I took the '1914 Generation' prophecy seriously, did you? Do you even remember it?!

nicolaou

I was born in 1964, 50 years after 1914. Even in my teens I was doing the sums. I had a worse case scenario figured out - if the 1914 generation could apply to babies and even if they lived to be a 120, I would still only be about 70 years old after they'd all died!

I figured I was part of the first wave of 'Jehovah's people' that really would live to see the New Order - guaranteed!! No matter how bad things got in this system, I only had to remain alive and faithful and I'd make it to the next.

Look at me now, a rabid apostate destined to die at Armageddon.

What did I know?

Nic'

isaacaustin

I did. I kept counting the age of the generation until they changed up in 05...blaming the followers for counting

civicsi00

I remember this teaching well, and I was born in 1981. But I didn't always pay attention during the meetings, therefore I completely missed this when it changed in 1995.

undercover

I remember the WT magazine in 1984 that was still advertising "the generation that will not pass away". It had an illustration of a group of old people on the cover.

This magazine gave me the same sense of dread that all the "stay alive till 75" hype of the early 70s did when I was youngster in school.

During the 75 fiasco, I had a sense of dread that I might not be good enough to survive. When 75 came and went, I breathed easier. Okay, I've still got time. And I get to graduate school, get my license, get a car, date, maybe even get married - all selfish reasons, but hey - I was a kid.

Then after school and being an adult, the 84 WT comes out. Then that sense of dread was renewed. Had I grown spiritually enough to survive? How can improve my service? Should I put off marriage (I had already decided against kids, but that comments on another thread). So the late 80s and early 90s had a sense of foreboding as each year saw more old timers dying.

The change in the generation teaching in 95 didn't sink in right away. I almost glazed over it, but when I heard a couple of pioneers discussing it, I looked at it harder and realized that Armageddon had just got postponed yet again. And that was one of those "ah-hah!" moments, along with others, that started my push out the KH door.

viva

I don't know that I would say I ever took it seriously, I had a hard time buying into all that prophecy crap. But I guess at one time I did try to believe it. I certainly do remember it, and I remember getting in trouble at the family study for questioning the change.

sir82

Absolutely - it was one of the cornerstone doctrines up until 1995. Most of the post-1975 zeal came from harping on that "promise from the creator". It was featured numerous times on Watchtower and Awake covers.

The JWs experienced pretty decent growth from the early 80s thru the early 90's - primarily from the enthusiasm generated by the prospect that the end would come within a decade or so.

Since that definition of Matthew's "generation" was abandoned in 1995, growth has come to a virtual stop in the western world (apart from countries with large immigrant populations). It's only a matter of time until it stagnates worldwide.

NewYork44M

I remember when I figured out that I was going to graduate in 1975, the same year as Armageddon. I remember the disappointment I had thinking that I would never be able to graduate high school.

After 1975 came and went my last hope was "this generation." I figured it all out before the society changed circa 1995. So by then the change in defining the generation was somewhat anticlimactic.

blondie

I never really accepted from the chronology viewpoint 607 to 1914 = 2520 years. The signs tended to be more what I based my belief on. I knew the WTS had to adjust the chronology by 1995, since 1914 to 1994 = 80 years, the outer limit of a "generation." But it was not enough to make me leave.

OnTheWayOut

The 1914 generation was beat into my brain when I studied as a young adult in the late 80's.
So I knew my time in "this system" was short. My JW mother swore by the teaching and confirmed that the end was imminent.
She still believes the end is imminent because of the 1975 teaching and the 1976 excuse about the creative day not ending until after Eve was created.

The 1995 change was very important to me. I realized I needed to plan on retiring/dying in "this system" and I started to feel free to investigate the WTS a bit better. It still took years and years to get out.

If I had not left fully by 2007, the 2008 change of "generation" again would have been too much for me. It totally proves the 1995 change was a farce to address the fact that the 1914 generation was practically all dead until they came up with something different later.

aligot ripounsous

Although I was far from being convinced by their applying to themselves the modern fulfilment of prophecies, I was ready to give JWs a chance, in case Jehovah would have really been on their side, who could know, mainly because of the signs, like Blondie, and because Jehovah was, somehow, letting His name involved in the matter, so He couldn't let people be deceived by His "representatives" on earth. 1914 was in the wake of this reasoning. Now that I'm almost past the exit, I remain with the unanswered question about Jehovah having lost His way in this venture.

I took the '1914 Generation' prophecy seriously, did you? Do you even remember it?!

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