I think it's kind of funny. How do they explain more people this year than lasts? I thought the number was suppose to get lower as they died off? If someone fell away then someone would replace them that is 1 for 1 an even swap. Do you think Jehovahs messed up on his count and thought he had 144,000 when he realized that he only had 143,395 and needed to add 5 more?
How does the society explain 5 more partakers at the Memorial?
by lv4fer 56 Replies latest jw friends
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lazyslob
Why would they explain? Who´s gonna ask? They´re not going to answer any apostate. And a good JW won´t ask.
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BrendaCloutier
Disfellowshipping. No?
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Wild_Thing
I think Jehovah was audited.
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95stormfront
They won't have to explain it to anyone.....a good JW would never asks or even pay much attention to those stats any further than their supposedly yearly increase as proof that their efforts are being blessed by their sock-puppet Jehovah.
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Wild_Thing
95stormfront,
I disagree that they do not pay any attention to the numbers. When I was still in ... we ALWAYS looked at the numbers because the smaller the number, the closer it was to armageddon! One year we were very excited when it appeared that 8 people had died! Sick, isn't it.
I agree that a "good JW" would never question it. If they did, they would rationalize it to death.
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Neo
The FDS confidently responds to your question:
*** w96 8/15 30-1 Questions From Readers ***
Questions From Readers
The reports for some years show that the number partaking of the Memorial emblems increased slightly. Does this suggest that many new ones are being anointed with holy spirit?
There is good reason to believe that the number of 144,000 anointed Christians was complete decades ago.
At Acts 2:1-4, we read about the first ones in that limited group: ?Now while the day of the festival of Pentecost was in progress they were all together at the same place, and suddenly there occurred from heaven a noise just like that of a rushing stiff breeze, and it filled the whole house in which they were sitting. And tongues as if of fire became visible to them and were distributed about, and one sat upon each one of them, and they all became filled with holy spirit and started to speak with different tongues, just as the spirit was granting them to make utterance.?
After that, Jehovah selected others, and he anointed them with his holy spirit. Thousands were added in the very early years of Christianity. At the Memorial celebration in our time, the speaker often calls attention to the apostle Paul?s words at Romans 8:15-17, which mention that the anointed ?receive a spirit of adoption as sons.? Paul added that the holy spirit they receive ?bears witness with their spirit, that they are God?s children, joint heirs with Christ.? Those who truly have this spirit-anointing know it with certainty. It is not a mere wish or a reflection of an emotional and unrealistic view of themselves.
We understand that this heavenly calling continued down through the centuries, though during the so-called Dark Ages, there may have been times when the number of anointed ones were very few. With the reestablishment of true Christianity near the end of the last century, more were called and chosen. But it seems that in the mid-1930?s, the full number of the 144,000 was basically completed. Thus there began to appear a group of loyal Christians with the earthly hope. Jesus termed such ?other sheep,? who unite in worship with the anointed as one approved flock.?John 10:14-16.
The facts over the decades reflect both the completion of the calling of the anointed and Jehovah?s blessing on the growing ?great crowd,? who hope to survive ?the great tribulation.? (Revelation 7:9, 14) For example, at the Memorial celebration in 1935, attended by 63,146, those partaking of the emblems in evidence of their profession to be anointed numbered 52,465. Thirty years later, or in 1965, the attendance was 1,933,089, while the partakers decreased to 11,550. Moving 30 years closer, in 1995 the attendance jumped to 13,147,201, but only 8,645 partook of the bread and the wine. (1 Corinthians 11:23-26) Clearly, as the decades passed, the number of those professing to be of the remnant greatly decreased?some 52,400 in 1935; 11,500 in 1965; 8,600 in 1995. However, those with earthly hopes have been blessed, and their number has increased abundantly.
The most recent published report is for the year 1995, and it shows 28 more partakers than in the preceding year though the ratio of partakers to those attending did actually drop. On balance, that a few more chose to partake of the emblems is no cause for concern. Over the years some, even ones newly baptized, have suddenly begun to partake. In a number of cases, after a while they acknowledged that this was an error. Some have recognized that they partook as an emotional response to perhaps physical or mental strain. But they came to see that they really were not called to heavenly life. They asked for God?s merciful understanding. And they continue to serve him as fine, loyal Christians, having the hope of everlasting life on earth.
There is no need for any of us to be concerned if a person begins to partake of the emblems or ceases to do so. It really is not up to us whether someone actually has been anointed with holy spirit and called to heavenly life or not. Recall Jesus? solid assurance: ?I am the fine shepherd, and I know my sheep.? Just as assuredly, Jehovah knows those whom he has chosen as spiritual sons. There is every reason to believe that the number of anointed ones will continue to decline as advanced age and unforeseen occurrences end their earthly lives. Yet, even as these truly anointed ones prove faithful till death, in line for the crown of life, the other sheep, who have washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb, can look forward to surviving the impending great tribulation.?2 Timothy 4:6-8; Revelation 2:10.
[Footnote]
See The Watchtower of March 15, 1965, pages 191-2.(Bold and underlining added)
Next year it will be 70 years since 1935. Simple math shows that almost every partaker at that time should have died by now. In face of that, how can the WT say: "some ... have suddenly begun to partake"? Actually, most of the 8,000 have begun to partake since 1935.
It is just a fake doctrine.
Neo
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MungoBaobab
Apparently, some have failed to properly discipline their young ones (Prov. 29:15). These young ones, unproperly trained, may have partaken of the emblems because they felt snacks were being offered. Or perhaps some older ones have misinterpreted the illustration of "the proper food at the proper time." (Matt. 24:45) Regardless, just because it seems as if another one of our doctrines has failed to come true, this does not make Jehovah's Witnesses false prophets.*
* See the book Jehovah's Witnesses- Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (published by the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society) for a whitewashed history of God's people in modern times.
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justhuman
it does not...exactly the way they explain 1914
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eyeslice
?I am the fine shepherd, and I know my sheep.?
Notice they do not complete the quotation .... "and my sheep know me". Also, as the fine shepherd, it is Jesus who knows the sheep; he does not need the WTB&TS to count them for him.
Eyeslice