Reading a few of " beep,beep"s posts and speaking with those in my area.. i've noticed that not all believed that the end would come in 1975.. could you say that this was a test of faith?
The hard thing is ... that i don't know what are the real motives of some here..the scripture in Acts 1:6 comes to mind..even those with Jesus didn't have full comprehension at that time..I'm sure many of you have heard this arguement before and i would appreciate your throughts..?
I appreciate the sincerity of your questions. Many who believed the end would come in 1975 have since convinced themselves that they did not believe it would come. But if you ask these same ones the ages of their children, whether they pursued a further education on graduating from high schools, whether they were putting anything back for retirement during those years (1966-1975), and similar questions, you can likely work out whether the expectation was having an impact on their choices.
I mostly wanted to address your seemingly valid question regarding Acts 1:6. It is used by the Christian Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses (CCoJW) to draw exactly the conclusion you are drawing.
In both examples provided by the Reasoning book (Luke 19:11; Acts 1:6) there are 2 details the CCoJW blithely glosses over.
- 1 - Jesus disciples were not depicted as teaching a falsehood, they were asking questions about something they didn't understand. They admitted as much by asking.
I hope you see at once the significance of this distinction. One who sets himself up as teacher over others has an obligation not to speak authoritatively from guesswork and assumption, whether an organization or an individual. You see, the disciples didn't invent this erroneous understanding of the fulfillment of prophecies.
The disciples were taught this explanation by those they trusted as God's sole channel of communication with mankind, the Jewish religious leaders, an oppressive religious system that Jesus rebuked and rejected. Anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ was expelled from that system as an apostate. Similarly today, you would be expelled from the CCoJW for claiming to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. You have an actively ruling King and currently serving High Priest that you are told you cannot speak to directly. You may think I am stretching the truth, but when was the last time you prayed to Jesus?
If you can't talk to him, do you have any reason to claim that you have a personal relationship with him?
- 2 - The holy spirit had not yet been poured out on Jesus' disciples in either example, they did not have the helper that Jesus promised to send that would teach them (individually) all things and lead them into all truth. (1 John 2:18-21, 26-29)
Again, I hope the significance of this difference is clear to you at once. In present day, we have a group of men who claim to be guided into error and falsehoods by holy spirit, who claim that certain times and seasons have been given to them to understand and then later admit that they were simply overly eager in their human expectations. These men are not humble in their questing for knowledge from the holy spirit, if they were they would not speak lies in God's name. Ever.
I invite you to scour the Bible for an occasion where a true servant of God was rewarded for speaking a lie (even in human failing) in God's name, that is, actively proclaiming something as true and even "undeniable," "beyond all reasonable doubt," "positively confirmed by Scripture," that turned out to be false.
Psalm 146:3—Do not put YOUR trust in nobles, Nor in the son of earthling man, to whom no salvation belongs.
You do not know my motives? True. But, I can promise you this, I don't want you to follow in my footsteps and I don't care whether you trust me. I would point you to a different person to imitate and a different place to put your trust. I am a son of earthling man, not to be trusted, just like each and every member of the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses.
You do not know the motives of the Governing Body either, you only know what they claim their motives are. I would be surprised if you could name all the members of the current Governing Body without looking up their names. I am certain that unless you served some time at Bethel you are unfamiliar with the personalities and temperaments of the members. Therefore, if I claim that I have your best interests at heart, by what measure will you credit me as less well intended than those strangers you currently obey who call out in a voice imitating Christ's?
John 10:1-6—“Most truly I say to YOU, He that does not enter into the sheepfold through the door but climbs up some other place, that one is a thief and a plunderer. But he that enters through the door is shepherd of the sheep. The doorkeeper opens to this one, and the sheep listen to his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has got all his own out, he goes before them, and the sheep follow him, because they know his voice. A stranger they will by no means follow but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.” Jesus spoke this comparison to them; but they did not know what the things meant that he was speaking to them.
And, unlike that group of errant men, I don't want you to believe me, I have nothing and I am nothing. I think you can see that my reasoning comes from the Scriptures. If you would like to discuss anything further by Private Messaging, feel free. You and millions of other Jehovah's Witnesses have been being plundered for years by strangers, strangers who insist on exclusive devotion to their doctrine, devotion that, in my opinion, rightly belongs only to Jesus Christ.
This devotion is enforced by threat of expulsion even when the person conscientiously believes that the Scriptures directly conflict with organizational dogma. I can give you some examples of this if you like.
Jehovah's Witnesses frequently ask, "Where will I go away to?" The answer is in the Scriptures. Peter indicated the answer is not a where, but a whom. Then he explained that Jesus had sayings of everlasting life. Not the earthly organization of a previous day, the current day, or any later day, just the Christ. But you have an organization as your mediator, and it teaches that Jesus is not your mediator.
Worldwide Security Under the "Prince of Peace" pp. 10-11 The Desire for Peace and Security Worldwide
16 Just as the ancient nation of Israel was in a covenant relationship with Jehovah God through the mediator Moses, so the nation of spiritual Israel, “the Israel of God,” has a covenant relationship through a mediator. (Galatians 6:16) It is as the apostle Paul wrote to his Christian fellow worker: “There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, a man, Christ Jesus.” (1 Timothy 2:5) Was Moses the mediator between Jehovah God and mankind in general? No, he was the mediator between the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and the nation of their fleshly descendants. Likewise, the Greater Moses, Jesus Christ, is not the Mediator between Jehovah God and all mankind. He is the Mediator between his heavenly Father, Jehovah God, and the nation of spiritual Israel, which is limited to only 144,000 members. This spiritual nation is like a little flock of Jehovah’s sheeplike ones.—Romans 9:6; Revelation 7:4.
Actually, the question they asked about Moses is answered lyingly. Anyone from any nation could choose to become a Jewish proselyte. In fact, Jesus mentioned that among the things that were noteworthy about the Pharisees was that they would "...traverse sea and dry land to make one proselyte..." (Matthew 23:15) To what purpose, if Moses was not their mediator? Surely he was, for anyone of any nation who wished to gain God's favor.
So, if the Greater Moses is in the same position...then, you have been deceived...then, Jesus is your mediator...then, there is an organization that has lied to you about the very nature of the Good News.
A thought, what message did Paul take to the Gentiles—people who did not know Jehovah? Did he come preaching Jehovah to them? (1 Corinthians 2:1-5) Was he one of Jehovah's Witnesses, or was he a Christian? I know this is a lot to chew on, I know it diverges sharply from the view of the Scriptures you have been feeding on, but I also know it is Scriptural. I'll be happy to answer questions.
Respectfully,
AuldSoul