The growth from within - more focus on youth coming soon

by passwordprotected 24 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  yknot

  We are approaching the end of an era.

  The WTS is making changes to interpretation and procedure.

  I don't know how long they have projected, but I think the clampdown is for:

  1. Ted's personality

  2. the older ones (and their estates) to be kept in play.

  3. a nice cover to make changes with few questions, focusing on behavior and obedience

  In order to survive and attempt save some face, the WTS will make shifts similar to the Mormons.

  So the good news is we know where to look for comparison, the bad news is that it will more then likely extend the life of the WT.

  If somebody with half of brain and head not high up into anothers rear exists up at HQ, they will combine mainstreaming and mormon structure.

  The WT magazine is the flagship of the WTS, but a new name, a new publication, and some new POV is needed to distance themselves from the older embarassing publications and prophecies.

  The biggest question that remains is will they do enough in time for it to be truly effective.
• 

  passwordprotected

  Re. the new publication;
  I think they already have it - the public edition of the WT.
  
  Example: the latest issue has the cover story re. the Bible foretelling the future. Here the use the classic bait and switch
  - the second article discusses at length the Bible prophesying the arrival of the Messiah and how he, in turn, fulfilled many prophecies
  - the third article turns to the 'last days' and features all of the signs from Matthew 24. What's interesting is that 1914 is mentioned only once, but not in reference to the last days, the start of the last days, the end of the Gentile times, or Christ taking heavenly power. Instead it's mentioned in direct relation to WWI
  
  They also quote Paul's 'last days' "prophecy" and talk about how his words, along with Jesus', have all come true.
  
  The last article is all about the paradise earth promises (all from the OT).
  
  Let's get this straight;
  This is the 2nd cover article this year dealing with the 'last days'. It very cleverly juxtaposes the prophecies re. the arrival of the Messiah - all of which are in concrete in scripture - with their own interpretation of Matt 24. Yet they do this with no reference to their dusty, creaky, limping chronology.
  
  On the one hand the Dubs are still peddling the same old message. But now they're doing it without the pink elephant of the 1914 doctrine.
  
  Expect more of the same.
• 

  yknot

  Well they gotta quit mentioning those stupid dates!

  The more they reference them the harder it will be to distance in the future, and that is a given.

  Maybe the referencing of dates and older publications are the work of the elusive creature known as the high ranking undercover apostate.

  It is making many interested in the older publicaitons...... which of course is damning.

  Thank you for bring the public edition to our attention, since I am only attending the bookstudy, and not FS I stopped reading them.
• 

  sir82

  One major problem with this scenario:

  The whole focus of the WTS message is to promote Armageddon soon...soon...very soon now...did I mention it is coming very very soon?

  If they do anything that would indicate that they think Armageddon is not imminent, that would be an earth-shattering fundamental shift in their core policy.

  Encouraging large families, having separate youth groups, encouraging (church-sanctioned) higher education, etc. works well for the Mormons...because they are not built on the idea of Armageddon coming next year.

  If the WTS starts encouraging kids to plan for the future, or doing anything that encourages them to aspire to be anything other than a door-to-door magazine salesman or Bethel factory worker, they send the message that Armageddon is not coming "soon".

  Look at the malaise that has affected the western world's congregations since the first "generation change" in 1995 - and that was merely a tacit implication that Armageddon would be delayed. They were still able to spin it that "Armageddon was closer than ever".

  If they start overtly demonstrating that they think "this old system" is going to be around for another 20, 30, 60 years...guess what? People will fly out the doors never to return.

  These guys are addicted to power - and anything that lessens their grip on the flock is anathema to them.

  I don't see it happening - they've got too much invested (130 years of history) as an end-times apocalyptic sect. Such a core, fundamental shift in focus is beyond them.
• 

  LovesDubs

  As for the Mormons...my brother has been a Mormon, at least on paper, since 1991 or so because that is the religion his new wife "wanted" for them and their future family. (She was pregnant when they got married so that was not an auspicious beginning but....) the mormons are really good at involving each age group with their own level of religious training and activities. I mean most churches DO have youth activities and summer bible school and sunday school which only make SENSE. Jesus did not gather the little children to himself and start discussing the wheel within the wheel type deep involved theology. Isnt religion for the purpose of bringing people closer to God? Helping them to feel His presence? Understand what unconditional love it? How to treat their fellow man? The JWs missed the mark on ALL those counts.

  However...back to my brothers religion...when his wife was dying of cancer last year, as she lay on her death bed, we were at his home and a huge group of Mormon kids, teens, came over ....like 20 of em...and loving dug a hole and planted this beautiful purple flowering tree that they had chosen because they knew she loved purple and loved gardening. It was a tribute to her. And I took many pictures of their doing this for him to see in the years to come because he couldnt bear to be out there with them while they were doing it. They were happy, well adjusted kids who all knew each other and were behaving on a kid's level expressing their love. I was blown away.

  That would SO never happen in JW land.

  LD
• 

  passwordprotected

  I agree on their power hunger, and I agree on their wish to hold on to the panic-inducing Armageddon syndrome.
  
  However, the foundations are in place for them to ease off on the 'it's right around the corner' teachings.
  
  One of the key indicators to how 'close we are to the end' is the number of the remnant still on earth. They've been undermining that teaching for a while by stating that - contrary to what the book of Revelation says - some of the anointed will still be on earth AFTER the great trib. and beyond.
  
  Factor in last year's 'bombshell' that the number of anointed was not, in fact, sealed in 1935 (duh; Rev 7:3 shows that it's right up until the great trib. before the number of anointed are sealed. Rutherford was an ass..).
  
  This means that anyone can claim to be of the anointed, even a little 9 year old girl. She thus become part of the generation of Matthew 24:34.
  
  Most Dubs haven't put the 2 together yet because they haven't seen both examples of 'new light' on the same page. But that day will come and the penny will drop that Armageddon is actually as far away as it's ever been and that, woah, maybe we actually won't know the day or hour after all!
  
  It's my contention that the WTS are in it for the long haul. Yes, they make noises of 'it's closer than ever before', but their doctrinal changes play a different tune. Now we have shorter meetings, of which there are less of them. We have reduced hours for pioneers (oxymoron?). We have a tightening of the purse strings internationally (less magazines, fewer high-maintenance Bethelites). We have a distancing from the 1914 doctrine (hardly ever mentioned).
  
  The WTS are settling themselves in for the wait, slowly unfolding the notion that, sorry folks, Armageddon could be as far away as ever, and look, we've adjusted our meetings and our doctrine to face that fact.
• 

  NewYork44M

  They've already shown in the past few weeks that they're looking to boost the appearance of the annual report by allowing both husbands and wives to put 4 hours on the report slip for the 'family study'.

  When did this happen? This is signifficant.
• 

  blondie

  I always wondered why both parents couldn't count time on a family study. If I had a study and took someone with me, they could count the time too, just not the rv and the study.

  Blondie
• 

  sir82

  The WTS are settling themselves in for the wait, slowly unfolding the notion that, sorry folks, Armageddon could be as far away as ever, and look, we've adjusted our meetings and our doctrine to face that fact.

  You make a reasonable argument.

  I guess we'll just have to see how it unfolds as time goes on. I'm pretty sure we haven't seen the last of the major changes!
• 

  passwordprotected

  @NewYork Sept 2008 KM Question Box.