If the WT dumped 1914 tommorow ...?

by faithfulslavedriver 70 Replies latest watchtower bible

• 

  redvip2000

  The great majority of JWs already don't know how the date of 1914 is reached or see any importance in it, aside for the fact that it is the start of the last days.

  IMO opinion, at this point it's mostly a matter of pride. Think about it.... if the GB decided to say that the correct date is 587 BC after all, they could just say that the last days started in 1934, and that the generation of 1934 has not died yet, so they could bring some validity to the generation belief.

  The flip side of the issue is that they would have to relinquish the 1918 date. They could say that this happened in 1938, but this doesn't match with any JW leaders going to jail. Another issue is that in 1934 nothing important happened, and WW1 is probably too important to let it go to waste.

  I also think that there would be another layer of JWs - some of the brighter ones, who would finally realize that the Org is full of sh*t. But if i was the GB i would take those losses and change it anyway, because i think in the long run it would be the more beneficial.

  Also, let's not kid ourselves. The issue has come up dozens of times already in GB sessions, i'm absolutely sure that it has even gone to voting, but just didn't pass. They probably have a list of pros and cons of changing this, and decided that it would be wiser to keep things as they are.
• 

  faithfulslavedriver

  The easy way would be to just stop writing about it in the literature - like they did about the nonsense of the 7,000 year long creative days.

  Agreed. Now why don't they implement it?

  The problem is not one of doctrine. It's one of authority.

  That is the root of the problem. How else do you set yourself as the go to for salvation?

  I think that the org is already letting go of 1914 gradually. They greatly deemphasized it when they changed the generation understanding. How is that date even relevant anymore? The generations allow this time of the end to go on ----- forever? They can't just drop it, but doing so gradually will ensure that individuals old enough to remember how important the date was will become outnumbered by younger ones who always believed in overlapping generations.

  How do you think that is true with the new 607 articles or the article "Trust in Jehovah The God of 'Times and Seasons'" in the May "study edition" (see par 7-9, pages 17, 18). I used to think that the younger generation realized they inherited a mess and over times they would try to jettison some of Russel's/Rutherford's/Franz's/etc.'s wackier ideas, but I don't think so anymore.
• 

  dinah

  Looks like someone got a peek at the "man behind the curtain"

  Their authority is just what they commanded. Once it doesn't come to pass they should sell their real estate and make off like bandits.
• 

  baltar447

  I'm not so sure. Seventh Day Adventists STILL hold to their equally stupid dates.
• 

  NewChapter

  How do you think that is true with the new 607 articles or the article "Trust in Jehovah The God of 'Times and Seasons'" in the May "study edition" (see par 7-9, pages 17, 18).

  I think it's true because they have taken away the importance of 1914 for the everyday JW. When I was first in, that date was so important, because a generation would not pass etc. Now they have changed the meaning of generation so much, that while they will still teach 1914, it just won't matter as much to the younger ones. The younger and newer ones have already been indoctrinated not to look at 1914 as a measure for where we are in relation to the end.

  They can't just drop it--and they haven't. But they are gradually deemphasizing it's relevance. Just 20 years ago it had much more every day meaning for a JW. Now it's just some vague prophecy that marked some change that really doesn't affect ME.

  NC
• 

  dinah

  I was born in so the numbers 1914 strike terror in my heart.

  Or it did.
• 

  00DAD

  What code would JWs use for their KH alarms then?

  Seriously, their very AUTHORITY comes from the assertion that they were chosen by Jesus in 1918/19. If they get rid of 1914, then that goes "bye-bye" too and then it's "Game Over" for any claims of being "God's Visible Organization on Earth."

  All that being said, any more it's as LWT said, it's not about doctrine, it's their assertion of authority and the willingness of their "faithful" to swallow the most ridiculous crap with mouths open wide. I don't think most current JWs even know that the supposed authority comes from the 1918/19 choosing anyways.
• 

  mP

  personally, i believe the best response is another correction of wolrd history. the fact is the catholic church established when jesus was born. dionysius could be said to have added hundreds of years. after fixing the true count of the years that have passed since jesus birth 1914 is no longer wrong. i know its crazy but there are scientists who have written that jesus was born eight hundred years ago. look up fomenko, new chronology.

  hey they did it for 607! they can fix history once more. after all the judge renamed all those pagan months in the thirties, why not a new year count? the muslims, japanese, hebrews etc all have differentbyear counts.
• 

  thetrueone

  The biggest problem the WTS. faces is that the organization has held onto 1914 for so long, they've got their feet stuck in a pool

  of proverbial quick sand. But lets face it, when men have within their hands full of an enormous amount of power and wealth they

  are more than likely to try to hold onto it at any extraneous costs.

  You might expect they will drop this doctrine and place it on the old light shelf as time passes beyond 2014.

  How many generations have to pass starting from 1914 before it becomes an obvious pretentious hoax ? (bullshit lie)

  The WTS. has been quite proficient in situating that carrot in front of people's noses for a long time now.

  The soon and close propaganda has been utilized for decades to keep people faithfully devoted to the organization.

  My personal opinion is that they will drop 1914 all together eventually and just ride on the signs of the End Times and we are the chosen

  organization preaching the good news.

  The light just keeps on getting brighter through the pouring out of god's

  anointed spirit upon his earthy arrangement as we get closer to the end .....
• 

  Sulla

  Well, the could change it the way they change any other doctrine and have no particular effect on the typical follower. The problem, I think, is one of self-justificaiton.

  As AllTimeJeff can testify, the prophetic interpretations involving 1914 and its derivatives all focus on the WT organization. The central claims of the JW ecclesiology, one that is very well known among the hardest core, all involve these derived interpretations.

  I think that these interpretations are necessary for the guys who run the organization to justify themselves to themselves. That's why it can't go away. It doesn't have anything to do with what they think the people will accept.