Very true, but younger ones are a reflection of their parents. If dates start changing again I believe many of the parents will start to "fall away" and the kids will follow 9 times out of 10. That's what you look for.
Do young JWs care about the dates 1914 or 1919 anymore?
by 1914BS 28 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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yknot
Does anyone have a recent CD? Mine is from 2005. I wonder if someone could do a search on 1914 and see the amount of references to it in say 1997 & 2007.
I think I counted 617....
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wha happened?
was there a difference in the amount of references from last year to 10 years ago? Like how many references in 2007. and compare that to the amount of references in 1997.
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yknot
1997- 52
2007 - 42
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still_in74
There's been some hints in the last decade about it going for 120 years from 1914 as compared to Noah's preaching work
yes that was suggested back in a 2003 WT i believe. The basically stated that Noah preached for 120 years and endured. then slipped in "it has been almost 90 years since the beginning our the last days".
this is typical WT fashion, state something without stating it to cover there ass.
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wha happened?
"this is typical WT fashion, state something without stating it to cover there ass."
This is so very true. I remember a few years back during the time when the rumor was getting spread around how Math 24:14 has been fulfilled. My friend call Bethel to ask if this was the case as it wasn't in the publications. Their answer? "Well it's implied in the publication." When he told me that the first thing out of my mouth was 1975. These non-committable answer with an escape clause -
Pahpa
still-fading
As to children leaving with their parents, I think it largely depends upon the age of the children. If they are married to mates that are "gung ho" Witnesses, the chances are that they will stay in the organization and shun their parents. On the other hand, younger children will have no choice. They will follow their parents and probably be relieved that they no longer have to follow the strict regimen of meetings and service. But we are told that 2/3rds raised in the organization leave once they make their own decisions. (PEW report) Whatever the circumstances, the loss of so many young JWs belies the claim of the Watchtower that children who are "trained in the truth" become faithful members. But, of course, the leaders of the organization put the blame on the parents anyway and thereby add to the guilt of an already overburden membership.
To many of the young in the congregation, the dates are "ancient history." But any significant change will still cause some to re-evaluate the whole Watchtower belief system. For example, the change in "this generation" teaching was the "last straw" for some even though the majority accepted it as "new light." The fact is that there has been an constant erosion in the membership in the last few years that is hidden because of increase of new converts.
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james_woods
What most barely-aware JWs seemed to think about 1914 back when I was active during the 1970s was that it was a successful prophecy of the First World War. They used to constantly quote some newspaper editor who said this - and he completely misunderstood the actual CTR line of "reasoning". They also used to constantly talk about how WWone was "much more significant" than WWtwo to shore up the date.
I would say that only about one out of ten of even the elders could really tell you a decent rendering of the 1914/1918,1919 line of teaching. Trumpet blasts? Selection of the heavenly class? Most could not recall it - they were sleeping through this part of the meetings. That old red book Babylon the Great has Fallen was actually dreaded as a book study material precisely because nobody could wade through all that stuff about the weeks of years and the dates.
With the current dumbing down, is it any surprise that they can make wholesale changes in "Generation" without a murmer from the dumbed-down masses? And I'll bet you that it is even more dumbed-down for the new influx of spanish-language or third world people; many of whom probably have never heard of 1914 - they are probably just being told that "the end is near".