Durante cerca de trinta anos, os Estudantes da Bíblia em geral entendiam que o próprio Russell era o “servo fiel e prudente” de Mateus 24:45. A organização registra que a ideia foi expressa publicamente pela esposa de Russell e que “o irmão Russell não rejeitou esse conceito”, embora ele evitasse aplicar o texto a si mesmo.

Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (1993), “Chapter 10: Growing in Accurate Knowledge of the Truth”

1993 · p.143 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Over a decade later, however, Brother Russell's wife publicly expressed the idea that Russell himself was the faithful and wise servant. The view that she voiced concerning the identity of the ‘faithful servant’ came to be generally held by the Bible Students for some 30 years. Brother Russell did not reject their view, but he personally avoided making such an application of the text.”

The chapter contrasts the 1881 Watch Tower statement that the ‘faithful and wise servant’ was the whole body of Christ with the later identification of Russell himself, and notes that the collective understanding was reaffirmed in 1927. It also quotes Russell in 1906: “The truths I present, as God's mouthpiece, were not revealed in visions or dreams …”

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