JW's ripped off the 1975 date

by RunningMan 14 Replies latest social current

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  RunningMan

  Although Armstrong denied ever being a Witness or being influenced by them (he claimed his only influencer was God, through the Bible), the similarities between the two are just too great to ignore. Witness folklore places Armstrong as a former Witness or at least a Witness copier, but this piece of evidence shows that at least in this case, the copying was going in the other direction.

  There is no possible way that two organizations could simultaneously predict the end of the world for 1972 and 1975 - both of which dates are based on the same chronological errors - without some cross polinization. I suspect that both Franz and Armstrong regularly followed each others rantings, and copied the juiciest bits.

  I would call it mutual plagarization.
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  William Penwell

  The best I could find was a cronology in the back of the Your Will be Done book. No mention here of 1975.From the Appendix on page 373, "Your Will be Done on Earth" 1958

  PROPHETIC "TIMES" AND "DAYS" :

  "SEVEN TIMES" or "the appointed times of the nations" (Daniel 4 :16, 23, 25,

  Began in 7th lunar month (Ethanim-September-October), 607 B .C.

  Ended in 7th lunar month (September-October), A .D . 1914

  "TIMES, TWO TIMES, AND HALF A TIME" (Daniel 7 :25 ; 12 :7, RS) ;

  Began in first half of November, 1914

  Ended May 7, 1918, at arrest of Watch Tower Society's offices and companions (Compare the 42 months of Revelations 11:2)

  "A THOUSAND TWO HUNDRED AND NINETY DAYS" (Daniel 12 :11, Le) :

  Began the end of January, 1919

  Ended the first half of September, 1922, at the second Cedar Point (Ohio) convention

  "THE THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED AND THIRTY-FIVE DAYS" (Daniel 12 :12, AT) :

  Began the first half of September, 1922, at the second Cedar Point (Ohio) convention

  Ended in the month of May, 1926, at the London (England) International Convention

  "TWO THOUSAND AND THREE HUNDRED EVENINGS AND MORNINGS" (Daniel 8 :14, RS) :

  Began in the month of May, 1926, at the London (England) International Convention (May 25-31)

  Ended on October 15, 1932, with the official publication of notice in The Watchtower

  Will
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  NeonMadman

  There is no possible way that two organizations could simultaneously predict the end of the world for 1972 and 1975 - both of which dates are based on the same chronological errors - without some cross polinization.

  I don't doubt for a minute that these two were keeping a watchful eye, each on the other, but they do seem to have arrived at their chronologies independently.
  

  First, the matter of origins. Both groups have common roots, but neither was a direct breakaway from the others. As we know, the JW's grew out of the Second Adventist movement (which evolved from the followers of William Miller), and Armstrong's Worldwide Church of God was a breakaway from the Church of God, Seventh Day, which was another branch of the Adventist tree.

  The JW's got their 1975 date by working out Bible chronology back to Adam, then projecting forward 6000 years to come to 1975. An earlier version of their chronology, circulated as early as the 1940's, had pointed to 1972 as the end of 6000 years of man's existence. What appeared in the Life Everlasting book in 1966 was a revised version of that earlier chronology.

  Armstrong, on the other hand, had divided history into 19-year time cycles. The length of the cycles was based upon some alignment of planets or other that occurs every 19 years, I don't remember exactly what it was. Armstrong began his work of publishing the Plain Truth in 1934, and two time cycles from then brought him to 1972. That was when he predicted the beginning of the "great tribulation," with his church fleeing to some safe location in the Middle East to wait it out for 3 1/2 years until Christ returned. And, of course, 3 1/2 years from 1972 leads to 1975 as the date for Jesus to come again. HWA had a whole series of chronologies built up using these 19-year time cycles, it was very elaborate. Unfortunately for him, the things he predicted didn't happen (something else he had in common with the JW's).
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  NeonMadman

  While snooping around the net looking for more info on Armstrong's WCG, I ran across this site detailing the stuff members of that church weren't allowed to do, back in its heyday. And we thought JW's had it rough!
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  rocketman

  Interesting - I remember seeing the Plain Truth when I was a teenager. I had no idea though of the similarities between Armstrong's teachings and the WTS's in regard to 1975.