reslight2 - The Bible Student movement has continued to this day, but my contention wasn't that it is non-existent, but that they have largely faded away. They consist of many different splinter sects, from the Dawn Bible Students claiming 60,000 members worldwide to the Australian Bible Student sect claiming 100 members. So having several thousand members scattered worldwide under several different sects to me would define fading away. I can't see any way how they can be described as thriving.
If C.T. Russell had in your mind had very little doctrinal matter wrong, and this was backed up from the Bible, I'm unsure as to approach this subject with you. I would start with the changed dates for Christ's return and 1914 as the date for Armageddon, but I don't wish to belabour you with all these statistics since you already have formed your own opinion. Just because Russell claimed he was not a 'prophet' does not mean that he did not make false prophecies. That's like publicly making all kinds of scientific claims, and then buggering off all responsibility just because you never claimed to be a 'scientist'. He did admit privately that he was the 'Faithful and Discreet Slave', so take that as you will.
Russell did not insist on complete ideological control over his flock, and minor dissentions and differences were tolerated. For this reason I have chosen Rutherford as the major destructive force in the modern-day JW religion. So I am unclear as to why you are calling me to task about Russell, since my focus was on Rutherford. To believe that Russell was not a false prophet, you would have to honestly believe in 1914 as the date for Christ's return (invisibly) and then conveniently ignore that Russell claimed with utmost certainty that 1914 was the year for Armageddon. Do you believe this?