Certainly, and hopefully, someone here made the decision themselves. I am very interested in what are the factors. The Society evidently can't control it. Since the historical underpinnings of the generations have been removed, what does it mean? They seemed very respected. Yet I met several remnant back in time who had no voice in the KH save that of publisher.
Heavenly Gates Closed in 1935 Re-opened in 2007
by Alfred 77 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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discreetslave
When they changed the 1935 understanding I thought they realized that if the number is literal many who partook in the early days partook because they came out of false religion with the heavenly hope set in mind and never realizing they were mistaken since the earthly hope was only understood later.
The heavenly hope is what the New Testament is about. I know JW's like myself who always felt they were going to heaven simply because of understanding the Christian scriptures but did not partake because they were too scared to be criticized. I had no desire to rule over anyone or sought out special treatment, I felt I was going to heaven at the time because of the closeness I felt to Jehovah & Christ as a Christian.
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MrFreeze
144000 is a stupid teaching. How many Christians were there back in Pauls day and the centuries after? Did they never reach the number 144,000 at that time?
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agonus
When you really think about their wack-ass doctrine, as long as some who are "called" fall away, there will always be a need for replacements - so the heavenly chariot - which apparently has a limited capacity - could theoretically stay up there forever with winged folk perpetually getting kicked out then replaced. Like overlapping generations, it could potentially go on until the end of time.
Oh crap, I hope I haven't given the GB any ideas...
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EntirelyPossible
Well, the whole 144K think is part of a verse where everything else is symbolic. Wouldn't be much of a leap for them to change that as well.
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Alfred
the point i was trying make is that real reason for doing away with 1935 was because of the aging and dying governing body leaving the newer guys with no authority... in fact, i believe they purposely increased the number of memorial "partakers" in recent years to take the attention away from the fact that they now have a governing body that were mostly born after 1935... and it worked... more attention was placed on the increasing number of partakers than the legitimacy of the new governing body... these guys are smarter than we think...
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WTWizard
This is merely a reaction to the increase in partakers at those REJECT Jesus Parties. When they see those numbers start growing (and that is one number that has started getting steadily bigger) when it should be going down, and even when they stubbornly refuse to diminish during 20 years, they need to come out with something like this to explain it away. And something tells me that this is where they got their stupid idea about "a generation" in 2010--from trying to explain away the increase in REJECT Jesus Party partakers.
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Alfred
wt wizard... they themselves purposely increased the number of partakers so they could divert attention from the governing body having only 2 members born before 1935... it was much easier for them to "explain away" the increasing number of partakers than having to defend their authority... it's a strategy that obviously worked to a great degree...
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ScenicViewer
@ Band on the Run, who asked,
Did they just have new light and as of a certain date, you were encouraged to suddenly be a remnant member?
No, it isn't encouraged to be a remnant member, but the number of partakers at the memorial is increasing. I'm going to copy and paste some information from my notes here. It shows the difference between what used to be declining numbers of partakers, and the now increasing number of partakers, and the way the Society responds to it.
(Latest View of Memorial Partakers and The 144,000)
One change is in the way the Society looks at the number of partakers. The declining number of partakers was supposed to be proof positive that we are in the last days. Under the subheading 'Six Convincing Lines of Evidence [of being in the last days]', the following article says,
"Sixth, the number of genuine anointed disciples of Christ is dwindling, though some will evidently still be on earth when the great tribulation begins. Most of the remnant are quite elderly, and over the years the number of those who are truly anointed has been getting smaller." (Watchtower Jan 15, 2000, p 13)
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"There is every reason to believe that the number of anointed ones will continue to decline as advanced age and unforeseen occurrences end their earthly lives." (Watchtower Aug 15, 1996, p 31)
However, in recent years the number of partakers has increased significantly. Obviously, the declining number of partakers proved nothing regarding the last days.
Another change is in when the number of 144,000 was sealed. Previously it was viewed to be in 1935. The organization said,
"Logically, the calling of the little flock would draw to a close when the number was nearing completion, and the evidence is that the general gathering of these specially blessed ones ended in 1935." (Watchtower 1995 Feb 15 p.19)-- and --
"There is good reason to believe that the number of 144.000 anointed Christians was complete decates ago...The facts over the decades reflect both the completion of the calling of the anointed and Jehovah's blessing on the growing "great crowd," who hope to survive "the great tribulation."" (Watchtower Aug 15, 1996, p30)The reason for looking at 1935 as though it was the year the 144,000 were sealed, is that it was in that same year that the 'other sheep' were explained to be ones with an earthly hope. It was assumed that since Jehovah provided the "new understanding" of the 'other sheep' in 1935, it was because the 144,000 must have been completed in that year.
But because of the increasing number of partakers in recent years, the Society is forced to take a step backward in the 1935 date, and it now says,
"Thus it appears that we can not set a specific date for when the calling of Christians to the heavenly hope ends." (Watchtower 2007 May 1 p.31)
And what about all those new partakers? The Society suggests that some partakers may be emotionally unbalanced, or are influenced by past beliefs, and are partaking by mistake.
"...A number of factors — including past religious beliefs or even mental or emotional imbalance — might cause some to assume mistakenly that they have the heavenly calling. We thus have no way of knowing the exact number of anointed ones on earth; nor do we need to know." (Watchtower 2011 Aug 15 p.22)
Like so many Watchtower beliefs, this one is a state of flux, and there is confusion all around. -
Aussie Oz
funny this should come up...
i was explaining this to my daughter yesterday!
oz