by minimus 60 Replies latest jw friends
Seems that the Society knows what a false prophet is:
The Watchtower, October 15, 1958, p. 613
"'Sometime between April 15 and 23, 1957, Armageddon will sweep the world! Millions of persons will perish in its flames and the land will be scorched.' So prophesied a certain California pastor, Mihran Ask, in January, 1957. Such false prophets tend to put the subject of Armageddon in disrepute."
I am enjoying this thread! Great comments here!!!
The only conclusion we can arrive at is: all of Watchtower's false prophecies/failed dates are god's fault:
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The Watchtower, March 1st , 1965 p. 151 Basis for Reliance on Prophecy
"The best method of proof is to put a prophecy to the test of time and circumstances. The Bible invites such a test. "The Watchtower is not the instrument of any man or any set of men, nor is it published according to the whims of men. No man's opinion is expressed in the Watchtower".
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"Jehovah's Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect. Because of this some have called them false prophets. Never in these instances, however, did they presume to originate predictions ' in the name of Jehovah '. Never did they say, ' These are the words of Jehovah'." (AWAKE! 22. March 1993) (note: notice how when things go south, suddenly it's not Watchtower's fault but "Jehovah's Witnesses" fault as a group).
Oh, really?
> "This chronology is not of man but of God . . . of divine origin . . . absolutely and unqualifiedly correct." --Watchtower 7/15/1922, p.217
> "Jehovah's prophetic word through Christ Jesus is: "This generation [of 1914] will by no means pass away until all things occur." (Luke 21:32) And Jehovah, who is the source of inspired and unfailing prophecy, will bring about the fulfillment of his Son's words in a relatively short time." (Watchtower 15. March 1984, p. 6 [brackets theirs!])
> In the November 15, 1955 Watchtower President Knorr went so far as to say that God was the One who was responsible for the preaching of Rutherford’s message ! Under the heading, "Jehovah Is In His Holy Temple" it says …
Stirring up increasing interest in them, Jehovah caused to be preached from 1918 the startling public message, "Millions Now Living Will Never Die."
Great thread!!!
One of my favourites!
ADCMS...those references are FANTASTIC!. Thanks for posting them.
I am going to visit bethel and photocopy these directly from the articles in question...and keep them on file. Maybe Ill never use them to prove anything, but I sure know that the current org will never admit to these quotes...and will "obscure history" and the uploaded articles so these are never seen by the average witness
In order to answer this question one has to remove the element of emotion. (I am a former 30-year JW by disassociation)
Persons of ALL religious organizations believe that what THEY have is "the truth." Each of them claims that "the other guys" do not have the truth.
A false prophet is anyone or anything not sent from God and who makes predictions and utterances that do not come true.
There has not been one religious organization who has uttered a prediction or foretold something that has come true. Not one.
I remember back in 1986 many Witnesses believed that that was the year Armageddon would come. Many cashed in life insurance policies, sold their property and so-forth. Well, that year came and went without event.
The year 1914 is a date in which the very foundation of the WTBTS is built upon. It is the date that they claim as the end of the "Gentile Times" and when Christ received his Kingdom over the earth.
Well, this date is false as well for several reasons: (1) The date did not originate with the Watch Tower organization. It originated with the Second Adventist in the 1800s in which Charles Taze Russell was a member. When he broke away from that movement he adopted the 1914 date when he started his International Bible Students Association. If God has always had a faithful and discreet slave on earth - as the WT claims - was the Second Adventist that slave also since the 1914 date came from them? Obviously, the WT does not address this and would answer, no." (2) Something Jesus himself said at Matthew 24:36, Matthew 24:42 and Acts 1:7: That no one knows when Christ is coming. That information is privy only to the Father in heaven. So for humans down here on earth to be establishing dates is in direct opposition to what Christ stated. Yet, humans are stubborn and are listening to their religious organizations and not to Christ. (Luke 9:35)
So what I am saying is this: Remove the "emotional" element from it all and recognize that "the truth" is not human and it is not of human origin. The truth is not within any religious organization on earth because neither God or Christ established any religion on earth. Men did this on their own accord. Christ was not sent to earth to establish a religion. Religion is a mechanation of the devil.
The truth is a person. This person speaks only what God has directed him to speak. That is why he alone is The Word of God. No book by any name and no organization by any name is "the truth" or the "Word of God."
Jesus [the] Christ is "The truth" and nothing he utters by way of prophecy will fail. That is why it is imperative that "he" be listened to and not religious organization.
Jesus said of himself at John 14:6:
"I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
Many have forgotten this and ascribes "the truth" to religious organizations and to a book.
The world is sick with humans and human agencies teaching and speaking false things.
Reliance in "the truth" Jesus [the] Christ is the ONLY way to be sure that one is on the right path and not being led astray by false utterances.
One must detach themselves physically, spiritually and emotionally from ALL religious organizations and attached themselves to the living Master Christ Jesus.
Sadly, many do not want to do this. Since they will not, they will always defend the religion and wander around in the dark thinking that they are in the light.
Treat anything and everything spoken by humans as false until it is tested. (1 John 4:1)
The Watch Tower organization is not immune from such examination. It claims its members are "in the truth." This is a clever way to get out of being tested in accordance with 1 John 4:1.
The question "How Do You Answer Someone Who Says JWs Are Not False Prophets?" would suggest I have got myself into very unfortunate situation. It presumes I have failed in two major ways:
I am now imagining the following scenario.
I am trapped in a lift with a plain clothed JW, I did not notice the JW.ORG pin on his casual shirt as I entered the lift otherwise I would have taken emergency action: running out screaming 'Arghh... it’s a Jehovah' arms flailing potentially running in loose circles for effect (it is always good to run into and overturn a coffee table if possible).
Presumably the lift got stuck at some point and my repeated efforts at hitting the alarm button thus far have failed and my calls for prompt service are falling on deaf ears over the intercom... 'Arghhh... help help I'm stuck in the lift with a Jehovah... be quick he has a Watchtower and I think he's going to use it.... pleeeeeease help'.
I have recently been injured in a traffic accident and have lost the ability to use my legs effectively; I have made several valiant efforts to escape through the emergency hatch on top of my new prison cell to no avail. I lay on the floor exhausted from my efforts and my voice almost gone from my screams for help.
Placing my fingers in my ears is too painful, I lost my finger nails whilst attempting to scratch through the steel doors once I realised it was my last best hope for escape. Voice too hoarse to drown him out I am now vulnerable to the JW.
The JW has been talking for a good ten minutes now... and damn it! my iPod has just run out of charge... just as the earbuds fall silent I can hear him say 'blah blah blah... we're not false prophets you know'. Clearly I need to respond.
As the JW explains 607 to 1914 to me I spend the the time chewing through my left shoulder, it is painful but when you need a weapon needs must. Once my arm is free I beat the JW senseless with the bloody end.
When the doors finally open and the fire crew are presented with the scene, standing holding my arm with my good hand, I would just say... "Thank god, look at what the Jehovah did to me... oh and I’m AB Neg I might need a blood transfusion."
Hope that helps.
MOD: Please note I am not condoning violence in anyway, only in extreme situations in self-defence.
LP97: And, if the words of the organisation are fallible, why do I have to unquestioningly obey them? After all, their predictions have a 100% FAILURE RATE. If a fallible person made predictions that had a 100% failure rate, then I wouldn't trust them. Why should "God's organisation" be any different?
This one has been for me, and I guess for many others also, the main cause of distress. You are obligated to immediately believe and embrace any doctrine or prediction they publish, even if there is no basis to support it, but when that doctrine clashes with reality and has to be modified, they are ready to be infallible all over again. In other words, they do not claim they are infallible, but hey require you to treat them as such.
You would have to be stupid if you accepted everything they have said as absolute truth.
"I am 51 years old. All my life I've heard that Armageddon is coming soon... imminently. 51 years isn't soon."
H-W: You are obligated to immediately believe and embrace any doctrine or prediction they publish, even if there is no basis to support it, but when that doctrine clashes with reality and has to be modified, they are ready to be infallible all over again.
As Freddie Franz finally admitted on the witness stand, after much resistance, in the 1954 Douglas Walsh trial, "unity" in belief for JWs is the prime concern, not truth. All JWs must accept the error of current WT teachings in order to be unified. In other words, they all have to be wrong as a group in order to be right with Jehovah. Incidentally, Franz also stated that Jehovah is the "editor" of WT literature, not men, which re-opens the Pandora's Box of circular, "we aren't false prophets", arguments.
Truly an ironic stance from a religion that calls itself "The Truth". Shouldn't truth and facts be the prime concern, not unified wrongness??
MASH: I am trapped in a lift with a plain clothed JW, I did not notice the JW.ORG pin on his casual shirt
But surely, you would've also seen his JW.Org tote bag, umbrella, ruler, cuff links, necktie, notepad, and iPad screensaver even if you missed the lapel pin, right? LOL.
