Have a laugh at these cringe-worthy Watchtower interpretations. JW's must be so embarrassed.

by yadda yadda 2 21 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Gayle

  JW's must be so embarrassed

  problem is, shamefully, they are never embarrassed, never apologetic, and think they are the only ones that are "right."
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  Fatfreek

  Great job, Yadda, on that vast number of dates and numbers.

  Yes, Russell started it all -- for JWs, that is. However, he was only clinging to Miller's shirttails on the basis he was convinced that Miller was on the right track but simply off on some calculation by 30 years. I think the following chart is from the Millerite movement. Russell referred to him in Watch Tower articles many times considered him a "brother" and in one instance even called him "Father".

  His final reference to Miller was in 1915, the year before Russell died. He referred then to the work that Miller did as a necessary "sifting among the professed people of God. Some became all the more interested in the Bible as the Word of God".

  
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  carla

  Thank you! marking
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  Fatfreek

  It's almost comical how Watchtower has waffled on the 1260 days alone. Placing these contradictions into a table may help some lurker better see what's happening. I created the following table in Word 2007 and apologize that the different colored rows don't come across. It helped to highlight the fact that there have been 7 position changes over the years.

  The 1260 Days
  	Begins	Ends
  Zion's Watch Tower, April 1880	538 AD	1798 AD
  Zion's Watch Tower, Sep 1, 15, 1898	539 AD	1799 AD
  Zion's Watch Tower, Aug 1, 1915	539 AD	1799 AD
  Zion's Watch Tower, Aug 1, 1915[1]	325 AD	1585 AD
  The Watch Tower and Herald...12/15/1929	Oct 1, 1914	Apr 1, 1918
  Light 1 (1930)	Nov 7, 1914	May 7, 1918
  Watchtower, Jul 1, 1951	Oct 1, 1914	Apr 1, 1918
  Finished Mystery, 1969	Oct 4, 1914	Mar 26, 1918
  Incoming World Government, 1977	Dec 28, 1914	Jun 21, 1918
  Revelation Climax, 1988	Dec, 1914	Jun, 1918
  Watchtower, Nov 1, 1993	Dec, 1914	Jun 21, 1918
  Kingdom Ministry[2], Sep 2006	Dec, 1914	Jun, 1918

  ---

  [1] "In another sense, however, the 1260 years would very properly extend from the year 325 A.D. to the year 1585 A.D. It was in the year 325 A.D. that the self-styled apostolic bishops convened under the patronage of Emperor Constantine, constituted themselves the Ecumenical Council of Nice, and formulated the first of the great Creeds, the Nicene Creed."

  [2] An insert paste-up alters Revelation Climax page
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  LUKEWARM

  Thanks for the list Fatfreek!

  From what I can see, the 1988 Revelation book changes the dates entirely from the outbreak of WWI (28 July 1914) to early 1918…

  *** re chap. 25 p. 164 par. 12 Reviving the Two Witnesses ***12 The John class had to preach this message for a definitely stated time: 1,260 days, or 42 months, the same length of time that the holy city was to be trampled underfoot. This period seems to be literal, since it is expressed in two different ways, first in months and then in days. Additionally, at the beginning of the Lord’s day, there was a marked period of three and a half years when the hard experiences of God’s people matched the events prophesied here—starting from the outbreak of the first world war in the latter part of 1914 and continuing to the early part of 1918. (Revelation 1:10) They preached a “sackcloth” message concerning Jehovah’s judgment of Christendom and the world.
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  MidwichCuckoo

  I could never get my head around all the dates/numbers - it's only since being de-dubbed that I know why.
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  Fatfreek

  Thanks, Lukewarm, for that citation. I've since changed the table, removed redundancies, and uploaded it as a jpg file to Photobucket so that the link can be used anywhere -- email, etc. For that purpose, here's the link:

  http://i166.photobucket.com/albums/u92/millerlr/WatchtowerWavering1260days.jpg

  If you spot any errors let me know and I'll correct and re-upload the newer image. Len Miller

  
• 

  palmtree67

  Interesting.

  Thank-you, all!
• 

  Elsewhere

  It all comes down to the BS system of Numerology.

  Some people are suckers for it.
• 

  sir82

  It's almost comical how Watchtower has waffled on the 1260 days alone.

  I suspect it is due to sloppy research, at least for the most recent flip-flops.

  Say "Brother A" on the writing committee gets an assignment and has to research what the 1260 days mean. He digs until he finds something stating they began in October 1914, from some old WT article or old book.

  Ten years later "Brother B" gets a different assignment, but once again has to research what the 1260 days mean. He looks up stuff in a different order than "Brother A" and writes that they began in December 1914, based on some other old article or book.

  Four years later "Brother C" gets a different assignment but finds the same answer "Brother A" did. And so on.

  Nobody on an editing committee has any clue what the heck the "correct" understanding is, so they just accept the reference given to them by the writer at at face value.

  Given their lazy and/or inaccurate research on other topics, this seems the most likely explanation.