From the October, 1907 Watch Tower

Comment by on 2012-09-20 01:21:02

The troubling sentence for me is this: Those who have been able to accept them by faith seem to have received special blessings, not merely along the line of prophetic harmonies, but along all other lines of grace and truth.
Although subtle, it seems to imply that those who do not agree do not receive the "special blessings."

• Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2012-09-20 12:27:23

  I hear you. And the irony in retrospect is that those who believed and received these unnamed "special blessings" were ultimately proven to have been wrong in their beliefs. Was Jehovah giving "special" blessings to some because they unknowingly believed what was wrong, while denying such blessings to others who were perceptive enough to recognize man's error for what it was?
  Now, if the unaccepting ones were allowing a feeling of disappointment and even disillusionment with those taking the lead to affect their zeal, then Yes, I can see how they could miss out on blessings. However, I don't think that is what the writer is referring to by "special blessings". He seems to be referring to some within the flock who remained faithful like the rest, but chose not to accept certain teachings.
  The practice of polygamy was permitted by God in ancient Israel, and he even regulated it by the Mosaic law, but it wasn't his way. (Mat. 19:8) So if some were more advanced in their understanding and so chose not to accept this practice and married only one wife, would they have been denied "special blessings" from God? :)
  The minority always gets dumped on by the majority. It seems the way of imperfect human society, ours included. We seem to be hardwired to expect conformity from all members of a group and we can be harsh on those who choose not to conform. I'm sure that our current misinterpretations will be corrected in time. Even now, I think many of us are starting to wake up. I'm going out on a limb here, but I think our latest interpretation of "this generation" was the catalyst--the proverbial straw. The clamp down on dissenting opinions of late is evidence of this change in our collective perception, I believe. We'll see.
  Still, there's nowhere else to be in this system of things than with Jehovah's people. If we have our own modern equivalent to polygamy--i.e., an erroneous belief or practice that God tolerates--it too will be removed in his good time. Mind you, the effects of removing 1914 from our collective consciousness will likely be a devastating test of faith for many.

Comment by apollos0falexandria on 2012-09-21 12:30:33

"we have never claimed that they were knowledge, nor based upon indisputable evidence, facts, knowledge; our claim has always been that they are based on faith.
... Possibly some who have read the DAWNS have presented our conclusions more strongly than we; but if so that is their own responsibility. "
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In my opinion this is a very early example of "previously some have thought ..." Even though this isn't actually a change in doctrine it is a shift in emphasis whereby 'caveat emptor' is introduced for those who might have thought that they were reading proofs and evidences. The problem is that if you read all of the material leading up to that date you will find that the tone is usually in sharp contrast to the above claims. In fairness there are some select occasions where terms such as "it is our understanding" are used. However far more often these matters of faith are presented as absolute fact, backed by "evidence" and "proof". For those who have access to the old publications do a search on 1874 and take the time to read the context of each reference if you are at all interested. I don't have time to provide an extensive list here as it is difficult to extract text from old PDFs. However here is a small sampling from the earlier material.
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The next chapter will present Bible evidence that 1874 A.D. was the exact date of the beginning of the “Times of Restitution,” and hence of our Lord’s return.
(The Time is at Hand, pg 170 - 1889)
It is the first paper ever to make announcement of the invisible presence of our Lord and to submit the clear, Scriptural proof to show that since 1874 he has been present, invisible to man, yet exercising his power and doing the preliminary work among the nations and peoples of earth (Watchtower 1879)
The presence and knock began in the fall of 1874 (Watchtower 1880)
While the advent people have been used to a large degree as representatives in the movements of the parable, yet we do not think that it is confined to them, nor to people who were interested in the movements prior to the coming of our Bridegroom [in]1874. (Watchtower 1880)
Has not this been to a great extent your experience, since you came to recognize as a fact that the bridegroom came in 1874. (Watchtower 1880)
So the angel said to Daniel - Blessed are they who will live to 1874, for they shall see (Watchtower 1880)
Well, 1873 came, the end of 6,000 years, and yet no burning of the world, &c. But prophecies were found- which pointed positively to 1874 as the time when Jesus was due ‘to be present, and the resurrection of Daniel was also due as proved by the ending of jubilee cycles and the 1335 days of Dan. xii. The autumn of 1874, anxiously expected? finally came, but the earth rolled on as ever. ... Carefully they examined the chronology but it seemed faultless and positively declared that the 6,000 years ended in 1873. Then the prophetic arguments were carefully re-examined. Was an error found? No, they stood the test of all investigation and the jubilee argument and “1335 days” of Daniel could not possibly be prolonged beyond the fall of ‘74 or the spring of 1875 and these periods were both past.
....
Two other ways, in which the Pyramid corroborates scripture, are these: At the top of the “grand gallery”-just where it measures 1874 inches, there is an opening or passage-way which seems to say, something might go out or come in here. For some time we thought this might represent the “change,,, or catching away of the church as spiritual beings; but it would have been due in 1874 and no translation took place; then it must mean something else. It seems very plain and clear to us now that that opening can mean nothing else than what the Prophets have taught us. viz: that there the Bridegroom came a spiritual being. It fits, as all the other parts of that wonderful structure fit and harmonize with the Word. Secondly. we are claiming that our Lord’s presence here, is to be to many in the nominal church “a stone of stumbling” and this too finds its illustration in the Pyramid. for at the upper end of the “Grand gallery” a huge block of stone juts out into the pathway and further progress becomes impossible, unless the traveler climbs with difficulty to its level. So we find it; many are stumbling, and the progress of all seems to depend on their recognizing the present one. (Watchtower 1881)

• Reply by Meleti Vivlon on 2012-09-21 15:33:43

  What I find so funny is that the "proof" of 1874 was based on a measurement of the "grand gallery" of the Pyramid taken in inches. Inches!?
  Besides, hadn't the ancient Egyptians already switched over to the metric system? We should have been measuring in centimeters. Oh wait, I get it, the Israelites were still on the British Imperial system of measurement, so they coded the measurements in inches so their Egyptian overlords would never catch on to the hidden message. Brilliant!
  Seriously, when are we going to stop being babes and start taking on the traits of men? Paul's words do seem to be applying to the understanding of prophecy after all.
  (1 Corinthians 13:11, 12) . . .When I was a babe, I used to speak as a babe, to think as a babe, to reason as a babe; but now that I have become a man, I have done away with the [traits] of a babe. 12 For at present we see in hazy outline by means of a metal mirror, but then it will be face to face. At present I know partially, but then I shall know accurately even as I am accurately known.
  Let's stop pretending that we know accurately, when in fact, we are still looking in the metal mirror. Inches indeed!

• Reply by junachin on 2012-09-24 21:11:38

  "Carefully they examined the chronology but it seemed faultless and positively declared that the 6,000 years ended in 1873."
  Compare that quote (posted by Apollos above) with the following:
  *** jv chap. 28 pp. 632-633 Testing and Sifting From Within ***
  "Later on, during the years from 1935 through 1944, a review of the overall framework of Bible chronology revealed that a poor translation of Acts 13:19, 20 in the King James Version, along with certain other factors, had thrown off the chronology by over a century.*"
  The footnote goes on to say: "...In the light of these corrected tables of Bible chronology, it could be seen that previous use of the dates 1873 and 1878, as well as related dates derived from these on the basis of parallels with first-century events, were based on misunderstandings."
  You would think that an organization so chastened would have learned a lasting lesson from this amazing embarrassment. Yet, when the end of the 6000 years neared in the years leading up to 1975 they couldn't wait to make the same mistake yet again. We somehow managed to outlive those earlier embarrassments, but the unparalleled embarrassment of 1975 will be with us till the end.
  *** jv chap. 28 p. 632 Testing and Sifting From Within ***
  "Extending the parallels further, it was stated that the desolation of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. (37 years after Jesus was hailed as king by his disciples when he rode into Jerusalem) might point to 1915 (37 years after 1878)...this fitted well with what had been published regarding the year 1914 as marking the end of the Gentile Times."
  Another interesting thing is how many of the now-discarded dates appeared to tie in with 1914. If not for the outbreak of WWI - albeit a little early, but what's a few months among friends? - 1914 surely would have been discarded as well.