Charles Taze Russell

Founder of the Bible Student movement (1852–1916)

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Lived 1852–1916, aged 64United States

United States WritersWriter / Author

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44 languages
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Era
1852–1916
Aged 64
Known for
The Photo-Drama of Cre…
1914

Summary

Updated 2026-06-08

He founded the Bible Student movement in Pittsburgh and wrote 50,000 pages of religious commentary that seeded what would become Jehovah's Witnesses — though three-quarters of his followers left after his death in a schism that splintered the movement into rival factions.

Biography

About

Charles Taze Russell was born February 16, 1852, and became an Adventist minister in Pittsburgh. In July 1879 he launched Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, a monthly magazine, then co-founded and eventually led the Watch Tower Tract Society starting in 1881. Between 1886 and 1904 he published his six-volume Millennial Dawn series — later retitled Studies in the Scriptures — which sold nearly 20 million copies worldwide during his lifetime. After Russell died on October 31, 1916, his successor Joseph Rutherford's leadership triggered a crisis: by 1931, as many as three-quarter…

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In their own words

Sourced, dated quotes from Charles Taze Russell

Charles Taze Russell

said1 Jun 1916

I confess indebtedness to Adventists as well as to other denominations.

— Zion's Watch Tower, (June 1, 1916) p. 170.

Charles Taze Russell

said1 Mar 1915

The present is a time of testing, we believe, to many of the Lord's people. Have we in the past been active merely because we hoped for our glorious change in A.D.

— The Watch Tower, reprints (March 1, 1915) p. 5649.

Charles Taze Russell

said15 Oct 1914

What is the secret of the opposition and slander that is being raised up against me and against all who, like me, are Bible students?

— The Watch Tower (October 15, 1914), p. 287.

Charles Taze Russell

said15 Apr 1901

We claim no infallibility for our presentations.

— Watch Tower, (April 15, 1901), p. 136.

Charles Taze Russell

said1891

Intelligent and thinking people began to wonder why the Lord would resurrect the dead, if they were either in heaven or hell, and their portion forever unalterably fixed.

— p. 117.

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