Editing Charles Taze Russell (section)

==Early life==
{{Bible Students}}
Charles Taze Russell was born to [[Scotch-Irish Americans|Scotch-Irish]] parents,<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=The Watchtower|date=January 1, 1955|page=7|title=Part 1 – Early Voices (1870–1878)|quote=Both parents were Presbyterians of Scottish-Irish lineage.}}</ref> immigrant Joseph Lytle/Lytel<!--both variations in use in bibliographies--> {{IPAc-en|ˈ|l|ɪ|t|əl}} Russell and Ann Eliza Birney, on February 16, 1852, in [[Allegheny, Pennsylvania]]. Russell was the second of five children, of whom two survived into adulthood. His mother died when he was nine years old.<ref>''Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose'', 1959, p. 17</ref>

The Russells lived for a time in [[Philadelphia]] before moving to Pittsburgh, where they became members of the [[Presbyterian Church in the United States of America|Presbyterian Church]]. When Charles was in his early teens, his father made him partner of his Pittsburgh [[haberdasher]]y store. By age twelve, Russell was writing business contracts for customers and given charge of some of his father's other clothing stores.<ref>''Jehovah's Witnesses Proclaimers of God's Kingdom'', 1993, p. 42</ref> At age thirteen, Russell left the Presbyterian Church to join the [[Congregationalism in the United States|Congregational Church]]. In his youth he was known to chalk Bible verses on fence boards and city sidewalks in an attempt to convert unbelievers; he particularly noted the punishment of hell awaiting the unfaithful.<ref>''Overland Monthly'' February 1917 p. 129: "Up to the age of fifteen ... his favorite teacher was Spurgeon, because, as he said, "he peppered it hot," his claim being that if one believed a thing he should tell it with all his might. So at the age of fifteen he used to go about the city of Pittsburg on Saturday evenings with a piece of chalk writing on the fence boards and telling the people not to fail to attend church on Sunday, so that they might escape the terrible hell in which he so firmly believed."</ref>

At age sixteen, a discussion with a childhood friend on faults perceived in Christianity (such as contradictions in [[creed]]s, along with medieval traditions) led Russell to question his faith. He investigated various other religions, but concluded that they did not provide the answers he was seeking.<ref>''The Bible Student Movement in the Days of CT Russell'', 1975, p. A–1</ref> In 1870, at age eighteen, he attended a presentation by [[Adventism|Adventist]] minister [[Jonas Wendell]]. Russell later said that, although he had not entirely agreed with Wendell's arguments, the presentation had inspired him with a renewed zeal and belief that the Bible is the word of God.<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Russell |first=C. T. |date=July 15, 1906 |title=Harvest Gatherings and Siftings |magazine=Zion's Watch Tower |pages=290–230, reprints p. 3821 |quote=I heard something of the views of Second Adventists, the preacher being Mr. Jonas Wendell, long since deceased. Thus, I confess indebtedness to Adventists as well as to other denominations. Though his Scripture exposition was not entirely clear, and though it was very far from what we now rejoice in, it was sufficient, under God, to reestablish my wavering faith in the divine inspiration of the Bible, and to show that the records of the apostles and the prophets are indissolubly linked. What I heard sent me to my Bible to study with more zeal and care than ever before, and I shall ever thank the Lord for the leading; for although Adventism helped me to no single truth, it did help me greatly in the unlearning of errors, and thus prepared me for the Truth.}}</ref>