1914 and "Crisis of Conscience"

In defense of the failed watchtower dates set in the past for all those events that they erroneously foretold,all the while attributing them to God in various phraseologies,you will often hear Jehovah's Witnesses defend the society,saying that the organization never said they were infallible or inspired.JW's will absolutely break out a plethora of quotes to prove that these men said they "did not know" and hence are NOT false prophets.I was one of those Jehovah's witnesses.I even wrote a blog defending them pertinaciously in regards to these matters.I was ill informed,however and decided to remove that particular blog.Here's why.And much of this is inspired by or taken directly from the HIGHLY recommended,especially for Jehovah's Witnesses,book "Crisis of Conscience" written by former governing body member Raymond Franz,a meek and well intentioned Christian who wanted to expose the hypocrisy and injustice,having witnessed it closely himself,within the society's operations.I want to make a very serious point for the Jehovah's witnesses reading this..I mean this earnestly& sincerely.You are NOT reading a book that will kill you more quickly then pornography would if you read this book.You are reading something that may save you from "putting your trust in men,in whom no salvation belongs".It is a MUST read.Don't let anyone stop you!And no it didn't cause me to disassociate from the society..I was already resolved to do that before I ever touched this book.What I found when I opened it was a man after my own heart,propagating truth and justice for those who I think he really loves,Jehovah's witnesses.Now I really don't need to go over the various dates that have been set by various men within the society,some of which didn't originate with the WT society or Charles Taze Russell but other men or sects from whom they just borrowed them,changing the meaning of them when their expectations weren't fulfilled after the dates had come and gone(because they had to!)..pushing dates forward or simply redefining what they mean,as they did with 1914.First it meant the absolute end..now it just means "invisible presence" which conveniently for them is impossible to disprove.It's like trying to disprove an imaginary friend.Suffice to say Jesus didn't preach it and if it is the good news of the kingdom then the apostles weren't preaching the good news of the kingdom..No need to add to the bible's succint good news with speculation.No need to keep haughtily setting dates when it reality you should've humbled yourself long ago and ceased from doing so,having been humiliated with falsely proclaiming them over and over in the past.The bible even lets us know it isn't up to us to know these things.

Acts 1:7:He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority."(Really,nothing more even needs to be said as powerful as Jesus's words are..)


Judge Rutherford said of his predictions about 1925,which was when he said Christ's millenial rule would be fully manifest on earth,"I know I made an ass of myself"

And to quote Ray Franz,as I will be doing frequently in blogs if I continue writing on this, as his words are much more eloquent than mine and his wisdom is far more pronounced ..
"It is one thing for a man to make an "ass" of himself because of wanting to see something happen.It is quite another thing for him to urge others to share his views,to criticize them if they do not,even to question their faith or impugn their motives if they do not see the matter as he sees it"..p 174,"Crisis of Conscience"

Now these points Franz makes are still very much relevant today.If you question 1914,you aren't just questioning men or an organization,you are questioning "Jehovah's sole channel of communication","Jehovah's appointed faithful and discreet slave class".You suddenly get to bear titles that would degrade anyone's integrity were they true such as "apostate","spiritually weak","worldy" ,"the walking dead","bad association" etc,especially with no eventual conformity.In other words,to question the society is thought of as the equivalent of questioning God himself,ultimately.The literature encourages this thinking.As will be evidenced later in other blogs as I reveal more realities Franz exposes within the organization.Ray goes on to say,and I think this information is relevant when JW's tell us the apostles had the SAME KINDS of premature expectations as they did.Please keep in mind the apostles ASKED Christ what was going to happen as opposed to claiming it as God's proclamation and proceeding to propagate it to countless people for decades..numerous times.


"It is still more serious for an organization representing itself as God's appointed spokesman to all mankind to do this--and to do it,not for a few days or months,but for years,even decades,repeatedly,on an earthwide basis.This kind of responsibility CANNOT be shrugged off by saying "well..nobody's perfect"..No one is but everyone of us bears a responsibility for what we do.And that is especially so when our actions may dramatically affect something as important and personal as others' relationship with God...No less serious is it when a group of men have DIVIDED views on predictions related to a certain date and yet present to their adherents an outward appearance of UNITED confidence,encouraging those adherents to place unwavering trust in those predictions"..p174 ,"Crisis of Conscience"

From these revelations from a former governing body member himself,we can discern that the WT is far from honest or at least certainly hides information,giving false impressions.We are expected to assume that Christ is working through each anointed member of the governing body and that they would be in full agreement on every matter before they force us to,but no..they are divided..Again,this screams injustice!How can we trust divided opinions to be from God?And why are we expected to adhere to an opinion that the bible isn't clear enough about for a few men to all agree on it because it isn't a succint bible belief,presented indisputably?How in the world could someone justifiably not be considered a real acceptable saved sheep for questioning something that precarious?If God is a God of justice and his sheep in the past have questioned these men's PROVEN lies and were punished in whatever way for it,why would that be acceptable to God?



Observe the following quotes from the WT magazine.I think they are beyond revealing and should be acknowledged by JW's in application to themselves as opposed to being applied to everyone BUT themselves.I repeat :the JW's should not be exempt from their own standards!How would that be fair?Again,God hates hypocrisy and DEMANDS fairness.

from April 1,1972 Watchtower

"Of course,it is easy to see that this group acts as a "prophet" of God.It is another thing to prove it.The only way that this can be done is to review the record.What does it show?"

Well,when I review the record I find men who have falsely made predictions that they said were God's dates while saying that they were acting as God's mouthpiece and God's channel of communication,saying that to question their speculations would be the equivalent of questioning God and Christ(proof below),then when their lies didn't come to pass blaming it again on God.Never truly repenting but instead using propagandist language to make the "rank and file" believe that they never did anything wrong at all.


One example of comparing questioning them to questioning the Lord:

from May 1,1922 WT

"To repudiate him(Charles Russell) is the equivalent to a repudiation of the Lord."


Yikes.Check out this one

May 15 1922 WT

"the Lord has placed the stamp of his seal upon 1914 and 1918 beyond any possibility of erasure."

from May 1 ,1997 Watchtower

"Jehovah God is the Grand Identifier of his true messengers.He identifies them by making the messages he delivers through them come true.Jehovah is also the Great Exposer of false messengers.He frustrates their signs and predictions.In this way he shows that they are self appointed prognosticators,whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning--yes,their foolish,fleshly thinking!"

Wow!That's from 1997.Amazing.And I am seriously not trying to be sarcastic.I am just stunned.

Suffice to say that all the events that supposedly took place in 1914 acc to the JW's today were attributed to DIFFERENT dates in the past .I have no idea at this point why this one lasted at all after "reviewing the record".In 1874 they said the end would come..it didn't .So instead "Christ's invisible presence" did.The end was also supposed to occur in 1914 and since it didn't "Christ's invisible presence" did..Notice a pattern here?"New light" seems to flash usually when a false prediction doesn't come to pass and is forced upon the society as opposed to any honestly genuine enlightening truth from Jehovah through Christ.I would urge anyone to hesitate before presuming this date came straight from God.Remember,do what the WT says and first "review the record" to make sure.What do YOU find?

More on this later.

Disassociation

I recently disassociated myself from the Jehovah's witnesses.Just wanted to warn the JW's so they wouldn't think I am trying to mislead or fool them.Having been where they are and thought how they think and felt how they feel,I can honestly say that no matter how hideous they think I am right now,I love them from the bottom of my heart.Always will..And the best piece of advice I can offer them is to ponder WHY the society tells you constantly that any outside opinions and literature are poison.It is because the society could not stand under the light of the type of scrutiny and the brutal honesty you can find in books like "Crisis of Conscience" and "Captives of a Concept".Where would someone go if they aren't on the WT "ark"?To Jah through Christ,obviously.It is ok to home fellowship or seek somewhere less controlling and dogmatic about nonessential issues for worship(though it CAN be hard it's worth the effort to find a place or make one).And those who think that would be forming some kind of sect,well,the WT IS a sect from another sect etc.Congregating with fellow Christians who believe essential truths isn't forming a "sect".Questioning men who have been detrimentally wrong too many times to count is NOT the equivalent of questioning Jehovah as they would have you believe.And them having you believe that is the equivalent of imprisoning your mind to be susceptible to anything they want to plant there.It takes a WHILE to break free.First come the nagging smaller doubts.Then come the disturbing discoveries that JW's push out of their minds by reading more and more bias WT literature or being afraid of losing everyone they love.Then if one remains objective unbias and continually studious and fair minded,one discovers the inconsistencies and outright lies within the org till it breaks you down and leads you to Christ who ALONE can save you with sayings of everlasting life.No organization of fallible and inconsistent men can,especially if those men are going to require you believe them even when something may be false in order to remain "saved" and "unshunned" and "acceptable".In other words,they expect followers to accept what they say as if God said it even if it is speculative at best(1914 anyone?) and then proceed to say they are fallible.Those two concepts are incongruent..Now there are obvious succint truths in scripture regarding Jesus being the savior,the Christ,the Son of the living God.His father being the ONLY TRUE God,and God being love and the wicked perishing(hell is a lie).Christ's actually dying(ALL of him) and being raised on the 3rd day..the earth being inhabited forever by the meek and righteous..these are clear.."Interpretive possibilities" should NOT be dogmatically enforced beliefs.I realize there are many fantastic things about JW's and about the literature.I understand their views on holidays,war,essential truths etc are all good ..but there is too much bad mixed in.Think of Christmas.There are beautiful lights,trees,gifts,family dinners,warm fuzzy feelings of sharing and closeness etc..but there are DARK truths beneath the surface,no?Well that is how I will classify the WT organization for now.Bad analogy..just trying to think of a way to express it.As hard as it will be after reading the bible WITH WT literature for so long,I recommend JW's read the bible ALONE for a while..things will pop out you never noticed before and certain WT teachings and strong assertions and repeated declarations will start to appear questionable.Their overuse of "faithful and discreet slave class","organization for salvation","new light","past truths"(that were REALLY lies),1914,"Jehovah's sole channel of communication"(while still saying they are fallible..again,incongruent concepts),"other sheep class","anointed class","watchtower ark",being unable to actually BE born again,passing around bread and wine that you will only deny,etc...these should all be examined meticulously without watchtower literature.It is an uncomfortable feeling being confused and not having answers about many of the things I thought I knew before,but it's a process.And I darn well know Jesus will not say to me EVER

"I never knew you!!Get away from me you worker of lawlessness!You wouldn't preach 1914 even though the men who set the date were wrong about all the other dates they had set before it!!You are none of my sheep!"

Yet,that is what the WT is willing to do.Disturbing.And unfortunately,that's just one of a number of qualms.I won't lie and say I'm in a comfortable place right now..that I know everything and feel I've found some greater truth..I only know the thought of implicitly trusting men to guide me to salvation and being forced to adhere to their every whim and speculation is a scary thought.I have a hard journey ahead seeking truth and finding my place but as long as I think of God before I think of me(because I rarely feel like doing what is right) I will be ok.

Btw,I will leave the pro-Jehovah's witnesses blogs up because I feel some of the information is still relevant and besides,it is always good to know how they defend themselves.

The truth about Hellfire

This was in a debate about hell between Dan Mages,Steve Scianni,and Patrick Navas with Gene Cook and 2 other traditionalists.I will provide the link for Dan Mages' podcasts where I found this.Dan Mages and Steve Scianni are speaking in these portions(you can listen to the whole thing on the link..just click on the podcast about hell..obviously)

http://hungertruth.com/Podcast.php


I am amazed and appalled at the traditionalists' attack on these 3 men(in the entirety of the debate.this is what ppl do when thay have no REAL biblical defense..they tell you you don't have the holy spirit to help you understand God's son is God or the wicked won't just perish) just because they take words like consumed destroyed death and perish literally,taking the LITERAL few scriptures that supposedly prove the "hellfire" doctrine in context of the OT scriptures that explain their symbolism..If you're a Christian watching this,it is time to wake up..You don't know who you worship!God is love.If he tells you that immortal worms and unquenchable fire are on CARCASSES and that eternal fire means DESTRUCTION and that weeping and gnashing of teeth means anger (which would be normal when one is being judged!)and that the CONSEQUENCES of nouns of action when paired with "eternal" are generally what's eternal as opposed to the action itself(eternal sin,eternal judgment,eternal destruction etc) then you should listen.And it doesn't matter who or what someone is,if they are trying to help you understand that immortality is a GIFT that does not BELONG to the wicked and that souls can die.these are biblical facts.Like I said,time to wake up.

My question to you is..are you going to take what the bible teaches clearly and irrefutably from Genesis to Revelation..that the wicked shall perish and return to dust OR are you going to take a literal few symbolic texts that you think prove something that the bible explains in OT passages(yes folks..the symbolism is explained for you) literally and call it justice when temporary sin that we INHERITED is punished with a literal eternal fire(that the bible says means destruction) and then profess to know that God is love and tempers his justice with mercy and shall make a world anew where mourning and sin and death will exist NOWHERE?Seriously?As an orthodox believer,you believe he will extend mourning and sin and "eternal dying" forever after.That is incongruent with his plans to reveal his glory and his promised way of doing so!By eliminating all the things you think he will preserve.


If you ignore blatant logic and explicit biblical statements like the fate God promised Adam then don't be surprised if God questions your perception of him and the definition of justice and love and reason.If you take symbolic hyperbolic passages literally and proclaim that gehenna preserved what was thrown in it alive,don't be surprised if God exposes your reliance upon tradition instead of fact and reason and truth.I say all this not to seem pushy or shattering of long held traditions that are difficult to sever but simply to point out the truth that MUST be embraced in order to properly understand God and his Son and their kingdom.Admittedly,this orthodox belief confounds me in a most disturbing way.Not because I don't WANT to accept what the bible teaches,but because I understand what it does and consider this teaching blasphemous,a grand and inexcusable error.

The Discipline of Pain

This is an excerpt from the book :"The Life of Paul" by F.B Meyer

It is a great little book,highly recommended,poetic and encouraging.Thought I would share an excerpt that touched me personally..and this book is full of touching words.

This was written in regards to Paul's visit to the Third Paradise(2 Cor 12:2,4-5)(which the author here thinks was Paul because Paul reveals that by reasons of the visions and revelations granted him that there was danger of his being exalted overmuch.Whether it was Paul or not,the ultimate message here is still relevant and poignant.)

To Such,Bridal Moments come

Paradise would indeed be a poor place if words could describe it.The third heaven would not be worthy of its Maker if its glories did not transcend our furthest imaginings.He hath set eternity in our heart,a capacity for the infinite,a yearning after the divine.In moments of reverie,when stirred by certain notes in music,when under the spell of a sunset on a summer's eve,when we wake up to love,we know that words are but the token of thought,the signs and symbols of realities,and not the realities.Translate into words for me the sighings of the wind through the forest and the withdrawal of the sea down a pebbly beach and the string of sunlight playing on the hyacinth-strewn grass.You cannot!Then you know why the apostle described his experiences in Paradise as unspeakable.

But these hours are as fading as they are unspeakable.Why?Lest we should be exalted above measure and become proud.If the apostle feared this,much more should we!Lest we should come to trust in an experience as an aim or object of life instead of regarding it as God's will and testimony that He may withhold if we make more of it than we ought.We must live not in an experience but in Jesus,from whom,as from the sun,all lovely and helpful experiences emanate.Lest we should get out of touch with men and women around us,the majority of whom do not live on mountain tops but reside in valleys,where demons possess and worry the afflicted.

Through God's wise providence, such radiant hours do not linger,because our strength is not fed with them.We shall not get much working strength out of whipped cream,however pleasant it tastes;and if we rely on the raptures of Paradise for our sources of spiritual power,we shall come lamentable short of our true reinforcements.So God,in His mercy,gives them once or twice,now and again,and,at the time of sending them,accompanies them with a thorn that we may be reminded of our utter weakness and helplessness and be driven to avail ourselves of His grace,in which alone is our sufficiency.

Do not expect the vision of Paradise to linger;it would dazzle you and make life unnatural and unreal.Do not regret the passage of the blessed ,rapturous hours,light of step and fleet of pace.Do not think that you have fallen from grace when their flush and glow are over.Whether they come to you constantly or not,or even if they never visit you,you are still in Christ,still joined to the Lord,still accepted in the Beloved;and neither height of rapture,nor depth of depression shall ever separate you from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.Be content,then,to turn,as Jesus did,from the rapture of Paradise,presented on the Transfiguration Mount,to take the way of the cross through which you will become able to open Paradise to souls in despair ,like the dying thief.

The Discipline of Pain

Paul's "thorn" must have been VERY painful.In infinite wisdom,God permitted the messenger of Satan to buffet his servant,and all through that first missionary journey,Paul had to face a long succession of buffetings.There were perils of robbers,of waters,of mountain passes,and of violent crowds;but in addition to all,there was the lacerating thorn.

Paul could have suffered from weak eyes or some distressing form of opthamalia.We infer this from the eagerness of his Galatian converts to give him their eyes,from his dependence on an amanuensis,and from the clumsy letters with which he wrote the postscripts to his epistles(Gal 6:11)..And if this were the case,the pain would be greatly aggravated as he faced the keen blasts that swept the mountain plateau on which the Pisidian Antioch was situated.

Was it during this journey that Paul sought the Lord on three separate occasions for deliverance and received the assurance that though the thorn were left,more than sufficient grace would be given(2 Corinthians 12:9)?If so,like a peal of bells,at Antioch,Iconium,Derbe, and Lystra,he must have heard the music of those tender words:My grace is sufficient,sufficient,SUFFICIENT for you!Sufficient when friends forsake and foes pursue;sufficient to make you strong against a raging synagogue or a shower of stones;sufficient for excessive labors of body and conflicts of soul,sufficient to enable you to do as much work,and even more,than if the body were perfectly whole--for my strength is made perfect only amid the conditions of mortal weakness.

In estimating the greatness of a man's lifework,it is fair to take into consideration the difficulties under which the man has accomplished it.And how greatly does our appreciation of the apostle rise when we remember that he was incessantly in pain.Instead,however,of sitting down in despair and pleading physical infirmity as his excuse for doing nothing,he bravely claimed the grace that waited within and did greater work through God's enabling power than he could have done through his own had it been unhindered by his weakness.

Ah,afflicted ones,your disabilities were meant to unite with God's enablings,your weakness to mate his Power.Do not sit before that mistaken marriage,that uncongenial business,that unfortunate partnership,that physical weakness,that hesitancy of speech,that disfigurement of face,as though it must necessarily maim and conquer you.God's grace is at hand--sufficient--and at its best when human weakness is most profound.Appropriate it and learn that those who wait on God are stronger in their weakness than sons of men in their stoutest health and vigor.

*Romans 8:35 Who will separate us from the love of the Christ? Will tribulation or distress or persecution or hunger or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 Just as it is written: “For your sake we are being put to death all day long, we have been accounted as sheep for slaughtering.” 37 To the contrary, in all these things we are coming off completely victorious through him that loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life nor angels nor governments nor things now here nor things to come nor powers 39 nor height nor depth nor any other creation will be able to separate us from God’s love that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.


*Hebrews 12:11 True, no discipline seems for the present to be joyous, but grievous; yet afterward to those who have been trained by it it yields peaceable fruit, namely, righteousness. 12 Hence straighten up the hands that hang down and the enfeebled knees, 13 and keep making straight paths for your feet, that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather that it may be healed.


*2 Corinthians 12:6 For if I ever do want to boast, I shall not be unreasonable, for I shall say the truth. But I abstain, in order that no one should put to my credit more than what he sees I am or he hears from me, 7 just because of the excess of the revelations. Therefore, that I might not feel overly exalted, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, an angel of Satan, to keep slapping me, that I might not be overly exalted. 8 In this behalf I three times entreated the Lord that it might depart from me; 9 and yet he really said to me: “My undeserved kindness is sufficient for you; for [my] power is being made perfect in weakness.” Most gladly, therefore, will I rather boast as respects my weaknesses, that the power of the Christ may like a tent remain over me. 10 Therefore I take pleasure in weaknesses, in insults, in cases of need, in persecutions and difficulties, for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am powerful.