Category: Witnessing Tips (page 1 of 29)

Is the Watchtower a False Prophet?

“If any prophet presumptuously speaks a word in my name that I did not command him to speak or speaks in the name of other gods, that prophet must die. However, you may say in your heart: ‘How will we know that Jehovah has not spoken the word?’ When the prophet speaks in the name of Jehovah and the word is not fulfilled or does not come true, then Jehovah did not speak that word. The prophet spoke it presumptuously. You should not fear him.’ (Deuteronomy 18:20-22, Watchtower translation)

In this post, I will show you what the Watchtower itself has said about false prophesying and false prophets.

I’ll follow their statements with my responses. Continue reading

The Effect of False Prophecies on Watchtower Credibility

5In last week’s post, I looked at the harm the Watchtower’s false prophecies has done to Jehovah’s Witnesses who, in faith, oriented their lives around those failed end times predictions.

But what has it done to its own credibility and to that of Jehovah’s Witnesses who work tirelessly to spread the Watchtower’s message door-to-door? Continue reading

1925—Millions Now Living Will Never Die

Contrary to the Watchtower’s prophetic pronouncements:

  • The end of the world’s governments did not come in 1914.
  • The churches were not destroyed wholesale in 1918.
  • The “earthquake” did not come in 1918.
  • The “fire” did not come in 1920.
  • The republics did not disappear in 1920.
  • A “spasm of anguish” greater than that of World War I did not come upon Christendom in 1920.

The Watchtower leaders could have admitted their ignorance and stopped prophesying.

Instead, they charged ahead, proclaiming boldly that the resurrection of the Old Testament patriarchs would occur in 1925 and that “millions now living will never die.” Continue reading

The Finished Mystery

The next president of the Watchtower, Joseph “Judge” Rutherford, eventually rejected many of his predecessor’s teachings, but he couldn’t do so right away because Charles Taze Russell was revered by his followers.

When Russell died in the fall of 1916, the Watchtower leaders moved quickly to bridge to the future.

In 1917, they published The Finished Mystery. It was presented as Volume 7 of Studies in the Scriptures, the posthumous book of Russell.

In fact, it was written by other men.

The Watchtower now claims that in 1918-1919, Jesus Christ personally inspected all the world’s religions. He found the Watchtower organization to be spiritually cleansed from past errors and faithfully dispensing spiritual food. Accordingly, he designated it to be the “faithful and discreet slave” of Matthew 24:45 and gave it dominion over all of his affairs on earth.

In effect, it became Jehovah’s one true religious organization on earth, authorized to speak and act on his behalf.

Given that The Finished Mystery was the last book it published and promoted before Jesus’ claimed inspection, I want to take some time to discuss it. Continue reading

When 1914 Prophetic Speculation Failed

In an earlier post entitled “When Prophetic Speculation Flops,” I noted that when someone’s “end of the world” prophecies fail, their disappointed followers demand an explanation and threaten to leave.

When that happens, they have a number of options. Continue reading

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