by InterestedOne 57 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I think their "overlapping" doctrine will keep them from seriously looking at changing 1914 for a long, long time, if ever. They are already golden for another 30 years or so with just one overlap.
Then they can just say that some of the FDS will always be here on earth, appointed by Jesus. They can drop 144k and make it work for at least another century.
That said, does anyone high enough in the Bethel hierarchy have the intellectual chops and audacity to both craft a new and improved doctrine as well as push it through the channels needed to get it approved?
Doubtful. There's a very, very fine line between formulating new doctrine and apostasy from existing doctrine. A person must not only have the intellectual ability and assertiveness, they must have the freedom to use it. In other words, they need to be immune from the charge of apostasy when it comes to the more interpretive elements of their theology.
That freedom pretty much disappeared once they established a precedent that anyone at any level can be charged with apostasy over teachings that really shouldn't be set in stone. --Like 1914
Biblically, the 70 years prophecy in Jeremiah refers to the time of Judah and the surrounding nations servitude to Babylon which started to happen around 605BCE or so (607 BCE is close enough). If the 70 year prophecy was reinterpreted this way, they could keep their 1914 date by dating the "Gentile Times" at the beginning of servitude to Bablyon, unshackle the beginning of the prophecy from the destruction of Jerusalme, and accept the fall of Jerusalem as 587BCE. But I don't think they'll ever do that because Don Cameron has already published that 70 year interpretation, and thus would be another obvious not-inspired-by-holy-spirit new light... then again most JWs don't read "apostate ideas", so maybe they could get away with it.
Zechariah 7: 1-5 proves 607 wrong and 587 right.
When I was studying I was told that from as early as the late 1890's etc Bible Students were walking around with plackard boards on stating 'Repent The End is Nigh' & that 1914 was a marked year. I was also made to believe that they had correctly prophesied this date & as evidence World War I broke out. This alone made the JW's look like Gods Chosen People. I was even told that the Catholic Church had also apparently acknowledged 1914 as the end of the Gentile Times (and a newspaper announcement had published this), but Catholics had chose to brushed it off as nothing. All this made the JW's look awesome because of their ability to Prophesy Accurately..
Unfortunately for the WBTS many JW's came in during the 90's and were also taught the same as me. Now if suddenly 1914 was dropped & brushed under the carpet it would have a huge impact on its worshippers, because many only joined the JW's because they thought they had seen spectacular evidence of their ability to fortell the future. So like me others also adopted the belief that they must be Gods Visible Organisation based on the evidence that they had been given - Remove the belief, removes the so called evidence making the WBTS clearly False Prophets !
Just a thought .... Why dont JW's walk around with Placard Boards now ? Too cool to do that now ?
..........I suddenly thought. Who cares, they're NOT CHOSEN BY GOD in the first instance.
MAY THE 'OVERLAPPING' CONTINUE!
How happyfying!
It has been suggested that the Watchtower's "overlapping" doctrine is a great catch-all suitable for all situations. Such is not the case.
The "overlapping" doctrine was developed specifically to address the question why the Watchtower's previous predictions about "the generation" that would see the end (Armageddon) have been repeatedly disappointed. Now that the last members of the original 1914 generation are preparing for their final dirt nap with no Armageddon on the horizon, the Watchtowr needs wiggle-room.
The original "generation" of jesus' parable provided SOME wiggle-room, but not nearly enough, as it turns out.
Dubs expected Armageddon to occur within the bible-based definition of a "genration" (about 70 years). When 70 years proved insufficient they had to come up with an excuse that was not an obvious excuse, and that's when the doctine of the "overlapping generations" was developed by the book publishers who serve the GREAT UNIVERSAL TIME-KEEPER.
How wonderfully ironic is THAT?
But the Watchtower has not indicated that the "overlap" doctrine enables some kind of STAR-TREK chronological all-purpose time-slip. At least NOT YET. If the Bible says a prophecy wil be fulfilled in X number of days-for-years, it means X and only X, not X ± Y.
So don't y'all go running ahead of the Great Time Keeper's Magical Organization. Let them dig their own grave one mouthful at a time.
IO, hopefully your friend will continue to increase in wisdom and accurate knowledge of the truth and not permit herself to be pushed into premature baptism. THAT would be a tragic mistake. If she can't explain all the deeper things of WT chronology, she ought not take the plunge into wetness.
Hopefully also you are now LESS "INTERESTED" in WT doctrine than you were earlier. It is a sticky spider's web festooned with fishooks.
Try to understand- it's not JUST the error of expecting 1914 to start the alleged " time of the end " which makes the WT society NOT chosen by God - it's the faulty blood transfusion doctrine, faulty child abuse policies, hundreds of OTHER wrong practices and injustices which keep the WT society from being " chosen " by God. If there IS a God to do any choosing. It's not JUST 1914 that is the problem with Jehovah's Witnesses my friend. Broaden out your scope
