Compare demise of Plymouth Brethren and Witchtower

by hamsterbait 7 Replies latest jw friends

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  hamsterbait

  The Plymouth Brethren, had the same type of exclusivity as the Witchtower, NO worldly friends, practising shunning etc, they had sooo many teachings on making everyday life seem like everlasting death - you would think the Witchtower Babble and Trash Society was an offshoot.

  They have now faded to a hardly noticable group, as their end time prophecies failed, and they were unable to substitute these with something more upbeat than "The Satanic Trinity" or forcing non believing relatives to eat at another table.

  HB
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  ninja

  and they spawned aleister crowley
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  Leolaia

  The Society was also directly influenced by the Brethren, as can be seen in their authoritative quoting of Alexander Hislop's The Two Babylons and W. E. Vine's Expository Dictionary for much of the 20th century.
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  slimboyfat

  I don't doubt it, but what are the statistics like for the closed Brethren? How dramatically have they declined and where are they at at the moment? Anyone got numbers handy?

  If you want to see a religion in real decline, one that came to prominence around the same time as the Witnesses, you need look no further than the Christian Scientists. I have looked at the statistics for them (so far as they can be gathered - they don't like people counting them) and it looks like they can are well and truly on their last legs at the moment. At one time they actually looked more promising in terms of growth and popularity than the Witnesses, but things went sour around the middle of the Twentieth century, and it has been a long slow demise since.
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  bigmouth

  I've often thought the Plymouth Brethren or the Amish might be good indicators of how the WT society will become.
  
  They may not ever go away as long as the communal security is there to give them protection from a very frightening world. A familiar routine is in place for them and all they have to do is marry within their group and bring up children in it.
  
  We have the so-called Exclusive Brethren in NZ. They have been in the news a lot the last year for making secretive donations to political parties. The women and girls are readily identifiable by their scarves and long denim skirts. The men don't wear ties and they seem to always drive mini vans. Quite a large proportion seem to be 'coppertops' (ginger ;)
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  yadda yadda 2

  Not enough info is given to enable a proper comparison. Who the heck are the "Plymouth Brethren"?
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  dozy

  I think that the one driver in JW growth & sustainability that the other churches don't have is JW evangelism. Providing that this can be maintained , I just don't see the numbers falling.

  Interestingly what seems to have been the main factor in the decline of Christian Scientists was a major schism & disasterous foray into TV evangelism in the 80's. The WTS seems to have learned from this - it's negligible internet & TV presence & big cutbacks in book & magazine production have at least temporarily prevented a similar outcome.
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  yadda yadda 2

  Dozy, that's interesting. Why was the Christian Scientist's venture into TV so disastrous? It's worked for many evangelists.