"So what's the big deal about the date 607 B.C. being off by 20 years?" "That was a long time ago, and I can't see where it really matters"
Many of us have heard comments like the above when we tell our friends, and relatives our concerns about the society's chronology that is used to arrive at the year 1914. "Can't you just put this all behind you, and come back to the meetings?" seems to be their way of solveing this problem. Maybe we could just spray "WINDEX" on this problem ( like in the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding") and this whole problem would disappear.
As the book
"The Gentile Times Reconsidered" states: " Few people are fully cognizant of the very central role played by chronology in the claims and teachings of the Watch Tower Society. Even many of Jehovah's Witnesses are not fully aware of the indissoluble connection between the Society's chronology and the message they preach from door to door. Confronted by the many evidences against their chronology, some Jehovah's Witnesses tend to downplay it as something they somehow can do without. "Chronology is not so important, after all," they say. Many Witnesses would prefer not to discuss the subject at all. Just how important, then, is the chronology for the Watch Tower organization?" " An examination of the evidence demonstrates that it constitutes the very foundation for all the claims and message of this movement."
As we can see from the following statement, the date 1914 constitutes the very core of the "Good News" that over six million witnesses faithfully preach from door to door, world wide.
Notice the importance that is given the date 1914 in the Watchtower:
"Let the honest-hearted person compare the kind of preaching of the gospel done by the religious systems of Christendom during all the centuries with that done by Jehovah's Witnesses since the end of World War I in 1918. They are not one and the same kind. That of Jehovah's Witnesses is really "gospel" or "good news," as of God's heavenly kingdom that was established by the enthronement of his Son Jesus Christ at the end of the Gentile Times in 1914." (Watchtower, May 1, 1981, p. 17)A Jehovah's Witness who attempts to down play the role of chronology by making comments like the above, simply does not realize that he or she is radically undermining the major message of the "Good News" as it is preached by the society today.
Major claims about the date 1914 should require major proofs that the method of arriving at this date is relieable. For this date to be credible , it must come from an accurate starting point. Thus, the controversy over the date 607 B.C. Any proofs should be rock solid, and have much evidence to verify it is in fact accurate. Have you checked out this date yourself?
Trying to make 607 B.C. harmonize with the evidence, is like trying to put 10 pounds of potatoes in a 5 pound bag. It just doesn't work!!!
ROCKHOUND