Russell Used Astrology?
Many sites claim that Russell was into astrology, and that he used astrology to support his expectations (often falsely presented as being “failed prophecies”) concerning 1914.
A quote that is often presented, and is often falsely attributed as words of Russell, is found in the Watch Tower of May 1, 1903. The way it is usually quoted, presented as alleged failed prophecy, is like this:
1903 “When Uranus and Jupiter meet in the humane sign of Aquarius in 1914, the long-promised era will have made a fair start in the work of setting man free to work out his own salvation, and will insure the ultimate realization of dreams and ideals of all poets and sages in history.” (Watchtower, May 1, 1903, p. 130-131; p3184 Reprints)
On some sites, this is directly stated to be the the words of Charles Taze Russell; on other sites it is left to be assumed to be the words of Charles Taze Russell; on some sites the author is honest enough to state that these are not the words of Russell, but it is still often claimed that by his quote of these words, he was using the words of an astrologist to support his claims for 1914.
As it is often presented, however, this quotation is taken out of context. The words are not from Russell or any of the Bible Students at the time, but actually were the words of an astrologist. Here is the entire article:
AN ASTROLOGER’S OUTLOOK.
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WE seriously question all the claims of Astrology; yet the following — from whatever source the suggestions come, even though of the Adversary himself — seem remarkably true to our expectations based upon the Word of the Lord. For this reason alone we present them here,–as follows:
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“Saturn is the representative of the great motive power that has dominated the mind of man up to the present time. The great organizations of Capital, attracting now so much attention, are in reality the last great struggle of this Saturn-god to save his throne. But his efforts will be futile, yet far from useless, for he is blindly doing service for a still greater God in the same way as the other planets have contributed blindly to Saturn’s glory.“Jupiter, representing law, religion and morality, has been perforce subservient to Saturn’s greater and more potent force. It explains why the church, the law, the charitable and educational institutions have contributed to increasing the power and prestige of the worldly and material Saturn, whose selfish monopolizing material nature must be disposed of and made tributary to a higher, nobler force that will carry out the work of human evolution.
“Jupiter must also transfer his allegiance from the grasping Saturn to the newly discovered factor that stands for universal brotherhood; namely, Uranus. When Uranus and Jupiter meet in the humane sign of Aquarius in 1914, the long-promised era will have made a fair start in the work of setting man free to work out his own salvation, and will insure the ultimate realization of dreams and ideals of all poets and sages in history.
“Uranus is preparing the way for Neptune, who symbolizes Love in its very highest form–the fulfilling of the law. By this, we see that Socialism, or whatever the new order may be called, will not and can not be the rule of the common or ignorant masses, but the leadership of the very highest developed members of the human family.
“In 1903 Jupiter will be in the Sign of Pisces – sign of the feet, or understanding, and the synthesis of the new religion is Love;–Love, that words cannot define. We are nearing a condition where “masters” will be unknown–where humanity will instinctively conform to the injunction, ‘Call no man master, neither be ye called master.’
“Note–Uranus: Great commotions are expected when it shall take its ascendancy over Saturn.”
Of course, Russell did not quote the astrologist for the purpose of finding support in astrology, for he attributes astrology to “the Adversary,” that is Satan the devil. He makes reference to this to note that the demons will make use of a truth to promote their ends, as he had done many other times before.
In the October 1, 1905 issue, Russell again makes another quote, with his own statements before the quote attributing the fortune telling of astrology to demons, thus showing that he was not condoning the usage of astrology:
“DEVILS ALSO BELIEVE.”
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We remember the above statement of Holy Writ, and also the fact that demons once cried out to our Lord, “We know thee whom thou art, the Holy One of God,” and further how a damsel possessed of a demon followed Paul and Silas certain days crying: “These be the servants of the Most High God, which show unto us the way of eternal life.”These are proofs that the demons keep in touch with earth’s affairs, and that at times they have attempted to make capital out of their knowledge: for we are not to suppose that they really sought to serve the Truth or to proclaim it except with selfish, evil intentions.
The above thoughts came to us as we recently read the predictions of some noted astrologers, whose information we credit to the spirit demons and not to ability to read destiny in the stars. One of these in particular closely touches dates and incidents on the line of our Scriptural expectations as follows:–
ASTROLOGICAL PREDICTIONS OF OUR TIME
“In a dozen publications of this present springtime over all Europe astrologers agree that an extraordinary period is approaching. In the first place Saturn enters the sign of the Fishes in April, 1905, to remain there during 1906 and 1907. He will come out only in July, 1908. And these conjunctions, most rare in astrology, promise to be particularly hard on France.
“Each year the sun remains in the Fishes from Feb. 20 to March 20. It will be then in conjunction with Saturn, therefore, in 1906, 1907 and 1908. Combined with divers halts in the signs of the Crab and the Scorpion, this move of the sun threatens internal war and revolution for France, ending in the fall of the republic. The great troubles will commence in 1907 in a ‘people’s revolt.’ There will be pillages, burning cities, massacres and the temporary domination of the lower orders. ‘The year 1907,’ declares one astrologer, ‘will see the triumph of the populace and the reproduction of the worst days of the first revolution. I will add that this year, which seems marked as one of the most fatal in the history of all times, reproduces all the conjunctions of 1572 — the year of the massacre of St. ‘Bartholomew!’ Twice only have the same conjunctions happened since — in 1793-4, the year of the terror, and in 1848, that other year of revolution in France.
“For France, at least, peace will not be reestablished until 1914, when a ‘warrior king’–’he who is to establish the reign of good’–will set things to rights. This ‘Caesar imperator,’ realizing the astral reproduction of Napoleon I., will commence to manifest his presence in 1914, and will be definitely crowned in 1916 or 1917. Until then–alas! poor France!”–Sterling Heilig.
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ZWT, October 1, 1905, page 293, R3637.
Russell, in many of his other writings, had already denounced the works of Satan, which he usually summed up as “spiritism”:
The Religious View – Section Regarding A. H. Strong
What Say the Scriptures Ab0ut Spiritism?
What Say the Scriptures About Spiritism (Continued)
Russell also published a booklet by the name of “What Say the Scriptures About Spiritsm?” This booklet may also be found online at:
http://www.biblestudents.org/dpo/spiritism.htm
also:
http://www.bibletoday.com/booklets/spiritism_text.htm
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One site claims the following:
Did you know that the Jehovah Witness founder Charles T. Russell was well into Astrology and Egyptology and pyramidology, and it was later printed in a Watchtower Magazine (June 15, 1922) that he had wrote:
“When Uranus and Jupiter meet in the humane sign of Aquarius in 1914, the long promised era will have made a fair start in the work of setting man free to work out his own salvation, and will insure the ultimate realization of dreams and ideals of all poets and sages in history”
Of course, Russell was not the founder of the Jehovah’s witnesses, nor was he into astrology nor Egyptology. Biblical pyramidology has nothing to do with spiritistic occultism.
But as related the matter at hand, we have searched that issue, as well as many other issues of the Watch Tower close to that date, and could not find where such a quote was later attributed to Russell. Of course, Russell died in 1916, so even if Rutherford or one of his followers did make such a statement, it is verifiably shown to be untrue, as shown above.
