This is the question that came up in my mind. Now dont get me wrong I know the dates from 607 - 1914 are rubbish, but how would you explain to a witness when they will automatically say, look at the momentus year 1914 was. That is evidence enough that 607 is correct!
If 1914 is wrong then how is it that it was such a landmark year?
by awakening 66 Replies latest jw friends
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leaving_quietly
Landmark in what way? WWI started in late July of that year. The 2,520 years didn't end until October. If Jesus was enthroned as King in October and threw Satan out of heaven then, how could it be said that WWI was related to that event?
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leaving_quietly
BTW, I am still "in" and am going through all the same questions you are. 1914 is a really big one to me. Proving it to myself is crucial. Unfortunately, the closer I look at it, the less I believe it.
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suavojr
This has been a core question for many, I suggest reading the following and research all previous wars prior to 1914. You will find worst events that have occurred before WWI.
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TD
....they will automatically say, look at the momentus year 1914 was. That is evidence enough that 607 is correct!
Momentous in what way? The only way that really counts from a JW perspective, is fulfulment of the "...sign of thy coming and of the end of the age" from the Olivet.
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Ding
You can make a similar argument for a lot of years.
What about years not highlighted by the WTS at all? 1941 (U.S. joins WW II)? 1945 (first atomic bomb used)? 1969 (man walks on moon)?
What about years highlighted by the WTS where nothing of consequence happened at all? 1874, 1925, 1975...
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Hillary
What about the black plague in the 1300's? This was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history.
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sabastious
Hello awakening, welcome to the forum! Keep in mind that the Watchtower is merely a front for secret societies. World War I was manufactured by the world elites for the purposes of manipulating the world economy and creating earth wide fear. Charles Russell, being a high ranking Free Mason, knew the ins and outs of the world plan and fabricated Bible Chronology/Pyramidology to fit it. That way when the plan was enacted he and the Watchtower Society would appear as a bonafide prophet. 1914 was nothing special, just a bunch of greedy power hungry liars with gobs of capital behind them. The book of Isaiah speaks of the fate of these fiends who "depend on deciet":
Isaiah 30 - 12 Therefore this is what the Holy One of Israel says:
“Because you have rejected this message,
relied on oppression
and depended on deceit,
13 this sin will become for you
like a high wall, cracked and bulging,
that collapses suddenly, in an instant.
14 It will break in pieces like pottery,
shattered so mercilessly
that among its pieces not a fragment will be found
for taking coals from a hearth
or scooping water out of a cistern.”-Sab
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AnnOMaly
(Following Ding's and Hillary's posts.) What about other global 'game changers'?
E.g. the collapse of Soviet/East European communism and the Iron Curtain melting out of existence in '89-'91? The WTS/GB still hasn't been able to make any new prophetic connections with that ('the king of the north' thing which was a staple of JW interpretation for decades prior).
What about the new age of terrorism beginning 2001 with the Twin Towers attack? No major '2nd fulfillment' prophecy to tie that to either.
It is understandable that the BSs got excited about the Great War given the times and their expectations, but the years and decades have rolled on with many other historically momentous events overshadowing even those of 1914.
And nothing, NOTHING that Russell and the BSs predicted about 1914 came true. The Gentile Times, as they understood them, didn't end - Jesus didn't crush the nations out of existence and bring in the Millennium - a physical, cataclysmic event for the world to witness. So they had to gradually reinterpret it all, spiritualize it and make it invisible. After the Great War ended and the nations were calming down again, Rutherford declared, "The World Has Ended; The Nations Have Had Their Day; Millions Now Living Will Never Die" - i.e. it still happened, but differently. Hey how do you like the Emperor's new clothes?
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krejames
Before 1914 they thought the Napoleonic Wars signified the start of the end times. Even charles taze believed this (just reading "A People For His Name", which states this. Interesting stuff.)
(EDIT - "They": various religious figures, not JWs obviously)