Or, you could get a copy of the Reasoning from the Scriptures book now and compare it with one from before the change. I happen to have both versions somewhere. Our elders had the gall to ask the publishers to trade in their old books for new ones so that we wouldn't get all mixed up out in field service if we had to consult the book. If I find them, I'll post the changed info and the copyright dates of both.
1914, Generation doctrine belief change!
by Gill 42 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
-
-
erandir
Ok, I don't have an older copy of the Reasoning book that still mentions the generation 1914 thing. However, I still have two books that used to be used as 1st and 2nd study books for new recruits. The 1st one is the Live Forever book, or "You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth," copyrighted 1982, 1989.
On page 154 paragraph 7 it says:
"Also, the Bible said that all these things would happen upon the generation that was alive in 1914."
Then paragraph 8, same page:
"After drawing attention to the many things that have marked the period from 1914 onward, Jesus said: 'This generation will by no means pass away until all these things [including the end of this system] occur.' (Matthew 24:34, 14) <sic> Which generation did Jesus mean? He meant the generation of people who were living in 1914. Those persons yet remaining of that generation are now very old. However, some of them will still be alive to see the end of this wicked system. So of this we can be certain: Shortly now there will be a sudden end to all wickedness and wicked people at Armageddon."
My comment from re-reading this b.s. is how in the world can healthy-thinking people suck this all in and then later go right along with the WT when they said this is now "old light." This isn't old light, it's plainly and simply darkness. It's like saying white is black and then coming around later and saying white is now green. Grrrr. Why did I accept that "new light" crap for so long?
Anyway, the 2nd book is the Worship book, or fully "United in Worship of the Only True God," copyrighted 1983.
In paragraph 1, page 176, after mentioning 1914 and establishing this date as the beginning of Christ's invisible presence, the text goes on.
From paragraph 2, pages 176-7:
"The Scriptures clearly show that the 'generation' that saw the beginning of Christ's presence would also see the 'great day of Jehovah' in which he executes judgment against all who practice unrighteousness. (Matt. 24:34; Zeph. 1:14-2:3) That 'generation' is now well along in years. But the Bible does not pinpoint the exact date when Jesus Christ will come as Jehovah's executioner against Satan's earthly system of things."
I don't have a working copy of the CD-Rom yet, so I had to dig through my old library. It's better to have a hard copy anyway because the Society can't come and change the wording like they can, if they want to, with each new edition of the CD-Rom.
-
greendawn
The point the FDS never addresses is what about all the sacrifices made by the JWs on the basis of the 1914 generation as a literal one, and all the dashed expectations. They will probably say: never mind those sacrifices were after all for a good cause.
-
Blueblades
Lives were wasted, money was given, we will never get back both lives and money. We will and have lost our lives, they keep our money.
Blueblades
-
erandir
The excuse I was given when the people who studied with me and my wife when we first came into the "truth" was kind of interesting...especially from my viewpoint now. They mentioned the generation teaching change and how some had left because of that change. They said those people were just serving Jehovah for a date or with a date in mind which is wrong, according to them. They then talked about the 1975 thing and how it was a similar situation, that there were witnesses only serving Jehovah for a date, and after the date passed, they left.
How ironic. What about the idiots writing the publications that came up with setting the dates for the end of the world? No one ever mentioned how wrong they were and any scripture about false prophets being exposed by their false prophecies and how we should not pay follow them. No...just this "new light" b.s.
-
JCanon
Hi Gil, you are right about a few things here!
Although it's been over 10 years since this change, I really wonder how many witnesses understand it. There is no question that if you open your bible to Mat. 24: 34 Jesus clearly shows that the generation he was there speaking to would not all pass away before the destruction of Jerusalem. Even if we accept that this has a future fullfillment as well, the same meaning of generation must apply. I beleve that this was a real turning point for the borg and since that time they are having to change many other things, including the doing away of 1935 as a time when the 144000 had all been gathered.
Note, I totally agree with you that Jesus wouldn't have mentioned a "generation" in relation to these signs if it was open-ended and he wasn't trying to limit this period. A generation in the Bible is 70-80 years, the lifetime of an individual (Ps. 90:10). That means the "end" would have to occur before 1994.
But there are two things to consider:
(1) Did the prophecy actually become fulfilled as the Bible says?
(2) Were the witnesses really looking for the right thing?
But first please note that Matthew and Mark are not referring to the destruction of literal Jerusalem, but Luke is. Matthew and Mark are talking about the "great tribulation" of the Holocaust, and since the Jews were in exile, the anti-typical Jerusalem reference here is to Warsaw, Poland, the largest concentration of Jews in the Diaspora. But that's another long post.
As far as #1 and #2 goes, the "end of the system of things" that is referred to that occurs after the "great tribulation" is not Armageddon. The second coming doesn't even happen until that tribulation occurs. That tribulation is one of the signs leading up to the second coming. Matt. 24:19 says, "Immediately AFTER the tribulation of those days....then the sign of the son of man will appear." So the witnesses are WAY off on this. Furthermore, this particular "great tribulation" could not be Armageddon. After all, at Armageddon how is a woman with small children having an advantage to those without?
Bottom line is, the "end of the system of things" in reference in Matthew is the end of the Jewish system of things then in place which was rule under the gentiles. The system of things of the "appointed times of the nations." The end of that system of things would come on the heels of the end of the great tribulation, which was the Holocaust. Thus the "end of the system of things" which is the "end of the gentile times" ended in 1947 after the Holocaust. The second coming would follow this but occur sometime before 1994, 80 years after 1914.
So the witnesses think the generation wasn't fulfilled because they are looking for too many of the wrong things. In the meantime, just as the Bible, the "good news would be preached worldwide and then the END will come" was also fulfilled by 1947, since the new cult that started way back with it's first publication of SIS in 1886 with a handful of people had now grown into an international organization, which is testified by then-president NH Knorr going on a worldwide speaking tour for all the witnesses around the world in 1947. So that was fulfilled also.
One of the chronologies connected with the absolute date of the second coming, of course, is not 1914 since that is based on the erroneous date of 607BCE. But we can date the second coming by another prophecy, the 1335 days prophecy, which indicates that the second coming would occur 45 years after the end of the 1290 days, which ends the gentile times. Thus 45 years after 1947, technically. If we do the match we get between November 30, 1992 and November 29, 1993, which is still prior to 1998. So the actual chronology of the Bible, when understood correctly works out perfectly for all the signs and the second coming occurring before the end of a generation that stars with a world war (i.e. nation vs nation and kingdom vs kingdom) in 1914.
The generation false teaching is just more evidenc JWs no longer have Jehovah's holy spirit of understanding.
JCanon
-
the dreamer dreaming
1914
-
Brain Dead
It's very apparent they were exploiting and manipulating the good book for their purposes, call it coercion with intent to gain power and also to commercialize their products
the unfortunate thing is that it worked. Perhaps you might want to investigate the commercial aspect of this religion since it was started mainly by businessmen, structured marketing can be
found in the most unusual places
-
AlphaOmega
I wasn't aware that the Reasoning Book has been ammended... here is a passage from it from the latest Watchtower CD...
*** rs p. 97 par. 2 Dates ***
As shown under the heading "Last Days," those events have been clearly in evidence since 1914. Before the last members of the generation that was alive in 1914 will have passed off the scene, all the things foretold will occur, including the "great tribulation" in which the present wicked world will end.—Matt. 24:21, 22, 34.
I would love to see the new one.
Thanks
-
AlphaOmega
*** w84 5/15 p. 5 1914—The Generation That Will Not Pass Away ***
Jesus used the word "generation" many times in different settings and with various meanings. But what did he mean when he spoke of a ‘generation that would not pass away’? Some have interpreted "generation" to mean a period of 30, 40, 70 or even 120 years. However, a generation is really related to people and events, rather than to a fixed number of years.
The Greek word rendered "generation" in the Bible has been defined as, "Those born at the same time . . . Associated with this is the meaning: the body of one’s contemporaries, an age." (TheNewInternationalDictionaryofNewTestamentTheology) "The sum total of those born at the same time, expanded to include all those living at a given time generation,contemporaries." (AGreek-EnglishLexiconoftheNewTestament from Walter Bauer’s Fifth Edition, 1958) These definitions embrace both those born around the time of a historic event and all those alive at that time.
If Jesus used "generation" in that sense and we apply it to 1914, then the babies of that generation are now 70 years old or older. And others alive in 1914 are in their 80’s or 90’s, a few even having reached a hundred. There are still many millions of that generation alive. Some of them "will by no means pass away until all things occur."—Luke 21:32.