RUSSELL, Charles Taze (1852-1916):
known as "PASTOR Russell" he grew up in a
pious CONGREGATIONALIST home but rejected his early BELIEFS after a SECULAR CONVERSION. He
retained his love for the BIBLE eventually developing his own system which
centered on the issue of PROPHECY and formed his own independent CONGREGATION in 1878.
Preaching that the RETURN OF CHRIST had occurred invisibly in 1874, he predicted the end
of the world would come in 1914. Eventually his followers became known as RUSSELLITES and
formed the INTERNATIONAL BIBLE STUDENTS' ASSOCIATION which later split into a number of
groups the best known being the JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES.
