Why 1914 Won't Be Abandoned... (page 2)

Gregor

As far as I'm concerned they abandoned the 1914 doctrine in 1995. Of course, in spite of the back pedaling and double talk, it is still a touchstone year for the JWs. But here is the bottom line about the orgs. control over the rank and file. I see the following scenario as the ultimate 'truth'.

The rank and file walk into the KH where the WTS is setting at a table.

WTS: Have a seat. We've got something to tell you so listen up. (A .44 cal. Smith and Wesson lays on the table in front of them)

R&F: Yes, master!

WTS:1914 was a big misunderstanding on your part. Also, this whole thing about abstaining from blood, you misinterpreted what we said. Blood is no big. Also, based on whatever country you live in, you can vote, be in the military reserve or dance naked in the street. This is the new light. Do you have any problem with any of this? Well, do 'ya punk?

R&F: (glances at the .44 as they nervously wring their hands) No, master! Whatever you say master. Where else would I go, master?

WTS: Good. Now get out there and preach the good news of the kingdom.

sir82

("even though they were wrong in their calculations, Jehovah revealed...")

LOL. Reminds of the footnote somewhere in the Revelation climax book, containing a quote about the calculation of 606 BCE + 2520 years = 1914 CE - (paraphrasing) "providentially, the Bible Students forgot there was no 0 year. Later, when additional research made it necessary to adjust the date to 607 BCE, the calculation of 1914 still stood."

As if the "additional research" were anything more than pulling 607 BCE out of a hat, in the same manner they pulled 606 BCE out of thin air, with absolutely no corroborating evidence to support it anywhere.

heathen

I don't think 1914 will be abandoned because they can still re tool it very easily . That scripture in Mathew 24 did not promise the "generation" eternal life , the WTBTS did that .They've already retooled some dogma to include an invisible spiritual paradise that could easily fit in with the generation dogma.

yaddayadda

Technically you are absolutely right. But as the years keep rolling by I can very easily see them reducing the amount of doctrine attached to the date. Particularly when the remaining old GB die-hards like Jack Barr finally die off (who evidently is a chief stalwart of the date).

They will ever so slowly focus less and less on 1914, gradually dropping certain other dates linked to it (eg, 1919, 1922), until finally 1914 simply becomes something similar to how the Seventh Day Adventists view 1844: a date when Jesus returned and did an 'investigative judgement', 'spiritually inspecting' Christendom and appointed the Watchtower Society as his sole channel (based on their overall better level of doctrinal purity from Babylonish dogma than broader Christendom). By doing that they can even drop the absurd teaching that the kingdom started ruling in 1914 and shift all of that into the future while retaining their full authority over the organisation. The great majority of JW's would totally buy this. Piece of cake!

So no, they will never drop the date. It will just mutate.

Blueblades

Lets remember that it was a two thirds vote that put 1914 out there. One third didn't vote for that date. Some even suggested 1956 the year sputnik was sent into outer space by the Russians.

Blueblades

jaguarbass

So what I see you saying is, since the organization is full of shxt. We have a clusterfuxk.

Time to find a new religion.

Try Black Velvet.

nvrgnbk

So what I see you saying is, since the organization is full of shxt. We have a clusterfuxk.
Time to find a new religion.
Try Black Velvet.

Ditto my guitar-playin' brother jaguarbass!

under_believer

I guess it depends on what you mean by "abandoned." The teaching has already for all intents and purposes been "abandoned." They hardly talk about it. Nobody knows how it's calculated. Will they explicitly come out and reject the date in their literature? Of course not. That would be admitting to being wrong, utterly wrong, and True Believers don't do that.

You think the Society's claim to authority depends on 1914. Perhaps from an official standpoint, as to what they've actually published as doctrine, that's true. Practically, however, in the trenches, nobody looks to 1914 as having any importance as to the Society's claim to authority.

My mom is a typical example. There are millions more like her. For her, the Society's authority is proven by "their fruits." The "love among themselves." The teachings (no Hell, no Trinity, Paradise Earth, etc.) By a gut feeling she has as to its truth, which is always strongest around Memorial and District Convention time. By their perceived success in the ministry work. By various anecdotes she's absorbed of angelic assistance and the "outworking" of Holy Spirit. By her strong disinclination to doubt, provided by her Watchtower-given definition of Faith.

She wouldn't even care if they publicly rejected 1914 (even though they won't.)

1914 doesn't matter as much as you think.

startingover

Gregor,

You summed up the situation exactly as I see it. It really doesn't matter what they say anymore.

I was watching a docementary on the Heaven's Gate people. When the woman leader, who claimed to be god, died, it caused the other leader, who claimed to be Jesus a big problem. She was not supposed to die. Her death really shook him and after her death he even went as far as to tell his followers that maybe he was just crazy and all this stuff he was teaching was nonsense. And what did they do? They convinced him that he wasn't crazy, that all the stuff he taught them was true.

I can see the same scenario playing out with the JW's

Manjana

Hi everybody

I saw some of you are mentioning 2014 to be the next Year for armagedon. Is it a year that the Watchtower has said anything about or where does it come from?

Why 1914 Won't Be Abandoned...

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