Most R&F will try desperately to supress any thoughts that the number seems to be relatively stable for ages, no doubt new light will flash up for a whole new generation of members (what I mean by generation is anyone's guess...right GB???)
Arnie
When the anointed die
by lime05 14 Replies latest jw friends
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NeonMadman
I think the whole premise is wrong - the number of anointed is not really declining in any appreciable way. When I became a JW in 1969, there were about 10,000 anointed (actually, 10,619 partakers in 1968 per the 1969 Yearbook). 35 years later in 2003, there were 8565 partakers. That's not much of a decline when you consider that (a) 35 years is almost half of an average lifetime, and (b) the ranks of the anointed were supposedly closed in 1935. In 1969, we were told that the vast majority of the anointed were of advanced age and would not be on the earth many more years. This fact was offered to support both the 1975 date and the "generation of 1914" teaching.
The problem, of course, is not that the anointed of 1969 have outlived all expectations. The problem is that new anointed keep appearing. About half of the Governing Body is now comprised of "young" anointed, men in their 50's and 60's who hadn't even been born yet in 1935 when the opportunity to become anointed supposedly dried up. The excuse has been that some of the older anointed became unfaithful and had to be replaced. One wonders what kind of trouble all those 90 year olds are getting into that's getting so many of them kicked out of the Kingdom.
A person who was old enough to be baptized in 1935 (since anointing does not occur until after baptism, according to WT doctrine) would now be at least 80 years old. And we must presume that the majority of anointed in 1935 were not precocious 10-year-olds who got baptized at such an early age, but represented a fair spectrum of old and young. If that were true, then by now, the remaning anointed should rival the Shakers as a mere handful soon to pass from the earth. Instead, we see thousands of anointed, perhaps the majority of them relatively young and vigorous.
The bottom line for all the above is this: It doesn't look to me like the anointed are going anywhere any time soon. "Replacements" can continue to appear for many years to come, probably well beyond the lifetimes of most of us. There is no pressure on the WTS to change their teachings in this area, except the fact that their structure of significant dates is fading into the distant past. But that encompasses their whole chronology, not just the 1935/anointed dating (which did not result from Bible chronology at all, but was simply declared as a significant date because the Judge gave an important talk that year). If anything is to change, I'd look for an overhauling of their major chronology (probably including 1914), but obviously they have to be very careful how they proceed in that area, since their entire claim to authority rests upon their chronology.
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Jeffro
Don't forget... they can have a never ending supply of post-1935 "replacements". Sheesh
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MidwichCuckoo
Don't forget... they can have a never ending supply of post-1935 "replacements". Sheesh
So true Jeffro, and anything they make up is swallowed and regurgitated by the R&F..
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heathen
blondie --- I thought you posted on a different thread a publication in 96 where the society thus says the GC can be filled with holy spirit ? So now in 2004 we are back to the old stand of, you don't get any holy spirit if you are the GC ? These people are clearly out of their friggen minds and don't give alot of thought into anything they put in print .
I am sticking with my belief that the 144k are martyrs and are all dead at the time of the conclusion and are first fruits of the kingdom through the first resurrection which is exclusively for them . The great crowd are the only ones described as surviving the GT in revelation 7 .