Jehovah's Witness

[FLChristyB]

I have an old friend from school who happened by my house a few months ago as she was going door to door handing out the Jehovah’s Witness pamphlets. I explained to her I was Catholic, but she continues to come by once or twice a month with her booklets. She gave me one the other day that says that God’s Kingdom started ruling in 1914?? Can someone explain what they mean by this?

 

[Josiah_k]

I have an old friend from school who happened by my house a few months ago as she was going door to door handing out the Jehovah’s Witness pamphlets. I explained to her I was Catholic, but she continues to come by once or twice a month with her booklets. She gave me one the other day that says that God’s Kingdom started ruling in 1914?? Can someone explain what they mean by this?

War I should imagine. Those Jehovah witnesses are, not that you have so suggested, not that mad as a lots of the stories you here. I used to know a few .

 

[SteveVH]

I have an old friend from school who happened by my house a few months ago as she was going door to door handing out the Jehovah’s Witness pamphlets. I explained to her I was Catholic, but she continues to come by once or twice a month with her booklets. She gave me one the other day that says that God’s Kingdom started ruling in 1914?? Can someone explain what they mean by this?

That is when Jesus returned, don’t you know, but has remained invisible since. He had to have returned because that is what they prophesied. Of course, the end was definitely to come in 1975 as well. They’re still trying to live that one down.

 

[po18guy]

A wonderful opportunity to learn your faith! Please accept each and every pamphlet they give you (and burn them). Get a copy of The Essential Catholic Survival Guide and read the JW sections. You will then be able to plant seeds in her mind so that she may begin to question the false teachings she has received.

1914 was the first of several false prophesies made by the JWs. It was the “end of the world.” So was 1975. I was not alive in 1914, but I was in 1975 and I am pretty sure that the world did not end. Even a single false prophecy disproves their entire organization, and they have more than one.

They do not meet on a given day, not honoring either the Sabbath or the Lord’s day. How can that be from God?

 

[ajcstr]

I have an old friend from school who happened by my house a few months ago as she was going door to door handing out the Jehovah’s Witness pamphlets. I explained to her I was Catholic, but she continues to come by once or twice a month with her booklets. She gave me one the other day that says that God’s Kingdom started ruling in 1914?? Can someone explain what they mean by this?

My understanding is that for JW’s 1914 was traditionally thought to be the time of the 2nd coming of Jesus. When Jesus did not visibly return in 1914 as they had predicted, they translated the word parousia as “presence” rather than “coming”, so in effect they consider his coming to have been invisible to us.

Their end times scenario is that the battle of Armageddon will wipe out all of the non JW’s and will usher in the Millennium/1,000 reign of Christ. During this time, the dead JW will return to life. 144,000 people will be in heaven and the rest will live on a perfected Earth. They don’t believe in the soul or in Hell, so those that do not return are annihilated.

 

[FLChristyB]

A wonderful opportunity to learn your faith! Please accept each and every pamphlet they give you (and burn them). Get a copy of The Essential Catholic Survival Guide and read the JW sections. You will then be able to plant seeds in her mind so that she may begin to question the false teachings she has received.

1914 was the first of several false prophesies made by the JWs. It was the “end of the world.” So was 1975. I was not alive in 1914, but I was in 1975 and I am pretty sure that the world did not end. Even a single false prophecy disproves their entire organization, and they have more than one.

They do not meet on a given day, not honoring either the Sabbath or the Lord’s day. How can that be from God?

Thanks! I will find the guide to help me respond to her next time she comes. I am ashamed to say I am not well versed in scripture. I read the Bible, but trying to remember verses and sections of the Bible that would contradict what she is trying to tell me is not something I can do, yet! My memory is sketchy at best…

 

[FLChristyB]

My understanding is that for JW’s 1914 was traditionally thought to be the time of the 2nd coming of Jesus. When Jesus did not visibly return in 1914 as they had predicted, they translated the word parousia as “presence” rather than “coming”, so in effect they consider his coming to have been invisible to us.

Their end times scenario is that the battle of Armageddon will wipe out all of the non JW’s and will usher in the Millennium/1,000 reign of Christ. During this time, the dead JW will return to life. 144,000 people will be in heaven and the rest will live on a perfected Earth. They don’t believe in the soul or in Hell, so those that do not return are annihilated.

Thank you for your response. I did a little research and found a pretty good list of prophesies they had made that did not come to pass! Makes me wonder what their response is when brought to their attention? But, not sure I want to start a holy war on my front porch!

 

[Waynec]

Thank you for your response. I did a little research and found a pretty good list of prophesies they had made that did not come to pass! Makes me wonder what their response is when brought to their attention? But, not sure I want to start a holy war on my front porch!

Their response might be that they are imperfect and make mistakes. All the “mistakes” that they own up to I would wonder why any one would stay with them,

 

[ajcstr]

Thank you for your response. I did a little research and found a pretty good list of prophesies they had made that did not come to pass! Makes me wonder what their response is when brought to their attention? But, not sure I want to start a holy war on my front porch!

I talk to them every time they stop by (I’m surprised they still do). I have used these arguments:

• Why do you trust the Catholic Church to tell you the books in your New Testament but don’t trust them for anything else.
• If a general apostasy occurred in the first century, how is the NT reliable since it was not settled until the 300’s
• If the Word is “a god”, is he a false god ?
• What writings exist prior to 1850 to suggest that anyone believed as you do.
• Why dos the NWT translate the same Greek word as obeisance when it refers to Jesus and worship when it refers to Jehovah ?

Can’t win, they just stare at you and move on. When I asked the false god question he responded, “Well Agrippa spoke as a god also”. They won’t take anything or read anything. They really are programmed a certain way.

Next time I’m gonna ask "Remember the commercial 4 out of 5 dentists recommend sugarless gum ? Would you want to go to the 1 out of 5 that doesn’t ? Then why would you trust the minority of scholars who translate the NWT like they did? "

LOL - “How would you like to live in a world where everyone has white teeth and fresh breath? You would like that wouldn’t you? The American Dental Association says you can you know…”

 

[SteveVH]

Their response might be that they are imperfect and make mistakes. All the “mistakes” that they own up to I would wonder why any one would stay with them,

Mistakes are one thing. Mistakes in prophecy make one a false prophet.

 

[tonyfish58]

I have an old friend from school who happened by my house a few months ago as she was going door to door handing out the Jehovah’s Witness pamphlets. I explained to her I was Catholic, but she continues to come by once or twice a month with her booklets. She gave me one the other day that says that God’s Kingdom started ruling in 1914?? Can someone explain what they mean by this?

I admire the Jehovah Witnesses for their strength of Faith, I have quite a few friends in this Faith.

If you look back at that time in History you will note that they Got a lot of the Information from the Seventh Day Adventists who had also predicted the Return of Christ. Interestingly the most popular date was 1844. When they perceived it had not happened it was reinterpreted to 1874, which then transferred to the Start of the belief of the Jehovah Witnesses.

“This was a key date for the Adventist movement. In the early 1800’s John Aquila Brown taught that the Daniel chapter 8 prophecy of 2,300 days ended in 1844. Miller took up this theme and said that the end of the world would come in this year. When it did not Miller renounced his teaching but the Adventists stuck to it. They reinterpreted it to be the start of the time of the end and that the end would be 1874. This did not occur either”.

Other people of the time also Foretold of this Date of 1844, they were the German Templars, they even picked the place of Mt Carmel. They moved and built there and their Houses still stand with writings above the door like “The Lord is Nigh”.

Amazing that Starting in 1844 there was subsequently the claim that "I Am, I Am, I Am exclaimed the Bab, “I Am, I Am, the promised One! I Am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person.”

All amazing History that The Seventh Day Adventists & Jehovah Witnesses were founded upon without actually recognizing the source that influenced them.

God Bless and Regards Tony

 

[PRmerger]

Can’t win, they just stare at you and move on.

Egg-zactly

When I asked the false god question he responded, “Well Agrippa spoke as a god also”. They won’t take anything or read anything. They really are programmed a certain way.

They are indeed programmed a certain way. It’s really futile to discuss with them because they are not amenable to reasoned dialogue. IOW: it’s not a 2 way discourse. They only wish to provide their apologia, but are recusant to any kind of apologia that we may provide as Catholics.

And if a Catholic is not very strongly grounded in her faith, she may succumb to the JWs skillful tactics.

And another Catholic has been led astray by lies.

 

[Waynec]

Mistakes are one thing. Mistakes in prophecy make one a false prophet.

I tried telling that to a Witness. Her response was that they don’t claim to be prophets(yeah right–tell that to Russell) and when they make mistakes and change their teaching it is because they have been “enlightened”. I asked her how she felt about their doctrines being changed so many times. I nearly fell over from her reply–she admires them for having the courage to admit when they make mistakes. It doesn’t matter to her that the Witness make 180 turns in different directions. what is true today is not tomorrow. I would not stay with a religion that did that to me once or so a generation.

If the Catholic Church changed their doctrines at all even one time I would leave because then they would not have the truth. I tried to tell her that Catholics never make a 180 turn but always expand a doctrine rather than changing one.

I pray for her to see the truth and to think that she once was a Catholic and her family prayed the rosary every night. I wonder what happened to her that made her leave the church.

 

[ajcstr]

I listened to a great tape on JW by FR. Pacwa. The says that the 2nd leader Rutherford changed a lot of the doctrines that Russell instituted. So much so that the organization split.

Did you know that JW were encouraged by Russell to give JW literature as CHRISTMAS GIFTS. Now they don’t celebrate Christmas.

Problem is that none of these older writings are available to the witnesses. I wonder if this could be a possible point. Russell founded your organization in ???, why do your writings only go back to ???.