the haberdahser who cried wolf

by Celia 4 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Celia

  Do you know the book : APOCALYPSE WOW ! by James Finn Garner, published in 1997 ?
  I love this kind of humor…
  Anyway, one of the chapter is titled : The Haberdasher who cried wolf
  And it is, of course, about the end time prophecies of Charles Taze Russell.

  Here are parts of it :

  Zealotry enjoyed a golden era in the late 19th. Century, with robber barons, temperance workers, and doomsday prophets vying for headlines. One of the most prominent of the latter was Charles Taze Russell, a Pennsylvania haberdasher who founded the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
  Since the group’s establishment in 1884, the end of the world and the Second Coming of Christ have been a cornerstone of the JWs (officially known as the Watchtower Bible and Tract Society). In fact, in this century alone, the Society has officially predicted the end at least five times. The unofficial count (through rumors, speculation, and the like) is pretty impressive as well. In fact, the Watchtower magazine, the official Society organ, has stated that the end is coming “soon” in every single issue ever printed since its beginning in 1879 – a pretty clever way to get subscribers to renew, when you think about it.
  ….By Russell’s estimation, October 2 (1914) would be the destruction date for the “Gentile nations”. On this day, chosen Witnesses would be taken to heaven, while Christ’s millenial reign on earth would begin.
  So, did this happen ? Hard to say. According to one JW leader, Russell bounded down the stairs to breakfast on the morning of October 2, “briskly clapped his hands and happily announced : ‘the Gentile times have ended’ “ Yet the milkman still came that day, the buses still ran, and worldly kingdoms had failed to topple. Setting the standard for ideological gymnastics that the group carries on to this day, Russell explained that Christ had indeed defeated Satan and established his Kingdom – only he had done it in the outermost heavens, where we mortals couldn’t see it. Worldly kingdoms while still around, were now invalid. Russell said the public had misinterpreted his prophecy, which hadn’t stated explicitly that Christ would set up anything on earth. (Boy, you start telling people about the end of worldly kingdoms and Christ’s return, and they start jumping to all sorts of nutty conclusions !)

  And there’s more, about Rutherford and more… Love it !
• 

  Amazing

  Hi Celia: Have not heard of the book you cite until your post. Excellent! Enjoyed it much. Please share some more gems. Thanks much
• 

  Celia

  I don't have the time right now to type more, but I will if you wnat me to. I need to do a few things and get ready to go see Lord of the rings at 3 pm, with kid and hubby !
• 

  Celia

  More :
  

  Between 1914 and 1918, the Witnesses concocted their best-known prophetic slogan : “Millions now living will never die !” The Battle of Armageddon and the start of the Millenium were close at hand, and would erupt before the last of a group of 144,000 specially appointed Witnesses died. ((83 years later, it is believed a survey of that appointed group would fail to yield statistically significant data, or even enough for a hand of canasta.))
  This “generation” would not die according to Scripture, until the Second Coming took place. The actual definition of “generation” has caused some problems since then. The Society has recently stopped defining it as the physical lifespan of a human being and instead now considers it an era. This extends the imminence of the “end times” almost indefinitely, although once the last of the 144,000 dies, regular unanointed members will take over the Society leadership, which could wreak absolute havoc on their current record of apocalyptic accuracy.
  Other years chosen by Witnesses for the Big One : ((Is it just me, or is the word Witnesses taking on a slightly ironic tone by now ?))

  1918 : When this year came and went, church leaders told their followers that the prediction was not wrong, only unapparent. Their official explanation was that Christ had entered God’s celestial temple in order to cleanse it. God’s poor housekeeping habits were news to many.
  ………..

  Then finally, enough horsing around : 1975 was really, really, really going to be it, said church leaders. JWs adhere to the popular “6,000 years and out” dogma. According to their math, Adam and Eve were created in 4026 BC, so the 6,000 years were up in 1975.
  …….
  Of course, if we take Jesus’s word as gospel, it would seem to negate the very foundations laid by C.T. Russell when he established the Jehovah’s Witnesses. But why quibble about history when there’s so much to look forward to (constantly and as part of church doctrine) in the future ?

  
  
• 

  TD

  Garner reminds me a little of Richard Abanes. His writing style is pleasant, even humorous at times, but his accuracy on material details leaves a lot to be desired.

  Russell, for example died in the belief that the great war in Europe was the Armageddon of the scriptures. It was not Russell but Rutherford who "spiritualized" the prediction, claiming that "Christ had indeed defeated Satan and established his Kingdom – only he had done it in the outermost heavens, where we mortals couldn’t see it"

  Similarly, the millions campaign ran between the years 1918-1925, not 1914-1918 as Garner asserts. It was not until February 24 1918, at the Temple Auditorium in L.A. that the speech upon which the whole fiasco was based was even given, and the booklet “Millions Now Living Will Never Die” was not published until 1921. Both pointed forward to the year 1925 as the “the antitypical Jubilee, earth’s times of restitution.”

  Tom