What good is an internet forum for JWs?

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

2 hours ago, Anna said:

On 9/21/2019 at 3:51 PM, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

NO EARTHLY EVIDENCE

I don't know, I might argue with you on that one..

What I actually said was ....

On 9/21/2019 at 3:51 PM, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

Perhaps it's just me, but looking back at invisible things that happened years ago, in the heavens that nobody could see, and for which there is absolutely NO EARTHLY EVIDENCE that cannot be explained by ten thousand explanations more probable  ( Occam's razor?)

 

[Anna]

18 hours ago, JW Insider said:

In effect, this 1914 prophecy is therefore our own "internal" evidence (bragging rights) that there was an element of true inspiration from Jehovah to those who were supposedly "wise" enough to pinpoint that year by jumping through mental hoops that Daniel would have never dreamed of.

 

I agree.

 

As you said, Chronology could be one of those things where we can still do our best with all the good things we have, without having to be convinced about  something like this.

In any case, many actively don't want to research or be presented with arguments against it (1914). As if the 1914 doctrine is somehow infallible. And those who have tried, found themselves on the carpet or the proverbial room 101 and subsequently disfellowshipped.

In my opinion, not feeling free to make sure if all things  is dangerous because it can be likened to the laity in Christendom, who just believe because they were born into the religion. They just take their spiritual leaders word for it, and prefer it to stay that way (trinity, hellfire, immortal soul). How many of those rank and file in Christendom can really defend their teachings?  I think most of us Witnesses however could defend our belief on these subjects and include unambiguous scriptural backing, without mental gymnastics. With 1914 though, that is an entirely different story. This is why when I share the "good news" with people, I like to use the Good news brochure's simple and brief scriptural explanation and leave it at that*. Generally people accept it and don't ask for further detail because those scriptures are what completely suffices. I think we get ourselves into a pickle when we try and explain WHEN will these things happen and put a kind of time frame on it. But on the other hand, can we be blamed for that? Didn't the disciples ask "when?" In answer, and among other things Jesus told them : “Therefore, when you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation, as spoken about by Daniel the prophet, standing in a holy place (let the reader use discernment), then let those in Ju·deʹa begin fleeing to the mountains". (Matthew 24.)  In its initial fulfillment, we believe the disgusting thing was the pagan Roman army plundering the 'holy place' the temple in Jerusalem.

Regarding its modern day fulfillment, the wt99 5/1 p. 16-17 says this:

A Modern-Day “Disgusting Thing”

7. What prophecy of Jesus is being fulfilled in our time?

⁷ Since World War I, we have seen the larger fulfillment of Jesus’ sign recorded in Matthew chapter 24. Yet, recall his words: “When you catch sight of the disgusting thing that causes desolation . . . standing in a holy place, . . . then let those in Judea begin fleeing to the mountains.” (Matthew 24:15, 16) This aspect of the prophecy must have a fulfillment in our time too.

8. For years, how have Jehovah’s Witnesses identified “the disgusting thing” in modern times?

⁸ Demonstrating the confidence of Jehovah’s servants that this prophecy would be fulfilled, The Watchtower of January 1, 1921, focused on it in connection with developments in the Middle East. Subsequently, in its December 15, 1929, issue, on page 374, The Watchtower definitively said: “The whole tendency of the League of Nations is to turn the people away from God and from Christ, and it is therefore a desolating thing, the product of Satan, and an abomination in the sight of God.” So in 1919 “the disgusting thing” appeared. In time, the League gave way to the United Nations. Jehovah’s Witnesses have long exposed these human peace organizations as disgusting in God’s sight.

9, 10. How did an earlier understanding of the great tribulation influence our view of the time when “the disgusting thing” would stand in a holy place?

⁹ The preceding article summarized a clarified view of much of Matthew chapters 24 and 25. Is some clarification in order regarding ‘the disgusting thing standing in a holy place’? Apparently so. Jesus’ prophecy closely links the “standing in a holy place” with the outbreak of the foretold “tribulation.” Hence, even though “the disgusting thing” has long existed, the link between its “standing in a holy place” and the great tribulation should affect our thinking. How so?

¹⁰ God’s people once understood that the first phase of the great tribulation began in 1914 and that the final part would come at the battle of Armageddon. (Revelation 16:14, 16; compare The Watchtower, April 1, 1939, page 110.) So we can understand why it was once thought that the latter-day “disgusting thing” must have stood in a holy place soon after World War I.

11, 12. In 1969, what readjusted view of the great tribulation was presented?

¹¹ However, in later years we have come to see things differently. On Thursday, July 10, 1969, at the “Peace on Earth” International Assembly in New York City, F. W. Franz, then vice president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, gave an electrifying talk. In reviewing the previous understanding of Jesus’ prophecy, Brother Franz said: “The explanation was given that the ‘great tribulation’ had begun in 1914 C.E. and that it was not allowed to run its full course then but God stopped World War I in November of 1918. From then on God was allowing an interval for the activity of his anointed remnant of elect Christians before he let the final part of the ‘great tribulation’ resume at the battle of Armageddon.”

¹² Then a significantly adjusted explanation was offered: “To correspond with the events of the first century, . . . the antitypical ‘great tribulation’ did not begin in 1914 C.E. Rather, what took place upon Jerusalem’s modern antitype in 1914-1918 was merely ‘a beginning of pangs of distress’ . . . The ‘great tribulation’ such as will not occur again is yet ahead, for it means the destruction of the world empire of false religion (including Christendom) followed by the ‘war of the great day of God the Almighty’ at Armageddon.” This meant that the entire great tribulation was yet ahead.

13. Why is it logical to say that there will be a future ‘standing in a holy place’ by “the disgusting thing”?

¹³ This has a direct bearing on discerning when “the disgusting thing” stands in a holy place. Recall what happened in the first century. The Romans attacked Jerusalem in 66 C.E., but they abruptly withdrew, which allowed Christian “flesh” to be saved. (Matthew 24:22) Accordingly, we expect the great tribulation to begin soon, but it will be cut short for the sake of God’s chosen ones. Note this key point: In the ancient pattern, ‘the disgusting thing standing in a holy place’ was linked to the Roman attack under General Gallus in 66 C.E. The modern-day parallel to that attack—the outbreak of the great tribulation—is still ahead. So “the disgusting thing that causes desolation,” which has existed since 1919, apparently is yet to stand in a holy place.* How will this happen? And how can we be affected?

Ummm.....OK, sorry, this needs to be in a different topic 🙄

 

*Good news brochure -What is Jesus doing now?

When on earth, Jesus cured the sick, raised the dead, and rescued people in peril. He thereby demonstrated what he will do in the future for all obedient mankind. (Matthew 15:30, 31; John 5:28) After Jesus died, God restored him to life as a spirit person. (1 Peter 3:18) Jesus then waited at God’s right hand until Jehovah gave him power to rule as King over all the earth. (Hebrews 10:12, 13) Now Jesus is ruling as King in heaven, and his followers are announcing that good news worldwide.—Read Daniel 7:13, 14; Matthew 24:14.

Soon, Jesus will use his power as King to bring an end to all suffering and to those who cause it. All who exercise faith in Jesus by obeying him will enjoy life in a paradise on earth.—Read Psalm 37:9-11.

[TrueTomHarley]

On 9/21/2019 at 3:51 PM, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

whose credibility among sane, common sense people is ZERO ..

How’s this for credibility, you blustering blowhard? The Bills are 3-0, as this Lett lookalike points out. Or ....gasp! is it him?

How long do you think it is before Agent JackRyan  or Witness has them laying down NFL bets at HQ?

https://mobile.twitter.com/TomBrady/status/1175917825187299328

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

3 years, two months.

[TrueTomHarley]

1 hour ago, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

3 years, two months.

3 days, two minutes.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

I find it unlikely that Bethel  HQ can be corrupted in 3 days and two minutes, and turned into a betting parlor.

[JW Insider]

5 hours ago, Anna said:

I think we get ourselves into a pickle when we try and explain WHEN will these things happen and put a kind of time frame on it. But on the other hand, can we be blamed for that? Didn't the disciples ask "when?"

Even on this forum, when anyone brings up what the Watchtower publications said about expectations for 1881, 1910, 1915, 1918, 1925, 1970's, 2000, we sometimes hear an excuse like: "Can we really be blamed for having tried to put a time frame on the time of the end? After all, don't we hear about the disciples in Acts 1:6 asking if Jesus is going to restore the Kingdom to Israel at this time?"

What makes this particular excuse troubling is that we don't expect anointed elders, or Governing Body members say that they believe they should be in a better position than other anointed ones when they are in heaven, perhaps even in a position much closer to Jesus himself. Yet can they really be blamed if they tried to do that? After all, the disciples themselves appeared to have involved themselves in such jockeying for position:

(Matthew 20:20-22) . . .Then the mother of the sons of Zebʹe·dee approached him with her sons, doing obeisance and asking for something from him. 21 He said to her: “What do you want?” She replied to him: “Give the word that these two sons of mine may sit down, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your Kingdom.” 22 Jesus answered: “You do not know what you are asking for. Can you drink the cup that I am about to drink?” They said to him: “We can.”

And of course, Jesus knew it wasn't just the mother asking which is why he addressed the two disciples themselves. But notice that the answer contains a mild rebuke when Jesus says that this is not even his to give, but it is in the Father's jurisdiction:

(Matthew 20:23) . . .but to sit down at my right hand and at my left is not mine to give, but it belongs to those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”

Similarly, Acts 1:7 contains a similar mild rebuke to the question about the time period for end-time events:

(Acts 1:7) 7 He said to them: “It does not belong to you to know the times or seasons that the Father has placed in his own jurisdiction.

And of course, similarly, when Jesus' disciples asked him when the temple walls were going to fall, and they asked Jesus to give them a sign for when it would occur, Jesus didn't start out with a time frame, but created a context, starting out with the words:

(Matthew 24:4) 4 In answer Jesus said to them: “Look out that nobody misleads you,

(Mark 13:5) . . .So Jesus began to tell them: “Look out that nobody misleads you.

(Luke 21:8) He said: “Look out that you are not misled,. . .

There is plenty of variation in the details each gospel writer chose to report, but they all agree that these were the very first words out his mouth. And of course, some also emphasize the same "mild rebuke" that we see in Acts 1:7.

(Matthew 24:36) . . .“Concerning that day and hour nobody knows, neither the angels of the heavens nor the Son, but only the Father.

(Mark 13:32) 32 “Concerning that day or the hour nobody knows, neither the angels in heaven nor the Son, but the Father.

In fact, Luke includes some of Jesus' words from the Mount of Olives "Sermon" as words that Jesus had already told the Pharisees, when they also asked him "when the Kingdom of God was coming." (Luke 17:20). Jesus response was very clear, that it would not be by things they could observe, not by physical signs.

(Luke 17:20, NLT) One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. "

That's not only a perfectly good translation, it fits exactly what Jesus repeatedly said about persons looking for signs. 

(Matthew 12:39) . . .“A wicked and adulterous generation keeps on seeking a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Joʹnah the prophet.

(Matthew 16:4) 4 A wicked and adulterous generation keeps seeking a sign, but no sign will be given it except the sign of Joʹnah.”. . .

(Mark 8:12) . . .So he sighed deeply in his spirit and said: “Why does this generation seek a sign? Truly I say, no sign will be given to this generation.”

This appears to be the same clear reason why Paul could say:

(1 Thessalonians 5:1) . . .Now as for the times and the seasons, brothers, you need nothing to be written to you.

This wouldn't have meant that they couldn't tell that they were already living in revolutionary, troublesome times, hard to deal with, and this should have made it clear that they should be ready at any time for something to happen within their own lifetimes. The biggest evidence that the end of all things was upon them was that Jesus had now already been in their midst performing miracles. But thinking they needed another sign to know that they had to be always ready might just be an indication of a "wicked" inclination. Jesus' disciples wanted a sign to warn them in advance when the walls of the temple were going to fall. Was it going to be in their lifetime? Could they continue to use the temple today? tomorrow? next week? next year? Jesus said they didn't need to know the timing because the end would come as a surprise, when it would be too late to do anything about it. By the time they saw Jerusalem surrounded by Roman armies, it was time to flee. That probably didn't sound rational to them from a human standpoint, since you can't easily flee through an army that's surrounding you. 

I don't believe there is any way to tell whether there is supposed to be some exact parallel in a secondary application to these Roman armies surrounding Jerusalem, or perhaps standing in the holy place itself.  Obviously the GB has long believed that there must be some direct parallel, based originally on some of the old type-antitype traditions, and they are predicting a future scenario that appears to match the first century by drawing on Matthew & Luke and bits of Revelation, Daniel, Zechariah, Ezekiel, etc.

A good question might be whether predicting a future scenario becomes more probable because it can incorporate bits and pieces from several different Bible books, or does it become less probable because it has been built upon bits and pieces of several different Bible books from different contexts. I think we are therefore back to a question of our own trust in those "bragging rights" that make us feel that a higher measure of Jehovah's spirit direction (or inspiration) has been evident among the leadership of this organization.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

That's why when I go to our weekend meetings at the Kingdom Hall, I get there early to anonymously offer my entire paycheck, converted to cash, to the "Worldwide Work".

I toss it up in the air, and all that God needs, he takes.  What falls back to the parking lot, I use for MY local needs.

[JW Insider]

On 9/23/2019 at 11:17 PM, James Thomas Rook Jr. said:

I toss it up in the air, and all that God needs, he takes.  What falls back to the parking lot, I use for MY local needs.

Your plan might work a bit differently during a category 3+ hurricane. I think you are counting on the fact that Jehovah gets the indication of his presence across to us calmly without needing to blast us with signs:

(1 Kings 19:11, 12) 11 But He said: “Go out and stand on the mountain before Jehovah.” And look! Jehovah was passing by, and a great and strong wind was splitting mountains and breaking crags before Jehovah, but Jehovah was not in the wind. After the wind, there was an earthquake, but Jehovah was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake, there was a fire, but Jehovah was not in the fire. After the fire, there was a calm, low voice.

Sorry, lost my sense of humor there for a minute.

[James Thomas Rook Jr.]

...  stick your thumb in your mouth and blow hard until your fingers pop up straight, and wiggle ....

[Srecko Sostar]

5 hours ago, JW Insider said:

Jesus response was very clear, that it would not be by things they could observe, not by physical signs.

(Luke 17:20, NLT) One day the Pharisees asked Jesus, “When will the Kingdom of God come?” Jesus replied, “The Kingdom of God can’t be detected by visible signs. "

Very new aspect for me too. By this i would say how WT Society and JW org application about Matt 24 and many events or "signs" that people can see in very visible and factual way have another meaning. Because, Announcing how The year 1914 and The Kingdom as Heavenly Invisible Fact with Physical and Earthly "evidences" visible to eyes, that making entering in some Special period for human, is Preaching Error.   

Perhaps Matt 24 is possible to use for 1914, as for many other periods in Human History. But Establishing of Kingdom (in 1914??) is not possible to support by "signs", because of reasoning Jesus has told, as you very well pointed out. 

[Witness]

On 9/20/2019 at 10:20 PM, JW Insider said:

So even if chronology and some of the specific prophetic interpretations can result in unresolved questions, for now, it's not like this needs to be such a big part of Witness thinking. We can participate in every major aspect of our worship with joy and without being overly concerned with these unresolved questions. And when they finally are resolved, I'm sure we'll see them as relatively unimportant compared to the big things.

If a specific prophetic interpretation is what people are encouraged to put all hope and dreams in (such as 1975). just to find out that they were misled into believing its possibility as true, no longer will many enjoy their “worship” in all other aspects the organization offers.  That particular scenario remains “important” to a large number of people because of the scar it leaves on their lives.  Scars usually always remain as a memory of an event. The bigger the scar, the bigger the memory.  When a person makes an investment into a company that utilizes slick, appealing - even truthful - advertising, and which promises positive returns but eventually is exposed as a fraud, only a foolish person would keep investing his resources into it.

“Bad investment advice is usually due to one of two reasons. The first is centered around an advisor that will repeatedly place their self-interest before that of the client. The second reason leading to bad advice is an advisor's lack of knowledge and failure to perform due diligence before making recommendations and taking action. Each type of bad advice has its own consequences for the client in the short term, but in the long term they will all result in poor performance or loss of money.”  (Investopedia)

This is what the Lord of Hosts says: “Do not listen to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you. They are making you worthless. They speak visions from their own minds, not from the Lord’s mouth. Jer 23:16

It is said, “talk is cheap”; which is actually a partial quote.  From, The Saint’s Knowledge of Christ’s Love, or The Unsearchable Riches of Christ published in 1692:

“I know words are cheap, but a dram of grace is worth all the world.”   

"I call heaven and earth as witnesses against you today that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Choose life so that you and your descendants may live,  love the Lord your God, obey Him, and remain faithful to Him. " Deut 30:19,20

It's crystal clear in God's word, that we are not to remain faithful to men who stumble in their predictions, but intermittently gloss it over with appealing information like a dangling carrot.