Is there a possibility that the Watchtower will be split into two opposing camps at sometime in the foreseeable future? Judging from the past, do we envisage such a scenario happening before our eyes?
Scott77
Breaking the Watchtower into Two Opossing Camps, Possible?
by Scott77 29 Replies latest watchtower scandals
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Ding
What two camps?
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blondie
I think a group broke off around 1908, 1917, after 1925 and before and up to 1932 (the elected elder ended)
A number of schisms developed within the congregations of Bible Students associated with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania between 1909 and 1932. [2] [3] The most significant split began in 1917 following the election of Joseph Franklin Rutherford as president of the Watch Tower Society two months after Russell's death. The schism began with Rutherford's controversial replacement of four of the Society's board of directors and publication of the The Finished Mystery.
Thousands of members left throughout the 1920s prompted in part by Rutherford's failed predictions for the year 1925, increasing disillusionment with his on-going doctrinal and organizational changes, and his campaign for centralized control of the movement. [2] William Schnell, author and former Jehovah's Witness, claims that three-quarters of the original Bible Students who had been associating with the Watch Tower Society in 1921 had left by 1931. [4] [5] [6] In 1930 Rutherford stated that "the total number of those who have withdrawn from the Society ... is comparatively large." [7]
Between 1918 and 1929, several factions formed their own independent fellowships, including the Standfast Movement, the Pastoral Bible Institute , the Laymen's Home Missionary Movement founded by P.S.L. Johnson , and the Dawn Bible Students Association . These groups range from conservative, claiming to be Russell's true followers, to more liberal, claiming that Russell's role is not as important as once believed. [8] Rutherford's faction of the movement retained control of the Watch Tower Society [8] and adopted the name Jehovah's witnesses in July 1931. The cumulative worldwide membership of the various Bible Students groups independent of the Watch Tower Society is estimated at less than 75,000. [9] [10]
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thetrueone
I don't think it will become another big separation like when the IBSA broke away from Rutherford , which at the time was approximately 30%
of the organization but there are possibilities of big doctrinal changes on the horizon, with perhaps a name change
to either the AWAKE or Watchtower magazines. As time presses further past 1914 (2014+) the organization will once again be motivated
to change their doctrines, to create a semblance of viability to their self proclaimed identy of being guided by god.
1914 has become a proverbial dragging anchor for the organization which eventually they will be forced to take an axe and give it a chop.
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Black Sheep
It has already split.
The faithful on one side, ex-members on the other, and millions caught in middle by the WT's shunning rules.
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00DAD
There have indeed already been several sects splinter off of JWs:
Keep in mind that they weren't known as JWs until 1931 so any sects that developed as offshoots before (see Blondie's post above) are technically NOT splinter groups of JWs.
From one point of view, Rutherford can be considered an apostate of Russell's teachings and that he started his "own" religion when he basically conducted what in modern parlance would be called a hostile takeover of the WTBTS.
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erbie
Yes, perhaps that's it. Maybe weare the other camp. Lets face it, most splinter groups fizzle out and die but I can't imagine a day when this site is empty.
And it's better than starting your own cult.
At least we can maintain our own integrity and not let someone else manage it.
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Scott77
Well, Iam not only meaning breaking into two groups or more alone, but also one breakaway group or groups claiming a stake on all those assets of the Watchtower. Think of one group claiming rightful ownership of all those valueble estates while the other contesting the same. And both of them going all the way to the courts for settlements.
Scott77
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stuckinamovement
Scott77 you have a pm.
Siam
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moggy lover
I think that the way we are addressing the issue is somewhat out of sync with what Scott 77 is thinking about.
We have been discussing groups that broke away from the WTS, leaving the original system working intact and legally in control of the existing framework that makes up the WTS mechanism. This has happened before and doubtless will happen again. But what is intriguing to contemplate, as Scott 77 does, is whether the actual WTS system collapses into itself! What then will happen to the legal instrumentality that once constituted this unified belief system?
With no actual control body existing, or with what is existing fractured into equally hostile groups, and with each group insisting that the others have seceded, but with no one group in control of everything, it would involve much unseemly and unchristian squabbling, with the different groups fighting over what was once a united form of patronage. Suppose one group, calling itself the "True Watchtower Bible and Tract Society" made a grab for the printing facilities worldwide, while another, calling itself the "Redeemed WBTS" grabbed the real estate, and yet another grasped the finances, but failed to take that which is still held by the US Stock Exchange, and so on, it would leave a right royal stew.
This is not so fanciful an idea to believe, since it has happened before. When HW Armstrong, inventor and Superintent of the World Wide Church of God died, His doctrinal and financial empire was split, like a mutated atomic explosion, and its operating structure was divided into various groups each claiming to be the true inheritor of the HWA legacy.
Actually, for those who receive Randy Watters [Dogpatch] monthly E-Newsletter, he did discuss something like this some months ago. It was speculated that the groups would initially be split more along personal lines than theological. The doctrinal differences would emerge over time as this division evolved. Finding it impossible to get along with each other, the various members of the secretive leadership, mutually agree to divide the lucrative pie among themselves, each then going their separate ways.
And starting all over again.
Whether so drastic a possibility occurs is something we will have to wait and see.
Sic transit gloria.