Pyramid.
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Russell's aleged freemasonry on JWfacts.com
by NikL inpaul has written an interesting piece on jwfacts.com .
https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/blog/russell-not-a-freemason.php.
anyway, it jogged my memory and reminded me of something i thought i would pass on to you.back in the late 80s i had the opportunity to chat with ray franz on the phone and i asked him about this very thing.he didn't say yes or no to russel's masonic connection but what he said was something like, "he is buried in the masonic section of the cemetery so draw your own conclusion.
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reslight2
Crazyguy stated:
<<Wouldn't the pyramid and all the symbols on his grave site as well as him being buried at a Masonic site be a good indication that he was a Mason?>>
The symbols on Russell's grave show that he believed in the harvest that Jesus spoke of.
The symbols on Rutherford's pyramid monument are Biblical symbolism and references to the Bible, including the monument itself.
Russell was not buried at a Masonic site.
There is nothing about Russell's burial site that offers any proof at all the Russell was a Mason.
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Russell's aleged freemasonry on JWfacts.com
by NikL inpaul has written an interesting piece on jwfacts.com .
https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/blog/russell-not-a-freemason.php.
anyway, it jogged my memory and reminded me of something i thought i would pass on to you.back in the late 80s i had the opportunity to chat with ray franz on the phone and i asked him about this very thing.he didn't say yes or no to russel's masonic connection but what he said was something like, "he is buried in the masonic section of the cemetery so draw your own conclusion.
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reslight2
Finkelstein stated:
Knights Templar and Masons borrowed from Christian Symbolism, not the other way around.
Of course that is not of debate, Freemasonry is inherently Judaeo Christian.
<<The debate is about from where and from whom did Russell derive "SOME" of his theological ideas or borrowed symbolism.
Seems to be deliberate dismissive about Russell obtaining some theological influence from the Freemason Organization.
Maybe we should adhere to some more intellectual honesty instead biased blindness ?>>
Russell, of course, had no reason to record the lineage of usage of Biblical symbolism he used. The idea that he did not does not give any reason to imagine and assume that he obtained his Biblical symbolism from the Freemason organization. On the other hand, it would really would not make any difference it he did make use of some symbolism as used by the Knights Templar. It actually proves nothing at all.