2.1. THE HISTORY OF THE SECT FROM THE EMERGENCE TO THE DEATH OF RUSSELL

The history of the creation of the sect, which later received the name "Jehovah's Witnesses", is inextricably linked with Charles Taze Russell. He was born on February 16, 1852, and spent his childhood in the small town of Allegheny, Pennsylvania. Charles's education was limited to five years of school, which was rather the norm for American children of that time. These schools of the mid-to-late nineteenth century were closely connected with local church communities, so young Russell was also brought up in the traditions of the local Congregational Evangelical Church.

In 1870, at the age of seventeen, Russell organized a Bible study group of six people, who began to call him "pastor." At the same time, he began to write books and articles on Bible topics. In the classes of the circle, young Charles and his students developed the ideas of the Seventh-day Adventists, which they were fascinated by as early as 1868. As a result of diligent research, these theologians were able to clarify the date of the Second Coming of the Adventists, postponing it to 1873.

At that time, Russell was under the influence of Jonas Wendell, a preacher of the Christian Advent Church, whom he had met at the age of sixteen.

A whole generation has grown up since the "Great Disappointment" of 1844, when Christ did not return to earth. During this time, Miller's followers became widely known as Adventists. Seventh-day Adventists, such movements as the Life and Second Coming Society, and communities such as the Advent Christian Church, to which Wendell belonged, called themselves so. Under the influence of this preacher, Russell looked forward to the Coming in 1873-1874. Naturally, he questioned other doctrines of the Congregational evangelical church, such as the doctrines of predestination and the immortality of the soul.

However, the spiritual search did not prevent the young "Bible student" from actively engaging in business. The result of commercial activity was not long in coming, Russell became the owner of several ready-to-wear stores in North Pittsburgh. The income from the trade allowed him to provide financial support for some currents of the Second Coming movement.

In 1876, Russell met with Seventh-day Adventist Nelson H. Barbour, who claimed that the Second Coming of Jesus Christ had occurred in the fall of 1874. Barbour, who was the publisher and editor-in-chief of The Midnight Cry, later renamed The Herald of the Morning and published in Rochester, New York, declared that Christ had already returned to earth, only invisibly, and that believers would be raptured to heaven in three and a half years.

Russell began to use the profits received from profitable men's clothing stores to finance the magazine "Herald of the Morning".

In 1877, Russell, together with Barbour, published the book "Three Worlds", where 1914 is called the year of "the end of the time of the pagans". However, the author was Barbour, and Russell only lent him money for publication, without, of course, refusing to co-author. Grateful Barbour appointed him in July 1878 assistant editor of the Herald of the Morning.

Joint activity to save "lost" humanity brought them closely together. In July 1879, the first issue of Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, which is also the Herald of the Morning, was published in July 1879 to alert the world's population to the approaching end of the world.

After a while, Russell disagreed with Barbour on the issue of atonement. Barbour believed that Christ died only for Adam, but according to Russell, all mankind was redeemed by Christ's sufferings. Apparently, the failure to fulfill the Adventist false prophecy published in the journal Herald of the Morning about the Second Coming in 1876 also played a role in the rupture.

At the same time, Russell created his own sect. In 1881, Zion's Watch Tower 42 Tract Society was founded. In 1884, Russell officially registered the society as a non-profit organization. In 1896, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society appeared. Of course, Russell was its rightful owner, and those people who are considered by later generations of Jehovah's Witnesses to be the Board of the Watch Tower Society were in fact employees, which was not hidden: "Since by December 1, 1893, we have 3705 voting shares out of a total of 6383 shares, Sister Russell and I, of course, elect the employees ourselves and thus control the Society; And this is fully known to the directors from the very beginning. It was quite clear that how useful they were would be revealed in the event of their death."43

In 1893, the first congress of the sect was held in Chicago (Illinois). Since 1909, the society has been headquartered at 17 Hicks Street in Brooklyn, New York (it came to be known as the "Brooklyn Tabernacle"). The move to a new place was due to Russell's desire to avoid paying alimony to his wife, awarded to her by a court decision.