gross@dg-rtp.dg.com (Gene Gross) (11/10/90)
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 boris@tornado.Berkeley.EDU (Boris Chen) (11/23/90)
Gene, I think the reason behind your misunderstanding is your perception of what role the governing body has in the lives of Jehovah's witnesses. We hold the Bible to be the word of God, in its entirety. The governing body serves as a slave of God who cares over his belongings and provides spiritual food. Jehovah's witnesses as a whole constitute a visible body of people who worship God. The governing body may make mistakes, but neither the Watchtower magazine nor any other publication printed by the WBTS makes the claim of being inspired of God (or God-breathed, NIV), which the scriptures clearly are (2 Tim. 3:16). But nonetheless, our view of the governing body and other overseers who are charged with sheparding is summed up by what Paul said: "Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God..." (Acts 20:28) They are shepherds appointed by holy spirit and just as the Christians in the first century submitted to their direction under Christ (Acts 15), so we do today. As for your quotes of old Watchtower publications, I have no comment. It isn't because there is something to hide, or that I deny that what you retyped is truly from WBTS publications, but rather I have no way of verifying what you are trying to piece together is true one way or another. I can tell you this (though, you have this on my word only, you can take it or leave it): I was baptised 2 years ago. I initially was introduced to the Lord in my home town of Irvine, and made my decision there to be baptised. This was by no means a quick decision. In order to make sure of what I was doing was right, I took time from secular pursuits (i.e. school) to do some searching. My sister was in a Taiwanese Presbyterian church, so since I believed in God, and believed that the Bible was truly His word, I felt the only step was to find the group that truly represented a people who believed the same. So went with her to their meetings (they had a youth fellowship meeting that I attended). The one who led the group talked with me afterwards to get to know me. I explained that I was studying with Jehovah's Witnesses, and we made arrangements to meet privately together to discuss some aspects of the Bible. What followed was an intense amount of research on my part, and on the part of both who I studied with. The Presbyterian presented me with books written by Walter Martin and others, as well as photocopies of old publications. The Kingdom Hall back where I used to live happend to have the publications that were quoted in these anti-JW literatures. Upon looking many of them up and reading surrounding contexts, I found that the books were extremely misleading in their elaborations on what was being said. At times, text were actually altered. To say the least, this process was extremely time consuming, but it helped me make up my mind. You know the outcome of my decision. But my decision to become a witness of Jehovah was not because of this. For it would be silly to become one simply because one found another religion lacking. All this time of searching, I earnestly prayed for guidance from God. I even refrained from using his name, since I didn't want to be partial in my decision. I pondered over the evidence from both sides on topics like the trinity, and hellfire, and the nature of the soul. (Topics that always pop up when Witnesses are mentioned.) And it is from this process that I finally made my decision. I have found no oppresive elders that seek to find fault and hold the threat of disfellowshiping over my head to keep my in line. I haven't found the irrationalism and emotional frenzy that is a characteristic of cultish religions. I haven't found the worshipping of Russel or of the veneration of the Watchtower. None of these warnings from the Protestants I studied with came true. They told me that Witnesses are as immoral as anyone else, they (JWs) only put up a facade. Again false. When I first met them, they displayed Christ-like qualities, and had the love that identified followers of Christ. And as I have come to know them intimately, becoming one of them, I see that these qualities are not merely superficial, but rather stem deep from in their souls. They are not "saints" or perfect, but they have the faith that continues to reaffirm my belief that I have made the correct choice. Gene, I cannot determine how sincere you are. You could be just like Walter Martin, or like the other hate-mongers. Then again you maybe earnest in your pursuit of truth. I can't tell. But clearly, this discussion has be carried out on a person to person level. Electronic media for all its marvels cannot do everything that can be acheived on a person to person level. I wish you the best, and I hope you keep sincerely searching for Christ promises that you will find. +==================================================================+ + Boris Chen || Berkeley, CA || boris@ocf.berkeley.edu + ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ + "And they will have to beat their swords into plowshares, and... + + neither will they learn war anymore." ---Micah 4:3 + +==================================================================+