In light of the irony of the title and theme of the "Special Talk" today I thought I would post an excerpt from a featured article of the 1968 Awake! with the same title, IS IT LATER THAN YOU THINK?. The article begins on page 13 and purports to answer the question:
What will the 1970's Bring? - g1968 10/8, p. 13- 14
The fact that fifty-four years of the period called the "last days" have already gone by is highly significant. It means that only a few years, at most, remain before the corrupt system of things dominating the earth is destroyed by God. How can we be so certain of this?
One ways is by noting what Jesus said when he gave his great prophecy about the "last days." After he listed the many events that would mark this period, he also stated, "Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur." -- Matt. 24:34.
Jesus was obviously speaking about those who were old enough to witness with understanding what took place when "the last days" began. Jesus was saying that some of those persons who were alive at the appearance of the 'sign of the last days' would still be alive when God brought this system to its end.
Even if we presume that youngsters 15 years of age would be perceptive enough to realize the import of what happened in 1914, it would still make the youngest of "this generation" nearly 70 years old today. So the great majority of the generation to which Jesus was referring has already passed away in death. The remaining ones are approaching old age. And remember, Jesus said that the end of this wicked world would come before that generation passed away in death. This, of itself, tells us that the years left before the foretold end comes cannot be many. - Emphasis in original
Isn't it amazing! 44 years ago the WTBTS was "so certain" that "only a few years, at most, remain before the corrupt system of things dominating the earth is destroyed by God." The only thing that is "so certain" is that they were so certainly wrong! If the youngest of "this generation" was nearly 70 years old in 1968 they would be nearly 114 years old today! There are only five or six people still alive on earth at this very moment that are that age. (See: List of the verified oldest people) This of course was one of the articles that led to the whole 1975 debacle. It seems that neither the leaders nor the majority of their followers have learned.
"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it" - George Santayana
Unbelievable. --------------------------------- Links to scans of the pages: