Apologies if this has been asked before, but.... When I was growing up into the fabulously handsome critter I am nowadays, I always remember talk of the Great Tribulation that would not only befall mankind but overtake this system of things in the near future. In fact one of my earliest memories was standing in a queue that seemed to go on for miles (I was only 7) outside with my mum and aunt/cousins at a cinema to see StarWars, so I reckon it must have been 1977 and listening to them talk of it. Anyway I digress, What and when exactly is the "Great Tribulation" according to JW beliefs.
I always understood it to be a period of time when it would be like a culmination of earthquakes and pestillance and all that Matthew stuff, Peace and Security being called and Governments turning against religion and finally JWs, then Armageddon coming.(again according to JW beliefs) What I don't understand is, are we according to that belief living in the great tribulation now, or is it something in the future to come?
I realise that many of you don't even subscribe to any of the above anymore, but what is the latest WT explanation?Are we "in" the great tribulation now, or is it still yet to come?. I asked a similar question on a JW board on beliefnet a while back and didn't really get a understandable reply.
I always thought the GT started when the UN and nations started to turn against religious orgs, most especially persecution of JWs in particular..but then again one shouldn't expect every JW to have the same idea about the GT now would they?
Thats just what I thought Valis, but I chat to a few JWs online and some say the GT has already begun, others say it is a future event. I just wondered what the official WT version is.
Don't be so abrasive, I'm just asking if anyone here knows what the official WT teaching is nowadays. If I want to go to a meeting to find out, you can be sure I will. In the meantime I'll ask here. Good to see you again
I would imagine for the average dub every time they go to the door and someone tells them to bugger off it is a sign of the GT....They would really think GT if they were made to pay taxes on their expensive Brooklyn property....ehe
I believe the Watchtower now teaches that the Great Tribulation is yet in the future. This is, though, like so much of their "light" a change from their previous "light" which I believe was that the Tribulation started sometime in the early 20th century and was interrupted allowing the sheep and goats to be sort out. But in the 90's that was all put to ashes and came out a new bird.
I guess a guy could buy their CD that runs just a little under a hundred bucks. It answers to more stuff than you can shake a stick at. Think about it...just knowing what signals the Great Tribulation is worth the money just by itself.
