This may have already been posted somewhere on the forum, but I just found this part of www.blueletterbible.org
Respectfully,
AuldSoul
by AuldSoul 5 Replies latest jw friends
This may have already been posted somewhere on the forum, but I just found this part of www.blueletterbible.org
Respectfully,
AuldSoul
Pretty cool site, AS.........never saw that one...........these were interesting points I appreciated:
Bill pointed to the 1889 publication The Time is at Hand. On page 15, the Society claimed "...That the information, in the above (this) volume, consists of a plan so deep that it cannot be of human origin." After claiming divine authorship, I discovered that this volume (on page 101) also made a prediction:
"...The kingdom of God is already begun,...it is pointed out in prophecy as due to begin the exercise of power in A.D. 1878 and...the 'Battle of the Great Day of God Almightly' (Rev. 16:14) which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of Earth's present rulership, is already commenced." (The underlining is mine.)
The 1915 edition was printed with the same text as the 1889 edition with one major difference: the "A.D. 1914" date was changed to "A.D. 1915." The Book continued to be printed in subsequent years in its complete form, with just the dates changed, first to 1915, then to 1918, and finally to 1925. It was not until after 1925 that the date for the Second Coming of Christ was changed back to 1914—the date I had been given by the Society.
My intelligence was insulted further when I read from a Society publication Thy Kingdom Come, (1901 edition) the method used to discover the various predicted dates. On page 342 I found the following:
"Then measuring down the 'Entrance Passage' (of the Great Pyramid)... we find it to be 3416 inches symbolizing 3416 years from the above date, B.C. 1542. This calculation shows A.D. 1874 as marking the beginning of the period of trouble...Thus the pyramid witnesses that the close of 1874 was the chronological beginning of the time of trouble such as was not since there was a nation—no, nor ever shall be afterward."
The 1907 edition makes the same claim, but changes the inches from 3,416 to 3,457—without any explanation as to how the same distance could have two different measurements—thus moving the date to 1914. Not only did this obvious discrepancy bother me, but I was absolutely amazed that anyone who claimed to follow Jehovah would use an obscure measurement on a pagan monument as a basis for determining biblical chronology!
I began to reflect long and hard on how I had fallen for a false prophet. I was angry and bitter over the way in which my family and I had been manipulated. How could I have been so blind? I allowed the Society to place blindfolds on me. The October 1, 1967, Watchtower describes this process:
"...The Bible is an organizational book, and belongs to the Christian congregations as an organization, not to individuals, regardless of how sincerely they may believe they can interpret the Bible. For this reason the Bible cannot be properly understood without Jehovah's visible organization (the Watchtower Society) in mind."
As with the political dictatorships and religious cults throughout the centuries the freedom of thought, speech, and written word had to be prevented because truth, revealed through such freedoms, destroys the fears and oppression that keep such organizations in existence.
A Friend of mine is apparently a moderator of some message board affiliated with that site. It seems nice, but I don't like reading many things about Jehovah's Witnesses which aren't written by ex-JW's.
Hi Auldsoul. I enjoyed the linking up to that site. Though I went looking into other areas and for reasons other than your directing, I found it incredibly helpful in hammering down some scriptural questions of my own, through the ease and accessibility of the commentaries they have available. Thanks for putting that out, I've been on other similar sites, but this one was incredibly easy to navigate.
No problem, Morris Day I had no idea you were an ex-JW! LOL! Can you still do the Oak Tree?
AuldSoul
No problem, Morris Day I had no idea you were an ex-JW! LOL! Can you still do the Oak Tree?
Still got my hands tied up doin' the Jungle Love
O E O E O