12/30/2025
Many people believe that Charles Taze Russell founded Jehovah’s Witnesses, but that idea is not accurate.
It is true that the modern-day organization associated with Jehovah’s Witnesses began to take form in the late 19th century. Around that time, a small group of sincere Bible students near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, began carefully examining the Scriptures. They compared church doctrines with what the Bible itself actually teaches, determined to let God’s Word—not tradition—be their guide.
These Bible Students shared what they learned through books, newspapers, and a journal that later became known as The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah’s Kingdom. Among this group was Charles Taze Russell, who played a prominent role in organizing the Bible education work and served as the first editor of The Watchtower.
However, Russell did not found a new religion. He never claimed to be its founder, nor was that his goal. The purpose of Russell and the other Bible Students was to restore and promote the teachings of Jesus Christ and to imitate the practices of the first-century Christian congregation as closely as possible.
From our viewpoint, the true founder of Christianity—and therefore of the congregation we strive to follow—is Jesus Christ himself. The Bible states clearly:
“He is the head of the body, the congregation… through him God was pleased to reconcile all things to himself.”
—Colossians 1:18–20
So while Charles Taze Russell was an important figure in the early history of the modern organization, he was not its founder. But Jesus Christ is