History of 1914 date

by robB 24 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  robB

  From the small amount of research that I've done I've found the following points:

  • Charles Russell was the author of the prophecy that Christ returned in 1914
  • In an earlier period of his life Russell promoted the idea Christ had returned in 1874, which was originated by another man named Nelson Barbour
  • At both times, Christ was said to have returned invisibly (does anyone remember the story of the Emperor's new clothes)
  • Russell used some measurements from inside of the great pyramid of Giza to bolster his calculation for 1914, which was rooted in the cobbling of bible passages dealing with the fall of Jersualem, the times of the gentiles and Nebuchadneezar episode of madness (7 times)

  Am I missing anything?

  I'm trying to show a friend in the organization that all of this is a bunch of baloney.
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  Alfred

  No... Russell NEVER said that Jesus would take the throne in 1914... Rutherford changed this in the late 1920's...

  All Russell said was that Armageddon would come in 1914 and the bethren would go to heaven... when it didn't come, he moved Armageddon to 1918.
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  Alfred

  Google John Aquila Brown or his book The Even Tide (1823)... that's pretty much where this 2,520 year calculation started...
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  Ding

  Russell said that 1914 would be the END, NOT the beginning, of the "time of trouble."

  When WW I broke out, he proclaimed that "the present great war in Europe is the Armageddon of the scriptures."
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  Disillusioned Lost-Lamb

  Ugh

  Trying to nail down JW prophecy is like watching a dog chase its tale; the end is almost here, dang not yet, we've almost got it, spin sparky spin!
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  diamondiiz

  1914 was the end of gentile times for Russell which was supposed to bring destruction to the worldly governments by Christ.

  1874 was taught to be the date of Jesus' return based on belief that 6000 years of human history. This date was officially changed in 1942 or 1943 to 1914 as believed by present JWs.

  1878 was taught by Russell to be Christ's enthronement in heaven which was also changed to 1914 in the late 1920s.

  1799 was taught to be beganning of the last days which was again changed to 1914 in the late 1920s.

  Russell used the pyramid of Giza to support these dates, after his death in the late 1920s Pyramid was done away with, which also earased most of Russell's dates and allowed 1914 to take center stage.
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  LostGeneration

  1874 was taught to be the date of Jesus' return based on belief that 6000 years of human history. This date was officially changed in 1942 or 1943 to 1914 as believed by present JWs.

  This was the absolute stunner in my mind when I finally investigated 1914 (the part about it being changed in 42-43). Diamond do you know exactly what publication this was in?
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  diamondiiz

  LostGeneration:

  I think it was The Truth Shall Make You Free in 1943 that was the official change in the teaching. Rutherford did imply Jesus returned in 1914 on couple occasions as far back as 1932 or '33. But I can't remember the details without searching for them.

  "This was influenced by the belief that the seventh millennium of human history had begun
  in 1873 and that a period of divine disfavor (of equal length to a former period considered to be
  one of favor) upon natural Israel would end in 1878. The chronology was flawed because of relying
  on an inaccurate rendering of Acts 13:20 in the King James Vinion, belief that there was a
  transcription error at 1 Kings 6: 1, and failure to take into account Biblical synchronisms in the
  dating of reigns of the kings of Judah and of Israel. A clearer understanding of Biblical chronology
  was published in 1943, in the book "The Truth Shall Make You Free,"and it was then refined
  the following year in the book "The Kingdom Is at Hand," as well as in later publications." - Proclaimers, p.133

  I always found it odd that if there was an error in the the KJ bible, and they needed to add the 100 years to correct the calculations why didn't they move Jesus' return to 1975 as would have been the case if Russell's logic was used but instead they moved it to 1914!
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  Ding

  1975 would have been too far away back then.

  Rutherford needed to be able to claim that something had already happened by which the WTS (him personally) got authority to run things.
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  jwfacts

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/failed-1914-predictions.php has the quotes regarding 1914 before the date.

  http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/607-1914-7-times-history.php has some information on the historical development.

  Regarding the use of pyramids, Russell's belief in the sign of the pyramid most likely came from the Second Adventists. In 1859 John Taylor published The Great Pyramid: Why Was It Built? And Who Built It? He put forward the idea that the architect and supervisor of the Great Pyramid was not an Egyptian but Noah. (Other pyramidologists believe it was Melchizedek.) Piazzi Smyth, an astronomer accepted this idea. In June 1876 he published an article in the Bible Examiner, a journal owned by George Storrs in Brooklyn. In 1877 Joseph Seiss also published a book on the pyramid entitled Miracle in Stone.

  George Storrs then ran a series of articles on the Pyramid and its prophetic significance in the Herald of Life and the Coming Kingdom.
  
  Russell attributes his knowledge on pyramids to Smyth.

  "Here, thanks to the very accurate measurements of all the passages, furnished by Prof. Smyth, we are enabled to reach what to us are by far the most interesting features of the testimony of this "Witness" yet delivered." Studies In the Scriptures Series III - Thy Kingdom Come p.338

  see http://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/davinci-freemason.php