worldwide. It was the “Photo-Drama of Creation”—a combination motion picture and slide presentation, synchronized with musical recordings and phonograph-record talks. It was about eight hours in length and was presented in four parts. Besides the regular “Photo-Drama,” the “Eureka Drama,” consisting of either the recorded lectures and musical recordings or the records plus the slides, was also made available. Though it lacked motion pictures, it was successfully presented in less densely populated areas.

Imagine the historic scene: In January 1914, during the era of silent movies,g an audience of 5,000 gathered at The Temple, a building on West 63rd Street, in New York City. Many others had to be turned away. The occasion? Why, the premiere in New York of the “Photo-Drama of Creation”! Before the audience was a large motion-picture screen. As they watched—and listened—something truly amazing happened. C. T. Russell, then in his early 60’s, appeared on the screen. His lips began to move, and his words could be heard! As the presentation continued, it took those in attendance—by means of words, color pictures, and music—from earth’s creation to the end of Christ’s Millennial Reign. During the presentation they also saw (by means of time-lapse photography) other things that astounded them—the unfolding of a flower and the hatching of a chick. They were truly impressed!

By the end of 1914, the “Photo-Drama” had been presented before millions of persons in North America, Europe, New Zealand, and Australia. The “Photo-Drama” certainly proved to be an effective means of reaching masses of people in a relatively short period of time.

Meanwhile, what about October 1914? For decades Russell and his associates had been proclaiming that the Gentile Times would end in 1914. Expectations were high. C. T. Russell had been critical of those who had set various dates for the Lord’s return, such as William Miller and some Second Adventist groups. Yet, from the time of his early association with Nelson Barbour, he was convinced that there was an accurate chronology, based on the Bible, and that it pointed to 1914 as the end of the Gentile Times.

As that significant year approached, there were great expectations among the Bible Students, but not all that they expected had been directly stated in Scripture. What would happen?

Chapter 6

A Time of Testing (1914-1918)

“Let us remember that we are in a testing season. . . . If there is any reason that would lead any to let go of the Lord and His Truth and to cease sacrificing for the Lord’s Cause, then it is not merely the love of God in the heart which has prompted interest in the Lord, but something else; probably a hoping that the time was short; the consecration was only for a certain time. If so, now is a good time to let go.”

THOSE words, appearing in The Watch Tower of November 1, 1914, could not have been more appropriate. The years from 1914 to 1918 did, indeed, prove to be “a testing season” for the Bible Students. Some of the tests came from within; others came from outside. All of them, though, tested the Bible Students in ways that revealed whether they really had ‘the love of God in their hearts.’ Would they hold on to “the Lord and His Truth” or let go?

Great Expectations

On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was struck down by an assassin’s bullet. That assassination triggered the outbreak of the Great War, as World War I was originally called. The fighting began in August 1914 when Germany swept into Belgium and France. By the autumn of that year, the bloodbath was well under way.

“The Gentile Times have ended; their kings have had their day”! So exclaimed Brother Russell as he entered the dining room at the Brooklyn headquarters of the Watch Tower Society the morning of Friday, October 2, 1914. Excitement was high. Most of those present had for years been looking forward to 1914. But what would the end of the Gentile Times bring?

World War I was raging, and at that time it was believed that the war was leading into a time of global anarchy that would result in the end of the existing system of things. There were also other expectations concerning 1914. Alexander H. Macmillan, who had been baptized in September 1900, later recalled: “A few of us seriously thought we were going to heaven during the first week of that October.”a In fact, recalling the morning that Russell announced the end of the Gentile Times, Macmillan admitted: “We were highly excited and I would not have been surprised if at that moment we had just started up, that becoming the signal to begin ascending heavenward—but of course there was nothing like that.”

Disappointed expectations as to the return of the Lord Jesus had in the 19th century caused many followers of William Miller and various Adventist groups to lose faith. But what about the Bible Students associated with Russell? Had some been attracted by the thought of their own early salvation rather than love for God and a strong desire to do his will?

‘Brother Russell, Were You Not Disappointed?’

Brother Russell had been encouraging the Bible Students to keep on the watch and to be determined to continue in the Lord’s work even if matters did not culminate as soon as they might have expected.

October 1914 passed, and C. T. Russell and his associates were still on earth. Then October 1915 passed. Was Russell disappointed? In The Watch Tower of February 1, 1916, he wrote: “‘But, Brother Russell, what is your thought as to the time of our change? Were you not disappointed that it did not come when we hoped that it would?’ you will ask. No, we reply, we were not disappointed. . . . Brethren, those of us who are in the right attitude toward God are not disappointed at any of His arrangements. We did not wish our own will to be done; so when we found out that we were expecting the wrong thing in October, 1914, then we were glad that the Lord did not change His Plan to suit us. We did not wish Him to do so. We merely wish to be able to apprehend His plans and purposes.”

No, the Bible Students were not ‘taken home’ to heaven in October 1914. Nevertheless, the Gentile Times did end in that year. Clearly, the Bible Students had more to learn as to the significance of 1914. Meanwhile, what were they to do? Work! As The Watch Tower of September 1, 1916, put it: “We imagined that the Harvest work of gathering the Church [of anointed ones] would be accomplished before the end of the Gentile Times; but nothing in the Bible so said. . . . Are we regretful that the Harvest work continues? Nay, verily . . . Our present attitude, dear brethren, should be one of great gratitude toward God, increasing appreciation of the beautiful Truth which He has granted us the privilege of seeing and being identified with, and increasing zeal in helping to bring that Truth to the knowledge of others.”

But was there much more to be done in the harvest work? Brother Russell evidently thought so. Indicating this was a conversation he had with Brother Macmillan in the fall of 1916. Calling Macmillan to his study at Brooklyn Bethel, Russell told him: “The work is increasing rapidly, and it will continue to increase, for there is a world-wide work to be done in preaching the ‘gospel of the kingdom’ in all the world.” Russell spent three and a half hours outlining to Macmillan what he saw from the Bible to be the great work yet ahead.

The Bible Students had come through a difficult test. But with the help of The Watch Tower, they were strengthened to triumph over disappointment. The testing season, however, was far from over.

“What Is Going to Happen Now?”

On October 16, 1916, Brother Russell and his secretary Menta Sturgeon departed on a previously arranged lecture tour of western and southwestern parts of the United States. Russell, though, was seriously ill at the time. The tour took them first to Detroit, Michigan, by way of Canada. Then, after stops in Illinois, Kansas, and Texas, the two men arrived in California, where Russell delivered his last talk on Sunday, October 29, in Los Angeles. Two days later, in the early afternoon of Tuesday, October 31, 64-year-old Charles Taze Russell died on a train at Pampa, Texas. Notice of his death appeared in The Watch Tower of November 15, 1916.

What was the effect on the Bethel family when news of Brother Russell’s death was announced? A. H. Macmillan, who served as Russell’s assistant in the office while Russell was away, later recalled the morning he read the telegram to the Bethel family: “A moan went up all over that dining room. Some wept audibly. None ate breakfast that morning. All were greatly upset. At the end of the meal period they met in little groups to talk and whisper, ‘What is going to happen now?’ Little work was done that day. We did not know what to do. It was so unexpected, and yet Russell had tried to prepare us for it. What would we do? The first shock of our loss of C. T. Russell was the worst. For those first few days our future was a blank wall. Throughout his life Russell had been ‘the Society.’ The work centered around his dynamic determination to see God’s will done.”