Well gang, as we all know... with the stroke of the pen they can erase years worth of doctrine with the phrase... "we can see that the year "1914" was an effort for those early anointed to understand the sign of the end. Not until present world conditions have shown the more correct understanding contained on these pages could they come to the right conclusion. Jehovah again gives his people meat in due season." One paragraph trumps 100 years of Watchtower writing. W.Once
1914- What's the big deal if it's the wrong date?
by cognac 47 Replies latest jw friends
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R.Crusoe
Which is why they are in reality appointed SALESMEN OF LIES!
Far more in league with one whom they claim exists as the adversary of all life and instigator of all sin!
Their COSMIC EQUATION:
LIES = ALL SIN
If the original lie is tried and tested as causing ALL SIN,
The LIES from them will do the same - cause much sin - and so by their own mouths they condemn themselves!
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minimus
I don't think it's a big deal either. Here's why.
A JW reads in the Watchtower that "dates" are not important, after all. "Serving God for any reason other than love for him is all that's required. If someone was overzealous when it came to dates, remember, we must keep up with Jehovah's Chariot-like Organization. People might zealously want to see the end come and see the new system, and in their zeal, they might have attached undue importance on a date. Still, Jehovah alone knows the day and the hour and that's all that is necessary for his humble servants to know. Keeping busy in the ministry is all that we should emphasize in these very very last days. We must remember Jehovah God uses his Slave to give food at the proper time. Now is the time to live up to the name our God Jehovah has given us! May we never look back but remain steadfast, always keeping in line with Jehovah God's loving Organization!"
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allreadygone
Remember also, 1914 was the start of WW1. The society points to this as fulfillment of Matt. 24.1934 was a year of no real major world events, so it would be very difficult to say Christ returned then with no major event to prove it. Gone
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TD
I started thinking about how much of the JW's prophetic interpretation and speculation would have to change if 1914-1918 were to change. --I lost count, it boggles the mind. The JW's have pontificated on the writngs of every major and minor prophet in the entire Bible and 1914 figures prominently in most of it.
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real one
they are not willing to admit much of the false information they put out. dont want to offend too many others. their members are dropping out like flies as is.
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Terry
Members of the religious group, Jehovah's Witnesses, have a bond of TRUST with the men who run the organization.
The SOURCE of authority for that bond of Trust is explained to be superior to any other and all other religious groups.
What is the basis given for the superiority of the Governing Body's teachings and interpretations of God's will?
Just this: a mysterious understanding.
The claim is :heavenly direction.
All religious groups claim to have an understanding leading to TRUTH.
Variously it has been the following:
Pre-Moses: people did what was right in their own eyes and suffered the consequences for bad choices or reaped the benefits of good ones.
Jews, under Moses, accepted they had been selected among all Earthlings to become "special": a chosen nation for special rewards.
The source was Moses' claims that God, the True and Only real God, had contacted him (unseen by the others).
The LAW was the concrete symbol of a Divine source of "special" relationship and Truth.
IF Jews performed their end of the bargain (obeyed the Law) God protected and advanced them.
IF Jews failed to perform (broke God's perfect Law) God gave them to their just desserts.
Non-Jewish nations pursued philosophies, military conquests and meditations.
Alexander the Great trumped every other methodology by winning battles against all Gods, gurus and philosophies.
Every personal God of conquered nations was struck dumb by Alexander's victories over them.
The GREEK way of thinking, acting, believing and governing practically wiped away competing views of what worked.
The Jews lost interest (practically speaking) in their Law, Hebrew language, world view after Alexander and his generals divided up the empire.
A hardcore group of fanatical intransigents clung desperately to the Old Ways. The majority of Jewish subjects under Greek and Roman rule, became citizens of the World at large rather than a name-brand people of a tribal religion. They lost their ability to speak or read Hebrew.
JEWISH IDENTITY in the crucible of a sacrfice-based religious ritual kept Judaism from the brink of the abyss.
Meaning what? JEWS deeply desired the "promise" of being above all other groups. They wanted Top Dog identity. Only a Messiah leader could achieve that for them.
Post Alexander, Judaism was a patch on the Old Ways. It was splintered into interest groups. Three main splits: hardcore sacrific/priesthood, (Pharisee) political identity zealots(Sicarii), Roman quisling political/religious figureheads(Herodians).
When Jesus came along his groups was a gnat on an Elephant's back as far as Judaism and Roman rule. He seemed a candidate for Messiah as a Military/Religious leader until he was killed.
Jesus, like the three splinters of Judaism, claimed a SOURCE AUTHORITY for his TRUTH. He was a failure as the Great Messianic Hope of zealot Jews.
Opinions abounded about who or what Jesus might have been. These opinions became stories and legends with various claims made.
Paul, the self-styled "Apostle", made a claim for a transformed Judaism in the shadow of Jesus' ministry. Jews were no longer physical Jews; they were "spiritual" styled "Jews". For Paul's theory--Jesus was an invisible leader about to return in divine glory to set matters straight.
Christianity was deeply fractured over the actual personhood of Jesus as a Christ. Was he human? Was he divine? Christianity split into factions, sects, heresies and two main churches: ORTHODOX and CATHOLIC.
The church (Catholic) claimed a source of power from Peter himself as bestowed by Jesus.
The melding of political power (under Constantine) and a hierarchy of priests and popes ruled Christianity through FORCE until Martin Luther.
Martin Luther made an astonishing claim:
1.The visible Catholic Church was so demonstrably corrupt, it could not possibly represent Christ's Kingdom on Earth.
2.Each individual Christian could---with the scriptures alone (Sola Scriptura) be guided by Holy Spirit to TRUTH.
From the 16th century onward, people "guided" by scripture alone came to astonishly varied and contradictory "guided" conclusions about what constituted TRUTH!
The Reformation was a testing of SOURCE ATHORITY in the practical everyday world.
In the 19th century, Puritan theories of self-perfection (by pure standards of behavior) had been disproved.
An End-Times theory took over, fueld by William Miller's predictions of Christ's Second Advent.
When this failed, splinter groups formed to "explain" away the test of their SOURCE AUTHORITY and failures in predictions.
Charles Taze Russell was one among many who gave as his SOURCE the tricky understanding of INVISIBLE RETURN.
When WWI broke out--it temporarily seemed to VALIDATE Russell's theology.
After Russell's death, his successor, Judge Rutherford sought to piggy-back off of Russell's following and authority.
The source of Rutherford's TRUTH, at first, was C.T.Russell's writings!
Eventually, Rutherford repudiated most things and changed them.
HERE IS THE IMPORTANT PART. READ CAREFULLY....
The only proof of C.T.Russell's divine connection to Jehovah was the break out of WWI.
Every other thing Russell predicted was proved wrong in the most absolute sense.
Rutherford sought to prop up the failures by INTERPRETING literal events against a backdrop of scriptural "shadow plays" unveiled with himself and the governing body as players in a grand prophesy fulfilled!
Today, the Watchtower Society's sole SOURCE OF AUTHORITY is the trumped-up explanation for 1914 (maintaining Russell's link) and 1918, (bolstering Rutherford's role).
Without 1914 and 1918--THERE IS NO SOURCE OF AUTHORITY for men in Brooklyn pretending to "know" anything Jehovah says.
Destroy that foudation and you unlink the POWER SOURCE from the old men changing their minds all the time.
The bedrock of Witness claims to divine direction (keep that word uppermost in your mind: DIRECTION) is the 1914 "invisible" return of Jesus followed by Jesus "choosing" his servants in 1918 (Rutherford).
IF Jesus did NOT return in 1914, he did not choose Rutheford or the Watchtower Society.
This means they are just another misguided group of self-deluded liars!
All of Christian and Jewish history has been a tug of war between power brokers who wanted to rule others with claims of superior power sources.
JW's have the most easily demonstrated and refutable claims.
It all begins and ends with the unfeasible claim of invisible Jesus in 1914.
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hamsterbait
1914 is SO a big deal.
Mouthy, the annointed Grannie of us all was villified shunned, and rejected by her own family and friends, because she correctly contended that Christ did not return invisibly in 1914.
If this date is erased from Jdub mythology, will she be reinstated without having to go through all the humiliating rigmarole? will all those who treated her cruelly say "sorry"??
I think they are getting ready to dump 1914, because the Proclaimers book says "Christ did not return to the vicinity of the earth (even invisibly) in 1914." Can somebody with a copy post the page number please?
HB
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hamsterbait
Just as with the UN, I can see them changing it thus:
"Although 1914 was incorrectly viewed to have significance in Bible chronology, it enabled the Faithful Slave to identify our times as the conclusion of the system of things. Hence Jehovah appointed them to preach this good news of the Kingdom before the end."
With the UN they said "although the identification of the "Disgusting Thing" as the British protectorate over Palestine was later shown to be wrong, it enabled them to correctly identify the League of Nations and its Successor the UN as the Disgusting thing" (or words to that effect)"
Actually everything they have printed since the 1990s on this subject has so undermined every reasoning previously printed on the subject, there is NO WAY they can credibly claim that their interpretation of the Scarlet Beast is correct, or even PROVABLE!!
HB
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Gerard
Most likely the story will change claiming "new light", or even better: "We never said THAT. Publishers misunderstood the message and need to study harder."