What was your reaction when first introduced to the "1914" doctrine?

by highdose 18 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  highdose

  I studied the paradise book, you may remember there was a whole chapter it in about the dream, the tree getting chopped down, time, time and half a time etc. Now i was very young ( but of course spirtualy mature (!) when i studied this but i remember seeing the person explain this doctrine to me and it was like...

  " ok now you see this scripture here? well if you apply it to this totaly unrealated scripture way acrros the bible ( flick flick flick) and then cross reference it to this other unrealted part of the bible ( flick flick flick) then you will see that a "time" is x amount of years, and then if we look at this part of the bible ( flick flick flick) you will see that this botched up explaination must be to do with the dream in the origanal part of the bible that we were in ( flick flick flick) and if you go to this other unrealted scripture ( flick flick flick) you will see therefore that it is obvious that Jesus came in 1914, its all there crystal clear, how could anyone think otherwise!?"

  And i remember thinking " youv'e just put together a bunch of random scriptures to make them say whatever you wanted... i could do the same with winne the pooh!" but of course i decided that this must just be me lacking in spiritual maturity, and i stayed quiet.

  What was your reaction?

  BTW ... just for fun...

  " and winne the pooh did say unto piglet " as soon as kanga comes back from the 100 arce wood with the honey jar then shall we jorney to roo's sandy pit"... now if you cross reference this with another unrealted part of the adventures of winne the pooh you will see here it says " and Eyore did lift up his eyes and catch sight of the honey jar and he proceeded to say "oh no!"" ...now if we take the numerical value of the words "oh no" and apply them to the atomic value of honey we get number XXX... if we go to this other part of winne the pooh you will see it says " and they did venture forth to Christopher Robins house and to bed "goodnight winne the pooh" said Christopher Robin" ... now if we take the letters in "Christopher Robin" and divde them by the privous number xxx... you will see it is very obvious that christ came in 1914! and Jehovahs wittnesses most certainly have the truth!""
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  sizemik

  To be honest? . . . my knowledge of the Bible was zilch when I began studying with JW's all those years ago.

  I was quickly absorbed by the indoctrination process and remember thinking at that point . . . fantastic! . . . the paradise IS just around the corner . . . Oh lucky me! . . . . IDIOT
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  Evidently Apostate

  when i was a full indoctrinated jw the explanation really didnt matter, it was reaching to say the least and i never tried to explain it to a study or at the door i new better. i was sold on the generation that saw 1914 would be alive at armageddon which gave me a timeframe for the end. ultimatley that is what conviced me the witnesses had something special, they had the secret that gave me a spiritual purpose.

  the change in the generation doctrine especially the overlapping generation forced my eyes open and now i feel like a duped fool. they are liars
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  Evidently Apostate

  sizemik, we were just hopefull and they took advantage of us and many others. lots of empty promises
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  Amelia Ashton

  My parents will die imminently and I won't. Yay, God is justice.

  They are now both in their 70s still toxic and very much still alive.
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  factfinder

  I did not know much of the Bible at all. Being Jewish, the Greek scriptures were totally new to me and I was facinated by the witnesses' thorough understanding of how interconnected each Bible book was. All 66 books are parts of 1 book so you could find info from Daniel, Psalms, Ezekiel, Matthew and Revelation and come up with the explanation. At first I did not understand how they arrived at the 1914 teaching, but I believed it, and in time could explain it too! Of course the 1914 generation would only live to be 70 or 80 so yes, the end was close! this was from the" Truth" book. Yes, the witnesses had true understanding of the Bible that the other religions did not. They had God's spirit for only they could see how parts of one book and parts of another could be put together different scriptures from different books perfectly- to match and come up with a clear, easy to understand explanation of how we know the last days began in 1914. And of course there were the physical signs too! Jehovah's Witnesses had the truth!

  But somehow, as time went by, the truth began to become somehow less and less true. Then the truth of the "Truth" book was no longer true. New truths were revealed!

  I feel like an idiot too for falling for it. I can't believe I stayed in it for nearly 30 years.

  Its just as you said Evidently Apostate- we were hopeful and they took advantage of us with empty promises, not one of which ever came true.
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  sizemik

  sizemik, we were just hopefull and they took advantage of us and many others. lots of empty promises

  Yeah . . . to be honest . . . I've stopped kicking myself.

  Thing is . . . It's not that difficult to decieve the avereage person if you appear trustworthy . . . and who better to send than a little old lady?

  I can't believe I stayed in it for nearly 30 years

  . . . . SNAP!
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  highdose

  in our defense i would like to point out that the doctrine of the JW's in the early 80's was alot more plausible than it is now.

  Then there was an end date in sight, we knew once all those elderly ones starting popping off that armargeddon would come and it would be soon. The JW's used to socailise alot more, there wasn't as much control ( although there was still alot) and there was alot of focus on prohecys etc. It made it feel like a proper religon that meant somthing. And we all knew that armargeddon really was just around the corner because well... look how old that generation is now!

  These days of course the religon is quite different, no wonder they have had to abandon one "teaching book" after another. The goal posted got not only moved but taken away as far as when armargeddon is coming. Control is absolute over flock, socailsing hardly happens. And the articles, talks and books are now all " colour by numbers" type. No meaty scriptural disscussions, just the same scriptures used over and over again.

  My distate was first alerted properly by the constant glorifing of the GB, always "1914" this and "we were chosen in 1919" that, some how god ( whatever his name is) got lost and replaced by the men in Brooklyn. Also i noticed at one assembly that when i looked back at my notes , the same scriptures had been used over and over again. Having picked up on this i began noticing it all the time. I thought out of all the scriptures in the bible ( which are all meant to be benifical) they are only using a small pool of them.

  I think the flock has become disilusioned and resentful. They were promised and got let down. They can't leave because it would wreak their lives and the only know that way of life anyway. So they take it out on eachother, back stabbing, in fighting and blabbing to the elders if theres the slightest chance of getting someone in trouble.
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  sizemik

  in our defense i would like to point out that the doctrine of the JW's in the early 80's was alot more plausible than it is now.

  Excellent point Heaven. Yes, I recall at my indoctrination period there was a real optimism among everybody. Lot's of socialising and eager anticipation. The doctrines at that time seemed more cogent and scripturally sound than the mishmash that has emerged since.

  Additionally, the internet had not been established and external information on the Society was not easy to find. Few people outside of the cult new anything about them. I think we forget how dark the "information world" was then and how the internet has impacted on the situation since. It's lit up the darkness a lot.

  The fact remains . . . we've had our eyes opened . . . and we've responded appropriately.
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  factfinder

  Highdose and Sizemilk- you both put things so well. It is true- jws were a much different religion back in the late 70's and in the 80's. note too- not one of the 7 men on the new GB was on the gb back then. Witnesses did socialize and it seemed the end was near. Conventions, assemblies and meetings had enjoyable skits, much more literature was prepared to use in fs-not the few same old books every month as it is now. Anyone else notice how they use the Bible teach book in fs almost every month? There were well made hardcover books.

  The wt was much more interesting back then. I guess all of the good writers have died.

  -the public edition seems like its for grade school kids-or younger! Now jws are nothing more than a (stricter) mind controlled cult. The new books are all for cong use only- information regarding what is being accomplished at bethel and the branches is kept hidden. Even the annual convention preview that appeared for many years on page 32 in the June g has now been discontinued. They used to give convention reviews in both mags, then in only the w , then in only the yb, and now... nowhere.

  It is a different religion. Anything that was good has been taken out of it.