The Jehovah's Witnesses and the prophecies

As Adventists, Jehovah's Witnesses claim to fix the times, but it should be apparent, from past interpretations of some of them, come, making inaccurate reference to dates and possible meanings of biblical prophecies, you can get whatever you want out of it. Certainly there were great differences in interpretation and all according to them, try the bible. Russell, without biblical validity, proclaimed that Christ had invisibly returned to the world in 1874 (the Adventists had said this had happened in 1845) that the first resurrection had taken place in 1878 and that in October of 1914 all governments existing at that date would have been overthrown in the battle of Armagheddon. His followers indeed, as we all know, they were all ready for the imminent end of the world. But Russell died two years later and Rutherford, while continuing to support the importance of the October date 1914, he gave a different interpretation. Jehovah's Witnesses are now taught that Christ's second coming invisible (or presence), it did not happen in 1874, but that he was placed on the throne of the spiritual Jerusalem in 1914. Rutherford said that the following period would be the "time of the end", with the final act of the battle of Armagheddon which would take place shortly. Another important date proclaimed by Rutherford was the 1918, year in which he claimed the first resurrection took place, instead of in 1878 as Russell said, and Christ entered his spiritual temple to begin the purification. It was then stated that the three and a half years between 1914 and the 1918, corresponded to the lapse of time between Jesus' baptism and the purification made by him of the temple in Jerusalem and which Malachi had prophesied by saying: «And immediately the Lord… he will enter his temple " (Malachi 3: 1). The dates of 1914 e 1918, they are completely devoid of this meaning for anyone who does not blindly accept all the doctrines of Jehovah's Witnesses. Later, others were proclaimed important because Rutherford declared them fulfillment of prophecies.

The calculation made by Jehovah's Witnesses on the age of the world and on the years that have elapsed since the creation of man is indispensable to their way of setting the dates and it does not seem to bother them in the least that others, who also claim to guess the dates of the Bible, including the Jews, have come to completely different results from theirs. They claim that each of the six days in which God created the world lasted for seven thousand years, forming a period of forty-two thousand years before the creation of man.. (Scientists agree that the world is older). They then say that God's rest has lasted for about six thousand years (5981 years at all 1953) *, and it will end in the Millennium, that is, at the time of Christ's reign on earth which will last a thousand years. Although these ideas and dates are necessary for the Jehovah's Witness system, however, they cannot be biblically proven. Bible scholars are by no means certain about the date of Adam's creation, nor is Scripture clear about it, so that opinions diverge. Furthermore, it is certain that human beings with a certain degree of civilization lived in Egypt and Iraq long before the time that Jehovah's Witnesses indicate as that of the creation of mankind..

The general attitude of Jehovah's Witnesses towards prophecies and the times is contrary to all experience. The prophecies were given for comfort, especially during persecutions, and to strengthen the faith after the realization of their fulfillment and not so much to reveal the future. A little later in time, when we can look back on unfulfilled prophecies, we will note that all the different interpretations we gave in this regard were wrong and that their fulfillment took place in a different way from that foreseen. This has always been the case, but Jehovah's Witnesses are sure of what will happen as if God had offered them a preview with a film of a movie. Their way, indeed, to describe future events is just like a movie, unreal like a dream. But still nothing has so far predicted that others have acknowledged having occurred.

And indeed, when some of Russell's predictions proved wrong, Rutherford changed them in posthumous publications of his works.