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Part two Having established that the presence of the Son of man does not take place at the beginning of the epochal period known as the conclusion and the time of the end, as the Watchtower erroneously teaches, it is self-evident that the actual parousia will not begin until the tribulation is cut short. This is provable by Jesus’ illustration of the first leaves of spring [...]
QUESTION: I again appeal to you for help in clarifying a paramount aspect of Christ’s parousia, which, according to our brothers in Bethel, supposedly is invisible. To support their doctrine of an invisible parousia, they say clouds in scripture generally represent invisibility.
Although on certain occasions that may be true, when in reference to Jehovah’s day, clouds are more often than not associated with darkness, terror, unrest etc. What is your opinion on this topic? I would also ask you to consider the vision of Daniel in chapter 7 about the Son of man coming on the clouds.
The gospel writer and most-beloved disciple of Jesus, John, was apparently the last surviving apostle of Christ. Toward the end of his long life, he wrote all of the letters that appear in the Bible with his name – including the book of Revelation. At I John 2:18 the aged apostle wrote concerning the coming of the antichrist, saying: “Young children, it is the last hour, [...]
Part three of Watchtower Review Under the subheading, WE LOVE THE TRUTH: 12) God’s people today do not claim to have perfect or complete knowledge of the truth. At times, they have made mistakes in doctrinal matters and in organizational direction. That should not surprise us. The Scriptures make it clear that accurate knowledge increases with time. (Col. 1:9, 10) Jehovah reveals the truth gradually, and we [...]
JW.org has a front-page linked caption that poses the question: What Is the Battle of Armageddon? In the brief article, the writers debunk a few common misconceptions, such as the location and scope of the war. Unfortunately, though, the Governing Body reiterates its own misconceptions. The last paragraph in particular is wrought with error and ignorance. When will Armageddon take place? When discussing the “great tribulation” [...]
This slightly edited article was originally posted on the e-jehovahs-witnesses discussion forum, which is where my daily text commentaries appear now. Below is the Watchtower's daily text for December 13th. The person faithful in what is least is faithful also in much, and the person unrighteous in what is least is unrighteous also in much.—Luke 16:10. As the end of this system of things draws near, [...]
I have always believed that the Bible is God’s word. There are no other reliable sources of divine truth. Of course, hundreds of millions of people identify as Christians and claim to believe the Bible. Obviously, merely believing that the Bible is a sacred book does not necessarily equate to understanding it. As public ministers, Jehovah’s Witnesses have firsthand experience trying to teach people the basic [...]
JUDGMENT OF THE HOUSE OF GOD - WHEN DOES IT BEGIN? TO THE ELDERS Dear Brothers, You have probably heard the news that has come out of the Watchtower Society’s 2012 annual meeting by now, regarding the new understanding in connection with the faithful and discreet slave. If not, the highlights of the meeting have been published in a video along with supplementary printed information on [...]
It has now been nearly a century since Charles Taze Russell made the bold proclamation: “The Gentile times have ended. Their kings have had their day.” For nearly four decades before that fateful year Russell’s Watch Tower had been pointing forward to 1914 as a year marked in prophecy that would see the beginning of anarchy and the collapse of civilization.
When Austrian Archduke, Franz Ferdinad, along with his wife Sophie, were assassinated in Sarajevo on June 28th, it resulted in all the Great Powers of Europe choosing up sides and declaring war against each other in a matter of a few weeks – setting the stage for the bloodbath that became known as the First World War. Those tragic developments led C. T. Russell to make his historic announcement on October the 2nd of that year.
Of course, civilization did not collapse then. And the Great War did not lead into the Battle of Armageddon, as the Bible Students had been eagerly anticipating. And the Gentile kings, whose “day” had supposedly come in 1914, have in the decades since then gone on to dominate the world in ways that would have been hard for anyone living back then to even imagine. Oddly enough, though, the year 1914 has ever since become solidified in the minds of Jehovah's Witnesses as the most important date in all human history.
Jehovah’s Witnesses frequently refer to themselves as being “in the truth.” That is because the faith itself is referred to as “the truth.” Actually, Jesus himself first used the expression, when he said concerning the Devil: “He did not stand fast in the truth.” So, according to Jesus Christ the Devil was once “in the truth,” just like Jehovah’s Witnesses claim to be. Being in the truth is not a static thing, then, [...]
