by Bigdummy 19 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
The point of my post is, why couldn't the WTS have used the same logic and said " we
are uncertain what is meant by generation in this verse
I remember as a child my father discussing the generation with a woman in the field service. She must have had some interest we were there an hour although we never returned.
There's no clearer proof than their ludicrous overlapping generation teaching that the JW leadership is absolutely insincere and willfully misleading the JW flock.
It is such an obviously false teaching that anyone but a blind brainwashed bat cannot but with dismiss it with the complete contempt it utterly deserves.
The point of my post is, why couldn't the WTS have used the same logic and said " weare uncertain what is meant by generation in this verse ".
Because the entire faith from top to bottom is based upon typology. The concept of the last days leading up to the great tribulation as the JW's understand it is one big antitype of the Olivet.
How can they say they don't really understand a statement in the Olivet without weakening that position?
Jesus was stricken with megalomania and had a Messiah complex it is easy to see. That explains his reason for complaint about looking for some type of sign for credentials from his doubters.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Messiah_complex
A messiah complex (also known as the Christ complex or savior complex) is a state of mind in which an individual holds a belief that they are, or are destined to become, a savior.[1]
The term "messiah complex" is not addressed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM), as it is not a clinical term nor diagnosable disorder, however, the symptoms of the disorder closely resemble those found in individuals suffering from grandiose delusions or delusions of grandeur. This form of delusional belief is most often reported in patients suffering from bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. When a messiah complex is manifested within a religious individual after a visit to Jerusalem, it may be identified as a psychosis known as Jerusalem syndrome.[2]
Manipulating people by predicting doom is hard. You have to walk a fine line between making people believe the end is really soon (so you think you need them to save you) and actually predicting a specific date, which inevitably proves you are just making things up. The Watchtower Bible and Tract Society is pretty good at this, and why not, they have been doing it for over a hundred years. They lead people to make assumptions, then pretend it wasn't their fault that you made assumptions.
They have gotten away with it so far, but being a doomsday cult is not what it used to be The internet makes it hard to hide things and people are just not as gullible as they used to be. The generation teaching is a weak point for them. They have redefined it to the point of being absurd. People buy it, sort of, because they don't have much choice, but it has to be a question mark for a lot of people, they may not leave right now, but they may start to be less invested in the religion, miss some meetings, skip field service more and contribute less.
The reason I believe my father (as mentioned in my previous post) was talking about the 'generation' is that it was part of the good news I believe.
Watchtower June 1 1968 page 331
On the Joyful March to Mankind’s
Millennium
Arguing
against a literal future millennial rule by Christ, some have claimed that such
a teaching would chill the missionary ardour of Christians to make disciples of
all nations. (Matt. 28:19,20) But not so! Today no people are more zealous in
carrying out this missionary commission than are the Christian witnesses of
Jehovah, who believe that the 1,000-year reign of Christ is literal and future.
In comparatively few years these have grown to more than a million. Today they
are carrying out this commission in 197 lands and islands of the sea and that in
169 languages. Last year they devoted 184 million hours to this work!
And no
wonder. What good news they have to tell the people! They proclaim the good
news that the millennial rule of Christ will begin with this generation and
that it will mean ever so many blessings for the people :..
For some time it had this in the front of the Awake magazine
"Most important,
this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and
secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes
away."
In the April 1st 1972 Watchtower page 200
"This would indicate that Jehovah's witnesses today make their declaration of the good news of the kingdom under angelic direction and support. (Rev.14:6,7; Matt. 25:31, 32) And since no word of work of Jehovah can fail, for he is God Almighty, the nations will see the fulfilment of what these Witnesses say as directed from heaven.
In The Nations Shall Know That I am Jehovah-How?(WT 1971) page 61 the question is asked
'Whom could the real"chariot" of Jehovah's organization roll up to and confront that He might bestow upon this qualified one the commission to speak as a prophet in the name of Jehovah?'
The answer i believe is on page 66
'It is manifest that in the year 1919 the invisible heavenly organization of Jehovah, like the celestial chariot seen in Ezekiel's vision, rolled up and stopped, not before Christendom's advocates of the League of Nations, but before the anointed proclaimers of the heavenly kingdom of God in the hands of Jesus Christ.'
In my opinion the reason my father was talking to the lady about the 'generation' and it's length is that it was part of the 'good news' he was preaching. (Romans 10:16) and as such should not be changed.
The reason I believe it should not be changed is the 'good news' is from God and as the apostle says in Romans involves our faith. The book "Man's Salvation Out Of World Distress At Hand" (WT 1975) page 48
'A similar thing can be said today. “They did not all obey the good news.” This, even after the Christian witnesses of Jehovah have spent more than sixty years in proclaiming that the “times of the Gentiles ended in the autumn of 1914.C E amid the first world war and that then Jehovah’s “Servant” received a new elevation by being exalted to the throne of the Messianic kingdom…The overwhelming evidence that has accumulated since 1914 CE in proof of this glorious fact has been pointed out by these witnesses of Jehovah. The good news about the Messianic kingdom of Jehovah’s “Servant” is better news today that it was nineteen hundred years ago, in apostolic times. In the face of the relatively small proportion of the world’s population that has put faith in the “thing heard” from us or proclaimed by us, it can truthfully be said: “They did not all obey the good news.” This explains the saddening state of the world of mankind today.'
In my view this is why they had to be certain
The point of my post is, why couldn't the WTS have used the same logic and said " we
are uncertain what is meant by generation in this verse
When was the last time a governing body member of the Jehovah`s Witness religion said anything at all that was still relevant 10-15 years later ?
smiddy
End-times religious groups need urgency to motivate the rank and file. To keep urgency alive you need certainty about the end, not uncertainty.
If the GB moderated its utterances, and humbly acknowledged it was uncertain what Jesus meant by the word 'generation', the rank and file would be even more inclined to take a tea break.
Reasonable, measured speech douses the urgency of any religious group's end-times message.
Bigdummy - "Rant over."
Liar. :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:
