GENERATION QUESTION
(Investigator 57, 1997 November)
Jehovah's Witness leaders used to teach that many people who experienced the events of 1914 would still be alive at Armageddon!
Those people were what Jesus supposedly meant by "this generation". (Matthew 24:34)
Therefore in 1968 the J W leaders claimed: "we are living in the final few years..." (Awake! October 8, pp 13-14)
In 1995 this prophecy was revised and "generation" redefined as anyone
alive between 1914 and Armageddon. (The Watchtower 1995 November 1)
The question now is whether the change: "allows for the idea that the
end ... could be delayed into the distant future?" (The Watchtower 1997
May 1, p. 29)
The answer given is: "This is certainly not the case."
The answer went on to discuss the phrase "Napoleon's generation":
"Would we be referring merely to those French soldiers who died before
Napoleon did? Of course not; nor would we by such a use of
'generation' be trying to fix a set number of years. We would, though,
be referring to a relatively short period, not hundreds of years from
Napoleon's time into the future." (p. 29)
Investigator 56 listed dozens
of dates for which J W predictions failed. Would you trust the latest
prophetic reinterpretations of prophets who change their prophecies
like some men change their shoes?