How Often is 1914 Openly Spoken of at the Meetings?

by Number 6 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Number 6

  As someone who left in 1991 aged 21, one of my overriding memories of growing up in the Watchtower was being able to "prove" the end times by referencing 1914.

  Major change in 95 then again after that. If I'm being honest I could not even tell you now what the current teaching is.

  For those who still attend the meetings, is it still openly spoken about? I genuinely curious as I wonder if the teaching will be altogher dropped eventually, and one of the easiest ways to achieve that is to stop speaking about it.

  If it's not in talk material or books, then it won't be referenced in talks or answers.

  Just curioius.
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  road to nowhere

  Never. The closest now is 1919 when whatever happened.

  Supposedly satan came down and started ww1. Except ww1 started well before the magic October 4, 5
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  Pete Zahut

  It's to the point where younger JW's can't understand why the inaccuracy of that date would even bother us former long time JW's.
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  waton

  certainly not in the after the program clique banter. The last thing, for true believers is to be reminded that it is all a chimera.

  1014 ? the only date where anything, but the wrong thing happened, the others:

  1918 : campaign " ---millions now living will never die"

  1919: appointment of wt as F& DS

  1925: Abraham, Moses & co moving into California wt mansion.

  1975: beginning of 1000 Year Reich

  2000: end of ~ biblical normal human lifespan of ~75 years (threescore or/and ten averaged out). since 1914.

  2075: end of overlapping of 2 centenarians ( 2 x 100 minus 20 years overlaps each). since 1914, F.Franz the middleman's death in 19192. .

  No, midweek meetings are the same text repeated 3 times for the last months:

  "The dead know nothing at all" . the death scare, disguised as practise for "good news" field service.
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  Phizzy

  The Org began a policy of rarely mentioning 1914, or when they did, just presenting it as a given, with no explanation as to how it was arrived at, very wise, their convoluted calculations, which start anyway with the wrong date for the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem, which was 587BCE, not 607BCE, is so blatantly rubbish that this was a wise move I thought.

  Then they went and wrote three W.T Articles, 3 or 4 years ago, which were, I have to admit, cleverly done, so that the average thick , non reading, non researching JW would accept the nonsense once again, and the vast majority did.

  They seem to have gone back to never mentioning it now, (wise), and just keep shrilly shouting " the End is near ! the End is near!".

  I have not attended a Meeting for many a long year, but would guess it is the same there, no mention of 1914, just " We know the End is so very near". Poor benighted fools.
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  mickbobcat

  I believe they are taking their time but moving slowly to dropping the 1914 date as any real meaning. I had relatives tell me who were elders they would never ever drop 1914. LOL They are all dead now.
  
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  Anna Marina

  Yes it is spoken of sometimes. Most don't understand it but it is a necessary starting point for overlapping generations etc.
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  Jeffro

  They can’t maintain their beliefs about 1919 without retaining 1914 so they’re a bit stuck. It really is pathetic.

  But they likely rarely mention it, and they are much less likely to mention October 1914 because the war has already started and something was supposed to happen suddenly in or after October (and Russell didn’t say anything at all about ‘Satan being thrown to earth’ because he believed the ‘dragon’ referred to pagan nations.)

  Apart from the vague notion about the ‘end of the gentle times’ (an Adventist teaching), nothing that Jehovah’s Witnesses now believe about 1914 was taught by C T Russell or even when they were supposedly ‘selected’ in 1919.
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  eyeuse2badub

  When you make the mistake of painting yourself into a corner, (oops!), it's best to wait for the paint to dry! The wt's 1914 bullshit is drying up! Pretty soon the mistake is forgotten!

  just saying!
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  Beth Sarim

  1914 is such an old date now. It is being talked about less, less, less and less. And less.

  I remember 6 years ago, the Regional Convention in 2014, lined-up before 8 a. m. on one of the convention mornings before the doors opened to the convention. I remember overhearing conversations and random musings. There were two elderly gentlemen talking and with 100% conviction saying ''it's 2014, this system another 100 years, impossible, forget it no way''. Even gesturing with their hands waving and totally dismissing with their body language of the year 2114 and no Armageddon would be an impossibility.

  Well, to put in perspective. What about the people of 1914, who though the end would be then, in that year? I'm sure 2014 would have been just as absurd and ridiculous to them.

  Time is the Borg's worst enemy.