Edit .. I messed up the title, on this touchscreen tablet and now I can’t edit it !
The title should be “ The Watchtower’s (sort of) Apology for 1975 ….. sorry.
January 1st 1976, I remember that day when I heard a radio disc jockey gleefully announce that the world had not ended as Jehovah’s Witnesses had said it would . Without doubt the Watchtower Society had egg on it’s face in the early part of 1976.
As for us, we simply repeated that we had never set a definite day, but a time period and we were certain that it would come, any time now……… but weeks turned into months and months became years and even the most vocal of our number were not talking about ‘75 anymore.
Then in 1980 the Society printed this article. The title “ Choosing The Best Way Of Life” did not betray the impact of the admission that lay within .
Watchtower March 15 1980. Par 4 - 7
“Those who have tried to keep God’s judgment time “close in mind” have, on more than one occasion throughout history, become overly eager for that day’s arrival, in their own minds trying to rush the arrival of the desired events……..
In modern times such eagerness, commendable in itself, has led to attempts at setting dates for the desired liberation from the suffering and troubles that are the lot of persons throughout the earth. With the appearance of the book Life Everlasting —in Freedom of the Sons of God, and its comments as to how appropriate it would be for the millennial reign of Christ to parallel the seventh millennium of man’s existence, considerable expectation was aroused regarding the year 1975. There were statements made then, and thereafter, stressing that this was only a possibility. Unfortunately, however, along with such cautionary information, there were other statements published that implied that such realization of hopes by that year was more of a probability than a mere possibility. It is to be regretted that these latter statements apparently overshadowed the cautionary ones and contributed to a buildup of the expectation already initiated.“……..
In its issue of July 15th 1976 The Watchtower commenting on the inadvisability of setting our sights on a certain date, stated: “If anyone has been disappointed through not following this line of thought, he should now concentrate on adjusting his viewpoint, seeing that it was not the word of God that failed or deceived him and brought disappointment, but that his own understanding was based on wrong premises.” In saying “anyone,” The Watchtower included all disappointed ones of Jehovah’s Witnesses, hence including persons having to do with the publication of the information that contributed to the buildup of hopes centred on that date…Nevertheless, there is no reason for us to be shaken in faith in God’s promises. ”
(End of quote)
So there we had it , in our minds the Society had apologised for leading us up the garden path . As believers what else could we do but “keep calm and carry on” , so we did…… for years and years