Pastor Russell And The Occult

The "Winged Orb" from the Studies In the Scriptures volumes after 1911.

In stead of starting at the beginning, which might make for a nice book but would probably bore our audience to death, we decided to look into a few controversies first.  The reason is simple, most of the time when one googles Charles Taze Russell or Jehovah's Witnesses who claim to be the real Bible Students among the first sites one will encounter are sites which spread a lot of misinformation about Russell in an attempt to paint the Witnesses as somehow corrupt from the very beginning...starting with their "founder."  So it becomes necessary for any serious student of history to start off with such matters before other parts of the story can be addressed.

Where The Stories Come From

The stories painting Russell as evil and self-serving really started with a publication which is still around today, The Brooklyn Eagle.  We don't really know what it is today, but back in Russell's time it was basically a publication which thrived on sensationalism and scandal with little worry about truthful reporting.  Since Russel was both rich and the most widely read preacher of his day he was, as with any celebrity today, the fodder for scandal because his name sold copes.  So when something which happened to Russell could be twisted into a sinister scandal, the Eagle was all too happy to do it.

The second primary source for the stories comes from a pamphlet put out in two editions by one Reverend J. J. Ross which drew from some of the stories in the Eagle, but added a few f his own, especially after his slander trial which he fled to avoid being put on the stand and after which he add a claim that Russell perjured himself on the stand, a patently false claim according to those who were there.  Sadly, the official records of the trial disappeared shortly after, so .all we do have are the recollections of those who attended and later commented on the charge.  A genuine copy of those records are one of the holy grails for researchers into the history of both the Bible Students and the later Jehovah's Witnesses.

33rd Degree Scottish Masonry Symbol

Russell Was A Mason

Back in the day and it seems today as well one of the easiest ways to ruin somebody's reputation was to claim they were a Mason if they were a Christian celebrity.  So the claim was made that Russell was a 33rd Degree Mason of the Scottish Rite.  Proof of said affiliation and further involvement with the occult was largely based on the presence of certain symbols prominently displayed in the literature he published, such as the so called "winged orb" which started appearing on the Studies In The Scriptures volumes in 1911 and pictured at the head of this post.  since this and the other "evidence" of Russell being involed with the Masons, Illuminati, and the occult are so inextricably linked we'll take them more or less all together and look at the evidence piece by piece.

First of all, let us make one thing crystal clear.  If Charles Taze Russell had been a Mason but left them after he discovered the true doctrine of Christianity there would be no problem from our point of view.  Many Christians through the years have left off memberships, businesses, and other activities they concluded were not compatible with their new found Christian beliefs after their discovery of truth, this writer included.  Such a reversal of course is proper and it would be improper to conclude that such a prior association continued to taint the believer later in life.

Out Of His Own Mouth Condemned

Russel, himself, denied any association with the Masons.  There is a sermon of his often quoted as an "admission" of membership in the Masons entitled The Temple Of God which is often used as an example of an admission on Russell's part that he was a Mason.  It was delivered in 1913 and we've linked it for you.  Russell was giving a sermon in a Masonic hall rented by the Bible Students for the occasion and apparently some of the members of the lodge were in attendance out of curiosity.  So, like any good speaker, Russell chose to use some common ground to catch and hold their attention.  The part often quoted is this:

I am very glad to have this particular opportunity of saying a word about some of the things in which we agree with our Masonic friends, because we are speaking in a building dedicated to Masonry, and we also are Masons. I am a Free Mason. I am a free and accepted Mason, if I may carry the matter to its full length, because that is what our Masonic brethren like to tell us, that they are free and accepted Masons. That is their style of putting it. Now I am a free and accepted Mason. I trust we all are. But not just after the style of our Masonic brethren. We have no quarrel with them. I am not going to say a word against Free Masons. In fact, some of my very dear friends are Masons, and I can appreciate that there are certain very precious truths that are held in part by our Masonic friends. I have talked to them at times, and they have said, How do you know about all of these things? We thought nobody knew anything about these things except those who had access to our very highest logic.

Taken out of context it certainly does appear that Russell admitted to being a Freemason, as the underlined portion appears to support as a conclusion. But like anything else, context matters. As one reads through the text of the discourse one discovers that the Pastor, as Russell is still often called, wasn't admitting to Masonry, he was simply using an appeal to logic and the common search for truth to point his listeners to the truth regarding the Church, which is the real temple of God. He also called on his listeners to embrace Christianity and become stones in the real Temple of God.




About one-half of the way through Russell makes this plain admission "Although I have never been a Mason..." and then continues his thought and the sermon. So Russell denied ever having been a Mason, period. Of course, though folks will condemn him with the words out of his mouth, words out of his mouth to the contrary just don't seem to suffice. So people point to various symbols he used in his literature as "proof" that he really was a Mason.

The Cross And Crown

The above picture is from one of the early Zion's Watch Tower magazines.  For many years this symbol graced the cover of said magazine and other publications of the Bible Students and they continue to use it to this day.  However, those looking for reason to paint the Pastor with a soiled brush see something much more sinister in this, the symbol of the Knights Templar, an order of Catholic Knights which was forced underground in 1312 ad when their order was disbanded and their leaders arrested and tortured then executed.  Those who weren't initially arrested fled and took the treasures of the order with them and some landed in Scotland where they found refuge and are thought by many to be the precursors to the Masons.  Because of the propaganda of both the French King and the Vatican based on supposed admissions under torture, the Knights Templar are painted to this day as some sort of a dark cult with sinister intentions which simply went underground and continue their pursuit of world conquest to this day in various occult guises. Typical of the charges is what follows from a site, watch.pair.com:

Two other groups (both with Masonic connections) use the cross and crown. Charles Taze Russell was a Mason who started the Jehovah Witnesses.'4'  He used the red cross and other distinctive features of the Knights Templar logo.'"

We won't address what isn't in the purview of this article and more in the realm of conspiracy theories, however, it is a fact that the Knights Templar did use their own cross symbol, and some used the cross and crown emblem, to wit:

Above is a picture courtesy of  The Irish Origins of Civilization of the cross and crown symbol of the Knights Templar Crest.  Note that the cross is of the kind peculiar of the Knights Templar and is below the crown and on the shield.  So, okay, the Knights Templar did use a form of the symbol.

And so do the Masons as the ring to the left demonstrates.  By the way, the Latin inscription on the ring means in this sign conquer and is the motto Emperor Constantine of the fourth century ad used.

But then:

Look to the right.

And the left.  In fact many churches and others use the cross and crown symbol as a symbol for victory in Christ.  This goes back here in America to a sermon given by William Penn, the founder of both the colonies of Rhode Island and Pennsylvania as refuges from religious persecution.  The sermon in its entirety can be found here No Cross, No Crown by William Penn.  The idea is actually biblical.  It is a play on the requirement that Christians share in the suffering of Christ in order to gain the crown promised in the Kingdom to come.  So it isn't so sinister at all.  Sadly, the picture at left was used by the same site to slander Tim LaHaye of the Left Behind series of novels fame because that ad is used to sell his books.  Apparently the "Masonry" charge still has power to this day as a means of slander. There is more, though.

Russell Buried Under A Pyramid

Here is another gem from the same source quoted earlier, "...and he is 'buried in a pyramid with masonic symbols on its capstone."' We'll get to the first half of the statement next, but here is Russell's Grave:

It is tempting to say "enough said" but there is a pyramid in the burial plot of the Bethel home there in Rosemont Cemetery which was placed there by Joseph Rutherford, who claimed Russell commissioned it.  It can be seen in the next shot of Russell's grave from another angle:

That is the pyramid in the background along with a Masonic Temple built decades after the Pastor was buried. It is a fact that Russell was interested in what is sometimes called Pyramidism, that is a belief several of his contemporaries held that God had the great Pyramid built an that many of its features incorporated the divine plan.  Russell came to agree with them and saw it as an extra-biblical corroboration of what he'd figured out using the Bible alone, but that was as far as he took it and he always pointed out that that was all it really was.  The blank spaces on the pyramid were meant to list the names of those buried in the Bethel plot, however, Rutherford only ever put just one name in any of those spaces, Russell's.

The "Winged Orb"

Here is the part of the last declaration from the site we've quoted from as promised, "He also used the Masonic symbol of the winged sun-disk with snakes..."  Let's take another look at the "sun disk" in question:

We went with the largest view here to see the details more clearly. Those aren't snakes, or the Pharoanic cobras, to name them correctly on that disk.

The above is an example of the Pharoanic winged disk, or more precisely, scarab with the cobras incorporated into the design.  Sometimes the cobras appear below the disk but they also appear as in this photo.  The "snakes" are clearly visible here unlike in the design Russell used.  but that is because Russell didn't use a symbol with snakes at all.  So it's not the one with the snakes in it, what is it?

It is actually a stylized representation of the scarab beetle which the Egyptians revered because of the way life seemed to appear out of nowhere from the dung balls the beetle laid its eggs in.  Thus the beetle came to be a symbol for life and several gods associated with life and the resurrection.  The things which look like snakes in the design from the Studies are the front legs of the scarab.  Look at these:

 The above is the Egyptian Scarab Beetle.  See the front legs?

To the right is the Egyptian design of the scarab with it's wings outstretched. A comparison of these images, we trust, is enough to put the charge made those who would use this symbol to slander a man long dead and in his grave.  But we are not going to stop here with this symbol.








Unfortunately Russell left no statement to help us understand why he chose this symbol.  Some take a statement he wrote in one of the Studies In The Scriptures on Malachi 4:1-2 as such a statement under the assumption he was using the later Assyrian and Babylonian winged sun disks.  However, look at the next image"

This image is now quite famous because it is a recently found example of one of the two seals the righteous Judean King Hezekiah was known to have used, but for the first time in situ.  Look at that winged scarab which appears on this bullae.  It's been known since Russell's day that the royal families of Israel used the winged scarab as an emblem of their rule.  In modern times it appears on the other seal used by Hezekiah along with one used by a priest named Gaalyahu and the actual personal seal used by Queen Jezebel of the northern kingdom below:

Imagine that, the seal of Jezebel herself instead of an impression bullae!  While as far as we know at this time Russell didn't have access to an example of one of these, however he would've had access to this:

 The image to the left is from an academic journal published in Russell's time and from an edition printed in 1909.  The footnote visible in the image informs us that the image was taken from another Journal, the Palestine Explorer, 1905 edition.  That journal would've likely been one Russell subscribed to through the Watchtower.








To our right is a closeup of the seal itself.  How ironic is it that the person the seal was for was Natanyau, an alternate version of the same name used by Israeli Prime minister Benjamin Natanyahu.  We can clearly see the scarab used in the seal.

While it is admittedly supposition, we believe the known facts place us on solid ground laying it out.  it then becomes easy to see why the Pastor might not have seen anything wrong with using a symbols the Jews themselves used in ancient times.  Some have called it a lack of judgement on his part, however, this may well put that one to rest.

In Conclusion

Those are just a few examples of how the claims that Charles Taze Russell was into the occult fall apart on closer examination.  There are other things people point to, such as the fact the Rockefellers were among those who contributed to the Watchtower Bible and Tract society in it's early years in an attempt to taint by association.  However, that is just wishful thinking on the part of those making such accusations and we really don't see any need to waste further time on those.  It was Russell himself whose reply to a question about why he didn't spend the time on such matters later in life was that if he "stopped and kicked at every dog that barks at me I wouldn't have the time to get anything useful done."  Thus he added a proverb to the English language.

We will catch you later!