Christ's Invisible presence in 1914 ?

run dont walk

If Christ's invisble presence began in 1914 and he was put on the throne, how come no one noticed. Surely this was one of the most important events in our time. Surely with all the annoited still alive back then someone must of noticed, at least ONE person ?, surely Jehovah would of shone the light on the faithful and discreet slave class ?

I read the watchtowers from 1913-1929 ( www.ctrussell.us/ ), and not once was it mentioned that Christ's invisible presence began in 1914 in fact as late as 1929 it still talks about 1874. I was reading an excerpt from the prophecy book that was released in 1929. 15 years after the fact. It says :

"The Scriptural proof is that the second presence of the Lord Jesus Christ began in 1874 A.D." Prohecy book 1929.

http://www.towertotruth.net/images/1929Prophecyp65.jpg

hhhmmmmmm, something fishy or is it me.

For all you witness's out there, if this doesn't wake you up, not sure what will.

any thoughts

p.s. haven't been around much lately, nice to be back, going through some rough personal issues, NOT JW related. Still love this place.

run

jaffacake

And how come he said 2000 years ago, I will be with you always, even until the end of time. How could he be with us if he were not always present. And how could he be whereever two or three gather in HIS name? They are stuck with this silly teaching because after being wrong about the first date, they did not dare to admit they were wrong again about 1914.

jaffacake

C. T. Russell died in 1916 leaving behind a legacy of time prophecies, not one of which had brought the foretold results.

In the 1930 book ‘Light 1’ page 194

The Lord’s people looked forward to 1914…When that time came and passed there was much disappointment, chagrin and mourning, and the Lord’s people were greatly in reproach. They were ridiculed…and pointed to with scorn because they had said so much about 1914, and what would come to pass, and their ‘prophecies’ had not been fulfilled.

In 1916, shortly before his death, C. T. Russell wrote the forward to a new edition of The Time is at Hand

…this was a natural mistake to fall into, but the Lord overruled it…the thought that …all gathered to glory by 1914, certainly did have a stimulating and sanctifying effect upon thousands, all of whom accordingly can praise the Lord – even for the mistake

My conscience troubles me to read such words, which implicate the Lord in what were clearly serious human errors.

In 1916 did the publishers of the dates recognise that they were not God’s dates but human speculation? Was there any justification for Russell to find such merit in the false predictions? Seeing merit in error, not only seems unscriptural, but could it have helped to encourage or justify more erroneous human speculation in the future.

Woe to those who are saying that good is bad and bad is good, and

those who are putting darkness for light and light for darkness, those

who are putting bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.(Isa 5:20)

In 1917, a new President and more ‘light’?:

…Scriptures prove that Spring 1918 will bring upon Christendom a spasm of anguish greater that that experienced in the Fall of 1914. Re-examine the table of the parallel dispensations in Studies in the Scriptures…

…also, in the year 1918, when God destroys the churches wholesale and the church members by millions…

Then about 1920:

Even the republics will disappear in the Fall of 1920…Every kingdom of earth will pass away, be swallowed up in anarchy..

These are just examples of many quotes for all these dates and predictions.

In 1920 President Rutherford published a famous booklet “Millions Now Living Shall Never Die” which made remarkable predictions, this time about 1925.

a simple calculation…brings us to this important fact: That period of time beginning 1575 before AD 1 of necessity would end in the fall of the year 1925.

…Scriptures definitely fix the fact that there will be a resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and other faithful ones of old…in 1925…resurrected, fully restored, made the visible legal representatives of the new order of things on earth.

Isaac, Jacob, and the faithful prophets of old, particularly those named by the Apostle in Hebrews chapter 11, to the condition of human perfection…millions of people will be still on earth in 1925…Based on the promises set forth in the divine word…we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die.

I have at home a photograph of the luxury house (Beth-Sarim) built by the Watchtower Society to house Abraham and the others. There was a worldwide campaign with Large billboards in major cities Millions Now Living Will Never Die and Newspaper advertisements were taken out. Public talks were given on a massive scale.

I did not send the prophets, yet they themselves ran. I did not

speak to them, yet they themselves prophesied. (Jeremiah 23:21)

More and more failed predictions led to serious doubts even among the most faithful so a change of doctrine was announced. Instead of that faithful servant” being Russell, it was now switched to a faithful and discreet slave class. This way doctrines could continue to be changed, and more importantly the new slave class could command authority and suppress understandable doubters. Anyone who questioned the slave were now depicted as lacking faith, or proud, haughty, self-willed etc.

By the mid 1930s the official dates for key events were moved up as follows:

Start of last days ~~1799~~ 1914

Christ’s presence ~~1874~~ 1914

Christ’s kingdom’s active rule ~~1878~~ 1914

Beginning of resurrection ~~1878~~ 1918

confusedjw

Jeff - fantastic post. Thanks.

greendawn

The really smart thing about these events that "took place" in the invisible is that no one can go to heaven to verify them, it's a clever Russell mind trick to ensnare the naive, invisible enthronement, invisible resurrectioon, invisible return. Everything invisible and unverifiable.

As Jaffa points out of course Jesus was always present invisibly and the whole point about the second presence was that it would have a visible dimension. As for the enthronement didn't it take place back in the first century? What on earth made Russell think that Jesus was not on the throne for the previous 19 centuries?

It's all cultish sleazy deviance.

Terry

Every once and awhile I go back to a "certain" room in my head.

It is the place I "was" when I believed what the JW's taught me.

It is not unlike visiting the house you grew up in and left as an adult.

The furniture is gone. The lonely spaces were once warm and active.

The emotional vibrations still resonate in the void that were the people and places you cherished and where your sense of the world was nurtured.

I stand inside that virtual space and begin the effort of simulating a certain kind of ___beingness__that will give the Terry of today a kind of possession of what it meant to be the Terry of back then.

I haunt myself, so to speak, and by my "self" am haunted in return.

What was I thinking? How did all this (now understood) nonsense seem real to me? Where was my sense of the real and how was it destroyed?

That is my task and quest when I venture there into that dark room of long ago.

What is the answer?

Here is what I've come to consider the "truth" about my sense of "TRUTH".

I had bought in to a lifestyle in becoming one of Jehovah's Witnesses. It was, largely, to me a trade-off of what you get and what you give to get.

I knew I had to give a wide berth of space to things that made no rational sense in order to get the goodies.

The goodies included:

1.A heavenly father

2.A righteous government

3.Brothers and sisters.

4.Correct parameters for all stages of life

5.The most important work to do

6.The prospect of the infinite rewards that follow.

This was my trade-off.

1.Refuse to be troubled by things which made vague sense.

2.Refuse to allow doubt in myself or others.

3.Reinforce my self-induced delusion by constant repetition of indoctrinations.

4.Do what was expected of me and allow my pain to be a badge of honor in my service. (They don't call it "sacrifice" for nothing.)

5.Keep moving on the beaten track and don't stand still. (It is the quiet moments of self-reflection that eat you up.)

6.Pretend any intrusions of counter-proof are only mistakes of the moment which do not affect the Big Picture.

I co-operated in my own shutdown of cognitive recognition of bullshit. I switched off the bullshit detector. I went for the goodies and paid the price in sanity.

That is a scary room to stand in.

Terry

BluesBrother

Terry,

I wish I had written that.... It as if you understand what I feel, but some how I do not find the words.

trevor

Terry

Your post was heartfelt and meaningful and it rang a few bells for me. You made the comment:

Where was my sense of the real and how was it destroyed?

That is a very telling statement. It seems as though, due to you experiences, you have promise to never believe in anything ever again unless it is provable. I can understand that and it helps me know where you are coming from.

By the way, I have commented on your thread, - What is Intellectual Honesty?

Terry

Terry
Your post was heartfelt and meaningful and it rang a few bells for me. You made the comment:
Where was my sense of the real and how was it destroyed?
That is a very telling statement. It seems as though, due to you experiences, you have promise to never believe in anything ever again unless it is provable. I can understand that and it helps me know where you are coming from.
By the way, I have commented on your thread, - What is Intellectual Honesty?

Thanks!

Sometimes I can get across what I'm trying to say; but, most of the time I just blubber on endlessly.........

Evanescence

The watchtower originally believed that christ would come in 1914 but when he didn't appear, they didn't want people to think they were wrong and false, so they made up a petty excuse and claimed that Jesus came but was invisible!

What do you guys think of http://www.carm.org/jw/false_prophecies.htm ?

Evanescence

Christ's Invisible presence in 1914 ?

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