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#16 The Facts on Jehovah's Witnesses
Analysis and Critique: Does God Speak
Only Through the Watchtower Society?
Four Tests Examining This Claim
16. Has the Watchtower Society ever given
false prophecies?
How have the predictions of
the Watchtower Society stood the test of history? Let's look at a few. The
Watchtower has frequently attempted to predict the start of the Battle of
Armageddon (the end of the world). (Unless otherwise noted, all quotations are
from the Watchtower; dates appear at left.) Let's look at a few
predictions they have made in the name of God concerning the end of the world -
what they often call Armageddon. (Because they believe Jesus has already
returned invisibly, they look forward to the Battle of Armageddon, which they
believe will usher in "paradise earth," not the Second Coming of Christ.) As you
examine these prophecies, see if you really think that God spoke through them
and gave the world the truth. Here are just a few of the predictions they have
made through the years:
In 1877 they said, "THE END OF THIS WORLD . . .
is nearer than most men suppose . . ."
In 1886 they said, "The time is come for
Messiah to take the dominion of the earth . . ."
In 1889 they said, ". . . we present proofs that
the setting up of the kingdom of God has already begun . . . and that 'the
battle of the great day of God almighty' (Revelation 16:14), which will end in
A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of the earth's present rulership, is
already commenced." (In their 1915 edition of this same book they changed "A.D.
1914" to "A.D. 1915.")
On July 15, 1894, they said, "We see no reason
for changing the figures - nor could we change them if we would. They are, we
believe, God's dates not ours (emphasis added). But bear in mind that the
end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of
the time of trouble" (p. 1677 of Reprints, see note 72).
In 1904 they said, "The stress of the great times
of trouble will be on us soon, somewhere between 1910 and 1912 culminating with
the end of the 'times of the Gentiles,' October 1914."
On May 1, 1914, they said, "There is absolutely
no ground for Bible students to question that the consummation of this gospel
ages is now even at the door . . . The great crisis . . . that will consume the
ecclesiastical heavens and the social earth, is very near."
But the year 1914 ended
without a single one of these predictions coming true.
In Pastor Russell's Sermons (1917, p. 676), Charles
Taze Russell, founder and first president of the Jehovah's Witnesses, said of
World War I, "The present great war in Europe is the beginning of the Armageddon
of the Scriptures."
After Russell's death, Judge Rutherford continued the
tradition of false prophecies given in the name and authority of God. He
believed and stated that 1925 would mark the year of Christ's kingdom. He was
wrong. In the Watchtower magazine, September 1, 1922, we find, "The date
1925 is even more distinctly indicated by the Scriptures because it is fixed by
the law of God to Israel . . . [One can see how] even before 1925 the great
crisis will be reached and probably passed" (p. 262).
The Watchtower magazine of April 1, 1923, stated, "Our
thought is that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures" (p. 106). But
these and all other predictions proved false.
After utterly failing in the 1914 and 1925 predictions and
finding that many people were leaving the Society, the leaders of the Watchtower
became more cautious in setting dates. Nevertheless, they continued to hold out
the promise of the imminency of Armageddon and the subsequent millennial
kingdom. From 1930 to 1939 there were numerous declarations made about the
future. For example:
In 1930 they said, "The great climax is at hand."
In 1931 they said, "Armageddon is at hand . . ."
In 1933 they said, "The incontrovertible proof
that the time of deliverance is at hand."
In 1933 they said, "That [Jehovah] has now opened
these prophecies to the understanding of His anointed is evidence that the time
of the battle is near; hence the prophecy is of profound interest to the
anointed."
In 1939 they said, "That battle of the great day
of God Almighty is very near."
In fact, from May 1940 to April 15, 1943, just
three short years, the Society made at least 44 predictions of the imminence of
Armageddon. Here are a few examples from this period and later:
In September 1940 they said, "The kingdom is
here, the king is enthroned. Armageddon is just ahead . . . The great climax has
been reached" (the Messenger, September 1940, p. 6).
In the Watchtower, September 15, 1941,
they said, "The FINAL END IS VERY NEAR" (p. 276). "The remaining months before
Armageddon . . ." (p. 288).
On January 15, 1942, they said, "The time is at
hand for Jesus Christ to take possession of all things" )p. 28).
On May 1, 1942, they said, "Now, with Armageddon
immediately before us . . ." (p. 139).
On May 1, 1943, they said, "The final end of all
things . . . is at hand" (p. 139).
On September 1. 1944, they said, "Armageddon is
near at hand" (p. 264).
In 1946, "The disaster of Armageddon . . . is at
the door."
In 1950 they said, "The March is on! Where? To
the field of Armageddon for the 'war of the great day of God the Almighty.' "
In 1953 they said, "Armageddon is so near at hand
it will strike the generation now living."
In 1955 they said, "It is becoming clear that the
war of Armageddon is near its breaking out point."
In 1958 they said, "When will Armageddon be
fought? . . . It will be very soon."
These are just a few of the
many false prophecies the Watchtower has made over the years. Is there
any wonder the Jehovah's Witness leaders in their Awake! magazine,
October 8, 1968, p. 23, were forced to admit that "certain persons" had
previously falsely predicted the end of the world? In this article Jehovah's
Witness leaders asked why these false prophecies were given. Every Jehovah's
Witness should take not of what they said. They said it was because they lacked
God's guidance.
In this article in Awake! magazine (October 8, 1968,
p. 23) the Watchtower leadership admitted:
True, there have been those in times past who
predicted an "end to the world," even announcing a specific date. 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. But what about today? Today we have the evidence
required, all of it, and it is overwhelming! (Emphasis added.)
Notice that the Watchtower
leaders have condemned their predecessors as false prophets. They admit that all
through the years they were speaking in the name and authority of God, they were
really lying and giving false prophecies.
If we accept that they gave false prophecies, God in
Deuteronomy 18:20-22 says in the New World Translation:
However, the prophet who presumes to speak in my
name a word that I have not commanded him to speak or who speaks in the name of
other gods, that prophet must die. And in case you should say in your heart"
"How shall we know the word that Jehovah has not spoken?" When the prophet
speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word does not occur or come true, that is
the word that Jehovah did not speak. With presumptuousness the prophet spoke it.
You must not get frightened at him.
But in spite of their tragic
record of predictions that did not come to pass, they disregarded the Word of
God in Deuteronomy 18, and as the above quote from Awake! magazine shows,
they confidently asked the people to believe that now they would speak for God
in predicting the future. They now began to strongly imply it would be the year
1975 in which Armageddon would occur."
In 1973 they said, "The 'Great Tribulation' is
very near."
In 1973 they said, "According to the Bible's
time-table, the beginning of the seventh millennium of mankind's existence on
earth is near at hand, within this generation."
In Kingdom Ministry,
May 1974, the world's end was said to be "so very near" that Jehovah's Witnesses
were commended who sold "their homes and property" to devote themselves to
full-time service in "the short time remaining before the wicked world's end"
(p. 3).
In 1975 they said, "The fulfillment . . . is
immediately ahead of us."
In 1975 they said, "Very short must be the time
that remains . . ."
Many Jehovah's Witnesses
living today can remember when the year 1975 came and went, bringing great
discouragement to the faithful and providing further embarrassment to the
Watchtower Society.
But the charade still continues. From 1976 to 1981 the
Society repeatedly said that Armageddon was "very near," "at hand," and so on.
And from 1981 to the present the Society still claims that the world is near its
end.
It is said that Jehovah's Witnesses believe that the
Watchtower's authoritative statements are true and genuinely reflect God's
guidance. But if the Society has been indisputably wrong in every period it has
prophesied, how can modern Witnesses trust it? Would any employer rehire a thief
for the tenth time after nine offenses? The answer is no. Thousands of Jehovah's
Witnesses have left the Watchtower after having lived through the high
expectations and heartbreaking disappointments of these false prophecies.
Thousands more have left who investigated these false prophecies in the
Watchtower literature.
Still, the Watchtower Society claims that Jehovah's
Witnesses' "unswerving attention to such inspired prophecy has held them true to
the right course till now." After reading its false prophecies through the years
and its own admission that it lied, what do you think?
The Society still claims of Armageddon, "Jehovah has His own
fixed date for its arrival." But the Watchtower has missed that date every time
it has predicted it.
John Ankerberg & John Weldom
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