my family is still fixated on the 1914 date, simply because world war i started that year.. i told them i will agree it is a significant year in world history, but that the 1914 date as presented by jw's is based on lies and charlatanry.. i said "i think the wt really lucked out with 1914 with wwi starting that year - it keeps most jw's stuck on that date" .
the standard answer is "well, that was the year everything went haywire"...... let the circular reasoning continue .
.
They paint it as this serene, peaceful time when all was right with the world. And then! Satan was let loose on the earth and he obviously landed in Europe where he possessed someone to shoot the Archduke Ferdinand and then all hell broke loose.
Nevermind the fact that Ferdinand was shot in June 1914 whereas the WT said that Gentile Times would end in October 1914.
The real genius in Satan's actions was retroactively killing Ferdinand 4 months prior to his being "set loose".
my family is still fixated on the 1914 date, simply because world war i started that year.. i told them i will agree it is a significant year in world history, but that the 1914 date as presented by jw's is based on lies and charlatanry.. i said "i think the wt really lucked out with 1914 with wwi starting that year - it keeps most jw's stuck on that date" .
the standard answer is "well, that was the year everything went haywire"...... let the circular reasoning continue .
.
The "beginning" and "end" of wars is construct conceived by historians to organize data. I had a professor in college who insisted that the World War I and World War II were not separate wars but one continuous war with a prolonged cease fire. It's pointless to argue about when the conflict we now refer to as "World War I" actually began. There is no right or wrong answer. There might be a consensus among historians, but no "true" date you can discover.
my family is still fixated on the 1914 date, simply because world war i started that year.. i told them i will agree it is a significant year in world history, but that the 1914 date as presented by jw's is based on lies and charlatanry.. i said "i think the wt really lucked out with 1914 with wwi starting that year - it keeps most jw's stuck on that date" .
the standard answer is "well, that was the year everything went haywire"...... let the circular reasoning continue .
.
1799, 1874, 1914, 1919, 1925...if you keep attaching great significance to a bunch of years, eventually SOMETHING is going to happen to make it seem you were right.
Imagine the WT had predicted Armageddon would come in 2001. As a result, the faithful today praise their leaders for predicting 9/11 despite the fact that the original prediction called for the end of the world, not a catastrophic terrorist attack. That's in essence what happened with 1914.
charles t. russell era (1879-1916)date: late 1800's.
okay, july 1879 if you want to be picky.. current religious views: many apocalyptic leanings, prompting the origin of several major eclectic religious groups claiming that god had rejected the mainstream christian churches for their apostasy in the fourth century, and that he has now chosen a new prophet, a spokesman, a faithful messenger to re-educate the world as to the truths of the bible, long-lost and unattainable by any normal human being.
to gain eternal life, man must listen to the new gospel of this messenger(s).. this century sees the birth of the church of jesus christ of latter-day saints (mormons), adventism and its various offshoots (including jehovah's witnesses), christian science, christadelphians and other smaller groups, each one claiming a modern-day prophet and new or once-forgotten revelations to the populace, many of whom we find shopping for new ideas, yet disenchanted with the churches.. scenario: a young man who can't understand theology from a historical development point of view begins to feel that he is the "seventh messenger" (rev.
Interesting thoughts, Randy.
There is not right and wrong way to classify WT history. These are just tools to help us mentally organize large amounts of data and understand patterns in the development of the group.
Personally, I find it more useful to think of WT history along the following lines:
1. The Russell Era 1879-1916
2. Rutherford Era 1916-1942
3. Knorr/Franz Era 1942-1980
4. Governing Body Era 1980-Present
I see the first two eras as you do, as the organization was defined almost exclusively by the men who held the presidency. I would, however, lump Knorr and Franz in together since you really had two men who steered the course for the religion in the ensuing era. Knorr was the boss; the bureaucrat/administrator who oversaw the expansion of the WT organization into a global empire, but Freddy had virtual free reign to craft the religion's theology. Knorr had veto power, but he seldom exercised it. Knorr controlled the administration; Freddy controlled the theology.
The way I see it, this arrangement continued up until Knorr's death, even though the GB officially took control before his passing. However, due to the strength of their personalities, Knorr and Franz continued to be the religion's leaders…that is until 1980. By that point, Knorr had passed away and the religion had been thoroughly embarrassed by Freddy's 1975 prophetic failure. It was at that point that the GB asserted itself and Freddy lost the powerful role of quasi-leader he once held. Freddy continued to be influential, but it was in 1980 that the GB steered a new course for the religion. Dissent was quashed with an iron fist. The era of singular leadership was over. The dawn of the rule-by-committee era had dawned.
From 1980 forward there was a steady move to erase all semblance of a sole leader. This move was further cemented when the GB resigned from their individual posts on the legal organizations, thus distancing themselves from their historic role in leading the religious group. This era has been characterized by a tremendous push for uniformity and premium on maintaining the status quo. Like a large publicly-traded corporation that has reached its peak, the GB has focused on maintaining its empire and attempting to avoid its eventual decline.
in the september 15th wt koolaid edition, the study article "christian unity glorifies god" in paragraph 10 this is stated:.
"the immoral world in which we live threatens our unity.
people joke about fornication, sing about it, watch it for entertainment, and practice it either in secret or openly.
This is a scene played out everyday in offices all across the world.
Ahh, I remember this kind of advice fondly. It trains people to be socially-awkward.
It reminds me of when I was 22 years old working in an office environment. I had been recently hired and two married female coworkers (gasp!) invited me to a baseball game. They were being nice, of course, trying to get to know the new guy, but I panicked. I can't imagine how ridiculous I must have come across as. I first told them I would go and I spent the rest of the work day coming up with an excuse to back out. I viewed the simple invitation as if there were some sexual significance to it.
This kind of warped view of sexuality, unfortunately, was widespread among JWs of my generation. I remember a conversation with some JWs I grew up with where the women all unanimously stated that they would refuse to go to lunch alone with their male boss . That kind of thing happens all the time in my line of work. Men and women take business trips together and even (double gasp!) spend time alone with one another. Amazingly, most people are capable of controlling their sexual impulses and treating one another with respect.
In the 5 years that I've been away from JWism, I had almost forgotten about this obsession with sex. Recently, an inactive female JW called me up. I was in the middle of watching a movie, and I didn't feel like pausing for an extended conversation, so I invited her over to watch it with me just to be polite. She said no and I thought that was the end of it. About a week later she called to confront me about the lack of respect I had shown her by inviting her over to my house when I was alone. It dawned on me at that point that she equated my invitation with an invitation to have sex. That didn’t even cross my mind. In the years since I've stopped going to meetings, I've spent a lot of time alone with women to where being alone with a woman has lost the taboo connotation that the WT attaches to it.
I'm just glad I no longer live in that world.
Is It Possible That Obama Is The Antichrist?
No. The Antichrist is white.
i borrow the phrase gb 2.0 from alltimejeff, who used it yesterday in the post about theodore jaracz's death.. i was interested in starting a thread that addresses the new leadership regime that has emerged within the wts, especially in light of changes (albeit mundane) the organization has undertaken over the past 15 years or so.
while few of us have had close contact with the men in charge, changes they have made in recent years surly reflect a definable leadership style.
it also reveals a little bit about how they view the organization and its future.. from what i can put together, it seems that there a few obvious things to note.. - 1999 seems to be the sea change year in terms of gb appointment and might be seen sybolically as a turning point in terms of leadership for the group.
Something I would like to add. I think that some may be confusing what constitutes a religion going "mainstream".
However, far too many people attach the label of cult to something that the do not like, a factor that diminishes the usefulness of the term
James Penton uses the terms "sect" to describe religious movements that are insular and not integrated into society at large. That term still carries with it negative connotations, but not nearly to the degree that the term "cult" does. Cult is a pejorative that is not very useful to throw around, in my opinion. No one would admit to being an "idiot" more than anyone would admit to being a member of a cult.
What's interesting, as Penton points out, is how long the JWs have resisted integration into society at large. If you look at the LDS, which started more or less around the same time as the JWs, they are far more integrated at this point in their history. They sponsor hospitals and universities. They have governors, senators, and even presidential candidates among their members. By contrast, the JWs still largely operate outside of society. Few Witnesses leave a lasting imprint on society at large. Very few lawyers, doctors, artists, public figures, etc. among their members. The revolving-door nature of JWs whereby its membership is almost completely renewed every few decades is probably behind this.
i just can't contain my mirth (and disgust ) about the the history of the wt soc any more!.
the history of miller and his teachings, barbour being a millerite and a guide to the then young russell cemented the truth of the modern day wt organizations history as opposed to its own whitewashed version of history.. for 37 years i saw them as the one true religion.
now i just see them as total frauds.
I should add that the chart above actually "proves" 1843. Miller, like Russell after him, forgot there was no year zero and later had to add a year arrive at 1844.
i just can't contain my mirth (and disgust ) about the the history of the wt soc any more!.
the history of miller and his teachings, barbour being a millerite and a guide to the then young russell cemented the truth of the modern day wt organizations history as opposed to its own whitewashed version of history.. for 37 years i saw them as the one true religion.
now i just see them as total frauds.
It really puts things in perspective to realize JW eschatology failed in 1844, 35 years before the first Watchtower was ever published. Russell took Miller's teachings and adjusted a few things here and there to arrive at 1914 as the end of the world. Russell took a prophetic framework that had already failed and tweaked it. That framework still forms the core of JW eschatology to this day.
It's impossible to look at the following chart used by Miller to "prove" 1844 and not see Witness chronology all over it.
theodore ("ted") jaracz1925-2010.
about 7:30, june 9, 2010, theodore ("ted") jaracz, one of the members of the governing body ruling over jehovah's witnesses, died.
previously, on may 19, 2009, he had had a serious stroke, but recently seemed to have made a big recovery, giving some assembly talks.
There's a nice spot reserved in hell for Ratzinger and Jaracz alike.
