Here is a strange premise. God speaks through you, but, you make errors. When your errors are pointed out it means you have been blessed!
The fact that what you have publicly declared to be God Speaking Through You has been WRONG and needs correcting is viewed as evidence of being blessed.
Examples:
"Changes in viewpoint that took place up to 1939:
- 1921 - Vaccines are banned
- 1927 - "Faithful and Discreet Slave" is identified as a group of Christians and not an individual
- 1927 - Celebration of Christmas and birthdays banned
- 1928 - Great pyramid of Giza has nothing to do with God's purpose
- 1929 - "Superior authorities" of Romans 13:1 identified as Jehovah God and Jesus Christ
- 1930
- All of Russell's dates were changed, the majority to commence in, rather than be completed by 1914
- Moved beginnning of Christ's Second Coming from 1874 to 1914
- Moved Christ's enthronement as King from 1878 to 1914
- Moved the beginning of the resurrection of the "Bride of Christ" from 1878 to 1918
- Moved start of last days from 1799 to 1914
- Moved Armageddon from 1914 to within a generation, with the understanding of generation changing several times
- 1931 - Adoption of the name 'Jehovah's Witnesses'
- 1932 - Application of restoration prophecies to Christian congregation, rather than to the literal Jews
- 1935 - Identity of "great crowd" of Revelation 7
- 1936 - Use of the cross as a religious symbol banned
- 1938 - Communion bread and wine identified as symbols of the body and blood of the 144,000
- 1939 - Complete neutrality in worldly affairs
Significant Changes in Doctrine1944—2000:
- 1944 - Disfellowshipping (although this had already been practised in some form earlier)
- 1945 - Blood transfusion forbidden (clarification of existing stance on blood and specific application to transfusions)
- 1952 - Vaccines allowed. It was clarified that the Witnesses' position on blood does not apply to vaccination (some Witnesses were already accepting vaccinations at least as early as World War II) (Watchtower 15 December1952)
- 1954 - Jesus no longer to be worshiped (though the Watch Tower legal charter still states that the organisation exists to promote the worship of Jehovah and Jesus)
- 1956 - Communion bread and wine identified as symbols of Christ's body and blood (return to pre-1938 position)
- 1962 - "Superior authorities" of Romans 13:1 identified as earthly governments (Watchtower 15 November1962)
- 1967 - Organ transplants classed as "cannibalism" (Watchtower 15 November1967)
- 1973 - Tobacco use viewed as incompatible with membership (it had been strongly discouraged throughout the prior history of the organization) (Watchtower 1 June1973)
- 1980 - Organ transplants acceptable
- 1995 - Meaning of the term "this generation" referred to at Matthew 24:34 restored to a class of people displaying certain characteristics. (Matthew 17:17) (Watchtower 1 November1995)
- 1995 - Time of fulfillment of Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats (Watchtower 1 February1995)
- 2000 - Fractions derived from blood are deemed permissable and left up to conscience of individual Witness
If there is little doubt that Jehovah's Witnesses have changed some of their doctrines over the past century, there is considerable controversy in some quarters over the significance of the changes.Watch Tower literature recognizes that doctrinal changes have taken place though it states:
"Matters on which corrections of viewpoint have been needed have been relatively minor when compared with the vital Bible truths that they have discerned and publicized." (Reasoning from the Scriptures, page 136-137)
Thus, Jehovah's Witnesses' publications, while recognizing that adjustments have been made, emphasize that the core elements of their belief are constant. They maintain that their understanding of the Bible gets clearer at the proper time, just as the understanding of doctrine among Christ's first-century disciples was also clarified gradually.
Witnesses see these changes as evidence of divine blessing on their efforts to understand the Bible."