Russell, Jehovah, and world of devils

Russell felt he had divine authority from God to remove the provisions of specific church law. His theories were based on three dispensations: the first extended from the time of creation to the time of Noah; the second from the time of Noah to the death and resurrection of Christ; his third theory is from the resurrection to the year 1914, at which time, Pastor Russell predicted, the souls of those that sleep will arise and be judged. His followers interpreted his remarks to mean that the end of the world would come in 1914. The movement grew until the dawn of the 20th century. His Watch Tower magazine was their mouthpiece, his studies in the Scripturestheir texts, and his organization,spreading over the world, was known as the "International Bible Students Association." The year 1914 became their target date for the end of the world and for a moment it seemed that Russell's prophecy was terrifyingly true. On June 28,1914, an unknown Serbian terrorist in Sarajevo, Bosnia, killed the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand and plunged Europe into war. The Jehovah Witnesses declared it was the beginning of the end. The assassination caused nation to rise against nation, just as the Scriptures had predicted, and a cry of "Armageddon!" swept through apocalyptic ranks. The International Bible Students were besieged with converts and in addition, the most skeptical theologians wondered whether Pastor Russell might actually have had divine inside information. The war escalated, but the year was running out which led the followers of Russell to say, perhaps there had been a slight miscalculation.A difference of a couple of years, what did it matter? When the hostilities in the Middle East became a focal point with fighting in Jerusalem, no more telling signs were needed. Apocalyptic believers have always affirmed that the final slaughter would take place in the Holy Land. The Witnesses watched and waited as the world dragged on throughout the years of carnage without the intervention from a cosmic power. On October 31, 1916, Pastor Russell passed away and his prophecies remained unfulfilled. However, his devotees found a reason for the prophicies not being fulfilled. They now claim the end of the world had actually begun in 1914 but mankind was not yet fully aware of it. They insisted that Christ entered His kingdom, had subdued the forces of Satan and driven the unseen hosts of devils out of their invisible habitat once and for all. They claim the reason for the troubles in the world such as deterioration of world culture,rise in crime,a trend toward world unrest and war, could be found in the fact that devils which had once lived in the land of a spiritual realm now lived on earth among the children of men, as retribution for man's sins. As this supposition grew, a new and forceful leader arose in the oerson of J.F.Rutherford, a judge in the 14th Judicial District of Missouri. He was forty-seven years old when his spiritual teacher, Pastor Russellhad died.