They're slowly "boiling that frog" preparing people for the next 100yrs......of obedience and donations.
Another "pull the football away just before you can kick it" comment made by Circuit Assembly's special guest, Thomas Chicky
by sir82 33 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
ScenicViewer
The subtitle of the book Harp of God is great. It not only declares that 'millions now living will never die,' it adds the phrase 'Proof Conclusive.'
-
kairos
Many, after decades of being told Armageddon was soon and the preaching work was so important will fall back on the old favorite:
Where else would we go?
---
The painful, yet truthful answer is so simple.
You could have had your own life.Those still in:
You still can have your own life. -
ScenicViewer
The words at the bottom, circled in red, are not legible in this small scan, but they read...
"I want the statement, "Millions Now Living Will Never Die," to be taken literally as it is, in the light of recently fulfilled prophecy & probable Biblical proposition." --J.F. Rutherford
-
steve2
Of all people on earth, members of the so-called "End Times" religions (which includes JWs) have the greatest difficulty with the thought of growing old and dying because they were taught - and in turn teach others - that the end of this system of things is just around the corner.
As members of successive generations with End Times religions get old and observe their contemporaries dying, they find themselves ill-prepared because they had fervently believed they would not grow old and die in this system of things.
What we are now observing is, at an organizational level, the language is changing to "normalize" the likelihood of growing old and dying. You might say that the organization has little choice other than to "'fess up" about normal outcomes such as getting old because it sees the evidence that JWs are struggling to maintain their faith in the nearness of the end whilst observing their contemporaries dying from old age.
This is how End TImes religion age: They gradually drop the "urgency" and focus more on the practicalities of living life in this system. Yes, they still talk about the end - but not with the same urgency of earlier decades. That's the biggest change.
If you check out JW org, you'll see their "star" text is Mathew 24:14 but you'll notice they omit the end phrase "...and then the end will come." Don't believe me? Check it out on JW.org right now.
-
FedUpJW
"The primary hope of salvation is the resurrection. Jehovah does not promise anyone that he will survive Armageddon. Now, I don't want to discourage anyone - I hope to live through Armageddon, and I'm sure you do too. But the only thing that Jehovah has promised us is a resurrection. That is our primary hope of salvation."
I heard the nearly identical comment from yesterdays indoctrination speaker. He mentioned that all the "faithful men of old" died without seeing the promises come true, but they will be resurrected, and so "even when we die we know we will be resurrected" and be in the new world...soon.
They have now pretty well abandoned the idea that anyone can live through their Armageddon without dying.
-
ScenicViewer
It was a huge campaign in the early 1920s. Note the words "It means what it says," and "It is a fact."
It even encourages us to "Investigate." It is a shame that JWs today are so unwilling to investigate the true history of their own religion.
-
tidalblitz
And yet sadly very few if any will actually find any problem with that statement!
@stuckinarut2.. they will say that this is what we've believed all along! "Nothing to see here, people. Move along.."
-
Londo111
I remember a circuit overseer liken it to Plan A and Plan B.
Plan A is living thru Armageddon. Plan B is the resurrection.
I took plan C: See ya! I'm outta here!
-
Pete Zahut
Non JW's who have a hope of a (heavenly)resurrection, hope to be included in it when it happens. Until then they do the best they can and go about making their lives now, as good as possible. They don't forgo getting an education, marrying and having children or pursuing their talents and interests. A hope is a hope whether it's earthly or heavenly, it comes after they pass away. They haven't been taught and promised since childhood that there was a certainty that they'd never have to experience death.
Like anyone else, they don't want to die but they've known from the beginning that the reward they hope for comes after they die but at least when they do, they've had the chance to choose what they wanted to do with their lives rather than be strung along with man made false hopes that led them to put everything off for a day that never arrived.