I don't. I believe most Witnesses do not want to even think about this question. Confronting it is too painful for most. Look at the way the typical JW lives now. Job security is suddenly important. Owning a home is no longer a "worldly" dream. Going on vacation is a necessity. Working overtime is welcomed. I see no sense of urgency with elders, ministerial servants, pioneers or publishers. What about you???
Do Any JW's Believe The End Will Come In Their Lifetime???
by minimus 36 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
shamus
Of course some do... but, let's be realistic. It probably won't. Everyone is getting lax again, and lots of people need to think about retirement.
-
Nosferatu
I think that many of them did when the "1914 Generation" theory was in effect, but now I think a lot of them will know they're lying to themselves if they think this.
-
teenyuck
I just discussed, with my mother, her long term goals for her finances. She needs to be able to support herself for the next 20-35 years (she is 64). Her family has a history of living into their 80's; they mostly passed from cancer. With her luck, she will live well into her nineties.
She is firmly convinced she will be on earth....with me and my husband! (SHUDDER!!) She mentioned that it would be nice if I offered to let her live with me (SHUDDER SHUDDER!!!). That tells me not only does she not believe it, she is storing her $$ for the future.
-
IslandWoman
Do any JW's believe the end will come in their lifetime?
Yes. As long as the Watchtower keeps saying the end is just around the next corner, there will always be people who believe it.
The younger ones especially, having so much time ahead for themselves, can easily envision the end coming in their lifetime as many of us did when we were young. The older folks though are, I imagine, more pragmatic about the whole thing.
Linda
-
blondie
My mother is older too. She never expected to reach this age in "the old system." That is what I hear from many older JWs. My mother did say that even if she didn't live into the "new system" that she would be resurrected, but I don't think she is in a hurry to find out what death is.
Having just faced the real possibility of my husband's dying, I can tell you that the younger we are, the less we consider death as a near possibility. It is always something in the future. There are no guarantees that death comes at 80 or 90. I have been reading the obits a lot lately and I am amazed at the number of people my own age that have died from cancer, heart disease, etc. And I am only in my 50's.
As long as JWs are healthy, it is easy to believe in a paradise that is near and that death is far away; when serious illness strikes, death seems to near and the hope of living into a paradise becomes dimmer.
Blondie
-
JH
I guess that they still teach that the end is close, because they have to scare people into submission, but actually I don't think that the older ones still believe in that.
The mid age witnesses are buying houses and getting better jobs, I think they are going for the long run, and hope it will be in the older years.
As for the very young, lets say below 25, they must believe it will come in their life time.
We are far from the 1914 generation that will see the end...
-
Room 215
There hasn't been a period in their entire 125-year history that they haven't insisted that the end was imminent. There's no question now that increasing numbers of JWs are equivocating about the nearness of the Big A, and are hedging their bets by pursuit of careers, education, home ownership, etc. Newer ones are often incredulous when long-time members recount how marriage, child-bearing, homeownership, life insurance and reitrement planning were denigrated and discouraged just 30 or so years ago.
Speaking of imminent events, I bet there's more than a little nervousness about the approach of 2014, now a bit more than 10 years away.
-
jgnat
My JW honey is counting on it.
-
unique1
Almost all the ones I know do believe it will come before they die. I know people who are putting off having children because they think the end is just around the corner and they don't want their children to have to live through Armegeddon.