The Thousand and One Dates of the Watch Tower Organization
“Jehovah speaks only through the Watch Tower Organization”
Charles T. Russell, founder of Jehovah’s Witnesses
“Does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare to them the things to come? These questions can be answered affirmatively. Who is this prophet?… This ‘prophet’ was not one man, but a body of men and women. It was the small group of followers in the footsteps of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Christian witnesses of Jehovah…”
The Watchtower, September 1, 1972, p. 517
It is easy for the Watch Tower organization to say that it is God’s only “prophet” on earth; proving it, however, is another matter. Let us review the record of prophecies made by Jehovah’s Witnesses themselves since the beginning of this century, in order to verify whether their predictions about the end of the world were fulfilled.
1.- In 1889 they prophesied that:
“…the ‘battle of the great day of God Almighty’ (Revelation 16:14), which will end in 1914 C.E., with the complete overthrow of the present rulership of earth, has already begun.”
The Time Is at Hand. 1908 edition, p. 101
Did the complete overthrow of the present governments of the earth occur in 1914? The answer is no.
2.- In 1886 the Watch Tower Society prophesied that Jesus Christ would return visibly to the Earth, or what they called the “second personal coming”:
“…The Lord knows all his ways and has taken note of his constant love and care; nevertheless, he longs for the promised personal return, since when He said: ‘If I go, I will come again’ (Jn. 14:3), he undoubtedly referred to a second personal coming“.
The Divine Plan of the Ages, p. 88. (emphasis added).
Today, Jehovah’s Witnesses not only teach that Jesus Christ came in 1914, but also affirm that his coming was invisible instead of a “personal coming,” as they had previously prophesied.
3.- “…the biblical proof shows that in the year 1914 C.E. God’s time arrived for Christ to return and begin to rule… Since Christ’s return is invisible, is there any way to confirm that it really happened? Yes, there is.”
You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth, p. 147. (emphasis added).
When 1914 arrived and Jesus Christ did not come personally, as they had assured, it was easier for the Watch Tower Society to say that His coming was invisible than to admit that they had prophesied falsely. It would have been better to heed what the Bible itself says about the second coming of Christ:
“But of that day and hour no one knows…” (Mk. 13:32).
“If anyone says to you: Look, here is the Christ, …do not believe it. For false Christs and false prophets will arise… who will deceive, if possible, even the elect”
(Mt. 24:23-24).
4.- In 1918 the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses prophesied the following:
“…there are several quotations that without a doubt indicate the resurrection of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and other faithful ones of ancient times, and that these would enjoy the first favor; we may expect that the year 1925 will witness the return of these faithful ones, coming out of the tomb fully restored to human perfection and constituted legal, visible representatives of the new order of things on earth”
Millions Now Living Will Never Die, pp. 72-73 (emphasis added).
Did Abraham, Isaac and Jacob rise in 1925 as Jehovah’s Witnesses predicted? No.
5.- Once again, in 1931 they said:
“For a time there was a measure of disappointment on the part of Jehovah’s faithful ones on earth, in relation to the years 1914, 1918 and 1925, which lasted for a time… and they learned to stop setting dates.”
Vindication, book I, pp. 338-339 (emphasis added).
This quotation shows that there were many disappointed Jehovah’s Witnesses because what their leaders had announced did not happen.
6.- In 1968 the Watch Tower Society itself admitted having prophesied falsely:
“It is true that there were those in times past who predicted an ‘end of the world,’ announcing even a specific date… However, nothing happened. The ‘end’ did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?… those people lacked the truths of God, and the evidence that he was guiding and using them.”
Awake! magazine, October 8, 1968, p. 22.
7.- According to the previous statement, the Watch Tower Society was no longer going to predict dates for the end of the world, but only one year later, in 1969, it published the following in its magazine The Watchtower:
“WHY ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO 1975?”
“What about all this talk concerning the year 1975?… Their interest has been stirred by the conviction that 1975 will mark the end of 6000 years of human history from Adam’s creation… One thing is absolutely certain: Bible chronology reinforced by fulfilled Bible prophecy shows that soon 6000 years of man’s existence will end, yes, within this generation!”
The Watchtower, January 1, 1969, pp. 14,20.
Once again, the announced end of the world did not happen, and thousands of followers of the sect were disappointed by the false prophecies of the Governing Body of Jehovah’s Witnesses.
Conclusions
After reviewing the record of predictions of the Watch Tower Society, which claims to be the only “Prophet” for our day, we have confirmed that it has been responsible for prophesying falsely (let us remember that the Society itself admitted it). This means that Jehovah’s Witnesses are false prophets according to their own record and their own Bible, which says:
“And in case you say in your heart: ‘How shall we know the word that Jehovah has NOT spoken?’, when the prophet speaks in Jehovah’s name and the word does not happen or come true, that is the word that Jehovah has not spoken…”
Deuteronomy 18:21-22 (emphasis added)
(New World Translation).
Analysis
In analyzing the possible reasons that led the leaders of the Watch Tower to make false predictions for almost 100 consecutive years, specialists in sects have suggested several options. Theological ignorance has surely played an important role, but that would not be enough to justify their stumbling so many times over the same stone (let us remember that the false predictions followed one after another for almost 100 years) and their failure to learn from those shameful errors. This leads us to think that the ignorance of their leaders has been accompanied by a good dose of dishonesty and lack of integrity. Their use of fear-based marketing to make proselytes, periodically announcing the end of the world in order to attract crowds, has brought them good results, as analyses by recognized researchers in this field show.
Graph showing worldwide growth in number of members each time the Watch Tower predicts the end of the world. The decline that follows each prediction is attributed to the thousands of disappointed Jehovah’s Witnesses. The new upward curve corresponds to a new prediction.
The authoritarian structure of the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, together with the blind obedience they demand from their followers under penalty of being excluded from Jehovah’s Kingdom, may partly explain why thousands of Witnesses allow themselves to be directed by those whom their own Scriptures declare to be merely unscrupulous false prophets.
Our Institute has copies of the cited originals from the publications of Jehovah’s Witnesses analyzed in this study. They are available to anyone who requests them.
Study carried out by the Center for Religious Research of California
in collaboration with the Christian Institute of Mexico
Source: from Apologetica.org
