by Christ Alone 89 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
1975 was nothing but a calculating commercialized fraud to heighten the organization's literature distribution.
Fred Franz knew it was a hyped up bit of mis-information.
Being that people's lives were being threated, the flock ate it up like hot porridge .
And perhaps orchestrated as I mentioned before to withdraw attention from the fact nothing had really happened
by the generation that witnessed the events of 1914.
I think they probably thought at the time that it wasn't unsettled prophetic certainty (the leadership that is), but that what harm could really be done by people preaching more?
Does anyone know what the growth chart looks like from 70-80?
Look I expect anyone here who was alive during then to be able to confirm what happened in 75. But there are many others who were, that simply don't feel the same way for a variety of reasons. My mother for example, is not being dishonsest with me about her perception of that year. She is honest to a fault.
Since I was born after 75 by a few years I can't really say much on the personal experience route.
no way can the WTS get off the hook for 1975. But a really GREAT place for this whole context is YOUTUBE! Lots of videos on 1975 there including audio of some talks given that hyped up what was to occur. You definitely need this to document precisely how the WTS pushed 1975. Just go to Youtube and search "1975 Jehovah's witnesses" and they will start coming up and link to others. I found these really good ones right away:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyirOgyoYsU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVkxmqE0qZk
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oaXbBVVoeEQ
But I'm concerned no one is really attacking the doctrine behind 1975. What gives with the 6000 years of man's existence? Does that still work?
1975 - A weak argument?
Not exactly, upon making a close evaluation of them coming to this proclaiming conclusion since
the said calculation the WTS. created ( via Fred Franz ) to come to October 1975 of mankind's existence
of 6000 years was indeed a grandiose lie for it is imposable by using the bible as a chronological timetable
to make that assertive calculation.
It was an underhanded devious marketing ploy by these men plain and simple, maybe even done so to divert attention from the fact
that nothing had happened concerning the generation who witnessed the events of 1914 . ( remember that one ? )
1975 and the WTS. is an conclusive fact of the corruption of this religious publishing house and one of the main reasons for myself leaving
this organization some 30 years ago.
My mother for example, is not being dishonest with me about her perception of that year. She is honest to a fault.
37 years have passed since then, do you really think her memory is going to be that sharp after all those years ???
It should be noted that that since people who are still mentally attached to the WTS/JWS by the indoctrination of fear
they've gone through are going to white wash over what the WTS. has done in the past, this should be logically accepted.
I was there during that time leading up to 1975 and a few years after and I can verify that yes people were selling their homes,
teens were dropping out of school, marriages were being put off, people that were married put off having chidren....etc.
And some despondent young people who I knew being a JW myself at the time, committed suicide.
The records show that during those years preceding 1975 ( starting from the late 60's ) the WTS. expanded enormously
in publishers and pieces of literature placed, in total. Only to have a dramatic falling off the years that immediately followed 1975.
Hi problemaddict
I would like to comment on something you said about JW's not claiming to be prophets.
You said: " NOTHING the WT has written can be considered false prophecy because JW's believe they are not prophets."
The average JW might not WANT to admit that the WTS claims to be God's end time prophet but their literature says otherwise. In Ray Franz's book "Crisis of Conscience" he makes this point with a quote from the Awake ( it was either 1972 or 73, my memory fails me) . In this quote it clearly and unambiguously states that JW's are indeed God's prophet. No bones about it. There are of course other similar quotes that can be found. I personally believe this was one of their gravest errors and one that will come back to haunt them for as long as they exist. Prophets with failed predictions are false.
FWFranz
We can now correct the WTS' incorrect timeline by dating the 1st of Cyrus to 455 BCE. This means 1975 was about 127 years off based on the Exodus in 1513 BCE vs 1386 BCE.
But there rae still variables. We don't know how old Adam was when Eve was created. We don't know how much time passed after Eve's creation until the official end of the 6th Creative Day. So, very much so is Armageddon still in the jurisdiction of God's judgment and is not predicted in the Bible.
I'd like to revise my original stand on this, after reading through some of these posts. Perhaps it may be better to say that 1975 is a weak argument...to those that didn't experience it.
Perhaps it IS a strong argument if it is related with the above experiences. Those that know the reality of how 1975 was pushed and emphasized. The actual experience of having a family only budget its money so it would run out in 1976. Those that experienced the aftermath. Those that experienced the meetings and assemblies where the date was emphasized. Maybe THEN it is a strong argument.
I suppose my main problem is going through the publications and seeing the statements that were made and acknowledging that at least in the publications the language used was very clever so as to avoid directly stating that the end WOULD happen in 1975.
Ucantnome, those quotes were very compelling and should give a JW pause. But you would have to read through much of the book to understand what the WT was REALLY saying (that the 1,000 year period AFTER the 6,000 years of human history was up would be Christ's thousand year reign).
It really was skilfull what the WTS did. They gave themselves some room, just in case the prophecy about 1975 didn't happen.
But, most JWs will just apply "the light gets brighter" to much of this.
CA, perhaps you should " adjust " you current view futher. Perhaps by saying that " The WTBTS's denial of predicting Armageddon in 1975 appears weak until one has performed a thorough examination using the WTBTS's own literature and the speech of Fred Franz ". Perhaps the fact Lunar years are said to be Bible years in regards to 1975 should move those who love truth to examine the chronological theory leading to 1914? Surely doing so would bring spiritual satisfaction and joy!
1) Why is saying that the WTBTS's denial of predicting Armageddon in 1975 weak?
2) What does the fact that Lunar years are biblical years have on Bible Prophecy?
3) How can we gain much joy and satisfaction?
JK!!! Just wanted to do a mini-WT article to make sure your thinking is adjusted properly! I just listened to the F.Franz talk and it is a buch of CRAP!!!! I almost threw my computer out the window. Total hogwash, emotional appeal, propaganda, crap!!!! Like someone else her so wisely said " being silent would be more discreet". In the abundance of words their is transgression...
" It really was skilfull what the WTS did. They gave themselves some room, just in case the prophecy about 1975 didn't happen."
I read somewhere that the WT knew and planned for the "possibility" of 1975 not going down as hoped as far back as 1968 and maybe further back than that. A con is always going to try to have a way out.
