WW!

by thebiggestlie 19 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  Justahuman24

  It is true that WWI started before the enthronement of Jesus as King in the Heavens and the cast of Satan from Heaven according to the JW's date. BUT it could be argued by any JW's that Satan was always allowed to do whatever he wanted on the earth. He was also allowed to persecute True Christians during the "weed" and "wheat" cohabitation. And although Satan may not have known his being cast down from Heaven was imminent, he's always been doing bad things, turning man against man, causing wars, etc.

  justahuman - but super nonetheless
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  BTW,

  The dubs say satan instigated wwi in june in an effort to draw attention away from the birth of the kingdom that was to occur in october.

  Notice the Daniel's Prophecy Book puts a straw man out there to make Jehovah's organization look so smart:

  ***

  dp chap. 15 p.261 par.9 The Rival Kings Enter the 20th Century***

  9

  What about Jehovah’s people? They had long declared that "the appointed times of the nations" would end in 1914. (Luke 21:24) In that year, God’s Kingdom in the hands of King David’s Heir, Jesus Christ, was established in the heavens. (2 Samuel 7:12-16; Luke 22:28, 29) As far back as March 1880, the WatchTower magazine linked the rule of God’s Kingdom with the ending of "the appointed times of the nations," or "the times of the Gentiles." (KingJamesVersion) But the heart of the Germanic king of the north was ‘against the holy Kingdom covenant.’ Instead of acknowledging Kingdom rule, Kaiser Wilhelm ‘acted effectively’ by promoting his schemes for world domination. In so doing, though, he sowed the seeds for World War I.

  Here's some more junk (pure distraction from the wrong expectations) from the Proclaimer's Book:

  ***

  jv chap. 6 pp.61-63 A Time of Testing (1914-1918)***

  Great

  Expectations

  On June 28, 1914, Archduke Francis Ferdinand of Austria-Hungary was struck down by an assassin’s bullet. That assassination triggered the outbreak of the Great War, as World War I was originally called. The fighting began in August 1914 when Germany swept into Belgium and France. By the autumn of that year, the bloodbath was well under way.

  "The Gentile Times have ended; their kings have had their day"!So exclaimed Brother Russell as he entered the dining room at the Brooklyn headquarters of the Watch Tower Society the morning of Friday, October 2, 1914. Excitement was high. Most of those present had for years been looking forward to 1914. But what would the end of the Gentile Times bring?

  World War I was raging, and at that time it was believed that the war was leading into a time of global anarchy that would result in the end of the existing system of things. There were also other expectations concerning 1914. Alexander H. Macmillan, who had been baptized in September 1900, later recalled: "A few of us seriously thought we were going to heaven during the first week of that October." In fact, recalling the morning that Russell announced the end of the Gentile Times, Macmillan admitted: "We were highly excited and I would not have been surprised if at that moment we had just started up, that becoming the signal to begin ascending heavenward—but of course there was nothing like that."

  Disappointed expectations as to the return of the Lord Jesus had in the 19th century caused many followers of William Miller and various Adventist groups to lose faith. But what about the Bible Students associated with Russell? Had some been attracted by the thought of their own early salvation rather than love for God and a strong desire to do his will?

  ‘Brother

  Russell,WereYouNotDisappointed?’

  Brother Russell had been encouraging the Bible Students to keep on the watch and to be determined to continue in the Lord’s work even if matters did not culminate as soon as they might have expected.

  October 1914 passed, and C. T. Russell and his associates were still on earth. Then October 1915 passed. Was Russell disappointed? In TheWatchTower of February 1, 1916, he wrote: "‘But, Brother Russell, what is your thought as to the time of our change? Were you not disappointed that it did not come when we hoped that it would?’ you will ask. No, we reply, we were not disappointed. . . . Brethren, those of us who are in the right attitude toward God are not disappointed at any of His arrangements. We did not wish our own will to be done; so when we found out that we were expecting the wrong thing in October, 1914, then we were glad that the Lord did not change His Plan to suit us. We did not wish Him to do so. We merely wish to be able to apprehend His plans and purposes."

  No, the Bible Students were not ‘taken home’ to heaven in October 1914. Nevertheless, the Gentile Times did end in that year. Clearly, the Bible Students had more to learn as to the significance of 1914. Meanwhile, what were they to do? Work! As TheWatchTower of September 1, 1916, put it: "We imagined that the Harvest work of gathering the Church [of anointed ones] would be accomplished before the end of the Gentile Times; but nothing in the Bible so said. . . . Are we regretful that the Harvest work continues? Nay, verily . . . Our present attitude, dear brethren, should be one of great gratitude toward God, increasing appreciation of the beautiful Truth which He has granted us the privilege of seeing and being identified with, and increasing zeal in helping to bring that Truth to the knowledge of others."
• 

  Hellrider

  But the heart of the Germanic king of the north was ‘against the holy Kingdom covenant.’ Instead of acknowledging Kingdom rule, Kaiser Wilhelm ‘acted effectively’ by promoting his schemes for world domination. In so doing, though, he sowed the seeds for World War I.

  Such an impressive analysis of the german Kaiser, and his motives... In reality, Kaiser Wilhelm was no more responsible for that war than any of the other heads of state. My history professor summed up the reasons for the war like this: WW1 was the biggest accident (...) in world history...

  So much for the WTS`s knowledge about history.
• 

  zack

  Their fantasies do not even possess an internal logic. The WT writers were deluded. I used to think they were beleivers who were mistaken.

  The more I research, listen, read, the more I am convinced there was either

  a. mental problems

  b. alcoholism

  c. drug use

  in the WT heiarchy when all this early writing was being done.
• 

  Jringe01

  In reality, Kaiser Wilhelm was no more responsible for that war than any of the other heads of state.

  I don't believe this to be true. The Kaiser gave free reign to the Austrians by letting them know that he would back them. If such assurance had not been forthcoming then the war may have been avoided. Tsar Nicholas who was a weak willed man and had no heart for war tried to avoid it. A study of the correspondence between the Kaiser and the Tsar shows Nicholas tried to get the Kaiser to back down which he refused to do. His arrogance and stupidity doomed millions to an unnecessary death!!!

  One more point, don't forget that Revelation does say that there was a war in heaven so Satan's ouster was not automatic. They fought it out for a while.
• 

  Hellrider

  The Kaiser gave free reign to the Austrians by letting them know that he would back them. If such assurance had not been forthcoming then the war may have been avoided.

  In the exact same manner that the russians gave free reign to Serbia, by letting them know that they would back them.

  Tsar Nicholas who was a weak willed man and had no heart for war tried to avoid it. A study of the correspondence between the Kaiser and the Tsar shows Nicholas tried to get the Kaiser to back down which he refused to do.

  The correspondence shows nothing. Both parties are equally "polite" in their telegrams. They both tried to avoid war (in the first two or three telegrams), but were never willing (none of them) to back down from their original stance: The Tsar wanted the Kaiser to put pressure on the Austrians to stop their agression. The Kaiser wanted the Tsar to allow Austria-Hungary to deal with the responsible parties for the assasination on their own, without letting the situation escalate into a greater war. Neither were willing to back down from their stance. When Austria didn`t back down from their confrontation with Serbia (!!!), Russia mobilised.

  Tsar Nicholas who was a weak willed man and had no heart for war tried to avoid it.

  The russians mobilised first, shortly after the Austria-Hungarian declaration of war on Serbia july 28, 1914. In the military and strategic thinking of that time (early mobilisation gave the upper hand), this was the same as a declaration of war. Hence followed the declaration of war by Germany against Russia on August 1, 1914. And there goes the whole ball game...

  Who fired the first shot? The Serbians, the "little brothers" of the russians. We can of course argue whether or not the Serbian assasination was part of a rightful will to independence for Serbia, but this becomes meaningless, as we are discussing the reasons for, and responsibility for WW1. Who mobilised first? Russia. The close bonds and treaties between Serbia and Russia were no different than the bonds between Austria-Hungary and Germany.

  In all fairness: Everyone will understand that the Russians could never retract their support to the Serbians. Just like Germany could never retract their support to the Austrians. The bonds were unbreakable, on both sides. The war could not have been avoided (on either side), at least not without one party "losing face"...and in that era, for a "gentleman", "losing face" was out of the question.

  Like I said: An accident. No modern, unbiased historians are willing to place the responsibility of that war on the Kaiser anymore. The tradition of putting the responsibility on Germany, was a very biased, anti-german tendency, a tradition that has continued thruout the 20th century. Germany lost the war, and therefore, the responsibility was put on them. That caused a lot of problems for Germany, and the germans were (righfully) outraged over the fact that the responsibility was put on them. This, in part, contributed to the rise of National Socialism. And so forth...
• 

  jwfacts

  In my pioneer school it was explained that World War One was Satan’s ‘smoke screen’ to divert attention from Jesus coming Kingdom. This does not make sense as Jesus kingdom is presently invisible. There was nothing happening on earth to that required ‘smoke screening’. Neither does this reasoning have scriptural backing as Revelation says there would be woe for the earth and for the sea after Satan is cast down, not beforehand.
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  Leolaia

  In my pioneer school it was explained that World War One was Satan’s ‘smoke screen’ to divert attention from Jesus coming Kingdom. This does not make sense as Jesus kingdom is presently invisible.

  That's pretty funny because the primary "visible sign" the Society uses to show that Jesus' kingdom was established in 1914 is ..... World War I!
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  Woodsman

  Russell thought 1914 would be the end of the gentile times and would be the date of armageddon. He thought Christ started ruling in 1874.

  The WTS makes statements as though Russell had expectations that are in agreement with the current view that Christ started ruling in 1914. That is not so.

  Russell, by current doctrine, was wrong. Armageddon did not occur in 1914, Jesus did not start ruling in 1874. And 1874 to 1914 was not a time of trouble. The only congruent teachings are that the gentile times ended in 1914. That is only because they say so, not because there is any proof.

  As this post states WWI was already in motion. The period leading up to it was not peaceful and secure. Even the Bible students would write Russell asking how long could things last. Now things are actually better in the world than they were during WWI and WWII.
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  GentlyFeral

  zack said:

  The more I research, listen, read, the more I am convinced there was either

  a. mental problems

  b. alcoholism

  c. drug use

  in the WT heiarchy when all this early writing was being done.

  Hmmm. Both hashish and opium were legal medications in the U.S. up till 1914 (and cannabis as late as 1934). I wonder if Russell or Woodward or any of that crew were dealing with any kind of chronic pain.

  gentlyferal