by noletters on February 20th, 2007

noletters

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If JWs have the "Truth" and the holy spirit guides them why have they made false prophecies about Armageddon? Has the "truth" changed? Every decade when the world does not end their views change!

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  • by nevets - badgicide on February 20th, 2007

    nevets - badgicide

    This is not a question but a forum for you to express your own bigoted views. Don't ask and answer a question, in the question:

    "Has the "truth" changed? Every decade when the world does not end their views change!"

    In my opinion this question counts as trolling. In the words of Stableboy, trolling includes:
    "Posting 'loaded questions' on sensitive topics, like religion and politics. Examples are 'why is G. Bush such an idiot?'. Questions which scream out your rigid opinion on a controversial topic."
    - http://tinyurl.com/yrxsj5

    Generic information about trolling can be found here:
    http://tinyurl.com/yyab85

    -----

    The above reasoning is why I have rated down this question.


    COMMENTS

    noletters, I have no problem with people asking critical questions, but this was not a question.

    When you wrote:
    "Has the 'truth' changed? Every decade when the world does not end their views change!" you were not asking a valid question, you were attacking JW's.

    Now I couldn't care less what you think about JW's, but I do care about people treating others on AB with respect and I do care about fighting intolerance. Next time if you don't want a -ve rating and a repeat of this fiasco, just leave your bigoted opinion out of the question.


    This would have been OK if you wrote:
    "If JW's have the 'truth' and the holy spirit guides them why have they made false prophecies about Armageddon? Has the 'truth' changed?"

    To make it even better you could have written an answer/addition to your own question listing examples of false prophecies. [...] That would still be "hard hitting".

    -----

    Re: "If you can find where I put something false in my question then I will gladly change it or even put up an apology."

    I really don't care about the question and if it is true or false. I neither agree or disagree.
    I care about *the way* you are asking your question.

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  • by DiSTurBiA on May 19th, 2008

    DiSTurBiA

    Like most prophecies, that come up short, they simply find another date to annoy people with.

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  • by JAMMco... its complicated... on July 2nd, 2007

    JAMMco... its complicated...

    I am only aware of one time when people within the Jehovah's Witness organization anticipated a set date in the mid 70's. After that, there have been no 'false prophecies'.

    The truth hasn't changed, just ones understanding of what the truth is. Armageddon is still coming, that truth hasn't changed... you just cannot put a date on when it is coming, no one on Earth knows when it is coming, but there are signs in the bible of what to look for.

    JW's haven't been the only ones who mistakingly set a date, but they've only made that mistake once, and were humbled by it. They fess up to their mistakes, and change when necessary.

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  • by bruceytom on June 30th, 2007

    bruceytom

    The serious answer to what seems like a less than serious question is this: The doctrinal and moral standards of the Bible have remained the same from the time of Genesis being written, though they have become clearer and fuller with the passage of time and greater revelation.

    During the dark ages that began with the start of the great apostacy in the 2nd century CE, Bible knowledge became very scarce and the churches wallowed in darkness, taking on manmade and unscriptural teachings galore.

    In the late 18th and early 19th centuries light began to dawn in a greater way as the last days approached. There was still a mixture of Biblical and manmade teachings among those sincerely seeking truth. Still, some basic doctrines were becoming understood by a few. There was also much anticipation regarding the end of the Gentile times and the last days, including the 'end of the world'. This is because that time was approaching.

    Charles Russell and his associates were among those coming out of the morass of confusing church teachings and when they became aware of Bible prophecy which most churches avoid digging into to this day, they spoke out on what they believed, based on the available light of the time and their limited understanding.

    Jesus commanded that his people keep awake and await his arrival with eager expectation. Jehovah's Witnesses have done this to such an extent that sometimes their expectations were premature. It has been like awaiting a much loved and greatly missed friend who has promised to return at some approximate time. How easy it is to jump up and look out the window at every passing headlight and noise outside.

    Is it better to say, "I think he's here! Oh, no, guess not." or to sleep away without caring that the master might come any moment and promised to come at the hour least expected?

    I remember the whole 1975 thing and how some read much more into it than was ever said officially. Those whose main concern is personal salvation hate to have any disappointment while waiting for their own relief to come. Those who love the truth and are more concerned about the sanctification of God's name, eagerly announce that the end is near and may even venture a wrong guess now and then.

    Each one must judge the value of this.

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  • by maS elcnU on October 22nd, 2008

    maS elcnU

    C-U-L-T.

    My 2 cents.

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  • by Lex Watson on April 28th, 2008

    Lex Watson

    They only had ONE wrong date??!! Better do your personal study! There have been several years.

    One of the more interesting scenarios has involved beth-sarim in California.

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  • by bruceytom on April 14th, 2009

    bruceytom

    I've been giving this question a lot of thought. While the slant is clearly bigoted, the question in its purest sense is valid.

    I was an active Witness in the 1970's and still am. I remember the late 60's and 70's very well. I have also gone back and reviewed Watchtower literature and convention talks from the era. Something becomes very clear.

    Jehovah's Witnesses as a whole and the Watchtower Society particularly didn NOT say that the end would come in 1975. The closest statements i've detected are, '1975 marks the end of 6000 years of man's history; it might be appropriate to see the beginning of the Millenium coincide with that time.' 'With 1975 marking the end of 6000 years of human history, it is POSSIBLE that it would als see the end of this wicked system of things.'

    Various persons read more into this than was said, just as they often did the Scriptures themselves. I know many of them personally. Of those who changed their lifestyles in order to devote more time to the preaching and disciple-making work, very few were disappointed. Others, who went into debt and bought items of comfort, thinking they wouldn't need to repay the debt, became not just disappointed, but very disgruntled. They believed JWs had let them down.

    The early 70's saw great growth in the number of persons baptized as Witnesses. Many of them had 'hung on' the fringes of our organization until they thought the end was nigh and so 'got off the fence' and were baptized. In the following years, they made it plain that their chief concern was personal salvation and relief. When this didn't come as they expected, they drifted away or left to join various 'born again' groups.

    While there are many sincere, self-sacrificing people who have come forward in various religions to 'get saved', most that i've talked to show a selfish spirit, their own salvation being the most important thing in life. Those disillusioned JWs who cared more about their own welfare than glorifying Jehovah left to take up this way of thinking and often their greatest work has been to tear down JWs.

    So, 1975 clearly was a pivotal year. It has helped to separate those who dedicate themselves to serve their Creator forever, come what may, from those who care only about what they can get from it.

    JWs are not pew sitters. We are active serving God. Those who don't want to share the harvest work, don't stick with us. there's your answer.

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  • by savedbyGodsgrace on October 22nd, 2008

    savedbyGodsgrace

    Matthew 20:16 For the last shall be first, and the first last; for many be called, but few chosen.

    Matthew 22:14 For many are called, but few are chosen.

    Jesus speaking: Matthew 24:36 But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father.

    1Thessalonians 5:1-3 But of the times and the occasions, brethern, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as pains upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape.

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  • by Twisted Taco on March 3rd, 2010

    Twisted Taco

    Do you realize that, eventually, they're gonna get it right. But, of course, at that point there won't be anybody to gloat or laugh at it.

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  • by twiceborn on January 4th, 2010

    twiceborn

    First of all they don't have or know the Truth.
    Second, they do not acknowledge God the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit does not guide them because He guides us to the Truth, not lies and false doctrines.
    No, the truth never changes.

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  • by Texasescimo on December 21st, 2009

    Texasescimo

    I have heard about these supposed false prophesies from being applied to JW's with dates ranging from 1799 - 2012.
    1975 seems to be the one most talked about.
    What we have hear is an example of what Jesus talked about at Mt 24:48-51.
    Matthew 24:48-49 But if ever that evil slave should say in his heart, ‘My master is delaying,’ 49 and should start to beat his fellow slaves and should eat and drink with the confirmed drunkards
    2John 9 Everyone that pushes ahead and does not remain in the teaching of the Christ does not have God. He that does remain in this teaching is the one that has both the Father and the Son



    "..Watchtower 4/15/1967 Excerpt from paragraph 25 "..According to a more recent calculation of the Bible timetable, six thousand years of man’s existence will end in the latter half of the year 1975, which is well within this century. The Bible millennium is ahead of us, and, according to the count of time and the events of world history, it is approaching. It is not ending, as Roman Catholic comments on the Bible would make us believe.."
    .
    From paragraph 25 through the rest of the article:
    25 Fifteen centuries ago the Roman Catholic “Saint” Augustine spoke of six thousand years of history and referred to the millennium as a “Sabbath,” the seventh-day rest period. But he did not hold to this. For centuries now the Bible chronology as worked out by Archbishop James Ussher has been followed by both Catholics and Protestants. This chronology reckons that the first man Adam was created in the year 4004 before Christ, and so six thousand years of human existence on earth will end before this twentieth century ends, or in 1996 C.E. According to a more recent calculation of the Bible timetable, six thousand years of man’s existence will end in the latter half of the year 1975, which is well within this century. The Bible millennium is ahead of us, and, according to the count of time and the events of world history, it is approaching. It is not ending, as Roman Catholic comments on the Bible would make us believe. In the Murphy edition of the English Douay Version of the Holy Bible, Apocalypse 20:1, 2 reads:
    26 “And I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit, and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, the old serpent, which is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.”
    27 The footnote on the expression “bound him, &c.” reads: “The power of Satan has been very much limited by the passion of Christ.” Then the footnote on the expression “for a thousand years” reads: “That is, for the whole time of the New Testament: but especially from the time of the destruction of Babylon or pagan Rome, till the new efforts of Gog and Magog against the church, towards the end of the world. During which time the souls of the martyrs and saints live and reign with Christ in heaven, in the first resurrection, which is that of the soul to the life of glory; as the second resurrection will be that of the body, at the day of the general judgment.”—Baltimore (Md.) edition.
    28 However, it is now more than a thousand years since “pagan Rome” gave way to papal Rome in the fifth century. Today the facts of history belie that Satan the Devil has yet been bound and cast into the abyss, as foretold in Apocalypse (Revelation) 20:3 (Dy), saying: “And he [the angel from heaven] cast him into the bottomless pit and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should no more seduce the nations, till the thousand years be finished. And after that, he must be loosed a little time.”
    29 The Apocalypse or book of Revelation unmistakably lines up the battle of Armageddon as taking place before Satan is bound and cast into the bottomless pit or abyss. The Bible account describes Satan the Devil as having a direct part in gathering the nations to that battlefield, saying that out of the mouth of the Dragon Satan the Devil an unclean spirit comes forth and joins the unclean spirits out of the mouths of the beast and the false prophet in going to the kings of the whole earth and gathering them to the battle of the great day of God the Almighty, which is to be fought at Armageddon. Now is when those three spirits of devils from those three sources are going to the earthly rulers. Now is when those rulers and their armies are on the march to Armageddon, as we have so frequently been warned by prominent men. Logically, then, the Dragon Satan the Devil could not now be bound and be in the bottomless pit unable to seduce the nations any more, if the unclean spirit out of his mouth is joining in the gathering of the earthly rulers and their armies to Armageddon.—Rev. 16:13-16, Dy.
    30 No, Satan the Devil has not yet been bound and sealed up in the bottomless pit for a thousand years. The symbolic “beast” and the “false prophet” are yet on the earth. Likewise Satan the Devil is yet in the vicinity of our earth and using the “beast” and the “false prophet” as his tools to gather the earthly rulers and their armies to their destruction in the war of the great day of God the Almighty. The Apocalypse or Revelation, chapter nineteen, describes the battle of Armageddon on God’s great day, and the chapter locates it just before the binding of Satan and the casting of him into the bottomless pit or abyss. In that coming battle the “beast” and the “false prophet” are cast to their destruction in the symbolic lake of fire and brimstone; and Satan the Devil joins them there first after the thousand years of Christ’s reign over all mankind.—Rev. 19:11 to 20:3, 7-10, Dy.
    31 So, then, just as the battle of Armageddon is yet future, the binding and casting of Satan into the bottomless pit is future, for these acts follow the battle of Armageddon. In view of that, the thousand-year reign of Christ must yet be future, for it follows the casting of Satan into the bottomless pit and continues during the thousand years that Satan is imprisoned in that bottomless pit or abyss. Thus again the anti-millenarian teachings of Augustine and other religious leaders of Christendom are proved to be false. We must yet have a real millennial reign of Christ. The grand fact is that it is very near, for our relief.

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  • by Texasescimo on February 23rd, 2010

    Texasescimo

    The following is from an Awake article from 1993.
    Why So Many False Alarms?
    The World’s End—How Near?
    THE story is told of a boy who watched the sheep of the villagers. To stir up a bit of excitement, one day he cried out, “Wolf! Wolf!” when there was no wolf. The villagers rushed out with clubs to drive off the wolf, only to find that there was none. It was such great fun that later on the boy repeated his cry. Again the villagers rushed out with their clubs, only to discover that it was another false alarm. After that a wolf did come, and the boy sounded the warning, “Wolf! Wolf!” but the villagers dismissed his cry as another false alarm. They had been fooled too often.
    So it has become with those who proclaim the end of the world. Down through the centuries since Jesus’ day, so many unfulfilled predictions have been made that many no longer take them seriously.
    Gregory I, pope from 590 to 604 C.E., in a letter to a European monarch, said: “We also wish Your Majesty to know, as we have learned from the words of Almighty God in Holy Scriptures, that the end of the present world is already near and that the unending Kingdom of the Saints is approaching.”
    In the 16th century, Martin Luther, progenitor of the Lutheran Church, predicted that the end was imminent. According to one authority, he stated: “For my part, I am sure that the day of judgment is just around the corner.”
    Concerning one of the first Baptist groups, it is reported: “The Anabaptists of the early Sixteenth Century believed that the Millennium would occur in 1533.”
    “Edwin Sandys (1519-1588), Archbishop of York and Primate of England . . . says, . . . ‘Let us be assured that this coming of the Lord is near.’”
    William Miller, generally credited with founding the Adventist Church, is quoted as saying: “I am fully convinced that sometime between March 21, 1843, and March 21, 1844, according to the Jewish mode of computation of time, Christ will come.”
    Does the failure of such predictions to come true convict as false prophets those who made them, within the meaning of Deuteronomy 18:20-22? That text reads: “The prophet who presumes to speak in my name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. And in case you should say in your heart: ‘How shall we know the word that Jehovah has not spoken?’ when the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is the word that Jehovah did not speak.”
    There are some who make spectacular predictions of the world’s end to grab attention and a following, but others are sincerely convinced that their proclamations are true. They are voicing expectations based on their own interpretation of some scripture text or physical event. They do not claim that their predictions are direct revelations from Jehovah and that in this sense they are prophesying in Jehovah’s name. Hence, in such cases, when their words do not come true, they should not be viewed as false prophets such as those warned against at Deuteronomy 18:20-22. In their human fallibility, they misinterpreted matters.
    Undeterred by previous failures, some seem to have been spurred on by the approach of the year 2000 and have made further predictions of the end of the world. The Wall Street Journal of December 5, 1989, published an article entitled “Millennium Fever: Prophets Proliferate, the End Is Near.” With the year 2000 approaching, various evangelicals are predicting that Jesus is coming and that the 1990’s will be “a time of troubles that has not been seen before.” At the time of this writing, the latest occurrence was in the Republic of Korea, where the Mission for the Coming Days predicted that on October 28, 1992, at midnight, Christ would come and take believers to heaven. Several other doomsday groups made similar predictions.
    The flood of false alarms is unfortunate. They are like the wolf-wolf cries of the shepherd boy—people soon dismiss them, and when the true warning comes, it too is ignored.
    But why has there been such a tendency through the centuries and down to our day for false alarms to be sounded, as Jesus said they would be? (Matthew 24:23-26) Jesus, after telling his followers about different events that would mark his return, said to them, as we read at Matthew 24:36-42: “Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father. For just as the days of Noah were, so the presence of the Son of man will be. . . . Keep on the watch, therefore, because you do not know on what day your Lord is coming.”
    They were told not only to be on the watch and to be prepared but also to watch with eagerness. Romans 8:19 says: “For the eager expectation of the creation is waiting for the revealing of the sons of God.” Human nature is such that when we fervently hope and yearn for something and wait in eager expectation of it, a powerful temptation arises within us to see it at the door even when the evidence is insufficient. In our eagerness false alarms may be sounded.
    What, then, will distinguish the true warning from the false ones? For the answer, please see the following article.
    [Footnotes]
    Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus’ second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect. Because of this, some have called them false prophets. Never in these instances, however, did they presume to originate predictions ‘in the name of Jehovah.’ Never did they say, ‘These are the words of Jehovah.’ The Watchtower, the official journal of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has said: “We have not the gift of prophecy.” (January 1883, page 425) “Nor would we have our writings reverenced or regarded as infallible.” (December 15, 1896, page 306) The Watchtower has also said that the fact that some have Jehovah’s spirit “does not mean those now serving as Jehovah’s witnesses are inspired. It does not mean that the writings in this magazine The Watchtower are inspired and infallible and without mistakes.” (May 15, 1947, page 157) “The Watchtower does not claim to be inspired in its utterances, nor is it dogmatic.” (August 15, 1950, page 263) “The brothers preparing these publications are not infallible. Their writings are not inspired as are those of Paul and the other Bible writers. (2 Tim. 3:16) And so, at times, it has been necessary, as understanding became clearer, to correct views. (Prov. 4:18)”—February 15, 1981, page 19.


    ____________________________________________________
    What true prophets foretell comes to pass, but they may not understand just when or how it will be
    Dan. 12:9: “Go, Daniel, because the words are made secret and sealed up until the time of the end.”
    1 Pet. 1:10, 11: “The prophets . . . kept on investigating what particular season or what sort of season the spirit in them was indicating concerning Christ when it was bearing witness beforehand about the sufferings for Christ and about the glories to follow these.”
    1 Cor. 13:9, 10: “We have partial knowledge and we prophesy partially; but when that which is complete arrives, that which is partial will be done away with.”
    Prov. 4:18: “The path of the righteous ones is like the bright light that is getting lighter and lighter until the day is firmly established.”
    The apostles and other early Christian disciples had certain wrong expectations, but the Bible does not classify them with the “false prophets.”—See Luke 19:11; John 21:22, 23; Acts 1:6, 7.
    Nathan the prophet encouraged King David to go ahead with what was in his heart regarding the building of a house for Jehovah’s worship. But later Jehovah told Nathan to inform David that he was not the one who would build it. Jehovah did not reject Nathan for what he had said earlier but continued to use him because he humbly corrected the matter when Jehovah made it plain to him.—1 Chron. 17:1-4, 15.
    ____________
    http://www.watchtower.org/e/200804/article_02.htm
    THE LAST DAYS WHEN?

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  • by Perryman on March 3rd, 2010

    Perryman

    Abbyguy says " I have to rely on what i find online" LOL
    What an education you have LOL!

  • by Perryman on March 3rd, 2010

    Perryman

    NabisHIGH -
    You forget that in the Book of Job it is mentioned that when Jehovah created the earth, all of his holy angels “joyfully cried out together, and all the sons of God began shouting in applause.” (Job 38:7)
    They were there for that.

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