I was just thinking about this. Having been raised "in the truth" post-1975, I didn't grow up with any specific year in mind. Yes, there was the notion of "this generation will by no means pass away," but by the time I was old enough to think about that concept, the people who were born in 1914 (to stretch it out as far as possible, as the Society ultimately did) were still only in their 60's. So for me, it was more a feeling of "well, it's going to come one of these days," but I never felt like it would be "the day after tomorrow," as the Society encouraged. Of course, in the 1980's there were plenty of reminders about how close it was, but perhaps when you're raised with it you become a little numb to the constant suggestion. Anyway, as a faithful, well-behaved Witness kid, what did I have to worry about? I guess I thought that even though I wasn't baptized yet, the good conduct of my Witness parent would get me through whenever it came.
When I was baptized near the start of the 1990's, the whole idea of Armageddon's imminence became more vivid. For several years, I had a sense that the political and social upheaval in Eastern Europe and Russia would be a precursor to the start of the great tribulation (i.e. the king of the north would get riled up and start wreaking havoc). And so I thought Armageddon might be "soon," in the next decade or so.
But then, when the Society changed its definition of "this generation" in 1995, thus potentially extending the start date of Armageddon into the indefinite future (despite all its insistence that this wasn't so--conveniently overlooking that with God "a day is as a thousand years" and Peter saying "the end of all things has drawn near...be vigilant with a view to prayers" etc., which really illustrates the Biblical approach toward "soon"), I lost my sense that it was going to come any time in the near future.
Of course, all "mature Christians" realize that this attitude would mark me mentally as one of those weaklings who was "serving for a date" rather than "with eternity in view." Blah blah blah. (Or maybe I simply realized that it was a cheap con trick to drop a major doctrine just because 1995 minus 1914 equals 81; oh yes, of course, we must all view the true human lifespan as being 70 or 80 years because of what the psalmist wrote 3,000 years ago. And who was it that created the notion that the dying off of a bunch of people born around the start of the 20th century might have something to do with the start of God's "great day of vengeance," pray tell?)
Anyway, I'm just curious now. When did you think Armageddon would come? Somehow, my guess is that people who adopted the Witness faith rather than being born into it would have more of a sense that it was "right around the corner." But I could be wrong.
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