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Did the MILLIONS Campaign Just Become a False Prophecy?


JW Insider

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I was trying to come up with the most controversial question that Witnesses might ever have to face. This one might appear silly at first, but it also might draw out some of the same controversies that we most often attempt to avoid.

The "Millions" Campaign ran from about 1918 to 1925. It was the primary focus of the Watch Tower sponsored public talks,billboards, assemblies, books and booklets publications from during those years. The primary slogan and talk title was called "Millions Now Living Will Never Die."

Because it started in 1918, and it made a very specific prediction, it seems that as of some time earlier this year, this prediction can no longer come true under any possible circumstances or calculations.

This brings up multiple questions:

  1. Is there any way to interpret the title (slogan) in any way so that it could still turn out to be true?
  2. Is the Watchtower, or Watch Tower Society or "Governing Body" or "Faithful and Discreet Slave" always immune from the charge of "false prophecy" no matter what is published and promoted? Is there anything that could ever be said or published that could actually fall into the category of false prophecy?
  3. Might it reflect poorly on the heart condition (motivation) of any persons who were drawn to learn more and who then converted to the Bible Students during the period from 1919 to 1925?
  4. Is it possible that the Governing Body's claim that the Governing Body was appointed as the "faithful and discreet slave" in 1919 is presumptuous? Indiscreet? Haughty? Self-serving? Or is it possible that the date is just a bit too early? Perhaps 1919 was not an appropriate time? Even if 1914 was the start of the Kingdom, does it have to be 5 years later (1919) that the "slave" was appointed? Why not 6 years, or 16 years?
  5. Does it matter? Isn't it just as possible that, even if this was a false prophecy, that the Watch Tower's Governing Body was still appointed as the "faithful and discreet slave" either with the idea that this was not a serious prediction, or it wasn't really a prophecy, or perhaps that Jehovah and Christ Jesus could still see the heart (desire, goal, motivation) of these brothers, and knew that a cleansing operation would produce the correct outcome in time?
  6. Is it possible that Jehovah and Jesus approved of this type of promotion of the good news because it was a way to promote the other core doctrines of truth which have not changed much at all through the years? Is it possible that this method of drawing in converts to the faith was just a temporary way to cut through the noise of so many competing voices crying out for attention?
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It is pretty clear that it is impossible for millions who were living in 1925 and prior to never die as they are likely already ...dead! But you know, I am loathe to term the famous slogan "Milli

LOL! Best answer I've ever seen to this question. My father, originally from Chicago, has a photograph of the sign mentioned in the following experience. They didn't want it for the Proclaim

I was trying to come up with the most controversial question that Witnesses might ever have to face. This one might appear silly at first, but it also might draw out some of the same controversies tha

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22 minutes ago, JW Insider said:

this prediction can no longer come true under any possible circumstances or calculations.

There are complex ways of showing this, but the simplest is found on page 5 of this publication:

https://www.census.gov/prod/2014pubs/p25-1140.pdf

You can multiply by a factor of about 22 to 24 to extrapolate US data for the entire world. But you don't really need to do that. You can also work from estimates such as this one (and then allow for the possibility of error and level of uncertainty):

Under the topic of "Centenarian," Wikipedia quotes sources to show that ". . . thus, in 2012, the UN estimated there to be only 316,600 centenarians worldwide." Because the campaign started in 1918, you actually have to account for 98 and 99 year-olds, in addition to everyone 100 and over.

The link above shows a chart on page 5, and the numbers behind it can be downloaded from the Census Bureau's site. If you look carefully at it, you can see that there are about as many people in the 98 and 99 years-old combined group as there are in the 100+ group. That means that you could double the number of centenarians in the world to get a fairly accurate number of those who are 98 and above. To be safe you should use 2.5 as a factor instead of 2 even though this will give you a much higher number than reality. You can check how data from other countries compares to the U.S. in several places online. (References available upon request.)

What this means is that you could take the 316,600 number from 2012, and adjust it upward towards 400,000 to over-compensate for the higher number of people who are expected to survive into that group as people continue to live longer.  The same chart shows the expectation for the year 2030 and we are already nearly 5 out of the 18 years "into" that increase that the chart shows as the expectation. 400,000 times 2.5 is 1.2 million.

1.2 million is less than the 2 million minimum that would be needed for the Milions prediction to come true, even if all of those 1.2 million were to survive Armageddon.

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Those are loaded questions! 

I find it quite fascinating reading the scriptures and our attempts to put the pieces of the puzzle together.  However, try as we might, these things can be difficult to figure out as we can see from all the different dates and times.

 

The slogan can't possibly be true.  I don't think it was haughtiness or self serving, whether it's 1914, 1919, 1925 . . . but at best wishful thinking or filling in the blanks and hoping it's right.  (smile)  Many Catholic and Protestant denominations are guilty of the same.  So it makes me wonder why JW's get stuck in the false prophecy pit or why people care to the extent that they do.  The counter argument is that many lost faith, so was their faith in a date? 

 

Every 3 months or so what was written previously, is not admitted as wrong or false prophecy, but a better or more accurate understanding, whether we agree or disagree with past, present interpretations.  Whereas, opponents will most definitely cite any inconsistency as false prophesy.  I remember a case whereby the disciples circulated a rumor John would not die, when something entirely different was meant.  Did that misunderstanding make them false prophets?  I think Jesus and Jehovah understand the imperfections of man.  From the original writings, we have several copies not totally consistent with each other, however not every word or letter has to be exactly perfect in order for us to understand God's will and purpose.  Not every saying, understanding, or interpretation of the faithful and discreet slave will always be exactly perfect or essential in order for us to understand God's will and purpose.  I hope this makes some sense.

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It is pretty clear that it is impossible for millions who were living in 1925 and prior to never die as they are likely already ...dead!

But you know, I am loathe to term the famous slogan "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" as a false prophecy similar to something like "infants who die will be safe in the arms of Jesus and will spend eternity with Him in heaven." This is the sort of thing used by some religious groups to comfort those bereaved of infants. Or how about "Put the Church Behind Pershing. To win this war the boys at the front need strength of spirit " used by the American Bible Society to fund-raise for Bible distribution to soldiers during WW1?

Intrinsically,"Millions Now Living Will Never Die" is a true statement. What was wrong about it was the timing and the context of it's application.

To borrow Paul's illustration, Christians are likened to runners in a race. Well, most of us have seen a false start haven't we? The tension and excitement of the moment can carry away even the most seasoned athletes on occasion. And the alertness and eagerness of sincere Christians to the return of Christ has given rise to false alarms in modern times, even as it did amongst the disciples. The good thing about a Christian "jumping the gun" is that they can always get back in the race.

As a rallying cry, the Millions slogan certainly captured the attention of many. Preaching in the 70's, I still met people who had attended one of these lectures by Judge Rutherford. Many may have dropped out with expectation unfulfilled, but any who were alerted to the Bible's message by the Millions campaign, and who are still active Jehovah's witnesses, are unlikely to have regretted that decision although their number would only be a fraction of the "Millions" expected at the time.

Would it have been better to use a slogan like "Billions Now Living Will Die For Ever" ? Attention grabbing maybe, but I think I prefer the original.

Someone said "False starts may be considered illegal, but in life, I’d rather have a false start than no start at all." :)

false-start 2.jpg

false-start Batman.jpg

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LOL!

Best answer I've ever seen to this question.

My father, originally from Chicago, has a photograph of the sign mentioned in the following experience. They didn't want it for the Proclaimer's book but it had been mentioned in the 1975 Yearbook.

*** yb75 p. 127 Part 2—United States of America ***
Recalling the effect of the “Millions Campaign,” Rufus Chappell writes: “We had offered the publication Millions Now Living Will Never Die in and around Zion [Illinois] and the results were of interest. I remember a large, flashing electric sign over the Waukegan Dry Cleaners building on North Sheridan Road about five miles from Zion, which said, ‘We Dye for the Millions Now Living Who Will Never Die.’ This was a very popular subject at that time, and many people had questioned the phrase and learned the truth from this publication.”

We are all loathe to call the slogan a false prophecy. But that is my point. If someone else had said it, I think it would definitely be one. And, of course, we're only focusing on the slogan itself here. If we were to look at the set of teachings that made up the talks and the publications behind the slogan, we would find dozens of "false teachings" and "false prophecies." It's just that we can't use the term "false prophecy" or even "false teaching" when referring to our past teachings and predictions that turned out not to be true.

Still, we have no problem finding quotes from the older publications that spoke of Russell and even Rutherford as "prophets" in this era. But is it the course of humility or a course of pride to speak of the false teachings of others, but never admit that we could have been guilty of a "false" teaching or a "false" prophecy? I know it's OK to say that a teaching or prediction was "mistaken," or that it was a "old light," or a previous teaching before the "light got brighter," or that it was "the right thing expected at the wrong time" or the "wrong thing expected at the right time." We might even say that it was "untrue." But, for many decades now, we can never bring ourselves to admit that we were teaching a "false" teaching.  We are still quick to pin that label on others though:

*** g81 12/8 p. 14 Do You Recognize the Meaning of What You See? ***
Political leaders often end up being “false prophets” unable to fulfill their promises. Of course, not every ruler turns out to be a “Hitler,” whose promised “thousand-year reich” proved to be a disastrous 12 years of misrule. The danger that one will be a “false prophet” increases, however, in direct proportion to their number. And that number is increasing—rapidly.
A very prominent political “prophet” of our present century was the League of Nations, formed in 1919. It foretold a world of lasting peace. But World War II unceremoniously dumped it into a pit of inactivity. It was replaced in 1945 by the United Nations organization, which doubtless is trying to prevent the outbreak of an atomic World War III. But has it truly ‘maintained international peace and security,’ as its charter prophesied?

It's curious too that it was in 1919 that the Watchtower was one of first organizations to speak about the League of Nations as if it was a political expression of the kingdom of God on earth. When we changed our view on that, just a few months later, we spoke of other religions as being guilty as false prophets for having held that same view.

 

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The official response has been suggested as: "We aren't false prophets because we never said any of those false prophesies in Jehovah's name."

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.’ 
 

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2 hours ago, HollyW said:

. . . we never said any of those false prophesies in Jehovah's name."

That's a common answer because we can attach a scripture to it. But we have called others false prophets without any concern over whether or not something was said in Jehovah's name. The context of that same quote from 1981 also discusses religious false prophets and makes the point that all religions are "false prophets" except one.

*** g81 12/8 p. 14 Do You Recognize the Meaning of What You See? ***
. . . all of today’s religious groups outside this one true faith must, according to this standard, be counterfeits, composite “false prophets.”

I think there was also a hint as to the official response an article from 1968.

*** g68 10/8 p. 23 A Time to Lift Up Your Head in Confident Hope *** 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. Why? What was missing? Missing from such people were God's truths and the evidence that he was guiding and using them.

That idea has the effect, perhaps, of exonerating us from any charge of false prophesying no matter what was ever said because Jehovah's Witnesses always have "God's truths and the evidence that he was guiding and using them." So that would be true even if the Watch Tower Society had predicted an "end to the world" and were "even announcing a specific date." And of course, this is exactly what we were doing in those years. Guilty on both counts. Both in 1914 and 1925, at least. One could argue that we should put quotation marks around end of the world, but the article did that, too. One could argue that we didn't include the month and day, but a year is pretty specific in the overall scheme of things. We don't have a problem with the fact that Daniel's "70 weeks" prophecy pointed to a specific year.  

I was about to respond to Janice with another point that I will place here. I don't have a problem with the fact that we, as an organization were "guilty" of false prophesying. Jehovah's prophets in the past have been guilty of false prophecy and an explanation was given (the prophets of Jehovah around Ahab, except for Micaiah). Perhaps even that explanation in 1 Kings 22 about God sending a lying spirit was really a roundabout way of explaining that these prophets succumbed to wishful thinking (desire to please the king) and therefore the angel was able to "fool" them. That would be more consistent with James' explanation:

(James 1:13, 14) . . .For with evil things God cannot be tried, nor does he himself try anyone. 14 But each one is tried by being drawn out and enticed by his own desire.

Janice also mentioned the expectations concerning the author of the book we traditionally refer to as the book of John. Might have been their misunderstanding of expressions like:

(John 11:26) . . and everyone who is living and exercises faith in me will never die at all.. . .

(John 8:51)  Most truly I say to you, if anyone observes my word, he will never see death at all.

(Judge* 19 18-25)  Millions now living will never die.

*I half-expected that someone might bring up those verses in defense of the "Millions" campaign, even if they were not related to the original content of the campaign.

But my point again was that we have nothing to fear from honesty about our past teachings. Just being humble and admitting what happened would take some of the "sting" and defensiveness out the equation whenever someone made the accusation.

We often seem to treat our history as so sacrosanct, that we think we can't be completely honest and open about it. I find this to be quite different from the way, for example, that the Bible treats the history of the first Kings, Saul, David, Solomon, the crisis resulting in the split between Israel and Judah, the ups and downs along the way. We don't say that Saul or David or Solomon were not "anointed" because of the errors and even atrocities they committed. Some of their errors were due to the times they lived in and the influences around them, and some were completely inexcusable from any perspective. But the Bible is honest about it, and we appreciate the humility. And it doesn't change a thing about God's love for them, and his ability to get his work accomplished.

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6 hours ago, JW Insider said:

We are all loathe to call the slogan a false prophecy. But that is my point. If someone else had said it, I think it would definitely be one.

I think this issue has to do with Jehovah's witnesses' understanding of the terms "prophet" and "prophecy" and how they are scripturally applied, whether "true" or "false". And we would have to include our understanding of the role of Jehovah's witnesses in the mix. Much has been said on this matter with vast supporting references and quotations elsewhere in the forum so I will be as brief and simple as I can.

Whilst Merriam-Webster includes a semblance of the comparatively narrow scriptual definition of a "prophet", it also indicates a rather broader application in modern speech. http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/prophet .

However for Jehovah's Witnesses, the scriptural understanding of the word is summed up in the article "Prophet" in the book Insight on the Scriptures Vol 2 with such statements as:

"One through whom divine will and purpose are made known.." ;

"..true prophets were no ordinary announcers but were spokesmen for God, ‘men of God’ with inspired messages." ;

The messages (prophecies), whilst often connected with future matters, are not limited to this, but share the common factor of being divinely inspired of God, thus without error. (2Tim 3:16). As such, if predictions, they would be fulfilled, and if in the form of statements of fact, divine judgement, intention, direction, or instruction, they would be correct, and binding upon those to whom the message was directed. These prophecies, regardless of form, would be uttered with the overall aim to enable man to bring his ways, desires, and goals into line with the divine will. (Rev.19:10; Eph.1:10)

The role of prophet would thus be greatly privileged, but, by it's nature of divine appointment, highly accountable. This can be seen in the severe biblical condemnations of what are termed "false" prophets. (De.18:20) Self-appointed or corrupted, these false prophets made pronouncements that "lulled the people and their leaders with soothing assurances that, despite their unrighteous course, God was still with them to protect and prosper them." The activity of false prophets  is not limited to ancient times either (Matt. 24:11; 2Pet.2:1). As such, they serve the interests of the Devil, and are termed even as "inspired by demons".(Compare 1Jn 4:1-6; 1Tim.4:1;Rev.13:14)

Jehovah's witnesses do not see themselves as divinely-inspired in the sense the prophets of old were. Therefore, they do not see their teachings in quite the same light as the divine pronouncements of the prophets of old. 

So in view of the scriptural anathema attached to the term "false prophecy" and the specific scriptural understanding of that term as opposed to additional secular definitions, I can understand why we would be reluctant to apply the term "false prophecy" to any mistaken views we may have held in the past or even will hold in the future. These are mistakes, misjudgements, misapplications, errors etc.

But by the same token, I see no contradiction in applying the term "false prophecy" to any teachings or pronouncements from any source that serve to lull the people and their leaders with soothing assurances that, despite their unrighteous course, God is still with them to protect and prosper them, particularly in this "time of the end".  Rev.13:13-16.

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2 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

"One through whom divine will and purpose are made known.." ;

"..true prophets were no ordinary announcers but were spokesmen for God, ‘men of God’ with inspired messages." ;

I believe that these were the very reasons that Jehovah's witnesses have identified themselves as a "prophet."

Either separately or combined, both the statements are considered valid reasons to identify the organization of Jehovah's Witnesses as a "prophet." It's not just the predictions, therefore, but even our work in making known the divine will and purpose that is therefore involved, and should be scrutinized carefully when we say that we are no ordinary announcers, but are spokesmen for God, speaking in Jehovah's name, with his inspired message. 

That was the same point made in the 1972 Watchtower, combined with the related "Ezekiel" book about how the nations would know that a prophet called Jehovah's Witnesses was among them. (This is the favorite article quoted to us, because the wording is very direct, but there are plenty of others.)

*** w72 4/1 p. 197 ‘They Shall Know that a Prophet Was Among Them’ ***
‘They Shall Know that a Prophet Was Among Them’
. . .
A third way of coming to know Jehovah God is through his representatives. In ancient times he sent prophets as his special messengers. While these men foretold things to come, they also served the people by telling them of God’s will for them at that time, often also warning them of dangers and calamities. . . . So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come?
IDENTIFYING THE “PROPHET”
These questions can be answered in the affirmative. Who is this prophet?. . . He had a “prophet” to warn them. This “prophet” was not one man, but was a body of men and women. It was the small group of footstep followers of Jesus Christ, known at that time as International Bible Students. Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. They are still proclaiming a warning, and have been joined and assisted in their commissioned work by hundreds of thousands of persons who have listened to their message with belief.
Of course, it is easy to say 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?

I think you are right that we wish to avoid the problem of a true prophet being accused of making false prophecies. It's also quite possible that the 1972 quote above was worded so clearly because we wanted to focus on the designation of "prophet" especially during the peak era of the predictions about what the 1970's would bring, and warnings about the remaining months of this system. But even if that was not the reason, we wanted the designation of prophet.

2 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

Jehovah's witnesses do not see themselves as divinely-inspired in the sense the prophets of old were. Therefore, they do not see their teachings in quite the same light as the divine pronouncements of the prophets of old. 

I'm not sure if that means you think that we are no longer to see ourselves as prophets. I don't ever recall the above teachings being changed, which typically means that we are to accept it as the truth, until it's changed. Perhaps you are saying that even if we do consider ourselves to be prophets, we can never be held to be accountable as "false" prophets because we do not claim to be divinely inspired. Of course, I am not promoting the idea that we are, or have ever been, "false prophets." I'm more concerned with whether we should be more honest about admitting that we have delivered "false prophecies." One or more false prophecies should not turn us into a false prophet. These false predictions are only a small part of the overall purpose of our work as a prophet. Jonah, for example, got off-track as a prophet, but after being humbled, he was right back on track.

I should probably note that this particular quote from 1972 was undoubtedly from an anointed member of the Watchtower Society. The same brother who wrote the Ezekiel book. I think we both know who this was. One giveaway is that this brother often kept hints in his writing that he had not accepted that the "other sheep" were "Jehovah's witnesses." That was still a special designation for the anointed, especially in the context of types and antitypes where prophetic work was involved. I only say that because I believe he considered only the spirit-anointed Jehovah's witnesses to be prophets and the "other sheep" to be those who have joined and assisted them: "Today they are known as Jehovah’s Christian witnesses. They are still proclaiming a warning, and have been joined and assisted in their commissioned work by hundreds of thousands of persons who have listened to their message with belief." There are additional Watchtower quotes that indicate that the "anointed" were considered to be prophets. I mention this because I kept using the term "us" and "we" and I do not consider profess to be "anointed." But it also might speak to the idea of the spirit-anointed to deliver the spirit-inspired Biblical message and warning through a spirit-directed organization. The technicality that they are not themselves "divinely inspired" might therefore be a distinction without a distinction.

Again, this post will go on too long if I attempt to comment on all the related Watchtower statements. So back to the point. After doing a lot of research, I'm concerned that we could be much more honest about our history, or else we could just ignore it altogether. I like that we bring up our WTS history a lot in the publications, because I've been a history nerd since 1977. But we shouldn't bring it up just to spin it a certain way, or make claims that aren't true. This exposes us to unnecessary ridicule because the truth about history is so much easier to check these days. I am concerned that such re-writing of history is a sign of ego, haughtiness, presumptuousness, when humility and discretion have a much higher value in Jehovah's eyes.

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3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

I'm not sure if that means you think that we are no longer to see ourselves as prophets.

1971 The Nations Shall Know That I Am Jehovah p. 70 par. 33 Commissioned To Speak In The Divine Name 

33. Likewise it was a trying mission upon which the modern Ezekiel class was sent, to religious people the same type as those in Ezekiel's day, But regardless of how Christendom views or regards this group of anointed witnesses of Jehovah, the time must come, and that shortly, when those making up Christendom will know that really a "prophet" of Jehovah was among them.

wt 08 7/15 p. 11 par. 17 Meeting the Challenges of the House-to-House Ministry

Jehovah assured Ezekiel that when the judgments he proclaimed came true, the rebellious house of Israel would “certainly know also that a prophet himself happened to be in the midst of them.” (Ezek. 2:5) Similarly, when God carries out his judgments against the present system of things, people will be forced to recognize that the message Jehovah’s Witnesses preached in public places and from house to house actually originated with the one true God, Jehovah, and that the Witnesses really did serve as his representatives.

I am not sure we have such a rigid interpretation now as in the Nations Shall Know days.

3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

I'm more concerned with whether we should be more honest about admitting that we have delivered "false prophecies."

Well don't you feel that the honesty should extend to defining "prophecies" in a way that reflects the non-scriptural understanding of this word?

Mistakes, misjudgements, misapplications, errors etc. are well within the province of imperfect men who are unable to 'bridle the tongue' (compare Ja. 3:2).

But given the scriptural association of the term "false prophecies" I feel this designation is exceeding even James' earlier words at Chap 3:1 regarding the "heavier judgement". And in the context of the divinely commissioned role of an inspired prophet of Jehovah, simply not possible. There, I feel, lies a distinction with distinction.

3 hours ago, JW Insider said:

re-writing of history is a sign of ego, haughtiness, presumptuousness, when humility and discretion have a much higher value in Jehovah's eyes.

I agree with this statement entirely and I am looking forward to revisiting this whole area in our consideration of the book God's Kingdom Rules. :)

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1 hour ago, Eoin Joyce said:

I am not sure we have such a rigid interpretation now as in the Nations Shall Know days.

I agree. Although there were a couple articles around 1993 and after that came pretty close. I'll have to look them up later.

2 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

Well don't you feel that the honesty should extend to defining "prophecies" in a way that reflects the non-scriptural understanding of this word?

Of course. I thought we already established agreement on that. Using the agreed-upon definition you provided earlier, I think we can easily establish that Jehovah's Witnesses, or at very least the associated "slave" responsible for interpreting doctrine, easily fits the definition of "one through whom divine will and purpose are made known" which, on its own, is an entirely valid definition of a prophet. Even the second, more traditional definition, fits because of our claim that we are no ordinary announcers, that we have carry a specially revealed message ("good news") for these last days since 1914, and that in this sense we are spokesmen for God, 'men of God,' carrying his inspired message to others.

7 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

"One through whom divine will and purpose are made known.." ;

"..true prophets were no ordinary announcers but were spokesmen for God, ‘men of God’ with inspired messages."

Therefore the activities befitting the carrying of such warnings, revelations, divine messages, assurances, teachings and pronouncements should be treated as "prophecies."  Perhaps you didn't actually agree with that definition. Or perhaps you only believe that "false prophets" can exist from any source, composite or not, where the teachings and pronouncements serve a false purpose. I assumed that if we can have false prophets, we can have false prophecies, and I also assumed that there was an unavoidable implication through the definition, that true prophets could therefore still exist. I believe that in many ways, the Witnesses have served as true prophets to the world. Our stance on involvement in nationalistic wars, for example. Our stance on trusting in the League of Nations or the United Nations as the only way to peace, for example. Although the interpretation is not so rigid, the idea seems not to have been completely abandoned. I'll check some recent assembly notes and a couple of articles that are from 10 to 20 years back.

2 hours ago, Eoin Joyce said:

But given the scriptural association of the term "false prophecies" I feel this designation is exceeding even James' earlier words at Chap 3:1 regarding the "heavier judgement". And in the context of the divinely commissioned role of an inspired prophet of Jehovah, simply not possible. There, I feel, lies a distinction with distinction.

Yes. It seems like a harsh connotation. But I don't know how fair it is to put that label on others if we are not willing to take similar responsibility for our own words and proclamations. I know I don't need to quote the scriptures about justice and judgment that form the foundation for this idea. New study book notwithstanding, behind this entire discussion was the motivation that we do all we can to avoid creating another situation that could result in stumbling blocks that have been presented in the past. Fortunately, the problem could be far enough off into the future not to matter, we hope, but the issues surrounding the re-definition of "this generation," for example, are already building towards a similar time limitation. Brother Splane even came up with a new "Chart of the Ages" to explain it.

 

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"You may say in your heart, ‘How will we know the word which the Lord has not spoken?’ When a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the thing does not come about or come true, that is the thing which the Lord has not spoken. The prophet has spoken it presumptuously; you shall not be afraid of him." Dt. 18:21-22

 

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    • Let the bible speak for itself: Ezekiel 38:   ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord Jehovah says: “On that day when my people Israel are dwelling in security, will you not know it?q 15  You will come from your place, from the remotest parts of the north,r you and many peoples with you, all of them riding on horses, a great assembly, a vast army.s 16  Like clouds covering the land, you will come against my people Israel. In the final part of the days I will bring you against my landt so that the nations may know me when I sanctify myself through you before their eyes, O Gog.”’u...... ‘Every man’s sword will be against his own brother.x 22  I will bring my judgment against him* with pestilencey and bloodshed; and I will rain down a torrential downpour and hailstonesz and firea and sulfurb on him and on his troops and on the many peoples with him.c 23  And I will certainly magnify myself and sanctify myself and make myself known before the eyes of many nations; and they will have to know that I am Jehovah.’ So Jehovah will be magnified as the true god.... when they attack the Israel of god  - read Gal 6:16. Anointed Christians are the new Israel of god. Hebrews 12:22 "But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem."  Jesus is the Anointed one (Messiah) who, during the 1000 years will rule over the earth to restore the original paradise (the original purpose of God).  He will be king and priest. This means that his ransom sacrifice will be applied to all those who are resurrected on earth (earthly part of Jehovah's universal government).  This will include "unrighteous" ones who never knew anything about Christ or Jehovah.   Acts 24:15 " And I have hope toward God, which hope these men also look forward to, that there is going to be a resurrectionk of both the righteous and the unrighteous."l Read Revelation 20:1 -3  This shows that there will be nations on earth that will survive the great tribulation. verse 3: " And he hurled him into the abyssf and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he would not mislead the nations anymore until the 1,000 years were ended. After this he must be released for a little while." After the final test when all humans (as perfect individuals like Adam) will be tested like Adam was, Jesus will hand over the Kingdom back to his father.  1 Cor 15: from 24 "  Next, the end, when he hands over the Kingdom to his God and Father, when he has brought to nothing all government and all authority and power.e 25  For he must rule as king until God has put all enemies under his feet.f 26  And the last enemy, death, is to be brought to nothing.g 27  For God “subjected all things under his feet.”h But when he says that ‘all things have been subjected,’i it is evident that this does not include the One who subjected all things to him.j 28  But when all things will have been subjected to him, then the Son himself will also subject himself to the One who subjected all things to him,k that God may be all things to everyone." l
    • That’s what it all comes down to,,,thanks.
    • The complimentary edamame is cold and unflavored.    Overall a great atmosphere and a great roll 
    • The theme highlighted in Revelation 19:6, along with verse 5, underscores the powerful message that "God Reigns." However, there's a distinct divergence in interpretation between Christendom and scripture; Christendom often interprets "Lord" as a reference to Christ, while the scriptures point to the Father. This distinction is further supported by identifying the benefactor of John's Vision in Psalms 97:1. NAS  Psalm 97:1 The LORD reigns; let the earth rejoice; Let the many islands be glad. (Ps. 97:1 NAS)  
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