The official "how did they react to the new light" thread
by PYRAMIDSCHEME 45 Replies latest jw friends
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EmptyInside
I thought this new light of the overlapping generation would be talked about more in the congregations. I just find it goes in one ear and out the other for most Witnesses. They totally blank out Some didn't even remember the 1995 change,and they don't even care.
It is baffling.
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NewChapter
I remember studying that 1995 WT, I walked down the stairs holding it in my hand and asked my roommate "Is this something new? This is big." she just nodded. Now, mind you, she always had to know more and be more spiritual than me, but I think she didn't catch it. She was just incredibly arrogant.
But I had only been baptized for 4 years, so maybe it didn't have the same impact on me. Older ones that had served their whole lives may have been much more disappointed than I was. When I studied, my conductor really stressed that I should not serve with a date in mind. I think that particular training helped me absorb the blow.
Soon after that, the noo lite came out about the sheep and the goats. I remember her talking to her son and DIL late into the night trying to understand. At the time, it really sounded like a lot more people would qualify for resurrection. That arrogant roommate was extremely offended by that. She was so mad that people got to live how they wanted and still get the award. I remember eavesdropping a little and giggling. That understanding made me feel GLAD (when I believed it) and she was spitting fire.
Anyway, if I was still R&F, I would have absorbed this too. It was drilled into my head not to serve with a date, and I didn't. I think a lot of JW's view it that way. For a lot of the newer ones, dates don't mean as much. The only important thing is that the end is imminent, and they can't see the glaring reality.
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Ding
First "this generation" meant that most people who were alive in 1914 and old enough then to UNDERSTAND what was happening (World War I) would be alive at Armageddon. (The Society used this to explain how LITTLE time was left.)
Then it became most people who were old enough to REMEMBER the events of 1914... (The Society used this subtle change to explain the delay)
Then it became most people who were ALIVE in 1914 (The Society used this to show how MUCH time could still be left)
Then it became "as long as some people who were alive in 1914 are still living" (The Society used this to counter claims that its date system had collapsed; thus, the 1984 WT cover showing those aging JWs, most of whom were going to be alive when the new system arrived.)
As those people died off, it became time to cite statistics showing how many people have lifespans in excess of 100 nowadays (Desperation mode)
The WTS took the wording off the Awake magazines and talked about the 1914 generation less and less.
Because of this, many young JWs and new converts don't remember that the WTS ever taught that the 1914 clock was ticking.
Older ones do remember the teaching, but they've long since given up on it and gone into denial: True, some brothers thought the end would have come by now, but the organization never taught this; in their zeal, these brothers ran ahead of Jehovah and his organization.
Seeing nowhere else to go after devoting their lives to the WTS, they have swallowed the Kool-Aid and don't even bother trying to understand this latest "generation" doctrine. It's enough that the GB understands it.
How greatful they are that the light is getting brighter and brighter to the FDS and that the new system is just around the corner...
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PYRAMIDSCHEME
I was shocked that no one really knew about the 2008 change.
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wobble
When you start to challenge a JW about their beliefs you find how shallow their faith is, and how poor their knowledge of current "teaching" is.
Many live in the past, even on life and death stuff, like blood transfusions, and don't know what the latest crap is.
For all the hours and hours they spend at meetings and conventions, 99% of the time their brains must be in neutral, as Homer Simpson said to his Pastor "But when you were up there going Yadda Yadda Yadda , I wasn't listening !"
Can't say I blame them, or that I paid much attention when I was in, but I paid just enough to be able to explain the newest tripe.
Most Dubs were, and are, like dear old Homer.