RESPONSIBLE STATEMENTS or vague drivel? You decide!

Terry

"Out of zeal and enthusiasm for the vindication of Jehovah's name, Word and purposes, and the desire for the new system, some of his servants have at times been premature in their expectations."

Watchtower 1979 July 1 p.29 How Jehovah Guides His People

Who is specifically identified as SOME OF HIS SERVANTS?

Question: Are any of the following words contained in the above sentence?:

Mistake? Error? Speculation? False teaching? Opinion? Guess?

It was published 4 whole years after an embarassing public debacle in 1975.

Compare this to the ironic article that follows:

"Down through the centuries since Jesus day, so many unfulfilled predictions have been made that many no longer take them seriously. … Undeterred by previous failures, some seem to have been spurred on by the approach of the year 2000 and have made further predictions of the end of the world. … The flood of false alarms is unfortunate. They are like the wolf-wolf cries of the shepherd boy people soon dismiss them, and when the true warning comes, it too is ignored." Awake 1993 Mar 22 3-4 Why So Many False Alarms?

Is the Watchtower claiming that others and not themselves made unfulfilled predictions about the year 2000?

What about this?

"Shortly, within our twentieth century, the "battle in the day of Jehovah" will begin against the modern antitype of Jerusalem, Christendom." The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah p. 216

(Hint: when did they think the 20th century would end?)

"He was laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century". Watchtower 1989 January 1 p.12.

peridotgreen

I often wonder how my former friends who are still in are doing and if they're getting weary of hearing the same old shi - er, stuff.

I always thought it was wrong for the WT to contain statements such as the above. If Jesus said, "No one knows the day or the hour", then why the hell is the WTS speculating?

Sad.

designs

The Watchtower should just adopt the Mayan calendar.

arko_n9ne

@peridotgreen
It's crazy because 1 Thessalonians 5:2 specifically states that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night. It will be unexpected.
Even to say "the end is near" would be counter-productive to the Scriptures. How does an, ahem, "spirit-driven Organization" get that simple little fact wrong?

@Terry
They will never apply those words to themselves. Their legal department is HUUUUUUUUUGE. However, to just randomly throw the phrase "some of his servants" out there like it was some random lowly R&F publisher who made the assumptions is bananas. Sorry there aren't more technical terms to describe the situation because "bananas" just suits it best.

Judge Rutherford, back when they were attaching names to the books and articles, created the "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" campaign, which was full of zeal and enthusiasm that the Witnesses of his time would live into and past Armageddon. And he wasn't some rank and file publisher. He was the Society's Authority for years. The man who banned holidays and the pledge of allegiance. The man who created the name "Jehovah's Witness."
Rutherford hand-picked the governing body these douchebags replaced, and they mention him as "some of his servants."

If the Watchtower viewpoint was correct (heaven help us all), Joseph Rutherford was THE servant of Jehovah, and they downplay him and his role in an insulting manner.

I would gladly support this as vague drivel, sir.

ssn587

But remember when you are of the GB you are so full of yourselves that nothing you pretend or specualte on is a fact and by gosh the rank and file just better tow the line and swallow everything we say without doubt. And when new light arrives becasue of the failed/adjusted predictions well they had better swallow that too.