I am sure that many of you are aware of my website ...www.607v587.com
This has been really powerful in opening the minds of JWs and making them think. My wife and I have decided to post this letter to all our friends and sit back and wait and see what happens:
Dear Brothers and Sisters
We hope that this letter finds you well.
No doubt you’ll be wondering why we’ve felt compelled to send this letter to all our friends. Well, you may already have heard, as we’ve been hearing, that there are rumours circulating in and around a few congregations, which relate to us and what we’re supposed to be doing. We’re always counselled on avoiding malicious gossip and it is this that has really hurt us. To date, no one has telephoned us to ask if these stories are true. We even spoke to two Elders, but unfortunately, one of these Elders took it upon himself to tell a friend of our concerns, and this we feel has resulted in the malicious gossip.
Therefore, in the hope of setting the matter straight and clearing our name, all we ask is that you please give us the basic right as friends, and allow us to outline the truth about what’s been going on with us.
About 18 months ago, a close family member challenged the validity of 607 BCE as being the correct date for the fall of Jerusalem. We’re confident we don’t need to explain how important this date is to all of us as Jehovah’s witnesses as a number of our teachings are based around this date. We were absolutely sure it wasn’t going to be a problem in proving it right, as we felt confident that such an important date as 607 BCE would be 100% rock solid. Those of you that know us really well, will recognise the fact that we’re very studious and live by what we believe. So, we welcomed the challenge to show this family member that the truth is the truth.
Our first point of call was the XXXXXX Kingdom Hall library. As we went about researching, we were quite surprised to find that all the encyclopaedias in the library said that the date for the fall of Jerusalem was 587 BCE. This finding lead to numerous phone calls, a visit to the British Museum and endless researching in relevant history books on the subject that were recommended by the museum. We became desperate to prove the 607 BCE date as being correct and hoped to somehow find that the 587 BCE date was based on unreliable information. We were amazed to find that Jehovah’s witnesses are the only group in the world that believes the destruction of Jerusalem was in 607 BCE. We researched the Society’s publications in a desperate attempt to find something that would prove 587 BCE wrong and were really pleased to find the appendix to chapter 14 in the back of the “Kingdom Come” book. We wanted to put this matter to rest and went through the points that the appendix raised, one by one. When we’d finished, we had a chat with two of the Dovercourt Elders who advised us to write a letter to the Bethel with our questions as they could not answer them.
We’ve included photocopies of two letters we sent to the Bethel as well as copies of their replies. We invite you to read them and make your own minds up. No doubt you’ll agree that the truth is the truth and will stand up to any scrutiny and we shouldn’t be scared of such scrutiny. You’ll notice that in both letters, we ask the same 7 specific questions which we would’ve liked answers to. Unfortunately, you’ll also notice from the replies to our letters that no attempt was made to answer any of those questions. Should you wish to verify these letters as being authentic, you’re fully welcome to contact the Bethel Bible questions department and ask to speak to reference EF, whom will confirm that they are genuine.
In closing, facts always speak for themselves, so does it look as though we’ve “been taken for a ride” or have we been sincere in trying to “make the truth our own” as well as “make sure of all things”? (1 John 4:1)
We’ll always love you and will always remain
Your friends
Uncle onion and Sister Garlic