What Happened in 1995?

missylissy

I was just reading this post http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/12/61878/1.ashx

they were talking about what they felt about what happened in 1995. But, i dont know what happened in 1995.

What DID happen?

-missy

In the Nov 1, 1995 Watchtower, they explained the new meaning of the word "generation". Basically, the idea of "The generation of 1914 will by no means pass away until the conclusion of this system of things" was thrown into the trash heap. The word generation now means "an unknown period of time".

izobcenec

Shortly: Watchtower changed one of their most definite doctrines about "generation of 1914, that will not pass away". For years they were saying, that some, who saw the events of 1914, will still be alive when armageddon comes. In 1.11.1995 Watchtower, that doctrine was abandonned.

Beans

What about 1998?

http://www.quotes.jehovahswitnesses.com/blood-in-bulgaria.htm

run dont walk

basically missylissy, during the time of roughly 1976-1995, the Watchtower made it very clear, CRYSTAL CLEAR to everyone who was a JW at the time :

that Jesus's words : "by means this generation will by no means pass away" referred to those living at and before 1914.

First it was those who would have knowledge of the events around them as they happened, this eliminated all new borns and up to the age of 5 or so, so anyone born before 1914, that group COULD NOT die off before Armaggeddon.

Then the Watchtower modified it a bit, to say yes all those BORN on or before 1914 would not pass away entirely, meaning some of that generation would be alive when Armagedddon began.

This was huge for all of us, we all counted a little, always wondering how many were still alive as each year passed, when the 1990's hit the Wathctower began to worry abit, 1994 now the youngest of that generation would be 80, still conceivable that there would be some living still ???, but the Watchtower gave up in 1995 and threw in the towel and came up with "new light" stating the term generation could mean any length of time, this change sent a lot of people packing as it did in 1975.

The thing that bothers me is, had they not changed it, here we are in 2003, that generation would be 90 or more, my grandmother is 100, there is still some living, not many, but some, the fact that the Watchtower gave up in 1995 shows that the whole organization is a farce, because conceivably, their statements could still be true, how many on this planet are 90 or older, not many but there are some. And they through it all out the door and changed it, proving that they were lying all along, or i'm sorry misunderstood the understanding of the scriptures, yeah whatever!

Was the Watchtower guilty of hype and scaring people again as they did in 1975 ????

DAMN RIGHT THEY WERE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!, fear and scare tactics, what the Watchtower was built on.

hope this helps a bit.

run dont walk (away from the Watchtower)

mizpah

It's hard for people who weren't in the organization to realize just how much emphasis the Watchtower put on "this generation" explanation. It was used for years to illustrate just how short the remaining time was and why we needed to increase our preaching to others. Combined with its forecast for 1975, many of us made great changes in our lives. My wife and I, for example, sold our house and moved our family to a rural area in the south where "the need was great." We had four small children. I gave up a very good job with good benefits. There were many other Jehovah's Witnesses that did the same thing. All this was based on what the Watchtower clearly taught at the time.

For the Society to make this change so casually about "this generation" in 1995 betrayed the trust that many had in the Watchtower Society. Fortunately, we left the organization in 1983 when we heard about the events at Bethel and the dismissal of Ray Franz and other faithful members. The announcement in 1995 only convinced us all the more of the deception and deceit of the Watchtower Society and its leaders.

Number 6

I grew up in the Watchtower religion in the 70’s and 80’s and remember the emphasis on ‘this generation’ very well.

Although I was too young to really remember the fallout from 1975 I have the clearest of memories about the importance of what the phrase ‘this generation’ meant and it’s importance to the whole Watchtower structure. Barely a week went by when we didn’t discuss how the end must be so close due to the dying off of the people who had been born on or before 1914.

Even as a young boy I can remember being taught the mantra:

Jerusalem fell in 607 BCE.
The gentile times were 7 x 360 years (a day for a year) minus no year zero = 1914 CE.
Armageddon would begin before the generation that saw the events of 1914 were all dead.

It was that simple. It was one of ‘the basics’ that new bible studies were taught to ‘prove’ how close the end must be.

The doctrinal investment they made in this in the decades up to the 1980’s cannot be overemphasised. EVERYTHING hinged on this doctrine.

I was gone by 1990 (for non doctrinal reasons) but when I found out about the 1995 change when I got on line in 2000, I was utterly astonished. If there was one doctrine, one piece of theology that I thought was sacrosanct, it was this. That they tossed it out in the passing of one sentence in one paragraph spoke volumes. My opinion is that the gradual fallout they have been experiencing will haemorrhage if they do not try to shore this up soon. In fact, as the recent thread shows they may well be doing this by trying to tie up ‘Noah’s generation’ of 120 years to the 1914 date, but only time will tell.

For me it was proof positive that they make doctrine up as circumstances dictate rather than having a hotline to God.

Just how I saw it

Craig

Gerard

May 22 1969 Awake
"If you are a young person, you need to face the fact that you will never grow old in this present system of things. Why not? Because all the evidence in fulfillment of Bible prophecy indicates that this corrupt system is due to end in a few years... Therefore, as a young person, you will never fufill any career that this system offers."

Faraon

#6,

The gentile times were 7 x 360 years (a day for a year) minus no year zero = 1914 CE.
Armageddon would begin before the generation that saw the events of 1914 were all dead.

Yes but they calculated the years to be 360 days instead of 365.25, which would add another 36.75 years, and the date would be moved to 1951, tops. Taking into account the 80 year generation thing, we still have until 2031until the charred bodies bring big J an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

or

We can come closer to that date in order to get the unpaid sales slaves to declare that the generation before the big barbeque will only survive after heaven was closed in 1935. It will only be until 2015 that all non-members of our club will be food for the birds.

Perry

Faraon,

Taking into account the 80 year generation thing, we still have until 2031until the charred bodies bring big J an aroma pleasing to the LORD.

Maybe it is the vodka tonic I'm having, but I just about fell outta my chair laughing. Wicked little wit you have there.