Carl Sagan quote about WTBTS saying " They announced that the world had in fact ended in 1914,"

by notjustyet 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  notjustyet

  i wanted to find out where Carl Sagan got this info from.

  I know they, the WTBTS thought that the end would be in 1914, then 1915 but do not remember reading where they made the statement that IT DID end.

  Any help out there?

  Thanks, NJY

  Here is his Quote:

  One prominent American religion confidently predicted that the world would end in 1914. Well, 1914 has come and gone, and - whole the events of that year were certainly of some importance - the world did not, at least so far as I can see, seem to have ended. There are at least three responses that an organized religion can make in the face of such a failed and fundamental prophecy. They could have said, Oh, did we say '1914'? So sorry, we meant '2014'. A slight error in calculation. Hope you weren't inconvinenced in any way. But they did not. They could have said, Well, the world would have ended, except we prayed very hard and interceded with God so He spared the Earth. But they did not. Instead, the did something much more ingenious. They announced that the world had in fact ended in 1914, and if the rest of us hadn't noticed, that was our lookout. It is astonishing in the fact of such transparent evasions that this religion has any adherents at all. But religions are tough. Either they make no contentions which are subject to disproof or they quickly redesign doctrine after disproof. The fact that religions can be so shamelessly dishonest, so contemptuous of the intelligence of their adherents, and still flourish does not speak very well for the tough- mindedness of the believers. But it does indicate, if a demonstration was needed, that near the core of the religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry. [Carl Sagan, Broca's Brain]
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  pixel

  Interesting. Didn't know about that. Would like to see that quote also.
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  Witness My Fury

  Armageddon was predicted for 1914 for many many years prior as at that time Christs Presence had been since 1874 (later all tidied up to the by then failed 1914 date).

  All early literiture will convey this teaching. Studies in the Scriptures is a good place to start.
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  cobaltcupcake

  That's very interesting. Didn't the Society quote Sagan frequently in the literature?
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  bennyk

  Surely the words of the Master are now in course of fulfillment: "This gospel ["The World Has Ended: Millions Now Living Will Never Die"] shall be preached in all the world for a witness, and then shall the end come". The Master’s inspiring words thrill the heart of the Christian and spur him on with greater zeal to give the witness now. We urge the dear brethren everywhere, everyone who is qualified, according to the Lord’s arrangement, for speaking to the public, to use for all public addresses the subject: "Millions Now Living Will Never Die". It is the message that we want to get to the people. It is the message of the hour. It is the message that must go to all Christendom as a witness before the final end of the present order.

  (WT 15. Oct. 1920, p.310 bracketed material in original)
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  Finkelstein

  But it does indicate, if a demonstration was needed, that near the core of the religious experience is something remarkably resistant to rational inquiry.

  Thats the point he was trying to make.

  Yes C T Russell did once preach that 1914 would be the year of the Great day of Judgment, 1874 was the year Christ returned .

  Actually something the WTS. recently lied about in one of their recent articles.

  The long standing doctrines of this publishing house were devised BS but they were relatively successful in attracting attention toward the WTS.

  published goods.
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  bennyk

  Therefore it seems that now is the time for the church to proclaim far and wide in Christendom this good news. Hence it is the purpose of the Society to ask every public speaker, all the Pilgrim brethren, all the elders of classes, all who can give a public discourse in every part of Christendom, to prepare a discourse upon the subject: “The World Has Ended~Millions Now Living Will Never Die,” and to herald this message as a witness to Christendom; and it would seem if the church fails to do this, the very stones will cry out.

  (WT 01. July 1920, p.200)

  Jesus furthermore said: "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come". (Matthew 24:14) In the year 1919 many of the Bible Students in different parts of the earth, emerging from army camps and prison dungeons, rejoicing in their privileges, again assembled together and with united action went forth to proclaim the message of the presence of the Lord; and particularly the message, "The World Has Ended—Millions Now Living Will Never Die," clearly in fulfillment of the words of the Master in the text last above quoted. Numbers of public lectures delivered upon this subject throughout Christendom have gladdened the hearts of hundreds of thousands of people, comforting those that mourn. In 1920 this message was put into printed form in the booklet entitled "Millions Now Living Will Never Die", and in the lands where the greatest persecution prevailed against the people of the Lord, greatest has been the witness. (The Harp of God, paragraph 438)
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  Finkelstein

  The WTS. sure poured on the propaganda BS back then.

  I guess this shouldn't be unexpected since this religion's particular doctrines were centralized around the proliferation of the organization's

  published works. ... as it still continues on to this day.

  All of this probably never would have gotten off if there's wasn't a strongly constructed prevalence of objective fear.
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  jgnat

  From the bible student's website:

  " The Times of the Gentiles has been the subject of 19th century dispensational focus as well as part of the 20th century Bible Student fabric of chronology and signs of the times studies. Oneline of reasoning is based on the seven times of Leviticus 26. This is projected to be 2,520 years from the final overthrow of Jerusalem and extends to the expiring of the Gentile lease of power in AD 1914. This was first explained by Pastor Russell as early as 1876 in the Bible Examiner and then in 1889 in Studies in the Scriptures Volume II, as a period beginning in 606 BC and extending to AD 1914."

  http://www.biblestudents.net/library/datingthedeolation.pdf
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  jgnat

  From the horse's mouth,

  "The Times of the Gentiles will expire with the year 1914" Studies in the Scriptures, Vol 1-7, C305.