i first came to know about the 1995 shift in the definition of a generation from this website, having not stepped foot into a kh, bar the odd funeral, since the early 90s.
i recently had the opportunity to question my mother and aunt about the change in doctrine.
in an apparently innocent way, i asked about the post great war generation dying out and what that meant for the prophecy.
Netty and garybuss,
This is the thing that rankles me -- the lack of contrition. When the magic show audience doesn't get the magic show they were promised, they still calamour to the defence of the magician and treat the sane observer with contempt.
i first came to know about the 1995 shift in the definition of a generation from this website, having not stepped foot into a kh, bar the odd funeral, since the early 90s.
i recently had the opportunity to question my mother and aunt about the change in doctrine.
in an apparently innocent way, i asked about the post great war generation dying out and what that meant for the prophecy.
Thanks for all your comments.
I do not wish to sully the good name of my anonymous aunt. She did paste the top half of the article - everything under the headings 1914—The Generation That Will Not Pass Away and What Happens Next? which I should have read through more carefully before posting. However, while she sent the top half of the article she kept my focus on the first three paragraphs, which tell their own story when read in isolation. She said that showed that while the society had speculated on various definitions of this generation over time, that it was now clearer that the Robert Wohl idea of a generation was applicable.
I still have to admit that I should have read through the rest more thoroughly. A lingering aversion to reading WT writings.
I will follow this up with my aunt in a couple of weeks. Her elder son is getting married in the meantime and it is not the time to open up old wounds.
Gopher said: "Anyone who was around the organization then who says it didn't create a big stir is simply lying."
Although I wasn't there at the time, I can imagine the impact. Especially as this is the one development that my relentlessly-trying-to-get-me-back-in family never mentioned to me. I think that speaks volumes of how upsetting it was to them.
i first came to know about the 1995 shift in the definition of a generation from this website, having not stepped foot into a kh, bar the odd funeral, since the early 90s.
i recently had the opportunity to question my mother and aunt about the change in doctrine.
in an apparently innocent way, i asked about the post great war generation dying out and what that meant for the prophecy.
Many thanks nicolau. Great stuff.
So the historian quoted in the 1984 arcticle is "discredited" by the clear, old doctrine that follows in the rest of the article:
If Jesus used "generation" in that sense and we apply it to 1914, then the babies of that generation are now 70 years old or older. And others alive in 1914 are in their 80’s or 90’s, a few even having reached a hundred. There are still many millions of that generation alive. Some of them "will by no means pass away until all things occur."
... fulfillment of all the foretold events affecting the generation of 1914 does not depend on comparatively slow human action. Jehovah’s prophetic word through Christ Jesus is: "This generation [of 1914] will by no means pass away until all things occur." (Luke 21:32) And Jehovah, who is the source of inspired and unfailing prophecy, will bring about the fulfillment of his Son’s words in a relatively short time.—Isaiah 46:9, 10; 55:10, 11.
And the same source -- and the exact same quotation -- is then used to support the doctrinal change a decade later.
All much clearer now, and I have a response for my dear aunt. (I'll have to say that I happened upon the full article in a back issue found under the bed, rather than at an apostate website.)
i first came to know about the 1995 shift in the definition of a generation from this website, having not stepped foot into a kh, bar the odd funeral, since the early 90s.
i recently had the opportunity to question my mother and aunt about the change in doctrine.
in an apparently innocent way, i asked about the post great war generation dying out and what that meant for the prophecy.
I first came to know about the 1995 shift in the definition of a generation from this website, having not stepped foot into a KH, bar the odd funeral, since the early 90s.
I recently had the opportunity to question my mother and aunt about the change in doctrine. In an apparently innocent way, I asked about the post Great War generation dying out and what that meant for the prophecy. As you'd expect, I was told that the generation was never meant to be taken literally. I said that it was certainly taken literally when I attended meetings.
To prove me wrong, my aunt sent me a cut and paste from a 1984 Watchtower (below in part). This is the first pre-1995 reference to the ambiguity of a generation that I've seen (although the same historian was quoted in 1995 again). Did everyone else miss this decade-earlier revelation as well?
w84 5/15 pp. 4-7 1914—The Generation That Will Not Pass Away
"THIS generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur," said Jesus. (Matthew 24:34) But what is meant by the word "generation"?
In his book The Generation of 1914, professor of history Robert Wohl presents an unusual definition when he states: "A historical generation is not defined by its chronological limits or its borders. It is not a zone of dates . . . It is more like a magnetic field at the center of which lies an experience or a series of experiences. . . . What is essential to the formation of a generational consciousness is some common frame of reference that provides a sense of rupture with the past . . . This frame of reference is always derived from great historical events like wars, revolutions, plagues, famines, and economic crises."
From that point of view, the Great War of 1914-18 and its aftermath certainly formed a "frame of reference" to mark a generation. As professor Wohl comments: World War I created "an overwhelming sense of rupture with the past. Those who lived through the war could never rid themselves of the belief that one world had ended and another begun in August 1914."
Jesus used the word "generation" many times in different settings and with various meanings. But what did he mean when he spoke of a ‘generation that would not pass away’? Some have interpreted "generation" to mean a period of 30, 40, 70 or even 120 years. However, a generation is really related to people and events, rather than to a fixed number of years.
what is the wt publication you hated the most?
why did you hate it?
for me, it was probably that damn pink great teacher book.
I remember squirming as my dad went red reading the description of wet dreams that the authors of the Youth Book were too embarrassed to detail themselves, so they wrote it in the voice of an Israelite father telling his son that he would one day wake up to discover a discharge somewhat denser than water.
I also really hated the daily text.
<<All these scents instil a sort of cognitive aroma. >>
Whenever I peruse this board I find myself smelling that musty newsprinty smell of the literature counter.
Great thread Nosferatu.
what is the wt publication you hated the most?
why did you hate it?
for me, it was probably that damn pink great teacher book.
I remember squirming as my dad went red reading the description of wet dreams that the authors of the Youth Book were too embarrassed to detail themselves, so they wrote it in the voice of an Israelite father telling his son that he would one day wake up to discover a discharge somewhat denser than water.
the truth is------- we have lost out on soooooo much, simply because we were witnesses.
it might b like almost starting all over again, for some of us.
what hits you as to what you could've had or have outrightly lost??
While I agree that I did benefit in some ways, like learning those basic bible lessons (void of history and context), there is one great regret that I am only addressing now. I went to university without too much flack from my parents -- despite considerable grief from others in the congregation -- as long as I worked to pay my own way. They didn't want to sully themselves by supporting this decision in any practical way, apart from providing a roof over my head (for which I was very grateful). But when it came to post-grad studies, they did not let up on how useless it would be to pursue such silly stuff at the end of this system, despite the opportunities I had. I agreed to at least postpone any further studies in order to keep the peace. I wasn't even baptised (never have been). At least now, 15 years later, I am finally starting the masters I have so longed for.
hebrews 5: 11-13
11we have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain because you are slow to learn.
12in fact, though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you the elementary truths of god's word all over again.
The watchtower tone of rhetorical-question teaching has been so drummed into me that I often find myself lecturing my young son along the lines of, "Now would a boy who truly wanted to be good do this..." When I hear that witnessy voice rise up from somewhere within I pause, gag, and try to find an alternative way of phrasing things -- despite what seems to have become second nature regurgitation.
lets face it, there are many posts and replies about nonsensical bullshit that has nothing to do with the jw's.
what purpose does it serve?
do you do it to irritate other board members or just to get a reaction?
scumrat said: "Lets face it, there are many posts and replies about nonsensical bullshit that has nothing to do with the JW's." Everyone replied: "nonsensical bullshit." If I were a wavering ex-JW, this would be yet another thread that showed you apostates for what you are. However, I am not a wavering anything ~ just sometimes embarrassed to be counted amognst you. On a constructive note; wouldn't it help to move the Friends section to the bottom of the list (since NOBODY is capable of posting within the relevant topics) and the Research section to the fore? Just saying is all.
daddy, why did we have to attack iraq?.
questions and answers about foreign policy (and the u.s. invasion of iraq).
anyway, saddam hussein came to power through a military coup, so he's not really a legitimate leader anyway.
<<< Simply put, Clinton sent troops into Somolia and because of poor planning, some of them were slaughtered.>>>
Bottom line is you gotta look after them somolians (not to mention the clams, greenbacks and all other types of mulah).
