1975 was raised briefly last night in the Service Meeting item from the Reasoning book.
However it is now 35 years ago. The younger members of the congregation don't remember it of course, the older members don't care.
George
1975 - Lest We Forget
by GetBusyLiving 92 Replies latest jw friends
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caliber
I remember all the hype leading up to 75, there was no time left for things like expanding your business or getting an education
Afterward (75 ) you heard things like those "running ahead of Jah"
There were demo's on the platform that would ask "Are you serving with only a date in view ? " It implies greediness and selfishness on the part of those members who later left the religion. (Farkel mentions this point ) I was there and remember people saying " no.. I'm serving with eternity in view "
It was a shifting of blame from the Wt to individual blame.. to even mention the subject made you appear to be one of these selfish ones !
It was a credibility issue not a time issue that was the real concern for most
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oldlightnewshite
I was 6 in 1975, but remember my mum frantically trying to give up smoking so she could get baptized and 'save' all us kids (we'd be sanctified by means of her, and not destroyed). Then after in 1976 they started spouting stuff about it was apostates within the org that promoted the thought of 1975 being the end of the 6,000 years. My mum has utterly wasted her life living a lie, indoctinated her kids good so that they have too, except for one that woke up. Who knows how much time she wasted bashing the paint off of folks' doors? She could've spent time with her kids, learned to love her husband instead of living a lie and despising him for not conforming to the JW$. An utterly wasted life and a waste of organs. A good message to any lurkers out there:-
Your Governing body has artfully airbrushed your religion's history. What you need to ask yourself is, 'what will I be doing in 30 years time?' Picture it with your mind's eye. My mum thought she'd be playing frisby with a tiger and eating tropical fruit in an alpine glade with a bunch of peruvians playing pan pipes.
For god's sake reach for the smelling salts and WAKE UP!
... oh and, happy anniversary, apostates!
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Ding
They were REALLY pushing the 1975 after the "Life Everlasting" book came out (1966).
I know.
I was there.
So were a lot of people on this forum.
After 1975 came and went, I asked an elder why anyone should believe the Society after what happened.
He said, "My service to Jehovah isn't tied to a date."
I said, "The whole organization was tied to that date, including you. If you had said in advance that nothing special would happen in 1975, you'd have been DFd!"
He walked out on me.
Copies of the WT publications hyping 1975 are available through www.freeminds.org.
If a JW says the 1975 date was the conconction of apostates, show him the literature and ask him if he's saying that Freddy Franz was an apostate!
How did all that stuff get into the Watchtower?
Doesn't the FDS / GB approve everything that's published in the WT and the books?
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Scarred for life
My mum thought she'd be playing frisby with a tiger and eating tropical fruit in an alpine glade with a bunch of peruvians playing pan pipes.
LOL! That's what I was taught, too . From birth. And it was all supposed to happen in the fall of 1975. Happy 35 year anniversary! I knew for sure that I had been lied to all my life at this time. I was 18 years old. Bastards!!!!!!!!
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VampireDCLXV
Drawing from my own personal experience, I knew practically nothing about what went on during that year. I was only 3 yrs old at the time. Maybe my mom knows but I wouldn't be surprised if she was kept in the dark; she was only studying at the time. I'm afraid to ask what she remembers...
V665
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miseryloveselders
I'm afraid to ask what she remembers...
I'm somewhat hesitant to bring this up to people who would remember that time frame. I wasn't born until a couple years after 75". Right now I can only think of a couple instances where I conversed with people about this. One brother showed me in an old publication how "some fell away after reading too far into it". I can't remember the book, and I can't remember if it briefly mentioned something about the parousia, or it was an article on the parousia, or what? I'm leary of asking him about it do to it raising suspicious. Another time I purposely mentioned the Parousia to an older somewhat kooky sister and asked her if she recalled 75". She stated that she did, but she sorta changed the subject. We were discussing this in field service doing door to door. And conversations during door to door can change like the wind.
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GrandmaJones
Oh yes, we were all looking for the system to end in 75. Most of us were terrified. Whoever feels like they have done enough? It was such a relief for it not to have happened that we collectively turned away from the experience.
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Listener
As a youngster I remember 1975. The GB at some point in that year went into panic mode and damage control.
There was a special gathering arranged in our State (Australia) and I believe they were being held throughout the world. It was very unusual as it was not an assembly and had been called at short notice. The gathering was held at a large sports arena and the talk was repeated several times. Each congregation was given an allotted time to attend and there were a number of congregations at each rerun. The talk went for an hour or two.
Leading up to this talk we were told that there was a misconception about the year 1975 and it needed to be clarified, there was also fears that there were apostates who were ready to cause problems due misunderstandings about 1975. Of course the talk was explaining how 1975 was not the start of Armageddon and this had never been taught but only misunderstood. Naturally we were told that this in no way dimished the need to feel an urgency about the last days. I do believe we were admonished about being careful on how we discussed this matter with others as there were already problems regarding apostates. I would love to see the script for this worldwide talk.
Does anyone else remember this special meeting being held?
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Listener
From the Watchtower 6.1.1968
Therefore, God’s seventh day and the time man has been on earth apparently run parallel. To calculate where man is in the stream of time relative to God’s seventh day of 7,000 years, we need to determine how long a time has elapsed from the year of Adam and Eve’s creation in 4026 B.C.E. From the autumn of that year to the autumn of 1 B.C.E., there would be 4,025 years. From the autumn of 1 B.C.E. to the autumn of 1 C.E. is one year (there was no zero year). From the autumn of 1 C.E. to the autumn of 1967 is a total of 1,966 years. Adding 4,025 and 1 and 1,966, we get 5,992 years from the autumn of 4026 B.C.E. to the autumn of 1967. Thus, eight years remain to account for a full 6,000 years of the seventh day. Eight years from the autumn of 1967 would bring us to the autumn of 1975, fully 6,000 years into God’s seventh day, his rest day.
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After 6,000 years of misery, toil, trouble, sickness and death under Satan’s rule, mankind is indeed in dire need of relief, a rest. The seventh day of the Jewish week, the sabbath, would well picture the final 1,000-year reign of God’s kingdom under Christ when mankind would be uplifted from 6,000 years of sin and death. (Rev. 20:6) Hence, when Christians note from God’s timetable the approaching end of 6,000 years of human history, it fills them with anticipation. Particularly is this true because the great sign of the “last days” has been in the course of fulfillment since the beginning of the “time of the end” in 1914. And, as Jesus said, “this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.” (Matt. 24:34) Some of the generation that discerned the beginning of the time of the end in 1914 will still be alive on earth to witness the end of this present wicked system of things at the battle of Armageddon.—Rev. 16:14, 16.7
The immediate future is certain to be filled with climactic events, for this old system is nearing its complete end. Within a few years at most the final parts of Bible prophecy relative to these “last days” will undergo fulfillment, resulting in the liberation of surviving mankind into Christ’s glorious 1,000-year reign. What difficult days, but, at the same time, what grand days are just ahead!8
Does this mean that the year 1975 will bring the battle of Armageddon? No one can say with certainty what any particular year will bring. Jesus said: “Concerning that day or the hour nobody knows.” (Mark 13:32) Sufficient is it for God’s servants to know for a certainty that, for this system under Satan, time is running out rapidly. How foolish a person would be not to be awake and alert to the limited time remaining, to the earthshaking events soon to take place, and to the need to work out one’s salvation!I guess 'a few years' is all relative.