Let's just get something straight about 1975. (page 14)

sf

And that's how insidious-LY LETHAL the WTS is...a lot of the "rules" and "policies" and even doctrines are not placed in the publications.

Hope you don't mind if I add my two cents to your statement here.

sKally

Sunspot

Thank you AlanF....and thanks to everyone who contributed such good information on this subject!

Put out the light and tiptoe OUT----this SHOULD put this baby to bed!

Annie

He was the head of the Jehovah's Witness faith, at the time. He said a date on stage. The people listened, and with great power comes great responsibility. If he did not mean to say it, then he made a grave mistake that should have haunted him with guilt to his death.

gymbob

Ok so the society never EXACTLY said it....the real point is: If it DID come in 1975, would the WTB&TS be able to say (with proof), "Look, we told everybody this was going to come years ago!" ? WELL??? Of course they could!! End of discussion....

AlanF

gymbob said:

: the real point is: If it DID come in 1975, would the WTB&TS be able to say (with proof), "Look, we told everybody this was going to come years ago!" ? WELL??? Of course they could!! End of discussion....

Precisely!

I wondered the same thing, back around 1973 or so. In 1972 or so I had written the Society a letter asking them for a clear explanation of their reasoning that resulted in the apparent assumption that the round number 7,000 meant anything. Specifically, was the notion that 7,000 years was a magic number, as opposed to 6,999 or 7,001, a truly biblical notion, or just an assumption? They eventually wrote back and said that, yes indeed, it was just an assumption. I thought this was so significant in terms of the Society's claims about 1975 that it would of course be incorporated in an explanatory Watchtower article fairly soon. By 1973, I was chagrined that the Society was ignoring this major point (and surely others besides me, a young kid, had figured this out too), and I was developing some serious doubts about the date. So at one meeting I expressed my misgivings to a prominent elder. I was thinking that perhaps Jehovah was allowing the Society wrongly to set forth the 1975 date to test people. I remember thinking many times that the Society's words on the topic were cagey enough that they could claim victory if 1975 came as expected, yet claim not to have 'really' made any predictions if it didn't. Well, this elder mildly but firmly put me in my place, and said that I should have confidence in the Society's predictions.

AlanF

VM44

"this elder mildly but firmly put me in my place, and said that I should have confidence in the Society's predictions."

The sad thing is that 33 years later this elder would still say the same thing. That is, if he is still alive.

--VM44

luna2

Great research!

I was not a dub in the 70's. I didn't start studying until the mid-80's. I knew absolutely nothing at that time about the 1975 debacle and subsequent blaming of the R&F for speculating and "going beyond the things written". The sis studying with me made a point of bringing it up in our study which puzzled me at the time. Now I know that she was trying to head off any criticism regarding false predictions that might be brought to my attention by evil worldly relatives and others. If it wasn't a really big deal, big enough that they were still getting zinged by critics ten years later, why bother to bring it up?

Leolaia

Here are some newspaper and magazine articles from the period.....

"Transplants of hearts and other organs are a form of 'cannibalism,' the presiding officer of the nation's 350,000 Jehovah's Witnesses said in Detroit, Sunday. In an interview, Milton G. Henschel, 48, said there has been some development in the teaching of the Witnesses, but bans against transfusions -- and transplanting, which is done with wide use of transfusion -- still exist....

"The future, Mr. Henschel said, includes the battle of Armageddon, in which God will defeat the devil, in a short span, possibly several months. There is no date for Armageddon (Rev. 16:16), but, said Mr. Henschel, '1975 is a year to watch.'

"Witnesses believe the last generation is dated from the first global war, 1914, and time is getting near to the end of that generation. World War, confusion, famine, are all signs of the final times (Matt. 24), Mr. Henschel said.

"The year 1975 is the year to watch, because also by adding up the generations since creation (based on length of lives of people in the Bible), they believe 6,000 years will end in 1975. Then comes a paradise (after Armageddon) which will be ruled over by an invisible Christ. The dead -- except for 144,000 spiritually elite already in the hands of a spiritual realm of God -- will be resurrected" (Detroit Free Press, July 1968).

"About four months ago I sent a letter about the Pope's encyclical, "Of Human Life," to the People's Forum. The number of responses from Catholics through letters, telephone calls, and visits was overwhelming. Thanks to the many people who wrote and told me their views on it....I couldn't determine if the most recent article I received was for or against my letter. It was from a Jehovah's Witness informing me that the world will come to an end before 1975. They asked me to get off the sinking ship of the Catholic Church and join them. I guess that invitation should be considered an honor or something" (Appleton Post Crescent, 6 April 1969).

"Bruce and Liz Swain are Jehovah's Witnesses. He is 25, she is 23. They met at university, where Bruce was studying electrical engineering and Liz was training to be a teacher. They were converted during Bruce's last year. He now has a part-time job cleaning carpets, which she works full-time, unpaid, at the business of publishing the faith from door to door. In September, they will be setting off for South America, so that they can do missionary work in a small town near Bogota, Columbia. They don't know anybody there, and they haven't got anything fixed up for when they arrive, but they expect the local Witnesses will see them through. They are both trying to learn Spanish in their spare time, of which they have little. Were they planning to have a family out in South America, then? 'No,' said Liz. "We've decided not to have any children till after Armageddon.'

"For most people, this would seem a pretty long wait; but the basic tenet of the Witnesses' beliefs is that the world as we know it is going to end in 1975, after which God's Kingdom will, as they say, come....Bruce Swain was at university when he was converted; he finished his course nevertheless. I asked him whether he could really think he would have been better off had he not gone to university. 'The danger is that you're exposing yourself to too many of the wrong sort of influences,' he replied. But what could he think of a faith that wasn't strong enough to stand up to that kind of influence? 'You're simply not giving it a proper chance.' A more convincting argument is that if the world as we know it is really going to end in 1975, then the higher education which fits us to make the most of life in this world isn't going to be of much lasting use. But what if the world doesn't end in 1975?

"Here we come up against one of the main barriers to communication with convinced Jehovah's Witnesses. You appear to be have been carrying on a perfectly normal conversation when suddenly you realize that you have been arguing all the time from premises so different as to render the whole exercise almost meaningless. For the Witness, there's no question of 'if'. Armageddon will happen in 1975, if not earlier, and the only important thing in this life is what's going to happen then, in the next. Such things as careers, education, politics, are therefore of no importance." (Ruth Brandon, "Jehovah 1975," New Society, 7 August 1969, pp. 201-202)

"Sunday afternoon at 3 o'clock an enthusiastic audience of 1,270 people were present to hear Mr. J. C. Howard of New York speak on "Who Will Conquer the World in the 1970's?" Illustrating the struggle between East and West and the efforts to dominate economically and culturally, Mr. Howard contrasted the fight to a prize arena....The speaker emphasized that men who know the trend of world affairs, and more importantly, the Bible itself, earmarks the 70's as the generation that will tell the outcome [of the struggle].

" 'Personally, world conquest can mean life or death for us,' he declared. He pointed to Jesus who was no part of the world and yet conquered the world. 'This is a decade of destiny and as Christian Witnesses of Jehovah, we can conquer the world as Jesus did by our faithfulness to God's Word, the Bible" (Burlington Times-News, 29 September 1970, p. 8B)

"They were part of 1,508 persons who heard the public talk on Sunday, November 28, the final day of the convention. The Bible discourse was given by Charles Sinutko, Jr., district supervisor of Jehovah's Witnesses for the four-state area of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland, and Delaware.

"The title of the talk was a challenging one, posing the question, 'Can You Live Forever? Will You?' The speaker brought out the urgency of our finding the answer to this question, emphasizing that the Bible indicates that there is little time left before Jehovah God brings a catastrophic end to this system of things in what the Bible terms the battle of Armageddon" (Bucks County Courier Times, 4 December 1971, p. 10).

"Membership is growing quickly and a third congregation will likely start soon, said Peter Rose, Bible-study servant for the Galt Park Kingdom Hall congregation this week... Although Witnesses are currently disseminating a 'last days' message concerning 1975, they see no conflict between a building project and Bible prophecy.

" 'We'll go right on building the kingdom until Jehovah shuts the door,' Mr. Rose said. 'Even if we moved into the building only one or two days before the end of man's system, it would be worth it. The building itself is a testimony in a time when other churches struggle to find ministers and keep their big buildings open....

"By checking Bible chronology, Witnesses have established 1975 as 'the end of man's system,' Mr. Rose said. 'Now, people have a chance to hear, to check and cross check their Bible, to make some choices,' Mr. Rose said.

" 'We expect persecution will come soon. Witnesses have already experienced some during the two world wars, and recently in Africa. Governments have already tried to have us banned. At some point, the kingdoms of the world will all suddenly turn against Jehovah's people, who will be tested to the hilt. At the very last minute, Jehovah will step in, and the nations will know then who they are fighting.'

"Mr. Rose said Witnesses do not necessarily believe their Kingdom Hall will be destroyed at the battle of Armageddon. 'Even if it is, it will have achieved its purpose. Jesus is now ruling in heaven. One day he will return to rule and restore the earth to its original paradise during a thousand year reign' " (Lethbridge Herald, 20 October 1973, p. 11; the 4 August 1973 issue also had an article "Witnesses forecast destruction in 1975").

Lady Liberty

Check this out: http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,901074,00.html

TIME Magazine

Quotes of the Day
"I feel I made up for the sins I committed in this war." - Accused War Resistor Darrell Anderson

TIME Archive alt

TIME Mobile </form>

Home Nation World Biz & Tech Arts Science & Health Specials Photos Current Issue Past Covers TIME Blogs

More Sections

TIME Archive

Customer Service

From the Magazine | Religion

Witnessing the End

SUBSCRIBE TO TIME alt

PRINT

E-MAIL

MORE BY AUTHOR

Posted Friday, Jul. 18, 1969

If this turns out to be the last time they all got together, the thousands of Jehovah's Witnesses who gathered last week in New York City's Yankee Stadium for an international assembly will not be a bit surprised. In fact, they fully expect the cataclysm of Armageddon within the next few years. The latest calculations of this energetic, eschatology-minded sect date the end of the world in autumn, 1975.

Fearful as it may be to other religious believers, the end is a prospect that rejoices the hearts of the 323,688 U.S. members of the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, as the Witnesses are officially known (worldwide member ship: 1,155,826). In 1914, according to the sect's calculations, "God's timetable" ushered in the last days. Ever since then, Witnesses have longed for the end of "this wicked system of things" and the beginning of the millennium. According to their literal interpretation of The Bible, based on Revelation 14:1,* the Lord God will then pick 144,000 Witnesses to reign with Christ in heaven. The rest will remain on earth to convert unbelievers; at the end of 1,000 years, the wicked will be annihilated, while the saved will continue to enjoy a worldly Paradise. In his address on closing, day to the week-long assembly of delegates from 78 countries, the sect's president, Pennsylvania-born Nathan H.

Knorr, confidently discussed "The Approaching Peace of a Thousand Years."

Disciplined Theocracy. The New York assembly initiated a round of uplifting sessions of lectures and Bible dramas that the Witnesses will hold in 25 cities around the world, from Pomona to Paris to Papeete, between now and December. Under the supervision of a disciplined theocracy run by Knorr from Watchtower's sprawling Brooklyn head quarters, the Witnesses claim to preach their version of God's gospel in 200 lands.

More than most religious believers, the Witnesses are in almost constant trouble with the law, in the U.S. as elsewhere. They refuse military service, not on the ground of conscientious objection but on the dubious claim that every baptized member of the sect is a minister; as a result, a survey showed, 300 young American Witnesses were in jail last year for draft evasion. Currently, they are having difficulties with several African nations. In Zambia, for example, 3,700 Witness children were expelled from public schools for refusing to salute the flag, which they refuse to do anywhere because it expresses the kind of allegiance that is owed to God alone.

Return Visits. With Armageddon so near, the Witnesses waste no time on the social-betterment projects that so concern other churches, instead concentrate on dogged street-corner and door-to-door evangelism. Last year, for example, Witness ministers spent 208,666,762 hours preaching, made 89,903,578 return visits to those interested enough to buy books or magazines, but recorded only 82,842 baptisms—over 1,000 return visits for each convert.

Page 1 of 2 1 | 2Next >>

From the Jul 18, 1969 issue of TIME magazine alt