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On Monday, June 16, 1913, Pastor Charles T. Russell gave a private address - reserved for "interested"- at the Golden Gate Commandery Hall in San Francisco (1) (2).
At first, at this conference titled "The Temple of God" , the 2nd President of the Watch Tower Society identified himself directly on 6 occasions as "Masons" , "Franc [italicized word] Mason" , "Free Mason" and accepted " , member of the " Free and Accepted Grand Master of Freemasonry " , adept of a " modern masonry " and member of the " Free and Accepted Order of Freemasonry ". A little after, However, at the end of this address, Russell will assimilate with his audience as "Masons of the Free and Accepted Order of the Commandery of the Lord Jesus Christ".
Also, was Charles Taze Russell a freemason or just the creator of a new form of masonry?
To date, the Masonic fraternity has not revealed the inscription of Charles Taze Russell in nomenclature of a dressing table (date of his initiation and Masonic quality). Its membership, in the form mentioned above, was not found also by laymen (Non-initiated to Freemasonry). Should we suppose that the traces of his belonging to a box remain to be discovered or that there were good reasons to suppress them in their time? On the other hand, his associates, as well as those of these collaborators, with Masonic or para-Masonic circles are undeniable.
In the same way, the literature, the songs, and the symbols conveyed by its movement testify of an esoteric inheritance, not negligible, resulting from different currents of thoughts. Finally, the opening of hermetic temples to Bible Students demonstrates a relative fraternal harmony among all these communities (3).
Thus, the more progress is made, the more one realizes that Russell drew his doctrine from many sources, both religious and occult.
(1) Built in 1906, this Masonic Temple of the Rite of York bears the following inscription on its main facade: "The Golden Gate Commandery No. 16 of the Knights Templar".
(2) The convention organized by the International Association of Students of the Bible (IBSA) is registered three times under the heading "Meetings-Lodges" of the newspaper "The San Francisco Call."( "The San Francisco Call." , June 14, 1913, p.12 / "The San Francisco Call." , June 15, 1913,/ "The San Francisco Call." , June 16, 1913, p.12).
(3) Watch Tower Bible Society and Tract Society and its various associations organized over a period of about 110 years (1882/1992) more than 3400 meetings in esoteric places (Temples of Freemasons, halls of the Maccabees, mosques of the Order of the Ancient Arabs of the Nobles of the Mystic Sanctuary , halls of the Old Order of the Druids ...). These private or public gatherings were planned on 5 different continents, about ten countries and more than 330 cities in the world.