Unscholar said:
: If its provable that Bible chronology of the Hebrew kings is contradictory and inconsistent as you claim, then how is it that the six scholars that I referred to in my previous post, made such chronologies?
Very simple: their chronologies are mutually contradictory on various points, and they certainly do not agree with Watchtower chronology. At most, one can be right. In truth, all suffer from serious problems.
: Besides WTchjronology has long published such a scheme beginning with Russell in his Time Is At Hand and in the 1923 Watchtower under the heading :a Clear Vision of Chronology and not fro the forties as you falsely claim.
Earnest already posted a short refutation of your lie, but I'll post a good deal more material:
First, Russell's "scheme" published in The Time Is At Hand contradicts present Watchtower chronology in many details, so even biased apologists like you must admit that Russell's chronology was wrong. This is your first lie in your post.
Second, all knowledgeable students of Watchtower history know that the Watchtower Society has published various "prophetic dates" that were supposed to have been fulfillments of one Bible prophecy or another. Every date has proved to be wrong. Some such dates are: 1799, 1874, 1878, 1881, 1914, 1918, 1925, 1941, 1975 and 2000. The fact that a group of self-proclaimed "Bible scholars" has gotten every important date wrong proves that their pronouncements about many other aspects of "Bible chronology" are at best to be taken with a large grain of salt and at worst to be rejected as nonsense.
Third, the 1923 Watchtower article "A Clear Vision of Chronology" (which appeared beginning on page 195 of the July 1, 1923 issue; your putrid scholarship is once again evident in your failure to provide sufficient references) contains many dates that the Watchtower Society today rejects. Here is a small partial list:
536 B.C.: listed as the first year of Cyrus (p. 195); the accepted date is 538 (539 is Cyrus' accession year)
536 B.C.: listed as the year when "Cyrus became sole ruler" of the Medes and Persians and Babylon (p. 196); the accepted accession year of Cyrus is 539 B.C. and the Watchtower also accepts this today.
536 B.C.: listed as "the close of the seventy years of 'desolation of the land,' usually termed the seventy years of captivity" (p. 195); current Watchtower teaching puts this in 537 B.C.
606 B.C.: listed as the beginning of "the seventy years of desolation" and "the seventy years of captivity" of the Jews (p. 195); current Watchtower teaching puts this in 607 B.C.
Because all of Watchtower chronology prior to the 1st century A.D. was built on these wrong dates, the entire structure was wrong. Since the entire structure was wrong, the problems with various details are unimportant.
Interestingly, and in the Watchtower Society's usual bloated manner that oozes self-importance, this 1923 WT article stated in the first paragraph:
After the apostles fell asleep chronology was little noticed until about "the time of the end." As the time drew near for the setting up of the kingdom, God began to arouse some of his servants to the time-features of his plan, that the church might not be in darkness, as stated by the Apostle.--1 Thessalonians 5:1-8: (W23 7/1 195)
The way Rutherford and his cohorts brought God into the mess they made of biblical and secular chronology is diagnostic of their cult mindset. The way their successors rejected much of their "chronology" proves that they had it all wrong.
Below I list some quotations from the book Jehovah's Witnesses: Proclaimers of God's Kingdom taken from the Watchtower Library on CDROM. These prove that pre-1943 Watchtower chronology must be rejected by present-day Jehovah's Witnesses:
*** jv 78 7 Advertise the King and the Kingdom! (1919-1941) ***
"Unrealized Hopes Are Not Unique to Our Day"
"We may confidently expect," stated the booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die, back in 1920, "that 1925 will mark the return [from the dead] of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old . . . to the condition of human perfection." Not only was the resurrection of faithful men of old expected in 1925 but some hoped that anointed Christians might receive their heavenly reward in that year.*
. . .
* See Chapter 28, "Testing and Sifting From Within."
*** jv 163 12 The Great Crowd to Live in Heaven? Or on Earth? ***
After the Gentile Times ended, they thought that the time of restitution was very near; so from 1918 down till 1925, they proclaimed: "Millions now living will never die." Yes, they understood that people then living-mankind in general-had the opportunity to survive right into the time of restitution and that they would then be educated in Jehovah?s requirements for life.
*** jv 425 22 Part 2-Witnesses to the Most Distant Part of the Earth ***
What an exciting message they proclaimed-"Millions now living will never die!" Brother Rutherford had given a discourse on this subject in 1918. It was also the title of a 128-page booklet published in 1920. From 1920 through 1925, that same subject was featured again and again around the world in public meetings in all areas where speakers were available and in upwards of 30 languages.
*** jv 632-3 28 Testing and Sifting From Within ***
In the lecture "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," delivered by J. F. Rutherford on March 21, 1920, at the Hippodrome in New York City, attention was directed to the year 1925. On what basis was it thought to be significant? In a booklet published in that same year, 1920, it was pointed out that if 70 full Jubilees were calculated from what was understood to be the date when Israel entered the Promised Land (instead of starting after the last typical Jubilee before the Babylonian exile and then counting to the beginning of the Jubilee year at the end of the 50th cycle), this could point to the year 1925. On the basis of what was said there, many hoped that perhaps the remaining ones of the little flock would receive their heavenly reward by 1925. This year also was associated with expectations for resurrection of faithful pre-Christian servants of God with a view to their serving on earth as princely representatives of the heavenly Kingdom. If that really occurred, it would mean that mankind had entered an era in which death would cease to be master, and millions then living could have the hope of never dying off the earth. What a happy prospect! Though mistaken, they eagerly shared it with others.
Later on, during the years from 1935 through 1944, a review of the overall framework of Bible chronology revealed that a poor translation of Acts 13:19, 20 in the King James Version, along with certain other factors, had thrown off the chronology by over a century. This later led to the idea-sometimes stated as a possibility, sometimes more firmly-that since the seventh millennium of human history would begin in 1975, events associated with the beginning of Christ?s Millennial Reign might start to take place then.
Did the beliefs of Jehovah?s Witnesses on these matters prove to be correct? They certainly did not err in believing that God would without fail do what he had promised. But some of their time calculations and the expectations that they associated with these gave rise to serious disappointments.
So the cult that now calls itself Jehovah's Witnesses predicted a number of momentous events for 1925, none of which occurred. What was the basis for their predictions? A mistaken notion of Bible chronology based on faulty interpretations of secular and biblical material.
What about interpretations of past events? Have the interpretations of JWs been perfect, as one would expect if they were the result of God's revealing "these confidential matters" to "his servants the prophets"? Of course not. Here is an example:
A chart in the 1997 edition of Walter Martin's Kingdom of the Cults lists a Watchtower teaching as (p. 133), "Christ's 'Invisible Presence' begins in 1874 (later changed to 1914)." The supporting quote is from "The Harp of God, 236, 239-240" and it says: "The time of the Lord's second presence dates from 1874. . . . From 1874 forward is the latter part of the period of 'the time of the end.' From 1874 is the time of the Lord's second presence."
Here are some quotations about the year 1874 taken from "Watchtower Library" on CDROM:
*** w74 8/15 506-7 No Spiritual "Energy Crisis" for Discreet Ones ***
In the 1870?s, however, a small group of men not affiliated with Christendom?s sects began studying the Bible at Pittsburgh (Allegheny), Pennsylvania. Among them was Charles Taze Russell. They learned that Christ would return as a spirit and that this would begin an invisible presence made manifest by visible evidences.
. . .
In 1877, Russell joined Nelson H. Barbour in publishing the book Three Worlds, and the Harvest of This World. It indicated that the end of the Gentile Times in 1914 would be preceded by a forty-year period to open with a three-and-a-half-year harvest beginning in 1874 C.E. According to Bible chronology thereafter adopted, it was understood that 6,000 years of man?s existence on earth ended in 1872, whereas six millenniums of human sin concluded and the seventh millennium began in 1874. Christ?s presence was thought to have begun in October 1874, at the start of the great antitypical Jubilee.-Lev. chap. 25; Rev. 20:4.*
From that understanding, it was thought that the "chaste virgin" class began going forth to meet the Bridegroom in 1874. (2 Cor. 11:2) Hence, when C. T. Russell began publishing a new religious magazine in July 1879, it was called "Zion?s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ?s Presence." It was heralding Christ?s presence as having begun in 1874. This invisible presence was expected to continue until the Gentile Times ended in 1914, when the Gentile nations would be destroyed and the remnant of the "chaste virgin" class would be glorified with their Bridegroom in heaven by death and resurrection to live in the spirit.
[Footnotes]
* Man?s creation was placed in 4128 and sin?s entrance in 4126 B.C.E. Such chronology followed an incorrect manuscript rendering of Acts 13:20 in The Emphatic Diaglott, which said that God gave Israel judges "about four hundred fifty years, till Samuel the prophet." A footnote stated that this was at variance with 1 Kings 6:1, where the Hebrew letter daleth (thought to represent the number 4) supposedly had been mistaken for the similar character he (5). Hence, it was suggested that 580 (not 480) years elapsed between Israel?s exodus from Egypt and the time that Solomon began building Jehovah?s temple. But the oldest manuscripts spell out all numbers. So a transcriber?s visual error could not have occurred at 1 Kings 6:1, which gives this period correctly as 480 years. This harmonizes with a correct reading of Acts 13:20, which indicates that the period of "about four hundred and fifty years" there mentioned preceded the era of the Judges.
In 1943 the Watch Tower Society?s book "The Truth Shall Make You Free" did away with the nonexistent extra 100 years in the period of the Judges and placed the end of 6,000 years of man?s existence in the 1970?s. It also fixed the beginning of Christ?s presence, not in 1874, but in 1914 C.E.
This last footnote attempts to explain why JWs had their basic Bible chronology wrong until 1943 -- they used "an incorrect manuscript rendering of Acts 13:20 in The Emphatic Diaglott". Now, The Emphatic Diaglott is a rather obscure New Testament translation first published in full form in 1864, and it is based on an 1805 NT manuscript by Dr. J. J. Griesbach. The text of Acts 13:20 in Griesbach's NT text follows that in the Textus Receptus, which is the basis for the King James Version. Now, according to the Proclaimers book, the problematic text was not based on the Emphatic Diaglott, but upon the KJV itself, so it's evident that the Proclaimers book contradicts what the above 1974 WT claimed:
*** jv 632-3 28 Testing and Sifting From Within ***
Later on, during the years from 1935 through 1944, a review of the overall framework of Bible chronology revealed that a poor translation of Acts 13:19, 20 in the King James Version,* along with certain other factors, had thrown off the chronology by over a century.*[Footnotes]
* Compare the rendering in The Emphasised Bible, translated by J. B. Rotherham; see also the footnote on Acts 13:20 in the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures-With References.* See "The Truth Shall Make You Free," chapter XI; "The Kingdom Is at Hand," pages 171-5; also The Golden Age, March 27, 1935, pages 391, 412. In the light of these corrected tables of Bible chronology, it could be seen that previous use of the dates 1873 and 1878, as well as related dates derived from these on the basis of parallels with first-century events, were based on misunderstandings.
The above quotations are sufficient to prove my earlier statements:
[Watchtower leaders] never were able to present such "an intelligent, cohererent list of kings" until the 1940s, when Freddie Franz jettisoned a good bit of the older teachings, swept various problems under the rug, and presented a whitewashed version of "chronology" that simply ignored the problems that real scholars have long been concerned with...
One example of the incorrect older chronological claims involves the question of whether there was a period of 430 or 530 years in a critical area of their claimed OT chronology. According to Freddie, it was the former number, whereas the Watchtower had been using the latter number until Freddie changed the teaching. Since the chronology was wrong by 100 years -- by the Watchtower Society's own admission in changing it -- your claim is demonstrated to be false. And you know that it's false, which simply proves once again that you're a liar.
So that we know what we are talking about, here are parts of Acts 13:19, 20 from the three Bible translations of interest:
KJV: "19 And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Chanaan, He divided their land to them by lot. 20 And after that He gave unto them judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet."
Emphatic Diaglott (1864 edition): "and having cast out seven Nations in the Land of Canaan, he distributed their LAND to them by Lot. 20 And after these things, he gave Judges about four hundred and fifty Years, till Samuel the PROPHET."
New World Translation: "After destroying seven nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed the land of them by lot: 20 all that during about four hundred and fifty years. And after these things he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet."
Apparently it was the transposition of the phrase "four hundred and fifty years" from a position after the phrase "after these things he gave them judges until Samuel" to a position before it that caused the incorrect rendering based on the older NT manuscripts.
But now we must ask, were the NT texts used for the KJV and Emphatic Diaglott the only ones available for an accurate rendering of Acts 13:20 when Charles Taze Russell and others of "the faithful slave" first published their Bible chronology in 1877? Or until 1943, when they "corrected" their chronology? A little bit of research shows that the answer is, No. In fact, by 1881, when Westcott and Hort published their authoritative revised Greek text, several other more correct texts had been around for quite some time. At the website at http://www.bible-researcher.com/acts1-14.html , which is titled "Textual Criticism of the Greek New Testament", the following information can be found at various links:
English Guide to the Various Readings. A complete collation of Greek readings adopted by Stephens, Beza, Elzevir, Griesbach, Lachmann, Tischendorf, Tregelles, Alford, Wordsworth, Westcott & Hort, Nestle-Aland, and Hodges & Farstad, compared with the text underlying the King James Version. Acts 13:20. Transpose "by lot. (20) And after that he gave [unto them] judges about the space of four hundred and fifty years" to "by lot (20) about the space of four hundred and fifty years. And after that he gave". L T Tr W WH N NAThe Format of the CollationCitation of Editors. The editions represented in the collation are referred to by the following abbreviations. For detailed information on these editions see the corresponding articles in the Bibliography.S Stephens 1550 (Estienne 1550)
E Elzevir 1624
G Griesbach 1805
L Lachmann 1842
T Tischendorf 1869
Tr Tregelles 1857
A Alford 1849 as revised in 1871
W Wordsworth 1856 as revised in 1870
WH Westcott & Hort 1881
NA Nestle-Aland 1979 (Aland et al. 1979)
Actually, Konstantin Tischendorf published as early as 1862.
In any case, here we find that five different NT texts were published by 1881 that contained the corrected reading of Acts 13:20.
Based on the above manuscripts, here are some of the earliest Bible translations that came out based on these revised texts:
Rotherham's New Testament, 1872, based on Tregelles' text
The English Revised New Testament, 1881, various
The American Standard Version, 1901, various
So once again it's obvious that more than enough solid Bible scholarship was available that God, if he so chose, would surely have caused his representatives, "the faithful slave", to take advantage of. Astute JWs might might wonder why God did not choose to do so until 1943, but I don't wonder at all.
Let us continue with quotations about 1874:
*** w55 1/1 4-8 Part 1: Early Voices (1870-1878) ***
EARLY HAPPENINGS (1870-1878)
Gradually ?called out of darkness into God?s wonderful light!? That briefly describes the modern history of Jehovah?s witnesses as they advanced out of the darkness of Babylonish religious thinking toward increased restorations of new Bible truths.
. . .
Russell became a joint editor along with Barbour for The Herald of the Morning. The Pittsburgh group on Russell?s initiative agreed to finance a small printing place in Rochester for the joint printing undertakings. It was also decided to publish a bound book containing their joint views, the work being completed by 1877. The 194-page publication was entitled "Three Worlds or Plan of Redemption," by Barbour and Russell as joint authors. During this time Russell at the age of twenty-five began to sell out his business interests and went full time into the preaching work, going from city to city to talk to various gatherings of the public, on the streets and, Sundays, in Protestant churches, where he could arrange such with the clergy.This book set forth their belief that Christ?s second presence began invisibly in the fall of 1874 and thereby commenced a forty-year harvest period. Then, remarkably accurately, they set forth the year 1914 as the end of the Gentile times.-Luke 21:24."Hence, it was in B.C. 606, that God?s kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2520 years from B.C. 606 will end in A.D. 1914, or forty years from 1874; and this forty years upon which we have now entered is to be such ?a time of trouble as never was since there was a nation.? And during this forty years, the kingdom of God is to be set up (but not in the flesh, ?the natural first and afterwards the spiritual?), the Jews are to be restored, the Gentile kingdoms broken in pieces ?like a potter?s vessel,? and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdoms of our Lord and his Christ, and the judgment age introduced."-Three Worlds or Plan of Redemption, pp. 83, 189.*** jv 47 5 Proclaiming the Lord's Return (1870-1914) ***
"Resolved Upon a Vigorous Campaign for the Truth"
C. T. Russell was a man of positive convictions. Convinced that Christ?s invisible presence had begun, he was determined to proclaim it to others. He later said: "The knowledge of the fact that we were already in the harvest period gave to me an impetus to spread the Truth such as I never had before. I therefore at once resolved upon a vigorous campaign for the Truth." Russell now decided to curtail his business interests so as to devote himself to preaching.To counteract wrong views regarding the Lord?s return, Russell wrote the pamphlet The Object and Manner of Our Lord?s Return. It was published in 1877. That same year Barbour and Russell jointly published Three Worlds, and the Harvest of This World. This 196-page book discussed the subjects of restitution and Biblical time prophecies. Though each subject had been treated by others before, in Russell?s view this book was "the first to combine the idea of restitution with time-prophecy." It presented the view that Jesus Christ?s invisible presence dated from the autumn of 1874.
Obviously, merely being "a man of convictions" is no guarantee that the convictions are right. In Russell's case, they were dead wrong.
Next we have yet another postive proof that my basic claim that Watchtower chronology was wrong until at least 1943 -- by its own admission -- is correct.
*** sl 287 16 Awaiting the "New Heavens and a New Earth" ***
According to an inaccurate chronology that had been worked out from the King James Authorized Version Bible, Russell calculated that Christ?s "presence" had begun in the year 1874 C.E., unseen to human eyes and seen only by the eye of faith. This was why, when he began publishing a new religious magazine in defense of the ransom sacrifice of Jesus Christ, Russell entitled it "Zion?s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ?s Presence." However, events on earth since the end of the "appointed times of the [Gentile] nations" have been fulfilling Bible prophecy and prove that the promised "presence" or parousia of Christ in Kingdom power began first about October 4/5, 1914 C.E. Only since then has it been correct to speak of the invisible, royal "presence" of Christ as being in effect.
*** ka 206-11 11 "Here Is the Bridegroom!" ***
THE CORRECTING OF A MISUNDERSTANDING
48 It is true that the editor and publisher of Zion?s Watch Tower and Herald of Christ?s Presence calculated that the "presence" or parousia of the heavenly Bridegroom began in the year 1874 C.E. Also, that the date of the first man?s creation by Jehovah God was in the year 4128 B.C.E., which meant that six thousand years of man?s existence on the earth ended in the year 1872 C.E., as calculated by Russell and his associates. . . This meant that the year of the start of Christ?s reign was also the year of his return and the beginning of his invisible presence or parousia.. . .
54 The insertion of 100 years into Bible chronology during the period of the Judges is thus seen not to rest upon Scriptural grounds. The insertion should therefore be dropped and the Bible should be accepted just as it reads concerning its chronology. Unavoidably, then, this would affect the date for the parousia of the Bridegroom Jesus Christ to begin. With the Watch Tower magazine?s issue of January 1, 1939, the title was changed to The Watchtower and Herald of Christ?s Kingdom, and with the issue of March 1, 1939, to The Watchtower Announcing Jehovah?s Kingdom. This did not mean that the publishers of the magazine no longer believed in the presence or parousia of Christ as being then in progress. It meant, rather, that more importance was given to the Kingdom, to the kingdom of Jehovah God by Jesus Christ, for it is Jehovah?s kingdom by Christ that will vindicate Jehovah?s universal sovereignty.55 In the year 1943 the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society published the book "The Truth Shall Make You Free." In its chapter 11, entitled "The Count of Time," it did away with the insertion of 100 years into the period of the Judges and went according to the oldest and most authentic reading of Acts 13:20, and accepted the spelled-out numbers of the Hebrew Scriptures. This moved forward the end of six thousand years of man?s existence into the decade of the 1970?s. Naturally this did away with the year 1874 C.E. as the date of return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the beginning of his invisible presence or parousia.*** w55 2/1 94 Questions from Readers ***
Jehovah?s witnesses from 1877 up to and including the publishing of "The Truth Shall Make You Free" of 1943 considered 536 B.C. as the year for the return of the Jews to Palestine, basing their calculations for the fall of Babylon on secular histories that were inaccurate, not up to date on archaeological evidences. This meant that Jeremiah?s seventy years of desolation for Jerusalem ran back from 536 B.C. to 606 B.C., instead of more correctly as now known from 537 B.C. to 607 B.C.
I want to point out that this last quotation tells a lie. The red portion implies that the Watchtower Society had no choice but to base "their calculations for the fall of Babylon on secular histories that were inaccurate", but I've shown above that accurate secular histories were certainly available even before C. T. Russell began his career.
Once again it is obvious that the writings of fallible men are often wrong. The JW teaching about 1874 was wrong because the "faithful slave" entertained mistaken notions about secular information, and completely misinterpreted many biblical passages.
The above material shows an interesting fact: Because Jehovah's Witnesses taught that 1874 was the beginning of Christ's "second presence" from 1877 through 1943, and only from 1943 onward have they taught that this "second presence" began in 1914, we can see that for more than half their history they had a mistaken idea about a major theological teaching. Where was the guiding hand of God in this?
Equally noteworthy is the fact that, for more than half their history, they taught that their most-important date for the destruction of Jerusalem was not their presently-accepted date of 607, but 606 B.C. Note the following material from "Watchtower Library":
*** w55 1/1 8 Part 1: Early Voices (1870-1878) ***
This book set forth their belief that Christ?s second presence began invisibly in the fall of 1874 and thereby commenced a forty-year harvest period. Then, remarkably accurately, they set forth the year 1914 as the end of the Gentile times.-Luke 21:24."Hence, it was in B.C. 606, that God?s kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2520 years from B.C. 606 will end in A.D. 1914, or forty years from 1874. . .
Note that the teaching was wrong even with respect to simple arithmetic: from 606 B.C. to A.D. 1914 is 2,519 years, not 2,520. I'm sure that God can do simple arithmetic. Again we must ask: Where is the guiding hand of God in this? Can God not guide "the faithful slave" to avoid simple arithmetic errors? How about to avoid using inaccurate secular histories? Or inaccurate Bible translations? Especially when accurate secular histories and Bible translations were available around the time Jehovah's Witnesses claim to have gotten started?
The fact that accurate secular histories were available is proved by reference to A Dictionary of the Bible, originally published by William Smith, LL.D., in 1847. I have an old copy (the publishing date is missing, but a handwritten note in the front cover says "Xmas 1884"), in which the following B.C. dates can be found for some critical biblical events:
<code>
Event Smith's Bible Dictionary Current Secular
Battle of Carchemish 605 605
Nebuchadnezzar's 1st year 604 604
Jehoiachin's deportation 597 597
Jerusalem's destruction 586 587/6
Babylon's fall 539 539
Cyrus' 1st year 538 538
Cyrus' decree 536 538/537
</code>
Five out of six right is not bad. And of course, other historical works put Cyrus' decree in 538 or 537. Surely God could have directed Charles Taze Russell and the other members of "the faithful slave" to Smith's Bible Dictionary and any other resources necessary to get a major theological doctrine correct. The fact that much of the chronology that these men came up with in the 1870s has been thrown away proves that God had nothing to do with it in the first place.
What about the significance of 1914? Note the following:
*** w52 5/1 260-1 1914 a Marked Year! ***
2 This startling proclamation of global importance was actually begun to be published by Jehovah?s witnesses some 37 years before the marked year of 1914. It was in 1877 that Charles T. Russell, the first president of the Watchtower Society of Jehovah?s witnesses, as a coauthor of the book The Three Worlds, explained in this book the Bible chronology of this date. "The seventy years? captivity ended in the first year of Cyrus, which was B.C. 536. They therefore commenced seventy years before, or B.C. 606. Hence, it was in B.C. 606, that God?s kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2,520 years from B.C. 606 will end in 1914. . . . ?Jerusalem must be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled,? (Luke 21:24) hence, trodden down until A.D. 1914 when the resurrection and return of the ?whole house of Israel? is due."-Pp. 83, 165.3 The Watchtower magazine itself as far back as 1880 showed the importance of this year of destined change in earthly control. "It has often been shown that this is the basis and key of the Times of the Gentiles (Luke 21:24), or the duration of Gentile rule over Jerusalem. A time is a year; a prophetic year is 360 common years. . . . seven times are 2,520 years. From B.C. 606, where the desolation of Jerusalem began, 2,520 years reach to A.D. 1914." "?The Times of the Gentiles? extend to 1914, and the heavenly kingdom will not have full sway till then."-Zion?s Watch Tower, June, 1880, and March, 1880.*** w52 5/1 271 Determining the Year by Fact and Bible ***
21 At this point some will inquire why Charles T. Russell in 1877 used the date 606 B.C. for the fall of Jerusalem whereas The Watchtower of late years has been using 607 B.C. This is because, in the light of modern scholarship, two slight errors were discovered to have been made which cancel each other out and make for the same result, namely, 1914. Concerning the first error,Russell and others considered 1 B.C. to A.D. 1 as being two years whereas in fact this is only one year because, as has been said above, there is no "zero" year in the B.C.-A.D. system for counting years. "The Christian era began, not with no year, but with a 1st year."-The Westminster Dictionary of the Bible, p. 102.
What? The God who is supposed to be guiding "the faithful slave" neglected to account for the simple fact that there is no "zero year" between 1 B.C. and 1 A.D.? Is it not evident that God played no part in coming up with the figures that were published?
I should also point out the ridiculously poor reasoning shown in the last of the above quotations. It claims that the reason that Russell used the wrong date of 606 was that "two slight errors were discovered to have been made which cancel each other out and make for the same result." Wha? Run that by me again! Really, it's only thoroughly braindead cult members who could possibly accept such bullshit. Let the Watchtower bovine excrement spraying continue:
22 The second error had to do with not beginning the count of the 2,520 years at the right point in view of historic facts and circumstances. Almost all early Bible chronology ties in with secular history at the year 539 B.C., in which year the fall of Babylon to Darius and Cyrus of the Medes and the Persians occurred. In late years several cuneiform tablets have been discovered pertaining to the fall of Babylon which peg both Biblical and secular historic dates. The one tablet known as the "Nabunaid Chronicle" gives the date for the fall of Babylon which specialists have ascertained as being October 12-13, 539 B.C., Julian Calendar, or October 6-7, 539 B.C., according to our present Gregorian Calendar. This tablet also says that Cyrus made his triumphant entry into Babylon 16 days after its fall to his army. Thus his accession year commenced in October, 539 B.C. However, in another cuneiform tablet called "Strassmaier, Cyrus No. 11" Cyrus? first regnal year is mentioned and was determined to have begun March 17-18, 538 B.C., and to have concluded March 4-5, 537 B.C. It was in this first regnal year of Cyrus that he issued his decree to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple. (Ezra 1:1) The decree may have been made in late 538 B.C. or before March 4-5, 537 B.C.
As shown above, proper secular history was a good deal more accurate in 1877 than Russell was, and it took another 66 years for the Watchtower Society to catch up.
*** re 105 18 Earthquakes in the Lord's Day ***
[Box on page 105]
1914 Foreseen"It was in B.C. 606, that God?s kingdom ended, the diadem was removed, and all the earth given up to the Gentiles. 2520 years from B.C. 606, will end in A.D. 1914."-The Three Worlds, published in 1877, page 83.
"The Bible evidence is clear and strong that the ?Times of the Gentiles? is a period of 2520 years, from the year B.C. 606 to and including A.D. 1914."-Studies in the Scriptures, Volume 2, written by C. T. Russell and published in 1889, page 79.
Charles Taze Russell and his fellow Bible students realized decades earlier that 1914 would mark the end of the Gentile Times, or the appointed times of the nations. (Luke 21:24) While they did not in those early days fully understand what this would mean, they were convinced that 1914 was going to be a pivotal date in world history, and they were right. Notice the following newspaper quotation:
"The terrific war outbreak in Europe has fulfilled an extraordinary prophecy. For a quarter of a century past, through preachers and through press, the ?International Bible Students,? best known as ?Millennial Dawners,? have been proclaiming to the world that the Day of Wrath prophesied in the Bible would dawn in 1914. ?Look out for 1914!? has been the cry of the hundreds of traveling evangelists."-The World, a New York newspaper, August 30, 1914.*** re 105 18 Earthquakes in the Lord's Day ***
4 From the mid-1870?s, Jehovah?s people had been anticipating that catastrophic events would start in 1914 and would mark the end of the Gentile Times. This is the period of "seven times" (2,520 years) running from the overthrow of the Davidic kingdom in Jerusalem in 607 B.C.E. to Jesus? enthronement in heavenly Jerusalem in 1914 C.E.-Daniel 4:24, 25; Luke 21:24, King James Version.*** re 105 18 Earthquakes in the Lord's Day ***
[Footnotes]
Providentially, those Bible Students had not realized that there is no zero year between "B.C." and "A.D." Later, when research made it necessary to adjust B.C. 606 to 607 B.C.E., the zero year was also eliminated, so that the prediction held good at "A.D. 1914."-See "The Truth Shall Make You Free," published by the Watch Tower Society in 1943, page 239.
I will let the reader cogitate on the many ridiculous claims made in the above quotations. In any case, the above bolded statement beginning with providentially is a good example of how someone can argue circularly. For obvious reasons the 1914 date must be maintained at all costs, so whatever mistakes were made along the way must have been "providential". Thus, this statement, in effect claims that God caused "the faithful slave" to make their error with respect to there being no zero year. I will again leave the reader to ponder the logic of this claim.
In view of the above information, it's pretty obvious that the most notorious claim of the leaders of Jehovah's Witnesses, namely, that this so-called "faithful slave" that they call themselves, have a goodly share of "divine guidance", along with the parallel claim that no other Christians have a similar measure of guidance, does not stand up under careful examination. In other words, these men are at best steeped in self-deception and at worst, out and out liars.
So, Unscholar, in view of the above proofs, it's evident that your faith in Watchtower leaders is highly misplaced, and your claim that they've presented a consistent biblical chronology is a lie.
: Is it not about time that you put up a chronology of the Old and New Testament? You cannot and neither can an any other critics of WT chronology.
No, and I already explained why: you can't get a coherent chronology out of such a mess. And as proved above, the Watchtower Society certainly has never gotten it right either.
AlanF
