The FIVE exciting Watchtower Presidential Eras

by Dogpatch 21 Replies latest jw friends

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  neverendingjourney

  One more thing on your 5 stages of your typical religious sect:the JWs have been somewhat immune to this curve (compare them with the Mormons, for instance) because of the revolving-door nature of the religion. With its extraordinarily-high defection rate combined with fresh recruits (mostly from the developing world and immigrant pools in developed nations), the WT virtually replaces its membership every few decades.

  What is a old and stale religious movement in the U.S. is a (relatively) new and exciting sect in Latin America and Africa. If the JWs were primarily an American relgion with the roots of your average member extending back into the group several generations, they'd be much further along in the natural progression of such religious groups.
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  mind blown

  Thanx...I can use this for future reference with family members....I'll bookmark.
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  cofty

  Thank you , really enjoyed reading your summary. Understanding history is so important, the GB would love new ones to remain ignorant of everything except their own revisionist version
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  millions now living are dead

  Good post. Here's how I see it in a nutshell. The evolution of a cult.

  1) Russell - Crazy Religious guy who, out of rebellion to mainstream Christianity, starts his own "bible study group". Has strange beliefs and mystical in nature. Gets growing group of followers.

  2) Rutherford - Takes out many mystical beliefs and makes everything more legal and "logical". The "bible study group" is now become like the other Religions that it rebelled against to begin with.

  3) Knorr - As a business man, he turns the whole thing into a profitable business and stabilizes it as a Religion. Structure is now solid and machinelike.

  4) Franz - With the machine whirrrring along, Franz brings an form of psuedo-intellectualism and arrogance that comes from the cult being at the peak of its power.

  5) Henschel to Present - The Cult is now playing defense with PR moves and trying to figure out what to do since Armageddon didn't come and the blood issue more complicated. More bureaucratic in nature and terrified of the internet. They may make compromises in the future to survive or else go down.

  Just how I see it.

  Mil
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  Dogpatch

  I never picked it up before, but Conley apparently remained a Trinitarian and this miffed Russell, according to West70.

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/99745/4/To-Barbara-Anderson-Re-First-WatchTower-President

  West70 says,

  I'm beginning to believe that the Conley's split from Russell in latter 1882, when everyone else was doing so for various reasons. I think that the Trinity was the final straw, but Russell's failed past predictions and future ridiculous predictions, as well as possible "plundering" of Conley's donations in 1881 may have all played some role in their split.

  Yes, folks, it is a fact. The FIRST PRESIDENT OF THE WATCH TOWER SOCIETY left the Society and Russell's teachings, and eventually joined with a movement closer to mainstream Christianity. Little has been reported of this because it was in all parties best interest to keep this quiet.

  If so, that's REALLY FUNNY.

  Randy
• 

  free thought

  ***********Let's make Prohibition our enemy, refuse to fight for our country, and court Hitler's favor.****************

  All churches not just the JW’s including Lutheran curried favor to Hitler 1933 as he was a confessed born again Christian .Baptist supported his anti-Semitism and communistic sentiments. Even the POPE waved the swastctiza and hailed there chancellor. Of coarse Hitler rejected JW’s right from the start but still favored other religions. Hitler was a confessed atheist, but only when he had the upper hand.

  Rutherford was no doubt a loose canon ;but one must be grateful as to a legal precedent. which freed WTS from there bondages. The espionage act 1918 was designed to gag war protestors. Rutherford won on the grounds of the 1 st , 5 th and sixth amendments of the constitution. The government had to concede giving back all properties once seized. .....Jesus was also accused of espionage !

  Note> USA is trying to gag Wikileaks on the same legality. .

  Franz beef was not with Jehovah but with man. This is why he did not turn triniterian.The WTS had it coming, Freddy yet another proclaimed phrophet like man was used by Satan to discredit his name.

  The truth is like a lump of gold buried hidden under the ground. First one must find the location by studying a map - the Bible. Then when near its location one must go about digging and sifting out all the dirt.

  Because of mans imperfections Satan diverts attention away from the truth. Do not trust in Nobles !Would you trust in a metal detector? I new a man who did When looking for gold he came across a very strong signal. When digging he found it was just a tin can

  But alas! False alarm! How so! he did not think that if he had dug a little further he would have found the gold hidden under the tin can.
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  just Ron

  Just 143,995 more to go then the end will come.
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  Band on the Run

  I did not know about the mansion for King David and other OT notables. No one seemed to know at KH. My mom told me when I was a teenager. I immediately exploded into laughter. She truly believed. Her moment of truth was when she went to a convention looking fwd to meeting Kings David and Solomon. She picked out her clothing and bought a new hat. There was new light at the convention. She never met King David or King Solomon. I cant imagine my mom being so naive.

  I tend to think of the Witnesses, emerging from Russell which is what I was taught. Millerism and the Adventist movement you mentioned show that the Witnesses were predictable off shoots. I believe this is important b/c it indicates they had nothing unique. I don't have time to do much research. Do you know some way of learning more than is posted by wikipedia but less than academic review. I am wondering what happened in the 1800s that triggered these movements.

  When I read history, it seems that men were more Renaissance people in the 1800s than now. The Epic of Gilgamesh was found and translated by an amateur. Russell had the hubris to think he knew the Bible more than anyone else in the past. The Great Awakening - was that in the late 1700s or early 1800s?
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  Dogpatch

  check out my ARMAGEDDONMUSEUM.COM site. :-))

  Randy
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  Vanderhoven7

  marked