Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!aramis.rutgers.edu!athos.rutgers.edu!christian From: gross@dg-rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian Subject: Questions for Jehovah's Witnesses, part 1 Message-ID: Date: 10 Nov 90 13:26:36 GMT Sender: hedrick@athos.rutgers.edu Organization: Data General Corporation, Research Triangle Park, NC Lines: 126 Approved: christian@aramis.rutgers.edu Let me say at the outset that I'm not out to denigrate individual Jehovah's Witnesses. I realize that any serious questioning of the Society is seen by them as an attack and part of the persecution that they've been taught to expect. However, they proclaim themselves lovers of "the Truth" and based upon this, I am expecting them to at least respond with love and gentility (2 Timothy 2:23-26). My concern is not that they don't love Yahweh or Jesus Christ, in as far as they understand who Jesus is. My concern is for the accuracy of the Society. If the Society is not accurate in one area, then why should anyone presume that the Society is accurate in other areas. I will quote from Society publications, including the New World Translation of Scriptures. I want it to be clear that I'm making anything up and that I'm quoting the Society accurately. Because of the size of this posting, I will post it in two parts. What is a false prophet? Jeremiah was a true biblical prophet who warned God's people about those who claimed to be prophets, yet who were not truly inspired by God. Jeremiah 23:16 says, "Do not listen to the words of the prophets who are prophesying to you. They are leading you into futility; they speak a vision of their own imagination, not from the mouth of the Lord." 'The Watchtower' magazine claims that Yahweh has a prophet to "declare things to come," the Jehovah's Witnesses' organization ('The Watchtower,' April 1, 1972, p. 197). 'The Watchtower' also declares that this modern prophet has been commissioned just as Ezekial was ('The Watchtower,' March 15, 1972, p. 189), and that Yahweh Himself interprets His own prophecies in 'The Watchtower' magazine -- "'The Watchtower' is a magazine without equal ... This is not giving any credit to the magazine's publishers, but is due to the great Author of the Bible with its truths and prophecies, and who now interprets its prophecies." ('The Watchtower,' April 15, 1943, p. 127). How do the Society leaders receive these prophecies? The answer is given in 'The Watchtower,' of course. It says of Jesus: "He merely uses the 'servant' calss to publish the interpretation after the Supreme Court of Christ Jesus reveals it." ('The Watchtower,' July 1, 1943, p. 203). So the interpretation of prophecies are claimed to be given by Jesus Christ Himself. Now if this were true, then I'd want to be a part of this. I would want to be within a group that is so close to Jesus that they can get direct interpretation of prophesy from Him. So my question is, do the prophecies and their interpretation really come from heaven? Let's take a look at one prophecy and its interpretation from the Watchtower book, 'The Time Is at Hand.' "The 'battle if the great day of God Almighty' (Rev. 16:14), which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced." ('The Time Is at Hand,' 1888 (1911 ed.), p. 101). Now, did anyone notice Armageddon in 1914? Now notice this from the 'Awake!' magazine ('Awake!,' October 8, 1968, p. 23): "True, there have been those in times past who predicted an "end to the world," even announcing a specific date... Yet, nothing happened. The "end" did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying... Missing from such people were God's truths and the evidence that he was guiding and using them." The warning should be clear to all: it is impossible to get clear direction (not to mention good doctrine) from a false prophet. The nature of these prophectic claims is clear: the Watchtower Society claims to speak for Yahweh. Furthermore, they say: "Whom has God actually used as his prophet?... Jehovah's witnesses are deeply grateful today that the plain facts show that God has been pleased to use them." ('The Watchtower,' January 15, 1959, pp. 40,41). Can this be true? The Apostle Paul istructs us to "examine everything carefully" (1 Thess. 5:21). So I plan to follow this advice. I want to examine the Society's record of predicitng events. In the book, 'The Battle of Armageddon, 1897,' it was claimed that Jesus' second coming happended invisibly in the year 1874. On page 621 of this book it says, "Our Lord, the appointed King, is now present, since October 1874, A.D., according to the testimony of the prophets..." In 1922 'The Watchtower' said: "No one can properly understand the work of God at this present time who does not realize that since 1874, the time of the Lord's return in power, there has been a complete change in God's operations." ('The Watchtower,' September 15, 1922, p. 278). Then in 1924 'The Watchtower' (January 1, 1924, p. 5) said: "Surely there is not the slightest room for doubt in the mind of a truly consecrated child of God that the Lord Jesus is present and has been since 1874." Yet today, not one Jehovah's Witness believes this false prophecy about Christ coming in 1874. At the same time that the Society was saying that Jesus had returned invisibly in 1874, it was also predicting the end of the world by 1914. In 1892, 'The Watchtower' claimed that Armageddon began in 1874 and would end in 1914: "The date of the close of that "battle" [Armageddon] is definitely marked in Scripture as October, 1914. It is already in progress, its beginning dating from October, 1874." (January 15, 1892, p. 22). Two years later, in 1894, 'The Watchtower' said 1914 was God's date, and that they couldn't change their prediction even if they wanted to: "We see no reason for changing the figures-- nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the 'beginning,' but for the 'end' of the time of trouble. We see no reason for changing from our opinion expressed in the View presented in the Watch Tower of Jan. 15, '92. We advise that it be read again." (July 15, 1894, p. 226). In a book entitled 'Pastor Russell's Sermons,' the Watchtower president said that World War I "is the beginning of the Armageddon of the Scriptures" and that it "will eventuate in the complete overthrow of all the systems of error which have so long oppressed the people of God and deluded the world." ('Pastor Russell's Sermons,' 1917, p. 676). Since none of this happened, I have to conclude that this was a false prophecy on the part of the Society and its leaders of that day. Here is what 'The Watchtower' (May 15, 1930, pp. 154-156) have to say about false prophets: "If he is a false prophet, his prophecy will fail to come to pass... The difference between a true and a false prophet is that the one is speaking the word of the Lord and the other is speaking his own dreams and guesses... Their prophecies did not come true. Therefore they are false prophets; and the people should no longer trust them as safe guides." Some Witnesses might be tempted to conclude that because of the age of this prophecy that it does not apply to the Organization today. But let's keep the above statement in mind and examine the Society's other prophecies concerning 1925 and 1975. I'll deal with this in part two of this posting. Standing on the Solid Rock, Gene Gross