The WTS writing staff must be proud graduates of the Humpty Dumpty School of Liberal Revisionism, so called because Mr. Dumpty, who appears in the works of Lewis Carroll, teaches that outer reality should conform to (his) inner desires.
Thus Mr. Dumpty's much-quoted remark: "When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean— neither more nor less."
And thus, for the liberal followers of Mr. D., if something ugly was done by people who are currently in power and therefore God’s representatives, and if that something was done yesterday or earlier: "Just lie, sucker!" I mean, what's the problem? The rank and file JW’s don't know what happened yesterday; they barely know what's happening today. Nobody will care.
And if something was taught as the absolute truth in the past, you invent a new phrase, "present truth." Then the reality of the teaching is no longer constant. It can shift with the whims of the GB to match the present needs of the Organization. As the sands of the hourglass of a prophesy run out, it is an easy thing to just add more sand; or create a brand new hourglass. Nobody will care.
Graduates of the Humpy Dumpty School of Liberal Revisionism can take a simple word like "generation" and make it mean any number of things.
"Webster's unabridged dictionary gives, in part, this definition of generation: 'The average lifetime of man, or the ordinary period of time at which one rank follows another, or father is succeeded by child; an age. A generation is usually taken to be about 33 years.' But the Bible is not so specific. It gives no number of years for a generation. And in Matthew 24:34, Mark 13:30 and Luke 21:32, the texts mentioning the generation the question refers to, we are not to take generation as meaning the average time for one generation to be succeeded by the next, as Webster's does in its 33-year approximation; but rather more like Webster's first-quoted definition, 'the average lifetime of man.' Three or even four generations may be living at the same time, their lives overlapping. (Ps. 78:4; 145:4) Before the Noachian flood the life span was hundreds of years. Down through the centuries since, it has varied, and even now is different in different countries. The Bible does speak of a man's days as being threescore and ten or fourscore years; but it assigns no specific number of years to a generation. - Ps. 90:10.. To try to say how many years before its end would be speculative. The texts merely set a limit that is sufficiently definite for all present practical purposes. Some persons living in A.D. 1914 when the series of foretold events began will also be living when the series ends with Armageddon. All the events will come within the span of a generation. There are hundreds of millions of persons living now that were living in 1914, and many millions of these persons could yet live a score or more years. Just when the lives of the majority of them will be cut short by Armageddon we cannot say." {WT Sep 1 1952 542-3}
"It is not reasonable to expect that present favorable conditions for preaching the good news will continue indefinitely. Besides, did not Jesus say that this generation will not pass away until all things are fulfilled? A generation, according to Psalm 90:10, is from seventy to eighty years. The generation that witnessed the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 does not have many more years left." {WT Dec 1 1968 715}[See also WT 01/10/78 p.31, 10/15/80, p. 31],
"From a purely human viewpoint, it could appear that these developments could hardly take place before the generation of 1914 disappears from the scene. But fulfillment of all the foretold events affecting the generation of 1914 does not depend on comparatively slow human action. 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." {WT May 15 1984 6}
"The Year That Shocked The World .. Today, a small percentage of mankind can still recall the dramatic events of 1914. Will that elderly generation pass away before God saves the earth from ruin? Not according to Bible prophecy. 'When you see all these things,' Jesus PROMISED, 'know that he is near at the doors. Truly I say to you that THIS generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.' - Matthew 24:33, 34." {WT May 1 1992 3}
"Before the 1914 generation completely dies out, God's judgment must be executed." {WT May 1, 1985 (p. 4)}
"Rather than providing a rule for measuring time, the term 'generation' as used by Jesus refers principally to contemporary people of a certain historical period, with their identifying characteristics." {WT Nov 1 1995 17}
It is now the year 2003 and the word "generation" has seemingly disappeared from the vocabulary of JW’s altogether. Amazing. What once fueled frenzied door to door activity is gone. Just gone. Without a fair-thee-well, ta-ta or so-long.
Humpty Dumpty would be proud. "When I use a word it means just what I choose it to mean— neither more nor less." Through The Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll
Loris -of the Alice class