Becoming a JW

by Mum 24 Replies latest jw friends

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  TonusOH

  I don't think Russell taught that 1874 would be the end, but that it was when Christ ascended to the throne (ie, his 'presence' instead of his 'coming'). This was not an original idea- the Millerites had dealt with the disappointment of failed end-times predictions in 1843 and 1844 by making the same claim, that they had 'expected the wrong thing at the right time.' But he did make clear that he expected 1914 to be the end of Armageddon, not the beginning of the end times.

  Rutherford predicted the end in -if I am not mistaken- 1918, 1920, 1925, and 1941. The WTS hinted strongly at a possible end in the early 50s, and seemed to have learned their lesson until Franz's end-of-world itch got so bad that he could not help but scratch it, and thus 1975 became the next expected date of the end. From then on, they have preferred to tell us, over and over, that the end is closer than we expect. Or really really close. Or super duper close. And so on.
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  Nathan Natas

  Franz & Co. made a prediction that the end would come in 1972, but it was carefully concealed under a page of arithmetic, so almost NO JWs latched on to it. This was in a WTB&TS book whose title I can't recall right now.
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  ozziepost

  My dear late wife (Mrs Ozzie) had a good friend who was a former Gilead missionary who continually was looking for “new truths” in the pages of the Watchtower magazine. So she earnestly read ‘between the lines’ looking for new insights, being ready to announce to us less gifted some new ‘gem’ straight from on high.
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  Mum

  Nathan Natas: I was in Lexington, KY during the 1950's, and I only met people who came to the Shriner's Hospital. Interesting that your name is Nathan. When I attended my first assembly in New York in 1963, a child named Nathan, who was only about 5 or 6 years old at the time, for some reason latched onto me and saw me every day at the assembly. I think his last name started with a G. I don't know if he was from New York or where.
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  Nathan Natas

  Mum: Nathan Natas is my pseudonym on this board, just as (I'm assuming) your real name is not Mum. My actual name is Jim Hill. I was in Lexington in the mid 1960s, so I doubt we met. I was born before 1950.