'Only about ninety months left', counted to 1975

Admitted

The Watchtower's own publications admit these facts. You can make this point from their library alone.

The record in one place

The body that says it is God's only channel has a long list of dated predictions that failed. 1914 was to end earthly governments.

It was later reinterpreted as an unseen enthronement. 1925 was to bring back Abraham; Beth Sarim, a San Diego mansion, was deeded for the returning princes.

Millions Now Living Will Never Die (1920, pp. 89-90) carried the promise.

1975 in their own words

Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (1966, pp. 29-30) put the end of 6,000 years of human history in 1975.

Kingdom Ministry of March 1968 (p. 4) said there were "only about ninety months left." Kingdom Ministry of May 1974 (p.

3) praised members "selling their homes and property... Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining." Membership fell measurably after 1976.

The generation, then no deadline at all

The 1914 generation deadline stood on the Awake! masthead until 1995.

It was then redefined twice. The 2010 version is an overlapping generation, which nobody can test.

The Watchtower of March 15, 1980 (pp. 17-18) did concede regret over 1975.

The Watchtower of April 1, 1972 (pp. 197-199) had identified the organization as God's prophet.

Their answer, at full strength

They never claimed inspiration or infallibility. Their statements were the fallible work of imperfect men eagerly awaiting Christ's return, not the word of Jehovah in the sense of Deuteronomy 18.

They corrected themselves in print, and they cite the 1980 admission as evidence of honesty. First-century disciples expected the kingdom at once, and were wrong (Acts 1:6; Luke 19:11), without being false prophets.

Watching eagerly obeys the command to keep on the watch (Matthew 24:42).

How strong is this argument?

They admit this themselves. Every prediction is quoted from their own dated magazines, and 1980 admitted responsibility for 1975.

The "never claimed inspiration" defense meets the same shelf of books, which called the organization God's prophet in 1972 and expelled members who doubted the dates while they stood. Fallible when wrong, sole channel when obeyed.

Press that asymmetry.

What to say

"Deuteronomy 18:22 gives a test for a prophet. How does the 1975 teaching do on that test?"

The Watch Tower of 15 October 1931, the year the name Jehovah's Witnesses was adopted

Rutherford's 1920 booklet Millions Now Living Will Never Die, the campaign that pointed to 1925

How they answer this — at its strongest

They never claimed inspiration. The disciples were wrong about timing too.

The Witness defense is that they never claimed to be inspired or infallible. Their statements were not the word of Jehovah, in the sense of Deuteronomy 18. They were the flawed work of imperfect men eagerly awaiting Christ's return. And they were corrected in print.

They cite the 1980 admission itself as a mark of honesty. First-century disciples also expected the kingdom at once, and were wrong (Acts 1:6; Luke 19:11). Nobody calls them false prophets. Watching eagerly, even too eagerly, obeys the command to keep on the watch (Matthew 24:42).

The verdict

They admit it themselves. Fallible when wrong, sole channel when obeyed.

Every prediction is quoted from their own dated publications. And the 1980 Watchtower admitted responsibility for 1975 in print. So the record is conceded.

The 'never claimed inspiration' defense collides with the same literature. That literature called the organization God's prophet in 1972. It also demanded the expulsion of members who doubted the dates while they were current.

That asymmetry is the point to press. Fallible when wrong, sole channel when obeyed. Severity high.

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