Has anyone, other than me, tried to get your friends/loved ones to prove 1919?

garyneal

If so, how did it go? Did they really try to prove it to you or did they write you off as ‘hopelessly lost’ or somewhere in between? As some of you are aware, I have been trying to get my wife to prove it to me, and if not her, another believing Jehovah’s Witness. You may or may not have encountered the same reactions but my wife says some things along these lines:

We don’t serve for dates we only serve for God.
I refuse to play apostate games with you.
The Watchtower Society MUST be right about 1914 and 1919 because they do extensive research and considering how many times they adjusted their doctrines, they would never hold on to something that was not true.

It’s like talking to a brick wall. Jehovah’s Witnesses are convinced that something must be wrong with you if you choose not to follow their teachings. As I’ve tried to explain to my wife over and over again ad nauseum, scripture says one thing and men interpret it to say a lot of other things. If I am going to trust the teachings of men who claim to have unquestionable authority to interpret scripture, then it is imperative that their authority has to be proven. Otherwise, why trust them over any other religious leader or even over my own interpretations?

This reasoning is SOOOO lost on my wife as it is like it does not compute. I guess we all know why and the time has come for me to get into some heavy duty reading.

Releasing the bonds

So back to my original questions: Have you tried this with anyone you know and/or love and if so, what were their reactions?

james_woods

I can honestly tell you that none of my relatives (dozens of people) or for that matter ANY witness I ever knew who was not on the writing committee - could even tell you what the significance of 1919 was to the witness organization.

Honesty

Have you tried this with anyone you know and/or love and if so, what were their reactions?

We don’t serve for dates we only serve for God.

Are you becoming an apostate?

Do you love Jehovah?

Their minds are in a trap and nothing you say will affect them as long as they want to remain deceived.

MrFreeze

I tried with 1914/607 and the only thing they would reply with is "but the Bible says". I got nowhere fast.

cedars

I raised this with some elders once, and they both just looked at eachother. One seemed to be more decisive about the significance than the other. I have a theory that deep down at least 50% of witness adults don't believe that huge chunks of the bible were fulfilled in the early part of the 20th century by a series of conventions, kingdom news campaigns, watchtower articles etc. The only way to prove my theory would be to do an anonymous survey of 7.5 million people, so I won't be testing that theory any time soon.

The elder who seemed more certain said "but you must understand the significance of the truth being discovered by these people after centuries of apostasy?!" or something like that. You can add that to your list of objections for what it's worth.

The most convincing way in my mind to disprove the society's stance on 1919 is to ask someone to look at "The Finished Mystery". This was being written/published at the time that Christ was supposedly inspecting his spiritual temple. Your wife shouldn't have a problem reading it if it is a part of witness history that is mentioned in the publications. You can ask her to try and read it from Jesus' perspective given that the Bible Student's were supposedly selected as the Faithful and Discreet slave based on their understandings of scripture as published at that time.

Here's the link for the Finished Mystery on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Finished-Mystery-Charles-Taze-Russell/dp/0559508220/ref=pd_sim_sbs_b_1

wobble

I tried the 1919 thing, my B.I. Law said "I am satisfied with the evidence" but would not say what the evidence was. I wrote a letter to his son, also an Elder, and outlined the problem of 1919 and its ramifications, he never replied.

A willfully closed mind is as hard to open as a Scotsman's wallet. (that well worn joke is a vile calumny, my Scottish friends are the most generous people I know).

wannabefree

I have been trying with my wife. She won't, it doesn't matter to her. I asked her, for the sake of our children, don't believe me, just examine it yourself (1919) and make sure it is true. Nope, won't do it, she knows it is God's Organization, "nothing will change my mind" she said.

I read her passages from "The Finished Mystery"and infamous Awake! articles ... her comment was simply, "they shouldn't have said that" ... "the light gets brighter" ...

jay88

The most convincing way in my mind to disprove the society's stance on 1919 is to ask someone to look at "The Finished Mystery".

I hate to say it, and it may have been brought up on this forum before.

A JW can only go so for in time when it comes to reading WTBS publications.

I have seen members reprimanded(after a meeting) because they quoted from books written by the WTBS that no longer support their current beliefs.

jay,

eva luna

I tried asking , then explaining, my views on 1914/607 with my father . His responce was, "You have to look at the Big Picture."

I asked what he meant be that, he wouldn't answer and wanted to just drop the subject. He wasn't annoyed with the question, or didn't make me feel bad for asking or use the A. word.

My impression still is, that he was already aware, and this is what he tells himself.

This was about ten years ago, I often wonder what he has thought about all the different generation changes since that conversation.

wannabefree

A JW can only go so for in time when it comes to reading WTBS publications.

At the meeting last night, someone quoted a 1953 Watchtower article ... I am thinking "WTH? Couldn't you find a more current article to support your comment?"

It's okay to quote old publications as long as it doesn't conflict with current understanding.

Has anyone, other than me, tried to get your friends/loved ones to prove 1919?

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