Irony of Ironies: THE WATCHTOWER WILL END LONG BEFORE THE WORLD DOES!

by steve2 23 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  steve2

  I was recently acquainted with the exhaustive - and blatantly inaccurate and crazy - theorizing by a "Dr Thomas", the "founder" of the Christadelphians.

  He was an earlier "contemporary" of Chuck Russell - and some have accused Russell of "stealing" the Christadelphians main teachings. They're probably correct in their accusation. Christadelphians do not believe in the Trinity or Hellfire, are conscientious objectors who do not vote and who hate Catholicism and are scathing in their views of Christendom - although like all "decent" religious groups, JWs included, have toned down their rabid attacks on other religious groups in recent decades.

  Dr Thomas's quaint - and hilariously self-important - interpretation of Scripture, led him on several occasions to predict the end of the world in his own day. He was BIG,BIG,BIG on the rapture.

  Of course, the fact that every single one of his predictions failed did not stop Christadelphians from growing like wildfire and spreading around the globe to even invade the sleepy shores of New Zealand. Mercifully, the Christadelphians heyday is well and truly over, with successive census's in New Zealand, for example, showing a continuing decline of membership.

  The Christadelphians - a vainly fading precursor of what awaits the witnesses in the decades to come.
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  Tameria2001

  If the Watchtower does ever end, I would LOVE to see it happen before my mother and sister pass away. They would go on and on about how when religion falls, that Jehovah's Orgization would still be here. I would LOVE for them to eat their word. When it does fall apart, I hope it is from the inside out, meaning that they were the cause of their own downfall, and not some outside force such as the government. I think I will stop here, before I really start ranting.
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  steve2

  If the Watchtower does ever end, I would LOVE to see it happen before my mother and sister pass away.

  I do identify with this regarding my own family, but given the "nature" of these religions, the end is most often closer to a dwindling of interest and motivation. Some people continue to express faith in their religious organization's even after the outward signs suggest it's losing its appeal. For example, I am struck with the number of posters here who report that the demographics of their local kingdom hall consist mainly of older men and women and there is a dearth of younger ones.

  In terms of the Watchtower's demise, this is probably most likley to gather pace after 2014 - I don't think we'll see kingdom halls empyting - it'll be more of a continuing decrease in active publishers. Several western countries are already reporting consecuative years of decreasing numbers of average numbers of publishers and look at the notceable drop off in the numbers baptized. last year thew figures show that there were over 200,000 fewer worldwide ain attendance at the memorial observances.

  No, it won't be dramatic, but, like the dwindling number of Christadelphians, there will be more and more evidence that the Watchtower Society is well passed its heyday of active and continuing growth.
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  slimboyfat

  it'll be more of a continuing decrease in active publishers.

  Where exactly are JWs already decreasing? Denmark and a couple of other small countries. That's about it. Everywhere else they are still increasing, albeit at a slower rate than in the past. But a slow increase is still an increase, and multiplied by however long you want it never equals decline.

  In order for JWs to approach anything like a demise they would first need to start declining, which ain't happened yet.
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  slimboyfat

  As for the memorial attendance, that's because the previous year's memorial was on a Sunday, providing an unusually high base line for comparison. Expect an increase this year when the figure comes out.
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  Las Malvinas son Argentinas

  The human spirit is fragile and easily manipulated. Just ask parents whose child has just died. There will always be a market for such fantasies as the JW ideal as long as they are packaged within a wipespread and well-known faith such as Christianity. If the masters in Brooklyn had any sense, there would be a movement toward modernisation and mainstream Christianity in order to remove the reputation of cultishness and general oddity that people think of JWs. The leadership has never looked too far round the corner and have run their sect like the end was always coming in a few years. Even groups such as the Anglicans and Lutherans who have had notorious difficulty in retaining parishioners in their countries of origin are thriving elsewhere. JWs are not too different, instead they are fortunate enough to have roots in North America where secularism isn't as advanced as it is elsewhere.
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  steve2

  Hi SBF,

  My reply made it clear I was referring to average numbers of publishers not peak. The lag between peak and average was at one time usually 1 to 2 years. Now it is common for the lag between peak and average to be several years. A further indication of a slowing down - which both you and me seem to be in agreement about.

  I do not have the reports on hand at the present time, but two other countries where successive years of decline, followed by in-between years of marginal increases, are New Zealand and Japan, among others.

  Regarding the Western countries that continue to report increases, there are strong indications these are primarily among immigrant-population congregations (e.g., Hispanic, Pacific Islands).

  Also, a harbinger of leaner times for the organization is the continuing trending downwards worldwide of baptisms. The usual suspects are Western countries, but this shrinkage of baptisms is seen in other countries.

  Some posters have already commented elsewhere about the day on which the Memorial was in 2012: Sunday. They have even suggested it should not have resulted in reduced attendance compared to when it is held during the week or on a Saturday - when, traditionally, attendances at special meetings have been lower than when held on Sundays. To be fair, though, your and my reasons for the drop off in Memorial attendance in 2012 are both educated guesses.
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  Jeffro

  slimboyfat:

  Where exactly are JWs already decreasing? Denmark and a couple of other small countries. That's about it. Everywhere else they are still increasing, albeit at a slower rate than in the past. But a slow increase is still an increase, and multiplied by however long you want it never equals decline.

  True, but in many countries, the increase in JWs isn't keeping up with the increase in population. Proportionally, this represents a decline.
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  free2beme

  I will go out on a limb here and say that the Watchtower Bible and Track society will be in existence for at least another one hundred years. Why? Because there will always be someone, or a group of people, who are simply afraid to let go and that will feed the fire of the organization.
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  steve2

  You make an excellent point free2beme. People's need to believe will often be stronger than their need to know the literal truth. That said, histroy is littered with religious organizations that are "spent forces" in that their heyday is well behind them but they continue to "exist" due to inter-generational family ties. Even now, those still in the organization who post here report that the bulk of baptisms are from born-ins - this is a real change because in earlier decades, now converts easily outnumbered born-ins among those baptized. Another point is that sometimes organizations go through "shake-ups" that splits them or costs them members bigtime.

  I go back to the example of the Christadelphians: Even as recently as the 1920s and 30s, it was a thriving, growing religiuos organization. Now it is a shadow of its former heyday - but yes, people still find it a religion they commit too. That says so much about people's desperate need to find purpose and meaning through religion - a point you rightly emphasize, free2beme.