by TheOldHippie 38 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Can't you just imagine the day they will write "Many of Jehovah's people eagarly held as truth that the actual generation of 1914 would not pass away before the end would come. However, the Faithful and Discreet Slave never prophesied in Jehovahs name....blah,blah,blah."
I'm feeling sick.
My first thought was: 1914 was recently mentioned several times in the Watchtower (July oder August, not sure).
But Then: 1914 is not mentioned in the new brochure about the Time of the End.
AND THEN: the Generation-change is not mentioned in the DC-talk about new light. This very talk will be probably published in one of next years Watchtowers.
This could mean that by then 1914 has been done away with. It could. But we are not saying. All things are possible with God. But we are not saying. And don’t any of you be specific in saying anything that is going to happen between now and 2005. But the big point of it all is this, dear friends: Time is short. Time is running out, no question about that.
While I agree that the Watchtower Society writers are trying to distance themselves from the 1914 figure, for example it appears only 14 times in The Watchtower 2003 and only 13 times in The Watchtower 2002, I really don't see a doctrinal change anytime soon. IMO, there won't be any major doctrinal shake-ups of this sort as long as there are a large enough number of memorial partakers around. Here are some recent quotes: *** w03 6/15 p. 7 Jesus Christ?Evidence That He Walked the Earth *** Like the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that fit together, the things that Jesus prophesied have occurred. Since the outbreak of World War I in 1914, we have seen the composite evidence of the invisible presence of Jesus Christ. He is reigning as the King of God?s Kingdom and is wielding tremendous influence. That you have this magazine in your hand is evidence that the Kingdom preaching work is being carried out today. *** w03 12/15 p. 15 Our Watchfulness Takes On Greater Urgency *** Noah received the warning of the upcoming catastrophe decades in advance, and he wisely used the time to prepare for survival. ?After being given divine warning of things not yet beheld,? says the apostle Paul, ?[Noah] showed godly fear and constructed an ark for the saving of his household.? (Hebrews 11:7) What about us? Some 90 years have passed since the last days of this system of things began in 1914. We are certainly in ?the time of the end.? (Daniel 12:4) How should we respond to warnings we have been given? ?He that does the will of God remains forever,? states the Bible. (1 John 2:17) Now is therefore the time to do Jehovah?s will with a keen sense of urgency. *** w03 12/15 p. 28 Questions From Readers *** The expelling of Satan and the demons from heaven after 1914 purged that realm of all spirit rebels, bringing much joy to Jehovah?s loyal angelic sons, who represent by far the majority of his spirit creation. (Job 1:6-12; 2:1-7; Revelation 12:10) Thus, the request in Jesus? model prayer, as far as it applied to heaven, was fulfilled. All who remained in that heavenly realm were loyal to Jehovah and fully submissive to his sovereignty. Mark
Where have the nice paragraphs in my post gone? Sorry about that guys. Mark
Yeah, Mark, they have to throw just enough 1914 in there to cover their a$$es and keep suspicion down.
Flyin'
Yeah but did you notice how stupid the 1914 reference was in the aug 1 2004 watchtower?
"According to Bible chornology and fulfilled prophecies (notice not by proof or any "real" event in 1914), in the year 1914, God's Kingdom was established in the heavens with Jesus christ as king. At that time nations of the world had one thought in common. Rather than submitting to the soverignty of God's newborn Kingdom, they were emboiled in a contest of power- the Great War, or World War I."
Okay so something happens in heaven with no effect on earth and "the nations" are so evil they dont take notice of something that happend in another demision because they are engaging is a pissing contest call world war 1. The next paragraph says that because of this grave insult God is going to destroy every country in the world.
1914 is definitely being put on the back burner.
Nevertheless, for the sake of accuracy, it is good to bring up the fact that the new idiotic, cut-and-paste brochure Keep on the Watch! , does indeed mention 1914, and only once, in a very shy way, right after citing Matt 24-Luke 21 and alluding to wars, food shortages and earthquakes. (Page 6, second paragraph)
In fact, after the generation change, the Watchtower began to get a bit ashamed of their pet 1914 date. Take a look at this graph:
The change is even more graphic in the Awake magazine, specially due to the change in the masthead:
(Based upon the 2001 Watchtower Library CD-ROM)
So after the now "fatidic" year of 1995 things were not simply the same. 1914, though still being important, is less emphasized.
Actually, what I believe is that, like in various other issues, Watchtower higher-ups are divided about how much emphasis should be put upon that date, mirroring what happened during the late seventies when the 1914 issue was brought up for discussion within the Governing Body. (See Crisis of Conscience for details) Some expressed doubts about it, others said that 'we should continue to stress the date'.
Something similar seems to take place in recent years. More liberal ones (like some in the Writing Dept.) would like to slowly downgrade the importance of 1914, mimicking what happened to the Second Adventists and their pet date (they still believe something important happened in the 19th century but the issue is seldom brought up in Adventist circles). Meanwhile, others feel they shouldn't display any hesitation on that matter, as reflected in books like Isaiah's Prophecy I and II, where the dates of 1914, 1918 and 1919 are mentioned 136 times altogether. (Even hardcore dubs would while studying those books.)
In other words, we never know what they have in mind. Time will tell.
Neo
(my introductory thread: http://www.jehovahs-witness.com/7/76140/1.ashx )
Occurences of 1914 in
Watchtower 2002: 13
Watchtower 2003: 14
Awake! 2002: 3
Awake! 2003: 2
Thanks, GermanXJW!
Neo
neo that was good info....my grandmother who is in her early 80's said just a few weeks back that she thought she would see the new kingdom by now and she kept saying i hope jehovah will remember me...as franz said in his book and currently what going on the org has no choice to make these changes..the k.m keeps suggesting to remain faithfull in the preaching work with no reference to any dates now like it use to too in the early 90's..the anointed is fading away and my old friend coming back from bethel have said that some young ones were being incouraged to partake of the meal...just before i step down as m.s it was told to us in our last meeting with the elders that there are so few of the anointed that the spirtual food and caring of the sheep that the burden will fall on those with the earthly hope...that was in 2002...
