i used to view the changing of understandings was jehovah testing our faith -when in fact he was nudging us to seek truth.
The history of 1914
by PYRAMIDSCHEME 25 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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jehovahsheep
thanks jwfacts-this reinforces my belief that russell was not blessed with divine truths -but like many of us choose things we like to believe.he was not "that servant".
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Terry
I think it is practically fruitless to discuss 1914 itself and all those computations and year of the reign of.........
Instead, I think it is far more productive to give a hard look at what 1914 is SUPPOSED TO MEAN.
Ask the question about 1914: What has Jesus been doing since 1914?
Not much.
He is directing the Watchtower Society to print magazines that contain errors.
The goats he separated from the sheep have had to be put back in with the sheep because of policy changes.
Stray sheep have been ostracized and turned into lamb stew.
The war to end all wars (WWI) has been followed by WWII, Korea, Viet Nam, and the Cold one.
(No need to mention the war on terror.)There have been earthquakes, famine, disease and a lot of marrying and eating at fine restaurants.
1925 came and went without any Ancient Worthies moving in to the residence at Beth Sarim.
1975 was supposed to be so dangerous mankind would not survive unless the Tribulation was cut short and Armageddon followed!
The world got so dangerous in 1975 nobody noticed it.
The generation that saw all the signs and wonders has been dropping dead like flies.
The generation had to be redefined and stretched until it became meaningless.
Brothers and Sisters who use to serve Jehovah and reverence Jesus now know it is the Governing Body who calls the shots and Jesus is only "a" god with a tiny "g".
The preaching work has been so successful that not one person in a hundred can give a coherent answer to what Jehovah's Witnesses actually believe.
Hundreds of books printed by the Watchtower Society have begun with the stale Adam and Eve story and thousands of JW's have nodded off at meetings hearing it all for the umpteenth time.
The end has been "near" but, the answer "near to what" needs shaping up a bit.
Jesus use to be clean shaven, but, now has a beard like Christendom said he did.
The Superior Authorities use to be Jesus and Jehovah, but, now they are the earthly governments just like Christendom said they were.
All in all, as CEO of the hottest most wonderful government ever known to mankind (albeit invisible) Jesus hasn't had a hit since WWI and is turning into the biggest disappointment since Milli Vanilli.
Tsk tsk tsk
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wary
I agree ynot and Terry that the 'societies' intepritations and mis information are screwed up.
But it facinates me to think that throughout the ages people have been up to the same.
Even Isaac Newton, a prominent intalectual [i cant even spell it] of his era saw something in these workings and came up with dates in our period of time.
To say look at the wtbs history is not the question, the question is why have people throughout the last centuries come to a similar conclusion.?
wary
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PYRAMIDSCHEME
The last couple of months I have been digging up family history (yea I know, bad) It got me thinking about roots. So I guess what I am trying to figure out is the root of the date itself, When, Where and by whom. I think once I get that down I will move on to meaning and and how "they" arrived at that date. It's a beginning.
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Mad Sweeney
The preaching work has been so successful that not one person in a hundred can give a coherent answer to what Jehovah's Witnesses actually believe.
This is true even at the Kingdom Hall.
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wary
Mary! Farkel! anybody with a a brain please read this thread and give us your take on the subject!!
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OnTheWayOut
Some of what I found:
Here's the real simple version of the complicated doctrine of when Jesus supposedly returned and the last days arrived/ended/started.
William Miller said that Jesus' Return would be in 1844. (See The Great Disappointment at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Disappointment ) People who believed what he said were known as "Millerites." It (Jesus' return) didn't happen. This return of Jesus was also known as his second advent, and believers came to be known as Adventists.
Adventist Jonas Wendell suffered in his faith at the Great Disappointment, but later carried the same type of "Millerites" talk in a sermon where Wendell had picked the new date of 1873 or 1874 for Jesus' 2nd return (after studying Bible chronology and being wrong about 1868). 18 year old C. T. Russell heard Wendell in 1870 speak of such a date. Wendell had already published The Present Truth, or Meat in Due Season highlighting such dates. So Wendell invented those terms that would haunt the WT organization and morph into New Light and food at the proper time.
Wendell died in August of 1873, probably confident that his 1873 to 1874 date was correct. When Jesus didn't appear as expected, Russell still believed it (or at least wanted to keep selling pamplets that explained it). He taught that Jesus must have returned invisibly, meaning that Jesus was ruling from Heaven starting in 1874. He taught that 40 years later, a literal application of how long a "generation" was, in 1914, Jesus would take power on the earth. That would mean an end to the Gentile Times in 1914 and an end to the last days- destruction and death and stuff.
Because World War One (coincidentally) started in 1914, Russell used that as a sign that he was correct in his complicated doctrines. He was already good at reinventing understanding rather than admitting he was wrong.All the rest is just calculated backwards- the stuff about 607 BCE and the 2520 years and the Seven Times.
All of it was just made to fit that understanding. When things didn't work out as planned (again) the people in charge just reinvented the understandings and adjusted the math to fit whatever they wanted it to fit to sell more pamphlets/magazines/books. The end of the last days became the beginning of the last days. 1874 was forgotten. They just kept changing the end-date. They even made terrible errors and just changed the math to fit- they forgot there was no "Year Zero" and changed 606 BCE to 607 BCE.
They kept 1914 because it was so well-known to the followers and they already said "See, we were right" when World War One started. Everything about Nebuchadnezzar and the destruction/building of the temple was just made to fit the math. You can find anything if you work backwards. It's like writing a Sherlock Holmes story. Just work backwards from what a great detective would expect to find and make him look like a genius in discovering those things.
It is so unnecessary to understand the ridiculous theories of WT's present understanding when you can see what it was based on and how it changed to suit their need to get a following and sell pamphlets/magazines/books. It saddens me that I bothered to understand it at one time.Also, this video helps see what WTS said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CAVYYCjiqGQ&feature=player_embedded
I had a thread on that video. (http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/182033/1/1874-Was-the-Parousia-Second-Coming-until-1943-Informational-Video) Others pointed out WTS's inconsistency- they said different things at different times. Regardless, they said it.
I had to learn that the reasons for the varying controversies even within WTS was that they had the expectations that "THE END" would come in 1914 or shortly after. They were trying to hold their group of faithful followers together under Russell and then under Rutherford. It was necessary to say the end was imminent back then just as they are finding it is necessary to say the same today. -
startingover
I agree with Terry, what HAS Jesus been doing since 1914?
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BluesBrother
I give up , I tried to post a WT quote showing their fallacious reasoning but the format gremlin just scrambled it up illegibly ..sorry folks !