JW obsession with dates, etc

praiseband

I'm posting this not as a criticism, but as a perspective from a non-JW. Most Christians would be sooooo boggled by the complete obsession with historical dates that JW's can argue back and forth about for ever it seems! I'm not voicing an opinion here about whether there is merit to it or not. OK, maybe a little bit. I think everything in the Bible is important, and if that is the subject you really are called to explore and learn about, that's cool. The more we learn the better. Just an observation that most other Christians would find it "curious". Are there similar things you have observed with other Christian denominations?

VM44

The obsession with dates concerning the End Of The Gentile Times and The Second Coming arises from the influence the ideas of the Millerite Adventists had on Charles Taze Russell.

These Adventist ideas became integral doctrines forming the basis of the Jehovah's Witnesses beliefs. They will never, or at least with great difficulty, be able to dispense with their emphasis on dates without changing their fundamental doctrines.

--VM44

SirNose586

Well said, VM. Get rid of the dates, and you get rid of the immense urgency, which the Org. needs to drive the r&f.

Arthur

Well, to tell you the truth praiseband, I found the obsession with dates to be rather odd even when I was a Witness. It's odd because many JWs seem to put more esteem into knowing many facts, figures, and Bible trivia than they do into becomming a truly spiritual person (kind, compassionate, loving, generous)

I can tell you from personal experience that many JWs (if not most) would be offended if a Witness was spending time volunteering at homeless shelters, orphanages, or organizations like the Red Cross. A person could not have a compassionate bone in their body, but as long as they can spit out all kinds of dates, years of reins, birth years, facts on lineage, and other trivia, they are considered a "spiritual person". I have gotten to know many other religious people of various faiths, and none of them seem to hold this biazarre obsession with dates. I'm sure they're out there, but I haven't seen too many.

IP_SEC

1 Cor 13:1-3