I love this article! Just consider it:
In 1910 Russell wrote, "If anyone lays the Scripture Studies aside, even after he has used them, after he has become familiar with them, after he has read them for ten years?if he lays them aside and ignores them and goes to the Bible alone, though he has understood the Bible for ten years, our experience shows that within two years he goes into darkness. On the other hand, if he had merely read the Scripture Studies with their references and had not read a page of the Bible, as such, he will be in the light at the end of two years . . . " (WT Reprints, 9-15-1910, 4685). The WTS maintains that it is God?s reliable mouthpiece to the nations, and it claims to be God?s inspired prophet (WT, 4-1-1972, 197)?and yet its prophecies have repeatedly proven to be false. The only conclusion to be drawn is that the WTS is to be rejected as a false prophet.
Among other things, the WTS predicted the following:
| 1889 | "The ?battle of the great day of God almighty? (Rev 16:14) which will end in AD 1914 . . . " (Studies, Vol. 2, 1908 edition, 101). |
| 1891 | "With the end of AD 1914, what God calls Babylon, and what men call Christendom, will have passed away, as already shown from prophecy" (Studies, Vol. 3, 153). |
| 1894 | "The end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble" (WT Reprints, 1-1-1894, 1605 and 1677). |
| 1897 | "Our Lord is now present, since October 1874 AD" (Studies, Vol. 4, 1897 edition, 621). |
| 1916 | "The six great 1000 year days beginning with Adam are ended, and that the great 7th day, the 1000 years of Christ?s reign began in 1873" (Studies, Vol. 2, p. 2 of foreword). |
| 1917 | "Scriptures . . . prove that the Lord?s Second Advent occurred in the fall of 1874" (Studies, Vol. 7, 68). |
| 1918 | "Therefore, we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and the faithful prophets of old" (Millions Now Living Will Never Die, 89). |
| 1922 | "The date 1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the scriptures than 1914" (WT, 9-1-1922, 262). |
| 1923 | "1925 is definitely settled by the scriptures. As to Noah, the Christian now has much more upon which to base his faith than Noah had upon which to base his faith in a coming deluge" (WT, 4-1-1923, 106). |
| 1925 | "The year of 1925 is here. . . . Christians should not be so deeply concerned about what may transpire this year" (WT, 1-1-1925, 3). |
| 1931 | "There was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah?s faithful ones on earth concerning the dates 1914, 1918, & 1925 . . . and they also learned to quit fixing dates" (Vindication, 388, 389). |
| 1939 | "The disaster of Armageddon is just ahead" (Salvation, 361). |
| 1941 | "Armageddon is surely near . . . soon . . . within a few years" (Children, 10). |
| 1946 | "Armageddon . . . should come sometime before 1972" (They Have Found a Faith, 44). |
| 1966 | "Six thousand years from man?s creation will end in 1975, and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the fall of 1975 C.E" (Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God, 29). |
| 1968 | "The end of the six thousand years of man?s history in the fall of 1975 is not tentative, but is accepted as a certain date" (WT, 1-1-1968, 271). |
Besides false prophesies, the WTS has misled its members through countless changes in doctrine and practice:
"To worship Christ in any form cannot be wrong ... " (WT, 3-1880, 83). "It is unscriptural for worshippers of the living and true God to render worship to the Son of God, Jesus Christ" (WT, 11-1-1964, 671).
The men of Sodom will be resurrected (WT, 7-1879, 7-8). The men of Sodom will not be resurrected (WT, 6-1-1952, 338). The men of Sodom will be resurrected (WT 8-1-1965, 479). The men of Sodom will not be resurrected (WT 6-1-1988, 31). The men of Sodom will be resurrected (Live Forever, early ed., 179). The men of Sodom will not be resurrected (Live Forever, later ed., 179). The men of Sodom will be resurrected (Insight on the Scriptures, Vol. 2, 985). The men of Sodom will not be resurrected (Revelation: Its Grand Climax at Hand! 273).
"There could be nothing against our consciences in going into the army" (WT, 4-15-1903, 120). Due to conscience, Jehovah?s Witnesses must refuse military service (WT, 2-1-1951, 73).
"We may as well join in with the civilized world in celebrating the grand event [Christmas] . . . " (WT Reprints, 12-1-1904, 3468). "Christmas and its music are not from Jehovah . . . What is their source? . . . Satan the devil" (WT, 12-15-1983, 7).
"Everyone in America should take pleasure in displaying the American flag" (WT Reprints, 5-15-1917, 6068). The flag is "an idolatrous symbol" (Awake!, 9-8-71, 14).
A much longer list of such contradictions and doctrinal twists by the WTS could be formed, but this suffices to remove any reason one might have to believe that "It is through the columns of The Watchtower that Jehovah provides direction and constant scriptural counsel to his people . . . " (WT, 5-1-1964, 277). If that is the case, who is to say what will be taught tomorrow?