October 1914? Really?

by sylvlef 65 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Vanderhoven7

  Phizzy,
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  jwfacts

  Here is the countdown card, ending on Oct 2nd 1914.

  
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  GermanXJW

  I remember that I read a QfR in a German Edition of an old WT (IIRC end 1940s) in our KH library that dealt with this and the official answers was really that Satan was aware of Bible chronology and made some turmoil on earth to distract humankind from the birth of the kingdom. Sounded already odd to me back than.

  edited: there was another QfR in the early 70s.
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  jws

  Perhaps they rationalize this in their minds that Satan was kicked out of heaven prior to the heavenly kingdom starting to rule.

  You know, if you've ever planned a wedding or other event, there's things to do beforehand so that things are ready for the event.

  PRE-ASCENSION TODO LIST:

  * Order new throne

  * Order crown

  * Pickup party invitations

  * Kick uninvited guests out of heaven
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  jws

  Actually the whole thing is based on shifts of time to make things fit.

  You have the 20-year shift from the actual events (destruction of Jerusalem in 586/587 BC shifted to 607 BC).

  You have the shift from 539 to 537. Russell was originally working with a date for the destruction of Babylon as 536 BC. Back up 70 years, 606 BC. Failing to omit year 0, you get -606+2520=1914. However, better history tells us Babylon was destroyed in 539 BC which the JWs agree with. So why do they go forward 2 years to 537 BC so that they can subtract 70 to get 607 BC? Jeremiah 25:12 says " But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt ". Sequence of events? 70 years fulfilled. Over, Done. King of Babylon punished. If the king of babylon was killed in 539 BC, how can they stretch the end of 70 years to 537 BC?

  And then of course, the other shift that is thetopic of this post. The Great War starting in July, but the supposed end of the gentile times in early October.
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  bats in the belfry

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  jwfacts >>> 2nd Oct 1914 has always been the end of the Gentile times.

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  Until the mid 1920s it was more like a dual approach.

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  Watchtower - December 1, 1919

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  Watchtower - January 1, 1923

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  Booklet: "A Desirable Goverment", 1924

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  jwfacts

  Bats, good find. It seems Rutherford must have changed it to Aug after 1914 to align with the War. It would be interesting to know when it moved back to Oct.
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  Oubliette

  "Thus, when C. T. Russell appeared for morning worship with the Brooklyn, New York Bethel family on the morning of October 2, 1914, he made the dramatic announcement: 'The Gentile Times have ended; their kings have had their day.' Indeed, the worldwide upheaval that began in [August of] 1914 was so far-reaching that many long-standing monarchies disappeared." - Revelation - Its Grand Climax At Hand, Chapter 18, p 105, para. 5 - Emphasis and interpolation added
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  bats in the belfry

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  Oubliette >>> October 2, 1914 . . . or, was it?
  
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  Just guessing, but Rutherford must have dealt with Russell's diary in a folklorish way.
  
  JFR insisted on the date of August 1914. And, btw, the WT May 1, 1922 issue reads "on the first day of October 1914", whereas the "Revelation - Its Grand Climax At Hand" book reads October 2, 1914. Go, figure!

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  bats in the belfry

  jwfacts >>> It would be interesting to know when it moved back to Oct.

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  The earliest indication of moving the date of the 'gentile times' ending back to October 1914 I could reference to the WT issue of October 15, 1945, page 308, par 8.

  The next one followed in the WT issue of November 1, 1949, page 331, par. 24.