Thanks for the ZWT quote bennyk, notice how many times Russell uses the "we" pronoun (quite "imperial" sounding).
When did Jehovah's Witnesses begin to consider their religion the one true religion?
by garyneal 31 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Cold Steel
The prophet Amos said, "For surely the Lord will do nothing, except he reveal it to his servants the prophets."
There is nothing in the scriptures that would indicate there is any one religion in our day and age. The book of Revelation states that the gospel will preached to the world as a witness and then the "end" would come. It did not say who the legal administrators of the gospel would be, however. The Witnesses believe (and correct me if I'm wrong) that it's manifested through the process of elmination. The Seventh Day Adventists believe it was through the advocacy of Ellen G. White that God revealed His word. Alexander Campbell believed that there is no established leadership among believers and that each church of Christ is independent, with no one exercising dominion over another. And the Mormons believe in the restoration of angels and visions through Joseph Smith and his successors (revered as apostles and prophets). The Church of God similarly has claimed "revealed" status through Herbert W. Armstrong.
It seems that if a religion is to escape the "manmade" status, it must either have been foretold in scripture or to have been revealed in some way, shape or form. That God would be manifest through a publishing company is a reach, but it's widely accepted by members of the church. Being able to identify the year 1914 is the thing most Witnesses I know pont to as being the sign of their calling. It seems a stretch to me, but while 1914 was a pivotal year, many also regard 1861 to be pivotable as well. As I see it, there's little evidence that Jesus did anything in 1914, and based on previous predictions, "invisible" fulfillments always raise an eyebrow as they're very difficult to disprove. (I can say Jesus was crowned King of the Universe in 1972 and one would be hard pressed to contradict me, because, after all, it was all invisible.)
Some now say 2012 will be pivotable. Only time will tell.
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Cold Steel
Ooops. I said "pivotable" when I should have said "pivotal". I never was a good speeler.
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dgp
Gary, I think you should not discuss your ideas with the elder or anyone but your wife. They will put pressure on her, and you, too. You can handle the pressure, but she will feel like she must obey whatever they say.
I am sure elders have a way to know who is their enemy. I believe you have indeed been "marked" in a way. Don't comment anything with them anymore. Try to look too busy to talk to him. Would this be a lie, er, theocratic warfare? Yes. For the greater good.
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glenster
"When did Jehovah's Witnesses begin to consider their religion the one true
religion?""Well, not exactly from the beginning..."
I don't know about "exactly," but it was from the beginning.
For Russell to claim to not have a set of divisive creeds, yet claim elitism
for himself and damn the lion's share of Christians, seems like double talk at
first. It was meant to maintain the elitist stance, which he'd claim was
"Biblical," and consider whatever mainstream non-Russell ideas as "creeds" that
caused unfortunate division from those that agreed wth him. (Not having "creeds"
may also have been meant to cut himself a little slack regarding changing pyra-
mid calculations and such.)Some highlights of Russell and elitism
Initially, Russell taught that the Harvest of the "elect," an elite group that
included himself and whoever agreed with everything he said (which would be a
little group) was to last until 1881, although that date changed as time went
by. Russell eventually specified that the elect, otherwise called the "little
flock," was the 144,000 of Rev.14:1-5 taken literally to be 144,000 followers.
("Watchtower Reprints," 1881, p.224; 1880, p.172)
That's less than the current population of Boise, Idaho for most of two mil-
lenniums of God drawing people to himself. It makes John 3:16 come out differ-
ently. I guess it depends how you say the word "so"--God "so" loved the world....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BoiseA great crowd who would live on Earth was a group of those who agreed with him
but weren't adhering to that as strictly or weren't as righteous as his 144,000
or such, but excluded the vast majority.He also predicted 144,000 Jews would return to Palestine and coonvert to
Christianity in 1914, which didn't happen. A number that big didn't go there
by 1914, even without the conversion.1880 Regarding Rom.11:15, Russell taught that there would be a restoration of
a literal 144,000 (Rev.7:2-8) Jews to Palestine due by the end of 1914.
"As has been many times shown, the times of the Gentiles last about thirty-
five years from the spring of 1880; and the return of the Jews to Palestine is
rapidly becoming an indisputable fact.
"The apology for presenting this subject, is, that the return of the Jews, and
the time of trouble are becoming apparent facts; and it is believed that the two
facts will be the means, in the next 35 years, of the conversion of the 144,000
Jews, and the great multitude of all nations, who will come up out of or after
the great tribulation, with their robes washed white in the blood of the Lamb--
'Rev. 7'." ("The Watchtower," June, 1880, pp.107,108)
The Rev.7:2-8 144,000 isn't to be confused with the Rev.14:1-5 144,000, which
he meant as his "little flock"--"the elect."1891 "And, with the end of A.D. 1914, what God calls Babylon, and what men
call Christendom, will have passed away, as is already shown from prophecy."
("Thy Kingdom Come," 1891, p.153)1908 Russell wrote that he wasn't claiming his "Studies in the Scriptures"
books were faultless, but "Even our enemies must concede, and many of them do
concede, that the facts as they have developed year by year since we began these
presentations in 1876 have most wonderfully, most remarkably, corroborated our
expectations and continue to do so. For instance, the Jews had not thought of
returning to their own land when, in 1878, we pointed out that the time for fa-
vor to that people had chronologically begun, in fulfillment of Isaiah's pro-
phecy, 'Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith my God. Speak ye comfortably un-
to Jerusalem, and cry unto her that her appointed hour is accomplished, that her
iniquity is pardoned; for she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all
her sins.' (Isa. 40:1,2.) Zionism was not dreamed of at that time, and began to
take practical form seventeen years afterward." ("Views from the Watch Tower,"
Jan.1, 1908, p.5, Reprints 4110) (See 1880.)
http://ctr.reslight.net/?p=40
Russell created some revisionist history to make it seem like he predicted
something in 1878 that was otherwise undreamed of and only went from an idea to
the forming of a practice of it seventeen years later--in 1895. Compare that
with the facts at the next link, such as in the section titled "British Influ-
ence":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZionismFor example: "Benjamin Disraeli wrote in his article entitled 'The Jewish
Question is the Oriental Quest' (1877) that within fifty years a nation of one
million Jews would reside in Palestine under the guidance of the British."1910 "Furthermore, not only do we find that people cannot see the divine plan
in studying the Bible by itself, but we see, also, that if anyone lays the
'Scripture Studies' aside, even after he has used them, after he has become fa-
miliar with them, after he has read them for ten years--if he then lays them
aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood his
Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into
darkness.
"On the other hand, if he had merely read the 'Scripture Studies' with their
references, and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he would be in the
light at the end of the two years, because he would have the light of the Scrip-
tures." ("Zion's Watch Tower," Sept.15, 1910, p.298)Russell may have needed to put a decimal point in his 144,000 of elitism:
1914 "The evidences seem to be that there are still quite a number of vacan-
cies in the elect number, because there are people coming into Present Truth and
consecrating who have come directly from the world. This would seem to indicate
that there are not at present a sufficient number fully consecrated to complete
the 144,000. If there were, these would be given the preference over those not
consecrated." ("Watchtower Reprints," March 1, 1914, p.5411)1914 After WWI broke out on July 28, 1914, Russell wrote:
"Following the style of some writers of today, who tell us of a general Euro-
pean conflagration, St. Peter describes the end of the nominal Church systems of
our day under the figure of a fire. The heavens being on fire shall pass away
with a great noise--great disputation, confusion, etc.; "the earth also and the
works that are therein shall be burned up," writes St. Peter. "The fire of that
Day shall try every man's work of what kind it is," writes St. Paul.--`2 Peter
3:10`; `1 Corinthians 3:13`." ("Watchtower Reprints," Aug.15, 1914, pp.5516,
5517)1914 "Probably not more than one in ten of all the Protestant ministers of
the world would today acknowledge that he still holds fast his faith and confi-
dence in the Bible as God's inspired Message. The other nine-tenths, if cross-
questioned, would privately admit that they had lost their hold, or been shaken
loose, and perhaps would boast of it even in public. Others, through fear of
loss of prestige or salary, would seek to dodge the question and give evasive
answers." ("Watchtower Reprints," Aug.1, 1914, pp.5516,5517)
You have to remember that he meant belief in the Bible on his terms, which
included a created Christ that was to be worshipped and when he invisibly re-
turned. Considering that, he may have cut himself an overly generous slice with
his one in ten. -
yknot
I don't think we switched to being a full-fledged religion again until 1950 when Franz decided it was a question of 'pure religion' away from Rutherford's 'racket and snare' commentary.
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theMadJW
LOLOLOLOLO! Same old coprolite from those with phony faith.
Any other group worship the ONLY true God- Jehovah/Yahweh?
Any other group obeying the command of the King to preach the Good News of the Kingdom to the world?
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yknot
MadJW....
Why does it have to be an organized 'group' versus the 'body of Christ' made up of Christians worldwide?
The WTS admitted this year that they were 'over eager' in pronouncing the 'end'......(umm that is called 'Running Ahead')
Perhaps they were 'over eager' regarding everything else? Maybe we aren't as far along in the dispensational belief as they have long stated and had to revise since 1879?
What is the 'good news of the Kingdom' according to the WTS (note look to the Rutherford presidency for answers)? How does it compare to what the Apostle's taught to the first Xians? When did the WTS formally announce the current teaching, including the year they retrodated the revisions to 1918? Was this information given by holy spirit or angels.... if angels...where was and why wasn't it through holy spirit? How does Gal 1:6-8 be viewed in light of this?
As for the 'only' true God stuff.......there are other Arian groups! Sure they are a minority but the WTS doesn't have a monoply on Arianism.
Get off your high horse MadJW and get educated about your professed religion ...... read, discern and then come back here to 'discuss' your findings.....versus just posting emotional responses based on how you feel or think about the WTS versus the printed facts of it's history.
http://www.archive.org/details/WatchTowerBibleandTractSocietyofPennsylvaniaWatchTowerpubs_0
Chasson has a nice collection of Golden Age and other WTS publications scans too on his site which can be accessed on the below thread.
http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/bible/128918/1/Consolation-on-Demand
Will you still profess the WTS as the sole channel after examining the past or will you too proclaim to discern the truth about the 'troof'?...... I can't think of a single JW who after reviewing the Russell/Rutherford/Knorr periods thoroughly still believes they were appointed or that 1914 was a pivotal date in Bible chronolgy. Oh sure many of us still profess Arianism, abstain from holidays for religious or lack of it being their tradition, many still disbelieve hell and immortality of the soul, many are still premillennialist...... but they are conscious of the WTS overstepping.....and many of them are in congregations worldwide ........
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theMadJW
YK- the so-called "Christians Worldwide" don't even know what the Kingdom IS- much less preach it to the public!
AND they are ALL divided on MANY things; there is NO harmony of understanding that comes from the Holy Spirit (not 'ghost') of God!
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