Can the WTBTS change 1914 and survive?

by jefferywhat 30 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  OnTheWayOut

  I would say that they could have gotten away with changing 1914 up until they had that whole
  1975 disaster. After that, perhaps they could have gotten it in slowly, adding it to "why we
  were wrong."

  Since they didn't admit they were wrong then, they have monkeyed with the doctrine too much
  with little "patches" to go back now and scrap the whole basis for their current teachings.
  They kept expanding what the "1914 generation" meant until even the babies from back then
  would be too old, then they changed the "generation" twice since then. They have said that
  all this "evidence" is the sign that they were right about 1914.

  Few JW's understand the complicated reason why 607BCE is important and the "day for a year"
  stuff, but they do know that WT literature swears that 1914 was that pivotal year and that the
  Watchtower Society was chosen as God's only representative on earth, shortly thereafter.

  We live in a time where Christianity is openly questioned by fiction like "The DaVinci Code" and
  facts like the "other" Gospels. The internet is a common tool throughout much of the world.
  It would be bad timing to abandon the core doctrine now. They have to work through this tough
  period and find another way out. Even JW's will spread the news that WTS is losing it's "spiritual
  blessings" if they make such a drastic change now.

  I think they will hold fast to 1914. I did the calculations once for revisiting the 1975 teaching. Their
  1976 excuse was that they didn't know when Eve was created. Well, they know that Adam was 130
  when Seth was born. That gives them a little under 130 years past 1975 for the end to come. In that
  time of 130 years, Eve sinned and had at least 3 children (Cain, Abel, Seth). They can claim that Eve
  was awefully young (created as an adult) and very fertile. She could have been created just under 128
  years after Adam. That places us into the year 2103 for the end to come. Except for a few children,
  every JW now alive will be dead by then. They don't need to abandon any 1914 doctrine until at least
  2103.
• 

  Gopher

  Those who said that the authority of the organization rests on the "faithful and discreet slave teaching" are correct.

  However, the "faithful and discreet slave teaching" rests on the WTS teaching that THEY are the ones appointed to be that faithful slave, and that this appointment came from Jesus on his heavenly throne in the year 1919.

  You have to remember that both 1914 and 1919 are bedrock dates in JW theology, and that 1919 is tied in to the 1914 date.

  So until the writers at the WTS can figure out a way to move the events from 1919 forward (and that would take a lot of creativity), the 1914 date will stay.

  If the 1914 date stays, the organization will just teach that the world has been in its last days since the Kingdom was established in 1914. There is no time pressure any more, they've made the necessary adjustments to their teachings to relieve the time pressure.
• 

  watson

  I don't know if it would survive or not, but I know it would provide for hours and hours of great reading here at JWD!! I would no longer need a TV!
• 

  reneeisorym

  All the WTS has to do is say "world events since 1914 prove we are in the time of the end (world wars, Spanish flu, food shortages, yada yada yada). Providentially, we thought Jerusalem was destroyed in 607 which led to our calculation of 1914. Well, 607 is wrong, but 1914 still stands. Jehovah allowed us to use the wrong method to get the right result. Providentially, of course."

  I don't know that this would work. The Society always gives reasons (crappy ones but to the JW they are enough to keep them from asking questions). I think they could change 1914 and survive. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if that's why they did the generation change -- to prepare people for changing the date to the 1930 something date. They want to believe it so badly that they will accept anything. Besides -- It's "new light". It would then get everyone speculating that the end will come before 2030 when the 1930 people died off.
• 

  babygirl75

  I think it would survive. There will always be JW's that believe in everything the "slave" has to say without giving it any doubts or questioning the reasoning behind it. The brush it off as "new light" and go on with it...
• 

  logic

  The wtc can still keep the following by admitting that Nebuchadnezzar effectively gained control of the nations in 609 bc when the egyptians lost the battle to retake Haran. This way they can keep 539 bc which most people agree with. I think they can juggle the dates around a little, and then the scriptures about serving Babylon and still come out with 1914. This would fit in with mainstream historical facts. It would eliminate the big debate about when Jerusalem was destroyed. They would introduce this to the jws in bits and pieces untill the old stuff was forgotten about. This is just my opinion of course.
• 

  watson

  This is just my opinion of course.

  Very "Logical."
• 

  TD

  They can change any date they want and they'll be fine. Chronological and calendaring discrepancies only matter with people that think and unfortunately, that does not include most JW's.

  Take the time element for example. Some claim that they are now off the hook, but I strongly disagree.

  This is the organization that had thousands of people stand up at a convention in the summer of 1935 and explicitly told them that they were the "Great multitude" of Revelation.

  JW theology holds that those identified as the great crowd have the "prospect" of surviving the great tribulation.

  Since no one has the prospect of surviving an event that they will never live to see, the JW organization is rapidly nearing a point where they will either have to admit that the 1935 announcement was premature or wrong or they will have to modifiy the great crowd doctrine itself. Those that were adults in 1935 are every bit as old as the 1914 generation.

  Neither possibility will be easy for them, which is why they haven't begun to deal with this issue.
• 

  JAVA

  I don't know if it would survive or not, but I know it would provide for hours and hours of great reading here at JWD!! I would no longer need a TV!

  I agree with watson. Simon would need to invest in a much bigger system to keep the forum going! :)

  Yes, the Tower can survive just about any stupid thing they say and do--history has already proven that. Folks following blindly do this by not questioning God's Organization (remember those days). JW's are not to question why, JW's are there to do or die.
• 

  VoidEater

  Look into my eyes, look into my eyes, the eyes, the eyes, not around the eyes, look into my eyes -

  You're under!

  When I snap my fingers you will believe that ee never actually said 1914 or 1919 or any other specific date for anything ever, some brothers may have inadvertantly expressed the thought that 1914 MAY have been the date that Christ returned, but anything else was merely enthustiastic wishful thinking on your OWN part and never stated explicity by the WTS.

  Ok, and...[snap]...you're back in the room!