Did the heavenly calling cease in 1935? Not anymore!

by AnnOMaly 288 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

• 

  AnnOMaly

  Watch out for the Questions From Readers in the May 1st 2007 Watchtower. "When does the calling of Christians to a heavenly hope cease?" It's a good'un.

  Included are the statements:

  "The 12 hours mentioned in the parable [of the pounds penny or denarius] were thought to correspond to the 12 years from 1919 to 1931. For many years after that, it was believed that the call to the heavenly Kingdom had ended in 1931 and that those called to be joint heirs with Christ in 1930 and 1931 were 'the last' called. (Matthew 20:6-8) However, in 1966 an adjusted understanding of that parable was presented, and it became clear that it had nothing to do with the end of the calling of the anointed."

  I LOVE that!

  Later ...

  "Thus it appears that we cannot set a specific date for when the calling of Christians to the heavenly hope ends."

  Well, I suppose they can't, seeing as half the GB are now anointed youngsters and the memorial partaker figures keep increasing - most annoyingly.
• 

  Dune

  When and organization can do something like this and just throw away years of indoctrination. Thats when you have to realize that this reilgion is going to be around for years to come.
• 

  badboy

  WHAT PARABLE OF THE POUNDS/DENARIUS IS REFERRED TO?
• 

  AnnOMaly

  Matt. 20:1-16 - Silly me - not the parable of the pounds at all - that's another parable entirely.
• 

  OnTheWayOut

  So, it might seem that instead of handpicking "other sheep" who are company loyalists to
  start serving on the Governing Body, they will encourage certain "other sheep" that they are
  really "anointed" and groom them even more before appointing them to the Governing Body.

  I imagine it will be worked on heavily this year, at Memorial and at DC- hence the question from
  a reader (probably a reader on the writing committee).
• 

  badboy

  THANKS,THE PARABLE OF THE VINEYARD.
• 

  Leolaia

  Wow!

  So to get rid of the idea that the heavenly calling ended in 1935, they dredged up an old pre-1966 rationale that was abandoned 40 years ago? Ever since I was a JW, I never heard of any scriptural basis of the 1935 date.

  Sounds like bait-and-switch since they've claimed since 1966 that the calling had essentially ended in 1935, rather than 1931:

  *** w67 11/15 p. 694 par. 10 Orders for Worldwide Fishing ***

  Apparently, by the years 1931-1935 all symbolic fish suitable for the kingdom of the heavens had been caught to complete the foreordained number of 144,000 joint heirs of Christ. (Matt. 22:10, 11)

  *** re [1988] chap. 20 p. 125 par. 18 A Multitudinous Great Crowd ***

  Their being identified in 1935 as the great crowd of other sheep was an indication that the choosing of the 144,000 was then about complete.

  *** w88 1/1 p. 11 par. 8 The Last Days—A Time of Harvest ***

  However, they are not alone. John, in another vision, sees the sealing of the final ones of the 144,000. (Revelation 7:1-8) Evidently, the gathering of these was virtually complete by 1935.

  *** w95 2/15 p. 19 par. 6 "Have No Fear, Little Flock" ***

  Jehovah has established a limited number, 144,000, to make up the little flock, and he has been gathering it since Pentecost 33 C.E. Logically, the calling of the little flock would draw to a close when the number was nearing completion, and the evidence is that the general gathering of these specially blessed ones ended in 1935.

  *** w00 1/15 p. 16 par. 11 "Desirable Things" Are Filling Jehovah’s House ***

  It seems that by the year 1935, the general ingathering of the anointed was complete.

  *** w01 5/15 p. 15 ‘Behold! The Great Crowd!’ ***

  Their identifying themselves with the great crowd of other sheep indicated that by 1935 the calling of the 144,000 anointed Christians was virtually complete.

  The mention of the 1966 "new light" is an attempt to make it seem like they've had the new position all along, or were inclined towards it, despite the above statements in the literature since.
• 

  AnnOMaly

  So to get rid of the idea that the heavenly calling ended in 1935, they dredged up an old pre-1966 rationale that was abandoned 40 years ago? Ever since I was a JW, I never heard of any scriptural basis of the 1935 date.

  Sounds like bait-and-switch since they've claimed since 1966 that the calling had essentially ended in 1935, rather than 1931:

  Actually, Leolaia, they outlined the previous understandings, but I just picked out a couple of isolated comments. I'll try and scan the article and you can all see the whole thing.
• 

  Leolaia

  Yes, I'd love to see the whole thing in context. If so, that'd be a major change...

  The main question I have is what rationale do they give now for denying people the heavenly hope, if it's no longer the case that 144,000 is necessarily "virtually complete"?
• 

  blondie

  It is amazing that for 40 plus years no one seems to have made the application.

  Actually, the article on that 1966 DA talk identified the "penny" as not being the name "Jehovah's witnesses" being conferred on the anointed, that the other sheep were also JWs so it had to be something else.

  I remember my family, who were mostly not anointed, saying that the great crowd of other sheep could be called JWs now. If you notice in the publications up till then, that was carefully danced around.

  10

  In the meanwhile, in the year 1925 it began to be appreciated by these Christian Bible students that the vindication of God’s name Jehovah by means of his newborn Messianic kingdom was God’s leading purpose. In fact, from 1922 onward reference was repeatedly made to Isaiah 43:10-12 to prove that they must be witnesses of the Lord God during the remainder of their days on earth. The work of bearing witness to his name became more dominant among them. This reached a grand climax in the year 1931, when, at the international convention in Columbus, Ohio, these much-maligned Bible students adopted a resolution by which they embraced the name suggested by Isaiah 43:10-12 (AS), namely, "Jehovah’s witnesses."

  11

  The work of gathering the anointed remnant of the heirs of God’s heavenly kingdom appeared to be nearing completion. Hence, this bestowal of a Biblically supported name upon them in 1931 seemed to come as a reward for having engaged in twelve years of hard Christian work since 1919. The book TheFinishedMystery and the honor of distributing it had proved not to be the "penny." So now, then, could not the conferment of the new name upon the International Bible Students be the "penny"?

  12

  In the year 1933, in the November 15 and December 1 issues of TheWatchtowerandHeraldofChrist’sPresence there appeared the leading article (in two parts) entitled "Laborer’s Wages." This dealt with Jesus’ parable of the vineyard. The second paragraph of Part One of this article said: "The laborers are those at the temple for judgment, and who engage in the service of the kingdom; the hire or penny is the honor of being given the new name which Jehovah gives to his people." (Page 339) Paragraph 21, on page 344, said: "No greater wage could be paid to creatures on earth than that of receiving a name at the mouth of Jehovah God, and which name shows the close and confidential relationship between Jehovah and his faithful people. Never before has he given such a wage to creatures."

  13

  However, in the year 1937 it became more fully appreciated that the faithful prophets and men of integrity from John the Baptist back to the first martyr Abel were also witnesses of Jehovah, "so great a cloud of witnesses." (Heb. 11:1 to 12:1, AV) Later the book entitled "The New World," published in 1942, indicated that the "great crowd" of the "other sheep" foretold in Revelation 7:9, 10 were also witnesses of Jehovah. (Pages 368, 369, 375) Today the "great crowd" of these "other sheep" that have been gathered into association with the anointed remnant are regularly included among Jehovah’s witnesses. If, since the year 1935, they have not proved themselves to be Jehovah’s witnesses, then by all the facts of history what have they proved themselves to be? Who are they, if not Jehovah’s witnesses of modern times?

  14

  Thus the title "Jehovah’s witnesses" is now seen as not applying exclusively to the anointed remnant, and so this new name for Christians could not be the symbolic "penny" of Jesus’ parable. The "new name" was not the "penny" back in the year 33 C.E. on that day of Pentecost, inasmuch as those Jewish disciples of Jesus Christ were already Jehovah’s witnesses by being from birth members of Jehovah’s chosen people of Isaiah 43:1-12.

  17

  Here, then, as on the day of Pentecost nineteen centuries ago, was the payment of the "penny" to those last hired in Jehovah’s spiritual "vineyard." God’s Messianic kingdom had been born in the heavens at the close of the Gentile Times in 1914, and the "penny" paid to the vineyard laborers was the privilege and honor of serving as anointed ambassadors of God’s newborn Messianic kingdom from that time on till the coming "battle of the great day of God the Almighty" at Armageddon. This ambassadorial service was carried out with the help of God’s holy spirit. In harmony with this, they were ushered into the privilege of fulfilling Matthew 24:14, preaching this good news of God’s newborn Messianic kingdom in all the inhabited earth for a witness to all the nations before the end of this system of things comes. (Rev. 16:14-16; Mark 13:10) What a wonderful value such a "penny" has meant to them!