WTBTS published a new article on jw.org (http://www.jw.org/en/bible-teachings/questions/daniel-4-bible-chronology-1914/) entitled "What Does Bible Chronology Indicate About the Year 1914?" In it, it points to Daniel 4 as the prophecy and uses the same leaps of insane logic to get from the first and only fulfillment of that prophecy to 1914, using 607 as the starting point and 2,520 years as doubling the 1,260 years in Revelation. Of course, there is no accounting for the difference in our SOLAR years and the Bible's LUNAR years, which makes the math have a very different outcome. As it is, this is yet another case of WTBTS calling out a prophecy as having a dual fulfillment when the Bible itself says: "This is the interpretation, O king; it is the decree of the Most High that must befall my lord the king." (Dan 4:24, conveniently left out of the references in the article) This 1914 year is based on a prophecy that DOES NOT EXIST IN THE BIBLE!
Here we go again. Dan 4 and 1914
by leaving_quietly 74 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Phizzy
This is really a very good thing that they have come out on their Site and written this complete and utter balderdash for people to see.
Before this, the old 2520 years nonsense ,starting in 607 B.C.E was well hidden in their literature, in the Appendix of "Bible Teach" for example, now they have openly spelled out the most ridiculous (worthy of ridicule) of their teachings.
They cannot go back on this easily now, it is on the Net !
I sometimes think that the Writing Department has a closet Apostate in its midst, when they do silly things like this, they had almost buried the whole thing as far as R&F JW's were concerned, but now even the general public can peruse the nonsense.
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InChristAlone
I used the lunar/solar argument at times until one knowledgable JW noted that every so often the Jews add an extra month into their year to compensate. Here is a quote below from http://www.jewfaq.org/calendar.htm
"To compensate for this drift, the Jewish calendar uses a 12-month lunar calendar with an extra month occasionally added. The month of Nissan occurs 11 days earlier each year for two or three years, and then jumps forward 30 days, balancing out the drift. In ancient times, this month was added by observation: the Sanhedrin observed the conditions of the weather, the crops and the livestock, and if these were not sufficiently advanced to be considered "spring," then the Sanhedrin inserted an additional month into the calendar to make sure that Pesach (Passover) would occur in the spring (it is, after all, referred to in the Torah as Chag he-Aviv, the Festival of Spring!).
A year with 13 months is referred to in Hebrew as Shanah Me'uberet (pronounced shah-NAH meh-oo-BEH-reht), literally: a pregnant year. In English, we commonly call it a leap year. The additional month is known as Adar I, Adar Rishon (first Adar) or Adar Alef (the Hebrew letter Alef being the numeral "1" in Hebrew). The extra month is inserted before the regular month of Adar (known in such years as Adar II, Adar Sheini or Adar Beit). Note that Adar II is the "real" Adar, the one in which Purim is celebrated, the one in which yahrzeits for Adar are observed, the one in which a 13-year-old born in Adar becomes a Bar Mitzvah. Adar I is the "extra" Adar.
In the fourth century, Hillel II established a fixed calendar based on mathematical and astronomical calculations. This calendar, still in use, standardized the length of months and the addition of months over the course of a 19 year cycle, so that the lunar calendar realigns with the solar years. Adar I is added in the 3rd, 6th, 8th, 11th, 14th, 17th and 19th years of the cycle."
That said, the whole 607/1914 thing is still a bunch of bunk.
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Badfish
I don't know very much at all when it comes to this subject, but did they simply take 2520 and subtract 607 to get 1913 and then add one year to make it 1914?
Doesn't the Bible use 360-day years when it comes to prophecy?
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Finkelstein
It appears the WTS. disregarded the difference between the 360 lunar day year to the Gregorian 365 day year being for the reasons as stated by InChristAlone's post.
Why didn't any other Christian based religion sees this and proclaim also what the WTS. did about this
calculation.
Answer = because they wanted to adhere to what the bible clearly says about setting specific times of Christ's
return. Meaning the time is unknowing to mankind but only to the father.
The other answer to this 1914 question is that the WTS. used this particular dating scheme as something to
market and commercialize, drawing attention to its published literature and to their organization.
Truth be told .
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One thing you bet on is that the WTS. will not make any bold statements toward 1914 and the start of " This Generation" too often now.
You can only extend bullshit for so long then it has to be dropped, the WTS. knows this so expect into the
future 1914 being dropped altogether.
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Captain Obvious
Badfish - pretty much. It lands on 1914 cause of no zero year. And yes, no taking 360 day years into account.
You might want to focus now a bit on the 607 date... I challenge you to find ONE secular or even just non-JW reference to 607bce as the date that Jerusalem fell. Just one.
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emeth
@Captain Obvious Jehovah's Witnesses do not need non-jw sources since they believe in the chronology as the bible says it is.
having said that..... secular non-christian scholars and scientists will also say that Adam and Eve , the flood, the tower of babel, Jonah in a big fish, the ressurrection of Jesus and most of the bible are myts, fables and fairytales.
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DATA-DOG
Emeth said, " having said that..... secular non-christian scholars and scientists will also say that Adam and Eve , the flood, the tower of babel, Jonah in a big fish, the ressurrection of Jesus and most of the bible are myts, fables and fairytales."
So we should ignore the archaeological evidence that we have against 607 B.C.E because there is no evidence besides the Bible for Jonah being swallowed by a big fish.... Apples to oranges my friend apples to oranges...
The term "bible chronology" is a misnomer. There is no "bible-chronology" as used by the WTBTS. When JWs see the phrase "bible-chronology", their minds fill in the blanks with WTBTS indoctrination. They will tell a householder that the BIBLE contains dates and formulas that teach 1914! The BIBLE teaches no such thing. The BIBLE simply says, " In the year blah, blah, blah, King Yadda yadda, carried on such and such, to and fro with his chamber maid." Then a human being thousands of years later must rely on secular sources, aka, archaeological findings for EXACTLY when that took place, because the BIBLE just gives the year of such and such KING. The Bible gives only relative dates.
This means that we must rely on sources outside the scrolls that became the bible. Sadly, some religions have a lot of money riding on certain dates. They will even flat-out lie and misquote experts to decieve the reader. They will even ignore cosmic events that destroy their ideas, even though GOD himself said that the planets and stars would serve as time-keepers. Shame on you WTBTS....
Hey everyone, don't forget about this super-fun challenge!!!
DD
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Finkelstein
Jehovah's Witnesses do not need non-jw sources
What do you think the bible is, The Watchtower Corporation didn't write the bible, its a source unto itself.
The bible disapproves 607 BCE. and supports 586 BCE anyways, by virtue of the stated 19th reigning year of Nebuchadnezzar.
Not only was this set calculation scripturally supported but the actual date of Jerusalem's destruction is
misaligned intensionally by the WTS.
The WTS created its own (False) doctrines to attract attention to its literature, making its specific doctrines a
commercialized fraud.
Its almost like the WTS. was a pretentious organization of deceitful charlatans cultivating money and power toward themselves ...............naaaaaaaa
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Londo111
For the sake of any JWs who might be googling on this topic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ue4HRZz0pLM&feature=share&list=PLyNx0oM_bmgBFMnAPjR_V5Fe9_pf8sQA1