1914 came out of the demented mind of a pedophile named Charles Taze Russell who founded an apocalyptic religion known as International Bible Students Association which morphed into the modern-day mind controlling apocalyptic cult known as 'Joe Hoba's Witnesses.'
Where did the year "1914" come from???
by Donkey Lipz 18 Replies latest jw friends
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jaffacake
1914 didn't come from Russell. Below is a bit of my long & boring post above.
However, the details of the origins of the 1914 date were published by outside sources in 10 years later (1983). As a result, the Watchtower Society then formally acknowledged the calculation had originated with Brown in 1823 (50 years before Russell appeared on the scene).
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joenobody
Hey quotes - thanks for pointing out that tiny tidbit about August/October. It's a pretty important detail for those that try to say "well SOMETHING significant happened that year".
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jaffacake
Just smiling to myself to remember old Watchtower quotes:
eg when they said 1914 was proved, because not only could you calculate that from Daniel, but CT Russell had personally measured the main passage in the Great Pyramid at Giza, Egypt whicc measured the same number of yards. A match of different sources was proof indeed. Russell said the pyramids were inspired by God. But then Rutherford said they were the work of the Devil.
You'd think the Watchtower would at least know the difference between God and Satan. Faithful & discreet indeed.
I'm laughing out loud now as I remember another date prediction based on the measured distance to walk between the main Bethel HQ to the printing presses.
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garybuss
http://www.heraldmag.org/olb/bsl/Library/Russell/3Worlds/3worlds.pdf
Three Worlds p. 83
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. 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." -
Quotes
joenobody:
Yup, that is an important point. Even if you accept the New Light doctrine, and can dismiss all of the many, MANY misses in predictions, what you are left with, the "Current Light" still does not fit the facts.
They say WWI was the *RESULT* of Satan's arrival on earth. Then how did this *RESULT* occurr three months *BEFORE* his arrival?
The other JW thing that bugs me: they try to say that WWI "came out of nowhere, was a complete surprise, seemingly without cause". What total and utter Bovine Excrement. There were *TWO* Balkan Wars (not one, but *TWO*) just a couple of years before WWI. The entire region was unstable; as it has been for centuries. That is why one assasin's bullet could start yet another war. It wasn't Satan the Debil, it was centuries old land disputes.
WT would have us beleive that prior to August 1914, all of Europe was A Paradise(tm), with calm, smiley, happy people. Compleletly untrue. Just tour the warm museum of any Balkan country (I've been to the Romanian war museum in Bucharest). You will quickly realize that prior to 1914 was not only bad, it was arguably WORSE than post-1914.
This is another reason why Watchtower doesn't want people going to college: a rudimentary introduction to history destroys their lies.
~Quotes, of the "Lies, Damn Lies, and Present Truth" class -
confusedjw
Russell = Bill Gates ...Russell was just better at marketing than the Adventists, like Gates was better than Steve Jobs.
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The Leological One
Other Christians were sure the date was false, simply because of Christ?s teachings. However, an invisible presence was, and is, a difficult thing for Christians to disprove.
Hi Jaffa! Thanks for all the info. I would also agree to say Jesus' invisible presence is hard to 100% refute, but in this case there is so much of an overwhelming tide going against the prophecy being true, i.e. all the other failed prophecies (Why would this one -- that one that's impossible to prove happened or didn't happen be the only correct one?), the scriptures where Jesus said not to be fooled by any man that says Jesus is in various places or in a "secret chamber" (like nobody can see him = invisible), the rest of what was supposed to happen in 1914 did not occur, etc., that the onus should be on the WT to prove it is true.
This next part also helps promote the idea that the 1914 date is not prophetic but was certainly hoped for as being that way by the early WT (and apparently another group or two).
By the mid 1930s the official dates for key events were moved up as follows:
I can't knock only the WT for having false predictions and prophecies, but I do know the Bible says not to fear a false prophet, so I stopped listening to a couple Christian groups that predicted (if I remember correctly) October of '89 (by various calculations, as well) as being the time of the rapture, for instance. I would do the same if I had previously believed the WT's predictions/prophecies.Start of last days
17991914Christ?s presence
18741914Christ?s kingdom?s active rule
18781914Beginning of resurrection
18781918 -
heathen
What's more interesting is that the WTBTS is the only source that concludes the babylonian captivity started in 607 bce where as archeologists believe it was 587 bce. There is alot of twisted logic in their interpretation of how the events unfolded invisibly . They believe christ returned in kingdom power in 1914 invisibly and will rule the earth from heaven from then until the thousand year reign ends . They claim even the angel that told the apostles that jesus would return the same way he left means he will only come as far as the clouds and not all the way to earth .They even like to throw in Revelation 11:15 for good measure . The nations persecuting the church are being wrathful against God .It's all argumentative but they seem very firm in their assertions . They do actually exspect people to be masters at suspending disbelief with all this dogma .