Question for Jehovah's Witnesses?

Question

Genuine questions for Jehovah's Witnesses

We've asked this before but we didn't get any concrete answers.

My husband was raised as a JW for a short time.

He has a genuine question about the JW beliefs

We are looking for an answer without and preaching or judgement, just the facts of your/their beliefs. Thanks all! :)

What do JW's believe now that the 1914 theory is now too late?

The time is running out/ran out for the 1914 generation, so what is the current belief?

Thanks again all

We appreciate it

Answer 1

They have proven themselves to be false prophets several times. I don't understand why anyone would want to be a part of them.

Answer 2

In looking over some of these answers, I see many straw man arguments to throw you off track.

Let's take the generation that is spoken of first.  One answer did a double talk in saying it was not the generation that saw the events of 1914 but the one that Jesus saw.  Well that is not what God's "prophet" the Watchtower said before 1914.  Before 1914 they said the worldly governements would cease to exist but after 1914 they changed it to will begin to cease to exist.  A prophet can not change the prophecy after the fact.  At first they said it was the generation that saw 1914 with understanding but most of them have died off so then it became those who were born by 1914 but there are few of those.  At one time only this generation could be a part of the anointed class but that has changed too with the new light as I know several that are under 40 that are now anointed.   Ummm an unchanging GOD sure  has been changing a lot hasn't He?

Then along comes those that declare that Jesus has only been "present" since 1914.  What?  Was the King of Kings and Lord of Lords in hiding from the resurrection until 1914?   Did JESUS not say "I will be with you always even unto the end of the ages"?    The Watchtower tells us that Jesus is present "invisibly" since 1914.  Just how is that different then before 1914 since He promised He would be with His people throughout the last 2,000 plus years and that HE would never leave us or forsake us?  

The question is really are you going to believe an organization that has told you that it is ok to lie to us if it advances the cause of the kingdom (read the organization) or are you going to believe JESUS?    

Answer 3

And just an additional note -

1914 still stands as a date of great significance. There was no return of Christ in the flesh, as one person stated.

What we recognize is that 1914 marked the end of the Gentile Times and the time period for Christ to begin exercising his God-given authority to clear out the heavens first and then work on doing the same for the earth.

So 1914 began the "last days" of the world as we know it. And the world had to be notified of this change in rulership with Christ as king.

That is why Jehovah's Witnesses are doing what Matthew 24:14 says - to preach the "good news of the kingdom".

As was mentioned, the WT cited will give many fine details to clarify the question. Enjoy!

Answer 4

JW believe that Jesus returned in 1914. Obviously not true, as the Bible teaches that he will return on a Cloud for all to see.. Not some secret arrival.

Answer 5

jw's believe jesus returned to earth in 1914. that is a lie. jesus said the whole world will see him on his return.

Answer 6

That is a very good question you are asking.  However it is too deep to answer in this setting.

I suggest that you go to jw.org and down load the watchtower study article for February 15, 2008.

The study article, Christs Presence-What Does it Mean to You?  The last study article for that set of study articles.

You will get a very complete explanation to the question you are asking.

I am pretty sure you will be satisfied and will appreciate it.

Answer 7

My cousin is a JW and she even admits that the JW's change their beliefs with the times.  But the Holy Word of God tells us that He is the same yesterday today and tomorrow.

Answer 8

Christians in this generation who have paid attention to the prophetic word have been highly privileged to see, not a preview of Christ’s Kingdom, but overwhelming evidence that Jesus is enthroned as King and rules in reality! Each passing year since 1914, the prophetic word is made more sure as we witness the fulfillment of the various elements of the striking “sign” Jesus gave of his royal “presence.” An important part of the sign is that the announcement of his government, or Kingdom, would be made in all the nations before the King brings an end to this system of things. Under Christ’s direction, the Kingdom-preaching work is being done now in 231 lands on a scale never before imagined. (Matthew 24:3-14)  

Answer 9

Hello Sarah,

It is a fair question and sincerely and respectfully asked, so I will do my best to answer it.

Since your husband was only "briefly" a witness, he most likely doesn't fully understand the significance of 1914, so please allow me to explain more clearly.

At Luke 21:24 Jesus said "Jerusalem will be trampled on by the nations, until the appointed times of the nations are fulfilled"

What did he mean by the "appointed times of the nations"? This was the time period which started when the last king who sat on God's throne in Jerusalem stopped ruling, and it lasted until Jesus himself sat down and began ruling as King over God's people.

When did these times end then? We still believe that these times ended in 1914. There is a lot of complicated Bible prophesy and many scriptures based on Daniel and other prophetic books that allowed us to come to this conclusion prior to 1914, but I won't go into that here it is deep and hard to understand, hard to explain. But it does make perfect sense when looked at clearly.

But there is also the historic events we have witnessed since 1914 that seem to verify the prediction's fulfillment. What are these events?

Jesus in Matthew chapter 24 and Luke chapter 21 described "critical times hard to deal with" that would happen during the time period of his return. Jesus warned us to be aware of and watching out for the "sign" of his presence. At Luke 21:31 he said: "In this way you also, when you see these things occurring, know that the kingdom of God is near."

We still believe that we SEE this "sign" and that the kingdom of God is near. The things Jesus told us to look out for are here. Many many wars, more and varied diseases in spite of modern advances against disease, famine in many places, earthquakes etc. Also the heart attitudes that Paul talked about at 2 Timothy 3:1-5 are happening now as fulfillment of the prophesy about "the last days". But what you are asking about is the fulfillment of this scripture that came next after the one I quoted above in Luke chapter 21. This one in verse 32 tells us : "Truly I say to you, This generation will by no means pass away until all things occur."

What did Jesus mean by "this generation?" What is a 'generation' ?

Does it refer to a limited amount of time? say 80 or 90 years? Does it refer to a particular group of people living during a particular time? Or does it refer to a particular group of people who have something in common, but that may span over many many years?

Our understanding of what this word means has changed over the years. At one time we believed that it referred to a time period, perhaps a person's lifespan. That it involved people who were alive during 1914 who witnessed the start of these events, that they would see them through to their conclusion. We taught that they must be of an "age of understanding" when these events started to happen. I've always wondered why that "age of understanding" part needed to be in there. Why couldn't a person have been born in 1914? If so, there are still some alive who were born that year. Some people live to be over 100.

But as you point out, that is not likely, most of that "generation" have passed if you are referring to only individuals alive at that time.

So we had to look more closely at what else a "generation" could mean.

So the next understanding involved looking at other instances where Jesus used the expression "this generation". In 1995 we had a series of articles that indicated that in other instances "this generation" referred to a "wicked" generation, those not receiving Christ's favor. But at this time we seemed to begin to understand that it wasn't meant to give us a means for calculating "when" the end would come. All of us want to know. The apostles even wanted to know "when" but Jehovah has made it clear to us that we don't GET to know "when", we only will know that when we look back at the events that are happening. We DO know that we are in the time period Jesus told us to watch out for and this should be enough for us.

But then more recently when had a newer understanding of "this generation". It involves thinking about who Jesus was talking to when he said it. He was not talking to a "wicked" group of people. He was talking privately to his most trusted companions. This generation in that case must involve members of that group. His anointed ones, the ones who will rule with him in heaven will by no means "pass away" or die off the earthly scene until everything is fulfilled.

That is our current explanation, and it does explain why there are still members of the anointed alive in our day when for years their numbers has been expected to be diminishing and yet younger men have begun to reveal that they have the heavenly calling.

I wouldn't be surprised if our understanding of the phrase "this generation" undergoes further changes. It is kind of a vague word. It comes from the Greek word ge·ne·a′, "w

Answer 10

The generation spoken of in Matthew is not a generation as in the people living from 1914 but it is a generation as Jesus called the people alive during his day a wicked and treacherous generation. It is a generation of people living at a specific time displaying certain traits .