Posts by AnnOMaly

17 But how about 1918, the beginning of the day of the Lord Jesus Christ when coming to the temple for judgment? Did that come as a thief in the night? It certainly did. Even to this very hour no one aside from those who are devoted to Jehovah has an understanding of the Lord Jesus' coming to the temple. ...
21 ... Likewise the foolish-virgin class now soundly asleep and are inactive and in darkness. Prior to 1918 all "Christendom" was, and since is, beastly drunk, like night revelers, filled with and befuddled by the strong drink of Satan's joy in persecuting Jehovah's witnesses and in endeavoring to destroy the W ATCH T OWER S OCIETY. Also all "Christendom" was and is in darkness, and willingly so. (2 Pet. 3:5) Therefore, all such being in darkness, the day of the Lord Jesus Christ has overtaken them as a thief overtakes the sleepers and drunken ones in the night.
22 Even the "faithful servant" class, the remnant, did not discern the coming of the Lord to the temple at the time it occurred. Those faithful ones were fully trusting in the Lord and waiting upon him, yet it was not until 1922 that the Lord revealed to them that he was at the temple for judgment.

That was another lightbulb moment for me. A gigantic red flag. I couldn't get over that so momentous and significant an award (all the Master's belongings) was bestowed, by Jesus personally, on this little group of faithful slaves AND THEY DIDN'T KNOW A DARN THING ABOUT IT! For years. Not a clue! Duh!

I remember one particularly humorous Watchtower that claimed that the crowning of Earth's new king had made the nations wrathful and that this was why WWI had started. --Looks like those wicked nations were really on the ball. They knew about it years and years before the so-called "faithful and discreet slave."

I hadn't followed that to its logical conclusion, TD! All I knew was that Jesus was supposed to have been crowned in Oct 1914 and THEN ousted Satan, who then wreaked angry havoc on the world. But WWI started end of July that year, so Satan's wrath was premature. And they had a totally alien interpretation of Rev 12 back in 1914 period, didn't they? - see Finished Mystery of 1918. Yeah ... Ps 2 ... another nail. Thanks

9

Russell of Annointed, how do you know?

by Woodsman in

when russell started the wts and began promoting his epistimology the teachings were not what they were today.

most noteable was that christ was present in 1874. thus he believed he and others were chosen by christ to be of the elect remnant who would serve as part of the 144,000 the witnesses recognize today.. the problem occurs when the wts, or judge rutherford, changed 1874 to 1914. .

now christ did not perform any "inspection" until 1919.. he did not chose any fds until 1919.. well, russell was dead in 1919.. therefore prior to 1919 russell was just as any other christian group was.

AnnOMaly

Yes, Russell had some strange ideas and, to me, he definitely had Gnostic tendencies. Yet Russell's model was elegant because of the parallels he saw in Scripture! This is what I've got:

1844 - the bridegroom was to make an appearance but he 'tarried' - this is parallel to Christ's birth on earth.

1874 - 30 years later, he appeared/was present as the God's Anointed (at his baptism).

1878 - 3.5 years later, enthroned as heavenly King. On earth he was hailed as King when riding into Jerusalem. Also the year when he was resurrected, so all members of 'the Christ,' his body, who have died, began to be resurrected from 1878.

1881 - 3.5 years later. Just as there was special favor granted the Jews for that period of time before Samaritans and Gentiles were brought in, there was special favor granted the 'nominal church' or nominal 'spiritual Israel.' It was also the time when (as TheListener said) the living saints would be translated to heaven.

1914 - 40 years after 1874. The destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish system was approximately 40 years after Jesus' anointing - a generation. The same with the end of the global system in 1914.

Beautiful, huh? And unfortunately, beautifully wrong.

9

Russell of Annointed, how do you know?

by Woodsman in

when russell started the wts and began promoting his epistimology the teachings were not what they were today.

most noteable was that christ was present in 1874. thus he believed he and others were chosen by christ to be of the elect remnant who would serve as part of the 144,000 the witnesses recognize today.. the problem occurs when the wts, or judge rutherford, changed 1874 to 1914. .

now christ did not perform any "inspection" until 1919.. he did not chose any fds until 1919.. well, russell was dead in 1919.. therefore prior to 1919 russell was just as any other christian group was.

AnnOMaly

Hi Woodsman and welcome.

You raise very good points. I wonder if some of the statements made in the 1/15/2005 WT ("Foregleams of God's Kingdom Become a Reality") sparked you off on this.

" 2 Concerning 'the time of the end,' the prophet Daniel wrote: 'Many will rove about, and the true knowledge will become abundant. Many will cleanse themselves and whiten themselves and will be refined. And the wicked ones will certainly act wickedly, and no wicked ones at all will understand; but the ones having insight will understand.' (Daniel 12:4, 10) Spiritual insight is reserved only for those who sincerely 'rove about' in, or diligently study, God's Word, submit to his standards, and strive to do his will. - Matthew 13:11-15; 1 John 5:20.

" 3 As early as the 1870's, before 'the last days' commenced, Jehovah God began to shed more light on 'the sacred secrets of the kingdom of the heavens.' (2 Timothy 3:1-5; Matthew 13:11) At that time a group of Bible Students discerned - contrary to popular opinion - that Christ's return was to be invisible. After being enthroned in heaven, Jesus would return in the sense of focusing his royal attention on the earth. A visible composite sign would alert his disciples that his invisible presence had begun. - Matthew 24:3-14."

One irritation is that it said, "At that time a group of Bible Students discerned - contrary to popular opinion - that Christ's return was to be invisible." By the time the Bible Students as a group discerned the invisibility of Christ's return, the return had already happened in 1874 - it was retrospective.

But coming to the part that relates to your point: "As early as the 1870's, before 'the last days' commenced, Jehovah God began to shed more light on 'the sacred secrets of the kingdom of the heavens.' " Trouble is, the Bible Students believed they were already in the 'last days' from 1799. That is why they believed the sacred secrets were being revealed to them, which ties in with paragraph 2 and Daniel's prophecy that insight, understanding and true knowledge would be abundant 'in the time of the end.'

So how can it be said here that Daniel's prophecy applied to Russell and the Bible Students if 'increasing light' has shown JWs that the 'time of the end' didn't start before 1914? If it is so that the 'time of the end' only began in 1914, Russell could not have been granted the 'true knowledge' or special 'insight' or 'understanding' that Daniel 12 speaks of. As you say, "why is he included in the WTS's current portrayal?"

26

New Awake blasts internet and newspapers.

by integ in

jw
friends

the october 1st awake has a stern warning for "young ones" to stay away from witness websites.

they could actually be apostates you are .

talking to.

AnnOMaly

Actually, this Awake article is discussing the dangers of CHAT ROOMS and most of it is great advice to keep kids safe. There is, however, a section on 'Moral Corruption' which talks about apostates posing as JWs and are 'rocks beneath the water' to try and shipwreck youths' faith. This part on p.18 I found odd:

"This journal, as well as other material produced by Jehovah's Witnesses, has repeatedly warned of this particular danger.* [*See Awake! of December 8, 2004, pages 18-21] Therefore, anyone you meet in a chat room ostensibly set up for Jehovah's Witnesses is, at best, a person who disregards such counsel. Do you really want as friends those who choose to downplay Bible-based direction? - Proverbs 3:5,6; 15:5"

'Odd' because the Awake of December 2004 was warning about internet addiction, porn sites and sexual predators/pedophiles. It wasn't warning of apostates in chat rooms - I can't see any mention of apostates in that article! And the texts cited above in Proverbs are about taking notice of Jehovah and a father's discipline. Therefore, the sharp slap on the wrist about 'disregarding such counsel' is given without any warrant!

36

Hi im a new member!

by skinnyboy in

after several attempts to log on, im finally in!

woohoo!.

well my story goes as follows, grew up a dub, in northern england, mum, dad, and the rest of us brood, dad becomes an elder sisters pioneers, and me and me brother were regular "publishers".

AnnOMaly

I still laugh whenever i hear Hendrix on the radio singing "all along the watchtower" becasue when i was a kid, we had to clean the kingdom hall on a saturday, as part of our Hitler Youth style of indoctrination, and i knew how to operate the microphones and sound gear so there's me and me mate up on the platform belting out at top volume with Hendrix on the PA system... priceless!

ROFL. Priceless indeed! You rapscallion, you!