Editing Jehovah's Witnesses (section)

===Background===
{{Main|Bible Student movement}}
[[File:C.T. Russell.gif|upright|thumb|Charles Taze Russell, founder of the Watch Tower Society]]
In 1870, [[Charles Taze Russell]] and others formed a group in [[Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], to study the Bible.{{sfn|Rogerson|1969|page=6}} During his ministry, Russell disputed many of mainstream Christianity's tenets, including immortality of the soul, hellfire, predestination, Christ's return, the Trinity, and the burning up of the world.{{sfn|Beckford|1975|page=2}} In 1876, he met [[Nelson H. Barbour]]. Later that year they jointly produced the book ''[[Three Worlds (book)|Three Worlds]],'' which combined [[restitution (theology)|restitutionist]] views with [[Eschatology|end time]] prophecy.{{sfn|Beckford|1975|page=2}}

The book taught that God's dealings with humanity were divided [[Dispensationalism|dispensationally]], with each period ending with a "harvest", and that Jesus inaugurated the "harvest of the Gospel age" by means of his invisible return in 1874.{{sfn|Beckford|1975|page=2}} The book asserted that 1914 would mark the end of a 2,520-year period called "the Gentile Times",{{sfn|Crompton|1996|pages=37–39}} at which time world society would be replaced by the full establishment of God's kingdom on earth.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Chryssides |first=George |date=2010-07-29 |title=How Prophecy Succeeds: Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Expectations |url=https://journal.equinoxpub.com/IJSNR/article/view/12210 |journal=International Journal for the Study of New Religions |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=33–48 |doi=10.1558/ijsnr.v1i1.27 |issn=2041-952X}}</ref> Beginning in 1878, Russell and Barbour jointly edited a religious magazine, ''Herald of the Morning''.{{sfn|Botting|Botting|1984|page=36}} In June 1879, the two split over doctrinal differences, and in July, Russell began publishing the magazine ''[[The Watchtower|Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence]]'',{{sfn|Holden|2002|page=18}} saying its purpose was to demonstrate that the world was in "the last days" and that a new age of earthly and human restitution under Jesus' reign was imminent.<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last=Abrahams |first=Edward H. |date=1977 |title=The Pain of the Millennium: Charles Taze Russell and the Jehovah's Witnesses 1879–1916 |journal=American Studies |volume=18 |issue=1 |pages=57–70 |jstor=40641257 |issn=0026-3079}}</ref>

From 1879, ''Watch Tower'' supporters gathered as autonomous congregations to study the Bible topically. Thirty congregations were founded, and during 1879 and 1880, Russell visited each to provide the format he recommended for conducting meetings.<ref name=":0" /> In 1881, ''Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society'' was presided over by [[William Henry Conley]], and in 1884, Russell incorporated the society as a nonprofit business to distribute tracts and Bibles.<ref>{{harvnb|Chryssides|2008|page=xxxiv}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Vergilius Ture Anselm Ferm |title=Religion in the Twentieth Century|page=383|publisher=Philosophical Library|year=1948}}</ref> He also published a six book series entitled ''[[Studies in the Scriptures]]''.{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|page=18}} By about 1900, Russell had organized thousands of part- and full-time [[Colportage|colporteur]]s,{{sfn|Holden|2002|page=18}} and was appointing foreign [[missionaries]] and establishing branch offices. By the 1910s, Russell's organization maintained nearly a hundred "pilgrims", or traveling preachers.{{sfn|Holden|2002|page=19}} Russell engaged in significant global publishing efforts during his ministry,<ref>{{cite book|page=35 |publisher=Greenwood Press|title=A Chronology and Glossary of Propaganda in the United States|year=1996}}</ref>{{sfn|Penton|1997|pages=26–29}} and by 1912, he was the most distributed Christian author in the United States.<ref>{{cite magazine|author=W.T. Ellis|date=October 3, 1912|issue=40|magazine=The Continent|page=1354 |publisher=McCormick Publishing Company|volume=43|title=(Title unknown)}}</ref> He also directed ''[[The Photo-Drama of Creation]]''.{{sfn|Chryssides|2022|page=19}}

Russell moved the Watch Tower Society's headquarters to [[Brooklyn]], New York, in 1909, combining printing and corporate offices with a house of worship; volunteers were housed in a nearby residence he named ''Bethel''. He identified the religious movement as "Bible Students", and more formally as the [[Bible Student movement#International Bible Students Association|International Bible Students Association]].<ref>{{cite book|author2=Sumner B. Twiss|author=by Walter H. Conser|page=136|publisher=University of Georgia Press|title=Religious Diversity and American Religious History|year=1997}}</ref> By 1910, about 50,000 people worldwide were associated with the movement<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |page=374|title=The New Schaff–Herzog Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge|volume=7|year=1910}}</ref> and congregations reelected him annually as their pastor.{{sfn|Penton|1997|page=26}} Russell died on October 31, 1916, at the age of 64 while returning from a ministerial speaking tour.{{sfn|Rogerson|1969|page=31}}