What I want to know is, does the Watchtower say CT Russell was a prophet or a scholar?
The Watchtower of April 1st, 1972, page 197, had this statement, "So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come?...These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?... This "prophet" was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses..Of course it is easy to say that this group acts as a "prophet" of God. It is another thing to prove it. The only way that this can be done is to review the record. What does it show?"
As you can see the Watchtower claims that Russell's bible students were prophets.
Paul