The Watchtower Begins
In January of 1876, Russell read a copy of the religious magazine The Herald of the Morning. The editors', N. H. Barbour of Rochester, New York, views were very similar to those of Russell and they arranged to meet and, as a result, 'the Pittsburgh Bible class of about thirty persons became affiliated with Barbour’s slightly larger Rochester, New York, group.' Russell contributed money to print the Herald, and became coeditor of the journal.
At the age of twenty-five, in 1877, Russell began selling out his business interests and went into full-time preaching activity. He traveled from city to city delivering Bible discourses at public gatherings, on the streets and in Protestant churches. He became known as "Pastor" Russell. 'He determined to invest his fortune in the promulgation of the work, devote his life to the cause, prohibit collections at all meetings and depend on unsolicited contributions to continue the work after his own money was exhausted.'
In the August 1878 issue of Herald of the Morning, "to [Russell's] painful surprise" Barbour published an article that denied the substitutionary value of Christ’s death. Russell saw that this was 'denying the essential part of the ransom doctrine.' So in the very next issue (September 1878), Russell wrote an article entitled "The Atonement," and contradicted Barbour’s statements. 'The controversy continued in the pages of the journal for the next few months.' Finally, Russell decided to cut association with Mr. Barbour and discontinued financial support to the Herald.
In July 1879, Russell began publishing Zion’s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ’s Presence. Russell was the editor and publisher, with five others as contributors to its columns. The magazine was dedicated to Jehovah and to the interests of God’s kingdom."The Watch Tower and other publications [were used] to uphold Bible truths and to refute false religious teachings and human philosophies that contradicted the Bible. [Russell] did not, however, claim to discover new truths." They relied on God and it was said in the second issue: "‘Zion’s Watch Tower’ has, we believe, JEHOVAH for its backer, and while this is the case it will never beg nor petition men for support. When He who says: ‘All the gold and silver of the mountains are mine,’ fails to provide necessary funds, we will understand it to be time to suspend the publication." The Publication has never been suspended. From the very beginning, 'Russell insisted that there would be no collections taken at congregation meetings or contributions solicited through the Watch Tower publications.' The people who joined Russell in deep Bible study became known as the Bible Students.
The Watchtower now
