But you told us about those dates.

Lost in the fog

You couldn't make it up! Saw this WT quote on a friend's page. It is from the Awake magazine of 1993, March 22nd apparently. As you read it laugh and weep. The very last 4 words of the final sentence is a jaw dropper!

"Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus’ second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect. Because of this, some have called them false prophets. Never in these instances, however, did they presume to originate predictions ‘in the name of Jehovah.’ Never did they say, ‘These are the words of Jehovah.’ The Watchtower, the official journal of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has said: “We have not the gift of prophecy.” (January 1883, page 425) “Nor would we have our writings reverenced or regarded as infallible.” (December 15, 1896, page 306) The Watchtower has also said that the fact that some have Jehovah’s spirit “does not mean those now serving as Jehovah’s witnesses are inspired. It does not mean that the writings in this magazine The Watchtower are inspired and infallible and without mistakes.” (May 15, 1947, page 157) “The Watchtower does not claim to be inspired in its utterances, nor is it dogmatic.” (August 15, 1950, page 263)."

Ultimate Axiom

They may admit that they are not infallible, but woe betide any Witness who does not treat them as if they are, for the WTS has also said,

“It is vital that we … respond to the directions of the “slave” as we would to the voice of God, because it is His provision.” (Watchtower, June 15, 1957, page 370).

“To hold to the headship of Christ, it is therefore necessary to obey the organization that he is personally directing. Doing what the organization says is to do what he says. Resisting the organization is to resist him.” (Watchtower, May 1, 1959, page 269).

“… a mature Christian … does not advocate or insist on personal opinions or harbor private ideas when it comes to Bible understanding. Rather, he has complete confidence in the truth as it is revealed by Jehovah God through his Son, Jesus Christ, and “the faithful and discreet slave.”” (Watchtower, August 1, 2001, page 14).

“In this time of the end, Christ has committed “all his belongings” - all the earthly interests of the Kingdom - to his “faithful and discreet slave” and its representative Governing Body … The anointed and their other sheep companions recognize that by following the lead of the modern-day Governing Body, they are in fact following their Leader, Christ.” (Watchtower, September 15, 2010, page 23).

The only bit of Watchtower advice I would wholeheartedly recommend is this;

“You may wisely decide against putting your trust in imperfect men and their fallible predictions and promises.” (Watchtower, March 15, 1966, page 168).

hoser

How many lives ruined because of their misleading end times claims?

Atlantis

This must have been discussed before, because grandpa has a PDF of every one of those quotes. ( Look for the red box )

https://docdro.id/DbFDbDu

Petra!

Phizzy

They really are just "Full of lies", I lived through all that , the lead up to 1975, the fallout, the non-excuses, blaming the R&F , the half-arsed "apology" in 1981 if memory serves.

" How many lives ruined because of their misleading end times claims? "

How many indeed ! I know so many JW's whose future was shot to pieces by their "predictions", one guy would be a Multi-Millionaire today but for them, to give him his due, he is sanguine about it, nice guy. But how many others have no Pension ? no quality of life ? and they try to wriggle out of ANY responsibility ! Bastards !

Ding

How about the changed masthead of Awake?

Before Nov 8th 1995: "Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away."

Note: This was proclaimed -- not as the "present light" of fallible men -- but as "the Creator's promise."

After Nov. 8 1995, the reference to '1914 generation' was deleted: "Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure world that is about to replace the present wicked, lawless system of things."

Littlewilly

Maybe the dates created by the Watchtower Corporation (1914) were just speculative dates to attract attention to the literature the WTS published and therefor were NOT supported by the bible ?

What backing did these men have from other Christian theological learning institutes concerning these dates /years such as 1914 ?

I think there is scripture warning about men who says things god didn't give them to say also about false prophets. !!!

LongHairGal

PHIZZY:

I heard a remark about ‘people serving for a date’ back when I was new in the late ‘70s. When I asked somebody what was meant I was told it referred to people who were no longer around because of 1975. I was led to believe I shouldn’t concern myself about it.

Nobody told me about this 1975 fiasco and it might have made a difference in me getting involved with the JWs! .. I know what you mean about people who have no Pension because they were told they should be in the full time ministry!! ..I was disliked/shunned/not invited because I refused to quit my job and do like they did.

Meanwhile, all the older people (who would now be in late 80s-early to mid 90s) were collecting THEIR pensions. But, yet poverty was preached to Baby Boomers because the End was supposedly so close. Thankfully I did not listen.

JW GoneBad

Maybe a little off topic but I picked this gem of a quote from from the September 2002 Kingdom Ministry...pay particular attention to the last sarcastic and belittling statement WT makes about using the internet to spread the Word:

"God’s Appointed Channel: Bear in mind that our heavenly Father has an appointed channel of communication, “the faithful and discreet slave.” That “slave” has the responsibility to determine what information is made available to the household of faith, as well as “the proper time” for it to be dispensed. This spiritual food is available only through the theocratic organization. We should always look to God’s appointed channel for reliable information, not to a network of Internet users."

If WT & their various websites aren't a network of internet users...then...!

Ding

How times have changed!

It wasn't that long ago the WT considered the internet to be Satan's and JWs were told to stay away from it.

Now, all many Witnesses can do when you ask them a question is refer you to jw dot org.

But you told us about those dates.

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