“Pastor” Russell (Charles Taze Russell, 1852-1916), the founder of what eventually became the Watchtower Society, believed that Jesus returned invisibly and spiritually in 1874. This was to be the beginning of a 40-year harvest period which would end in 1914 with God’s complete overthrow of the nations of the world.
In his 1889 book, The Time is at Hand (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. II, 1908 edition), pp. 98-99), Russell wrote:
True, it is expecting great things to claim, as we do, that within the coming twenty-six years all present governments will be overthrown and dissolved; but we are living in a special and peculiar time, the `Day of Jehovah,’ in which matters culminate quickly; and it is written, `A short work will the Lord make upon the earth.’… In view of the strong Bible evidence concerning the Times of the Gentiles, we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world, and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God, will be accomplished at the end of A.D. 1914 (emphasis added).
He was convinced that measurements (in inches) of the main passageway of the Great Pyramid of Gizeh confirmed these end-times prophecies. In his 1881 book, Thy Kingdom Come (Studies in the Scriptures, Vol. III (1903 edition), pp. 313-314), he called the pyramid, “God’s stone witness.” Continue reading
On April 11, 2017 after sundown (Nisan 14 on the Jewish calendar), the Watchtower will hold its annual Memorial service commemorating the death of Jesus Christ, also known as “The Lord’s Evening Meal.”
Nothing is as stressful as trying to do something that simply cannot be done, especially when you think that your eternal life depends on it. This is the situation in which the Watchtower places Jehovah’s Witnesses. 
The Watchtower’s emphasis on proving worthy keeps Jehovah’s Witnesses on a never-ending treadmill of works, continually uncertain of where they stand with Jehovah and fearful that they will be judged to have fallen short. 
It is ironic and tragic that Jehovah’s Witnesses come to our doors to tell us about God’s wonderful promise concerning how we can live forever in paradise on earth, yet they have no assurance at all that they themselves will be there. 
