This question crossed my mind last night. I wonder, people in the "dark ages", who were many times under tremendous oppression religiously, politically, monetarily, etc., did they believe they were in the the time of the end? It was mentioned in a post above that people today, especially in the west, live much better lives than in times past. We have more religious freedoms. Technology and scientific advances has made us live longer, arguably more fulfilling lives. Even the poor typically live much better than the average English peasant in the 14th century. Can this really be called the "time of the end"?
How long has it been "the time of the end" ?
by lost_light06 18 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Dune
It used to be taught that it was the time of the end since 1799.
According to current JW doctrine, 1914 is the start of it now.
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Legolas
The"Time of the End""The turning point in our time," "a dividing line in history," an "age of violence"—these are terms used by modern historians to describe the epoch that began with the outbreak of World War I. What startling significance lies in their observation? The answer affects your life.NO DATE in history affects the destiny of every living person so much as the year 1914. That year marked the turning point in the affairs of men. World conditions since 1914 have taken a turn for the worse. War has ravaged the earth, inflation has strangled the world. Countries once prosperous are now plagued with poverty and revolutions. Great empires have collapsed, whole nations and islands hardly known before 1914 have become world problems. Mankind lives in the soul-chilling shadow of atomic annihilation. All this, grimly true as it is, does not explain why world conditions are exactly as they are. It does not explain why 1914 is a turning point. Nor does it explain why 1914 affects your everlasting destiny. What, then, explains the matter? This: in 1914 mankind entered the long-foretold "time of the end."
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greendawn
Life is much better and more secure today than at any time in the past that's why after all the population of the world increased so much in the 20th century. Of course there are always problems but the end of times hysteria is whipped up by opportunists who are after personal gain and we know how much the JWs profited from this, in fact more than any one else. No there is no reason to believe the end is very near today any more than in previous centuries.
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funkyderek
Pretty much every generation since the time of Jesus has expected his return to be imminent. So far, they've all been wrong. The Watchtower Society has been claiming that we're living in the time of the end since the 1870s.
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jaredg
it's been the time of the end ever since the beginning of time
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daystar
I recall reading that in the late 1800s, when automobiles were first introduced, many scientists believed that a man could not withstand speeds of over, I think it was, 15 or 20 miles per hour.
Well, we certainly know that this is not the case.
When a technology is still new, people often tend to be very frightened of it, particularly technology used for warfare, with good reason to be certain. However, I think it is often over-inflated.
At one time, there have been various advances in warfare technology. And with each advance, the new weapon is considered the most devasting, the most horrific. As is with the nuclear weapons today. I am fairly sure that there will be future weapons even more destructive than the nuclear bomb... how about a quantum singularity weapon? That would make the nuclear bomb look like a kid's toy.
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sir82
Wasn't there a big hub-bub in the 990's? Sort of a "Y1k"?
People were in hysterics over the fact that 1000 years had passed (presumably) since the birth of Jesus, and perhpas the fearful signs of Revelation would come to pass.
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daystar
sir82
Back when the Y2K bug hysteria was in full swing, I did some research into end-of-century hysteria. It seems to cycle every century. '00 always seems to be bring with it some "end" scenario or other. Which is funny since, last I heard, neither nature nor gods keep the Gregorian calendar. (Perhaps they use the Julian calendar, or *gasp* the Mayan!)
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GodisRight
Pretty much every generation since the time of Jesus has expected his return to be imminent. So far, they've all been wrong. The Watchtower Society has been claiming that we're living in the time of the end since the 1870s.
Jesus said that the end would come after the good news was preach through out the earth. So it seems strange to me that people living in the middle ages would believe that the end was near when most people outside of Europe never heard of Jesus.