1975 Reaction

by MadApostate 46 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  You Know

  Did the apostles predict a date and publish it to all the congreations?

  Yes, apprently they more or less did. According to the last chapter of John, the word went out from them (the apostles) to the brothers, that John would not die before Jesus returned. Apparently that was a common belief among the brothers up until the aged apostle himself wrote the gospel account and cleared up the misunderstanding. That's why he wrote the explanatory words saying that that was not what Jesus actually said. They misunderstood Jesus and of course Jesus allowed the misunderstanding to go on for many years. / You Know
• 

  joelbear

  You heard it here first folks, the end will come in 2005.

  Jehovah sure does like testing people. As if it is not a test enough just to become one of Jehovah's Witnesses. You have to learn the truth, live according to the rules, decipher your way through false truth tests, not be stumbled by the idiotic treatment of your "imperfect" brothers, be subjected to testing by the "imperfect" elders and governing body. Tests, tests, tests.

  Of course, we should have known. Look what he did to Job.

  Is this a test You Know? Faith, tests of faith, constant retesting of faith, how much can they take, how much will they take before they break, how long will they last, gotta make those suckers go through the mill a few more times before I'm gonna give them everlasting life on my planet. I created it after all.

  What, that Christ sacrafice thing? Hey, you've always known that was undeserved kindness in the first place you bunch of ugly sinners. That just buys you entry into the testing fields. The everlasting testing fields.

  aaaaaack, Gimme Shelter from the testing man

  Lejoreba
• 

  Moxy

  one thing i havent heard much about of which im curious: how explicit were you folks or others around you in the ministry. someone mentioned preaching the end in 75 but i personally would be a little surprised if this was mentioned much in just regular door2door. like the 1914 generation, we would never mention that in FS until about halfway thru a study in the pe book. like as kids, we might mention it ominously to our classmates. newer ones in the fs would sometimes bring it up in d2d which was kinda discouraged as the wrong way to motivate people.

  was it similar before 75?

  mox
• 

  borgfree

  Moxy,
  I do not recall using 1975 that much from door to door. I remember when it did come up, we would explain the creation of Adam and that 1975 would mark 6000 years from his creation, and that it would be appropriate for the thousand year reign to begin at that time. As far as the date 1975 I remember telling people at the door that the Society was not saying "what" would happen in 1975 but that it was "definately a marked year"
• 

  drahcir yarrum

  When I graduated from High School in 1967, the 1975 date influenced all of my decisions about the future. Of course the war in Vietnam was full on and the likelihood of being drafted into the military was another concern for a young lad. But the choices were to full-time pioneer, or register as a conscientious objector to war and end up in a hosptial emptying bedpans. Oh yeah, they were still granting college military exemptions then, but we know what the societies opinion of college was.

  When I went to Bethel in late 1969, many Bethel talks, morning comments at the breakfast table, etc. focused on the nearness of the end in 1975. Nathan Knorr, Fred Franz, Karl Klien and any other GB who led the daily text discussion, made it clear at one time or another that we were looking to 1975 as the end of the system. Bear in mind that some of these were the same ones who were writing magazine articles hinting at the same 1975 date as the end. So whenever I see, or hear that the GB wasn't setting dates, I want to projectile vomit.

  THEY LIE!!!
• 

  MadApostate

  Mox:

  My recollection is that there were continuous references in either the WT or AW Magazines to something about "1975".

  Personally, those were the articles that I ALWAYS used as part of my presentations. While I always made the disclaimer that Arm in '75 was only a "possibility", I portrayed it as "an extremely likely" possibility, with the year maybe only being off a year or so. Every now and then, the elers would tell us to watch our wording, but when working with them, they would be just as bad, if not worse.
• 

  joelbear

  You guys are missing You Know's point. He and many witnesses, like my father, the elder, admit that the 1975 thing was a big oopsie, but they see it as a test of faith, in essence, that Jehovah actually allowed his people to be misled to see if they would still have faith in him or if they were just serving him for a date.

  Jehovah has always had quite random means of testing people's worthiness.

  don't eat fruit -- Adam
  be willing to kill your son -- Abraham
  have all your sons and daughters killed -- Job
  possibly eaten by lions -- Daniel
  possibly burned alive -- 3 Hebrew Children
  be blinded and commit suicide by toppling temple -- Samson
  commit murder and adultery and be forgiven -- David

  t

  things haven't changed in modern times

  Test time

  Joel
• 

  borgfree

  Joelbear,
  I didn't notice in that list of tests, LIE.
• 

  Utopian Reformist

  You Know:

  I am not currently finished with the IMF / RUSSIA ? NEADB thread, but I must admit, this particular item has captured my interest.

  DE DICTUM TUUM, NIHIL NISI BONUM!
• 

  Winston

  You Know,

  So are you saying 2 wrongs make a right?

  Yes, apprently they more or less did. According to the last chapter of John, the word went out from them (the apostles) to the brothers, that John would not die before Jesus returned. Apparently that was a common belief among the brothers up until the aged apostle himself wrote the gospel account and cleared up the misunderstanding.

  I thought that the wise thing for a person to do is to learn from our own and others mistakes. Why don't you learn from yours and the mistakes you mentioned here?
  Why do you keep repeating this same mistake you so cleaverly brought out.

  Where is your loyalty to Jesus words about " no man knows the day or hour not even the Son of man"

  Your failed predictions only emphasize the wisdom of not going beyound the things written.

  Former elder turned apostate (by WT definition)[:)}and proud of it!