Religious dogma is defined as a prescribed doctrine proclaimed as unquestionably true by a particular group. Jehovah’s Witnesses certainly recognize that some doctrines are unquestionably true, such as the fact that Jehovah is God and Jesus is his Firstborn son who came into the word, who gave his life and was resurrected to immortal life in heaven. 

There is no question regarding the condition of the dead, as anyone who is even marginally knowledgable surely knows that the dead are dead, as if sleeping until such time as the resurrection brings them to life. God’s purpose to establish a new world under the righteous rule of the Kingdom of Christ is also a bedrock biblical tenet.

But the manner and timing of Christ’s return is not so straightforward. In fact, one of the foremost aspects of the events that would accompany the second coming of the Lord is widespread deception. Jesus especially cautioned his followers not to believe sensational reports that Christ is here or there. So effective would be the deception that Jesus said if it were possible even the chosen ones would be taken in by it.

As regards the Watchtower’s teaching of an invisible presence of Christ that began in 1914, there is every reason for Jehovah’s Witnesses to question such dogma. But as 1914 recedes further and further into the past, the Governing Body has doubled-down, so-to-speak —publishing a book in 2014 celebrating a century of Kingdom rule!

On the one hand the Watchtower has dogmatically asserted that all the features of the sign of Christ’s presence have been in evidence for decades. On the other hand, the Watchtower contradictorily admits that certain events have not transpired, such as men becoming faint out of fear in expectation of the things coming upon the world. That being true, how is it possible for Jehovah’s Witnesses to have seen all these things occurring, as Jesus taught would be a necessary prelude to his presence alongside his chosen ones?

Most disturbingly, it is accepted as unquestionably true that all the things Christ foretold cannot occur over a short period of time in the future. For example, the Watchtower has assured Jehovah’s Witnesses that there cannot be another world war, based upon the fact that another war would most assuredly involve nuclear weapons and an all-out nuclear holocaust would exterminate the human race. This much is true, yet the 1914 dogmatists seem to overlook the fact that Jesus said the world would be faced with annihilation and that if God did not intervene to cut short the tribulation no flesh would survive.

Even now the nuclear powers of the nations are facing off in confrontation. Keep in mind that the first World War was literally triggered by a singe assassin’s pistol. The world situation now is such that the slightest spark can ignite a global conflagration. Yet, Jehovah’s Witnesses see no particular significance in the precarious state of the world. Such is the power of dogma. Certainly Jehovah’s Witnesses have every reason to stay in expectation of the unexpected.