What other incorrect beliefs are you aware of?

by return visitor 6 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • return visitor
    return visitor

  • return visitor
    return visitor

    Sorry,

    My father-in-law an elder of over 50 years last week when i questioned him thought "this generation" still applied to people alive and aware in 1914. do you know of elders still holding to old teachings?

    RV

  • blondie
    blondie

    Does he believe that it ONLY applies to people born in 1914 and before? He might be skirting around the issue with semantics. The WTS teaches that people living AFTER 1914 are part of the generation Jesus spoke of.

    I will admit that many older JWs do not really understand the change in the doctrine. Some don't even realize there was a change. After more than 40 to 50 years of heairng it, I'm not surprised that these find it hard to make the "adjustment."

    The WTS tried again in 1997 to clarify what they really meant and placed the blame on others, not themselves for the previous understanding of the 1914 generation.

    *** w97 6/1 p. 28 Questions From Readers ***

    With similar sincere intentions, God's servants in modern times (What they mean is the editorial staff of the WTS) have tried to derive from what Jesus said about "generation" some clear time element calculated from 1914. For instance, one line of reasoning has been that a generation can be 70 or 80 years, made up of people old enough to grasp the significance of the first world war and other developments; thus we can calculate more or less how near the end is.

    However well-meaning such thinking was, did it comply with the advice Jesus went on to give? Jesus said: "Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. . . . Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."-Matthew 24:36-42.

    So the recent information in The Watchtower about "this generation" did not change our understanding of what occurred in 1914. But it did give us a clearer grasp of Jesus' use of the term "generation," helping us to see that his usage was no basis for calculating-counting from 1914-how close to the end we are.

  • OnTheWayOut
    OnTheWayOut

    I was the chairman at a public talk around 1999, this visiting elder gives the talk with a
    deep discussion of THIS GENERATION. The problem is, his discussion is "old light"
    about the people alive in 1914. His talk was out of step with the change, wasting about
    20 minutes on that part.

    He walks down from the platform, there are about 7 or 8 deep study publishers wondering
    if I will say anything, the rest are clueless. (Remember, I had doubts, but I was fully cooperative
    with WTS teachings at the time- I promoted them even if I wasn't sure about them)
    As soon as I knew his talk was going in the wrong direction from new light, I go to the library
    and get the 1995 WT. I bring it up to the platform and read word-for-word from it.
    "Thank you Bro. Elder for your time and preparation. Keep in mind that the Nov. 1st, 1995 WT,
    page... says....(read an entire paragraph).

    After I come down from the platform, he approaches me at the rear of the Hall,
    "What was that about?"
    I had to explain it to him.

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos

    Lol.

    Following on Blondie's quotation:

    However well-meaning such thinking was, did it comply with the advice Jesus went on to give? Jesus said: "Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. . . . Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming."-Matthew 24:36-42.

    Simply amazing. Had this "advice" been "complied with" there would have been no calculation resulting in 1914 in the first place...

  • return visitor
    return visitor

    Blondie,

    To answer your question, -"Does he believe that it ONLY applies to people born in 1914 and before? He might be skirting around the issue with semantics."

    No since I Brought to his attention the change in understanding he gets it. He just never thought there was new light, it went right over his head.

    However I have a question about a point you bring up. You said, "So the recent information in The Watchtower about "this generation" did not change our understanding of what occurred in 1914. But it did give us a clearer grasp of Jesus' use of the term "generation," helping us to see that his usage was no basis for calculating-counting from 1914-how close to the end we are."

    I agree that this should not be a basis for counting or calculating, but it seems to represent a time period and not the present understanding of a "wicked generation" that will be alive whenever the end comes. This can be seen by the verses in Matt. and Luke just before talking about the generation. These scriptures relate the generation to a time period ( the time between the fig trees budding and summer). So it seem to me that the generation that sees the begining should see the end, just further proof to me that 1914 is an incorrect date.

    respectfully

    RV

  • Narkissos
    Narkissos

    Hi RV,

    it seems to represent a time period and not the present understanding of a "wicked generation" that will be alive whenever the end comes.

    Agreed.

    And as the context plainly points to Jesus' own "generation" and not to any future "starting point" the embarrassing though unescapable conclusion is "failed prophecy" (cf. also Matthew 10:23).

    Perhaps the only chance of survival for the WT in the long run is reluctantly stepping into Bible criticism, as some segments of Adventists did -- accepting their own room besides others in the ever-growing museum of religious beliefs.

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