1914 is going down.....done away with.......

oompa

Leaving WT: If 1914 goes, they cease to be a religion, IMO. But, that's another thread.

since leaving WT said this on another thread........i gave him his "another thread".....is so wish i had walked away in 1995 because right away i knew we had just thrown 1914 out the window......since now there was no timelink to the date........no more the end will come during the lifetime of those alive in 1914

i am afraid i disagree with Leaving WT on the thought the religion would fail if they totally dump 1914, only because of their history..... they had staked everything on Jesus coming invisibly in 1874 and taught that for about 50 years......then kicked 1874 out the window.....and they stuck around after that. Does anybody know how/why they changed this teaching from Jesus coming in 1874 and then decided it was 1914?.....................thanks....................oompa

leavingwt

By their own admission, they preach a "different Gospel" that is directly tied to 1914.

There is only one reason that they've clung to 1914 -- WWI.

It's not even anchored on 607, because 606 was the original date they paraded about. Only when Freddy discovered that there was no "zero year" did he change 606 to 607, preserving the END date of 1914, rather than changing to 1915 -- the intellectually honest thing to do, if they really believe in their calculations.

They were simply throwing out dates, left and right, and FINALLY something big happend -- the first World War.

Alpaca

Oomps, there was a thread about this very subject a couple of months back.

In fact, if I remember correctly, I think the BORG was still referencing 1874, as the date of Christ's return, as late as 1925.

Somebody on here will know...maybe Blondie or Leolaia.

drew sagan

Dropping 1874 when they did is very differant than changing 1914 at this point in time. The organization has a differant (and much larger) membership base. They also used to have a much more liberal (in regard to changing doctrine!) leadership.

As it currently stands 1914 is at the centerpoint of their 'narrative', the story they tell about themselves and how they fit into gods plan. If they were to construct a new narrative (something I think is quite possiblie but kind of worthless at this point) they could probably slowly give out pieces of that new story while doing away with the old. From the standpoint of raw utility I see no purpose for the Watchtower to change their story at this point. They do not focus on those teachings very much any more and are able to distract the members with many other things.

Rutherford wrote a series of articles in the late 20's and 30's that did away with lots of Russells teachings, including 1874. It was a small organization at the time, but he still lost many members over those changes. How many exactly it is hard to say. I believe his "birth of a nation" article is one that sets out some of his newer theology from that time (as a side note, I believe that article is supposed to have fullfilled bible prophecy according to present truth).

OUTLAW

"i am afraid i disagree with Leaving WT on the thought the religion would fail if they totally dump 1914,".....I`d have to agree with you Oompa..The WBT$ can change anything they want..JW`s will either have to agree,or face the consequenses..The Cult will carry on.....................................Oompa check your PM`s.....................................................

Laughing Mutley ...OUTLAW

darth frosty

Problem is you will always have those who will swallow whatever the society presents.

How many of us on here even when they changed the 'generation' belief still hung on?

Also since then they have been getting further and further away from any true dates as points of reference and just stick to pointing to world events.

oompa

leaving wt: They were simply throwing out dates, left and right, and FINALLY something big happend -- the first World War.

True....but what cracks me up is the fact that if they had been predicting a big war in 1914....well i might be a jw.......but wtf???.........they were not predicting a war at all!!!........they now make out how they were predicting something big to happen......bullshit, they were very specific about what was supposed to happen in 1914 and not a single damm thing happened that they predicted....

also, i would think that nothing very big even happened in 1914!.......it did not become a world war for a couple of years i believe.....does anybody know the scope of the war during 1914 alone.......and when did it start being referred to as a world war?

Homerovah the Almighty

One thing they have to be careful of is what they drop out to be replaced by the supposed new light,

since 1914 is not being pushed in their doctrinal teaching as it once was, there is a possibility of them putting it

on the burner completely in the future. The doctrine itself was always a weak one based off weak reasoning but nevertheless

it was one of their biggest and best marketing doctrines to support their literature.

I wonder if they are heeding the warnings of the new information age on structuring the organization at present..

oompa

wasnt there a thread that contained a list of how many times the WT printed 1914 in the WT and was grouped by decades? The material showed a huge drop off of 1914 usage in the 1990s. anybody got that?

OnTheWayOut

also, i would think that nothing very big even happened in 1914!.......it did not become a world war for a couple of years

The war escalated awefully quick throughout Europe in just July and August of 1914. In 1914, the
same European forces had battles in Africa and in Asia. It was big in 1914, kept escalating in 1915.

The United States didn't enter it until 1917, but it was generally thought of as a huge war to the
U.S. long before their entry.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_War_I

The U.S. entry and drafting of millions probably fed the WT hysteria after C.T.Russell's death. I don't
know that, just guessing.

1914 is going down.....done away with.......

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