Jehovah’s Witnesses | 100 Years of FAILED PROPHECIES

Hello boys and girls. Welcome back to the channel. Today I have a fascinating topic for you.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe the year 1914 marks the beginning of the last days. And for the longest time, the Watchtower taught that some people born before 1914 would be alive when Armageddon arrived. This is known as the generation teaching and it's based on Matthew 24.

Here Jesus is with his disciples in the Mount of Olives giving them signs that will come before the end. Among these signs are earthquakes, wars, and the preaching of the good news. Jesus then says, "Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things happen.

" So, Watchtower interpreted these verses to teach that some individuals that saw the events of 1914 would live right through Armageddon. But what you may not know is that this generation teaching changed a lot during the past 100 years. So today we're doing a deep dive on the history of this doctrine.

How has the definition of this generation changed over the years? And what effect has it had on the growth of the JW religion? Put on your tinfoil hats and get that Kool-Aid ready.

It's about to get culty. Okay, let's start from the very beginning with this religion's founder Charles Chase Russell. In his book, Studies in the Scriptures, Russell explained that this generation would include those living between the years 1878 to 1914.

Of course, the end did not come in 1914 as Russell had believed. So, the Watchtower kind of put this teaching aside and did not mention it for an entire decade. The first change to the generation teaching came in 1927 under Russell's successor Joseph Rutherford.

Now this generation was referring to all of the anointed from the first century up to the modern day. I quote, "The irresistible conclusion, therefore, is that Jesus referred to the new creation, the anointed, when he said, "This generation shall not pass until all these things be fulfilled. " This then would be a strong indication that some members of the new creation will be on the earth at the time of Armageddon.

As you can see, the generation was very long from the first century up to Rutherford's day. But it wasn't a major focus point of the Bible student movement at this point. They were instead focused on Rutherford's promise that millions now living would never die.

A promise that just like all other Watchtower predictions turned out to be a big fat lie. Wow. In 1951 during Nathan Nor's presidency, the generation teaching was changed once more.

The starting point of the generation was now 1914 and would now apply not to the anointed but to worldly people. July 1st, 1951, Watchtower said, "He shows the beginning of this time and how the troubles increase and mentioned some of the sorrows that fall on the world during the time of trouble. " The length of time is indicated by him when he said, "Truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.

" The actual meaning of these words is beyond question. That which takes a generation in the ordinary sense as at Mark 8:12 and Acts 13:36 or for those who are living at the given period. So it was on this generation that the accumulated judgments were to fall.

This therefore means that from 1914 a generation shall not pass till all is fulfilled and amidst a great time of trouble. So pretty clear right now. Armageddon had to come within one lifetime of people alive in 1914.

And from 1951 to 1995, Watchtower would change the definition of what could constitute a generation in order to make the end times appear more imminent. We're going to be covering each one of these changes cuz they're fascinating. But one thing remained constant.

The idea that some people born prior to 1914 would live through Armageddon, never to die. In this 1950 Watchtower magazine, a generation is described as being 36 and a half years. So just do the math.

1914 + 37 is 1951. Watchtower here was saying, "Hey, look guys, it's been almost 37 years since 1914, so the end must be right around the corner. >> Any day now.

" >> This was made even more explicit in this 1951 Watchtower. I quote, "Counting from the end of the appointed times of the nations in 1914, we are 37 years into the time of the end of this world. During these crucial years, Jehovah's Witnesses have sought shelter and strength in him, and they can confess for themselves that he is a wellproded help in trouble.

" If it were not for this, they would not be here today, nor increasing in numbers. But we are entering the most serious and trialsome year of this time of the end. The final conflict of Armageddon draws near.

Sounds pretty clear to me. A generation is around 37 years. We are 37 years into the end times.

So Armageddon is literally right at the doorstep >> any day now. But after 1951 came and went, Watchtower would extend the length of a generation to be possibly around 70 or 80 years. September 1st, 1952, Watchtower said, "The Bible does speak of a man's day as being three score and 10 or four score years, but it assigns no specific number of years to a generation.

Some persons living in AD 1914 when the series of foretold events began will also be living when the series ends with Armageddon. All the events will come within the span of a generation. There are hundreds of millions of persons living now that were living in 1914 and many millions of these persons could yet live a score or more years.

Just when the lives of the majority of them will be cut short by Armageddon, we cannot say. We simply don't know. >> July 1st, 1962.

Watchtower. This worldly generation, therefore, has not much longer to live. And the less time it has, the more urgent it is that the witnesses sound the warning and point men to the way of escape.

It is to come within the generation that has already seen two world wars, and it is only a few short years ahead of us. >> Say that [music] again. And it is only a few short years ahead of us.

[laughter] >> Guys, do you see how all of this phrasing incentivized JWS to preach? The generation that lived through 1914 was growing old, which meant with each passing year, Armageddon was more imminent than ever. 1968 introduced a few more changes to this teaching.

Now the generation could only include people who in 1914 were old enough to understand the importance of the last days. So this generation couldn't refer to a baby born in let's say 1910 because this child would not have understood the signs of the last days. And according to Watchtower, you had to be at least 15 years of age to be included in the generation.

May 1st, 1968, Watchtower said, "Some of the generation that discerned the beginning of the time of the end in 1914 will still be alive on Earth to witness the end of this present wicked system of things at the Battle of Armageddon. " The October 8, 1968 Awake magazine made the following assertions. What will the 1970s bring?

The fact that 54 years of the period called the last days have already gone by is highly significant. It means that only a few years at most remain before the corrupt system of things dominating the earth is destroyed by God. How can we be so certain of this?

One way is by noting what Jesus said when he gave his great prophecy about the last days. After he listed the many events that would mark this period, he also stated, "Truly, I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur. " Jesus was obviously speaking about those who were old enough to witness with understanding what took place when the last days began.

Even if we presume that youngsters 15 years of age would be perceptive enough to realize the import of what happened in 1914, it would still make the youngest of this generation nearly 70 years old today. I don't know about you, but to me this couldn't be any more clear. They speak of the end with absolute certainty.

Those who witnessed the events of 1914 were now pretty old. So Armageddon can't be too far off. >> Any day now.

>> As some of you may know, there was a lot of hype around the year 1975. Watchtower strongly implied that Armageddon could come in that year. Well, now as Jehovah's Witnesses, as runners, even though some of us have become a little weary, it almost seems as though Jehovah has provided meat in due season because he's held up before all of us a new goal, a new year, something to reach out for.

it just seems has given all of us so much more energy and power in this final burst of speed for the finish line. And that's the year 1975, as one brother put it, stay alive to 75. >> And a lot of JWs bought into this hype with some even selling their houses to preach the good news.

Well, surprise surprise, 1975 came and went and Armageddon was nowhere to be seen. >> Now that's interesting. >> So now Watchtower had to buy themselves a little more time.

So in the year 1980, they reduced the age of discernment from 15 to 10. The October 15, 1980 Watchtower said, "As indicated by an article on page 56 of US News and World Report, if you assume that 10 is the age at which an event creates a lasting impression on a person's memory, then there are today more than 13 million Americans who have a recollection of World War I. And if the wicked system of this world survived until the turn of the century, which is highly improbable in view of world trends and the fulfillment of Bible prophecy, they would still be survivors of the World War I generation.

However, the fact that their number is dwindling is one more indication that the conclusion of the system of things is moving fast towards its end. More doomsday paranoia. And notice this, the Watchtower was very specific in not including babies into the mix.

The October 1st, 1978 Watchtower said, "Thus, when it comes to the application in our time, the generation logically would not apply to babies born during World War I. It applies to Christ's followers and others who were able to observe that war and the other things that have occurred in fulfillment of Jesus's composite sign. Jesus did not encourage his followers to try to calculate the exact length of this generation.

So after the debacle of 1975, Watchtower was wise enough to not assign a specific year to Armageddon. But notice how they included this psalm at the end of the paragraph. Psalm 9010 says that a generation lasts around 70 to 80 years.

So if a 10year-old saw the events of 1914, then by 1980 he would be 76 years old towards the end of the biblically defined generation. So in 1984, Watchtower ran a series of magazines focusing on the year 1914 and the generation that shall not pass away. Just look at some of these covers.

The generation that shall not pass away with a group of very old people who lived through 1914. Every single one of these people were not supposed to die before Armageddon. And every single one of these is now dead.

long long dead. These magazine covers aged like milk. After the 1975 embarrassment, a lot of JWS actually left the religion.

So that's why Watchtower focused so much on the teaching of the generation. It was to bring back these disillusioned Jehovah's Witnesses and a lot of them did return. After all, maybe Watchtower was wrong for hyping up 1975, but surely they could not be wrong about the generation teaching.

This was a prophecy which came straight from the Bible, straight from Jesus's mouth. And remember how I told you that for a person to be included in this generation, they had to be at least 10 years old during 1914, babies were not included. Well, in 1984, Watchtower tossed that idea out the window by saying that discernment was no longer a criteria for the 1914 generation.

even babies born during 1914 were included. I quote, "If Jesus used generation in that sense and we apply it to 1914, then the babies of that generation are now 70 years old or older and others alive in 1914 are in their 80s or 90s, a few even having reached a 100. There are still many millions of that generation alive.

And by 1991, there was no longer an age limit for the generation. Anyone born before 1914 was included. The April 15, 1991 Watchtower said, remember Jesus said of those living through the last days, starting in 1914, truly I say to you that this generation will by no means pass away until all these things occur.

Yes, peace will really come within this generation, but not through the nation's efforts. Guys, you see how the Watchtower kept changing the definition of a generation to not only buy themselves more time, but also make the end appear more imminent. And they had been doing this for more than a hundred years.

But the problem for Watchtower was that this generation had to end eventually. You couldn't stretch it more than let's say a hundred years. So unless they wanted to see a mass desertion, Watchtower had to change either the meaning of a generation or change the date for the beginning of the last days.

And they went for the former. 1995 marked a stark departure from the previous generation teaching. Now, the people born before 1914 formed a collective generation with those born in later generations.

This mega generation could end either in a couple of years or 200 years into the future. The November 1st, 1995 watchtower put it this way. Eager to see the end of this evil system, Jehovah's people have at times speculated about the time when the great tribulation would break out.

even tying this to calculations of what is the lifetime of a generation since 1914. However, we bring a heart of wisdom in by not speculating about how many years or days make up a generation, but by thinking about how we count our days in bringing joyful praise to Jehovah, these weasels. Rather than provide a rule for measuring time, the term generation as used by Jesus refers principally to contemporary people of a certain historical period with their identifying characteristics.

And the December 15, 1995 watchtower said in the final fulfillment of Jesus's prophecy at Matthew 24:34-39 to what does the expression this generation refer? Jesus apparently refers to the peoples on earth who see the sign of Christ's presence but fail to mend their ways. Holy cow.

So now to be included in the generation, you didn't have to live through the events of 1914 as was originally taught. You only had to live through the signs of the last days which have been present since 1914. So under this new doctrine, even a baby born after the year 2000 could be included in the same generation as a baby born before 1914.

This is crazy stuff. And most Jehovah's Witnesses just swallowed it up. Now, did the butchering of the generation teaching mean you could slack off in the ministry?

Of course not. The Watchtower also wrote, "Does our more precise viewpoint on this generation mean that Armageddon is further away than we had thought? Not at all.

Though we at no time have known the day and the hour, Jehovah God has always known it, and he does not change. Obviously, the world is sinking further and further toward terminal ruination. [laughter] The need to keep awake is >> more critical than it has ever been.

" Jehovah has revealed to us the things that must shortly take place and we should respond with an absorbing sense of urgency. Guys, notice how in all of these articles, Watchtower never once apologized or acknowledged they were wrong about the previous generation teaching. All the blame is always placed on the rank and file members.

Regular JWs were guilty of speculating when the end would come when in reality it was Watchtower who asserted their end times predictions as absolute fact. Oh, and these weasels weren't happy with gaslighting the sheep. They also tried to erase their history.

The mast head of the Awake magazine was changed to reflect this new teaching. In the October 22nd edition, we read, "This magazine builds confidence in the creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 pass away. " But in the next issue, November 8, 1995, they changed it to this.

This magazine builds confidence in the creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world that is about to replace the present wicked lawless system of things. And that was that. The generation teaching which was so fundamental to the growth of the religion was now wiped off existence as if it never happened.

The younger generation of Jehovah's Witnesses are not even aware of this previous teaching since Watchtower has done a pretty good job of wiping it off most of their media. This change to the generation teaching proved to be a double-edged sword. On one hand, it removed the expiration date for Armageddon.

Now, this generation could go on indefinitely, which meant there were no dates for the end, which could be proven wrong, like with 1975. On the other hand, this change of doctrine destroyed most of the sense of urgency from the preaching work. Previous generation of JWS were motivated and sell because of the imminence of Armageddon.

The generation teaching was a guarantee that the end was really really close. So of course once this incentive was removed, the religion took a really big hit. Paul Grundy from the JW fax website gives us these statistics.

For many years prior to 1995, the global growth rate of publishers was around 6%. Within the next 3 years, it had dropped to 2% per anom. The growth rate of educated countries has been even more deeply affected.

In 1991, 24 countries had zero or negative growth. In 2005, this had risen to over 50 countries. Whereas 30 years ago, every 1500 hours of witnessing resulted in one extra publisher.

By the year 2000, it took over 5,000 hours. So by changing the generation teaching, Watchtower had prevented a mass desertion, but in the process, they destroyed the sense of urgency of the common Jehovah's Witness. a sense of urgency that would never actually recover.

>> But wait, there's more. >> Oh, but you know that Watchtower just can't leave things alone as they are. So, in 2010, the April 15th Watchtower introduced another change to the generation teaching in order to get the sheep rled up for the end.

Pay attention cuz it's a real mind What does this explanation mean to us? Although we cannot measure the exact length of this generation, we do well to keep in mind several things about the word generation. It usually refers to people of varying ages whose lives overlap during a particular time period.

It is not excessively long and it has an end. How then are we to understand Jesus' words about this generation? He evidently meant that the lives of the anointed who were on hand when the sign began to become evident in 1914 would overlap with the lives of other anointed ones who would see the start of the great tribulation.

That generation had a beginning and it surely will have an end. The fulfillment of the various features of the sign clearly indicate that the tribulation must be near. By maintaining your sense of urgency and keeping on the watch, you show that you are keeping up with advancing light and following the leadings of the Holy Spirit.

Guys, this is what we call the over overlappinging generation. This Frankenstein of a generation is composed of two overlapping groups. The anointed that lived through 1914 and the anointed who lived at the same time as the first group.

The January 14, 2015 Watchtower put it this way. We understand that in mentioning this generation, Jesus was referring to two groups of anointed Christians. They were anointed with Holy Spirit during the time that those of the first group were still on earth.

Today, those in this second group are themselves advancing in years. Yet Jesus's words at Matthew 24:34 give us confidence that at least some of this generation will by no means pass away before seeing the start of the great tribulation. And this overlapping generation nonsense was forever immortalized in [music] the September 2015 JW broadcasting which you can still find on the website in which governing body member David's plane actually pulls out a whiteboard to explain to us trogodites the beauty of this new teaching here.

I'm going to play a few clips from this because you just can't make this up. >> Roll camera. >> Would you like an easy way to keep the generation straight?

An easy way is to consider the situation of brother Fred W. France. Now you'll see that he's FWF on the chart.

Now, as we said before, Brother France was born in 1893. He was baptized in November of 1913. So, as one of the Lord's anointed in 1914, he saw the sign and he understood what the sign meant.

Now, Brother France lived a long life. He finished his earthly course at 99 years of age in 1992. [music] Now just for the sake of argument, suppose that we assume that brother France was the last of that first group of anointed ones.

That is the group of anointed ones who were anointed in 1914 who saw the sign and then continued serving faithfully. [music] Now we're not saying brother France was. We just don't know.

But for the sake of argument, let's suppose in order to be part of this generation, someone would have had to have been anointed [music] before 1992 because he would have to have been a contemporary of some of the first group. Anyone anointed after 1992 would be of the anointed, but he would not be part of this generation. And Jesus said, "This generation will not pass away until all these things happen.

" Are you beginning to see how this all connects with the urgency of our times? Now, those of the second group of anointed ones are getting older. All of the current members of the governing body are also part of this generation.

And some of us are showing our age. So, brothers, we are indeed living deep in the time of the end. Now is no time for any of us to get weary.

[screaming] me. >> I hope you don't think I'm that stupid. >> Yep.

This is going to age like milk just like all the other Watchtower prophecies which have ended in absolute failure. Now dear viewer, you're probably thinking, Panda, what's the biblical basis for all of this? Guys, there is no biblical basis.

When Jesus spoke of this generation, he was definitely not thinking of an overlapping generation that could go on for more than a hundred years. He was thinking of his generation, his contemporaries. Watchtower's new definition of a generation not only goes against the Bible's definition of a generation, but also goes against common sense.

Even if your life overlaps with that of your grandparents, that does not mean you are from the same generation. Now that I left, this doctrine, even compared to other Watchtower doctrines, seems like a complete insult to our intelligence. This idea of the overlapping generation is purely a Watchtower invention, a desperate attempt from the governing body to instill a sense of urgency back into their members.

And you would think that this broadcasting would wake a lot of people up. Prove to them that this religion is not true and that the governing body is full of baloney. But guess what?

We were all super indoctrinated and a lot of JWs just ate it up. I know I did back when I watched this broadcast as a believer. >> Don't cry.

>> Little enemy of God. >> Uncle Monger's got enough generation to feed you your entire life. Watchtower had no reason to mess with the generation teaching anymore.

They could have just kept the 1995 update, which meant this generation could go indefinitely. But no, they just had to make things up. They had to find a way to get JWS excited for the ministry.

But in my personal experience, I have never heard of a JW actually buying into this new generation overlapping generation doctrine wholeheartedly. The overlapping generation is so indefensible, so outright silly that no one really mentions it. I would bet my left nut that some Alzheimer's are actually kind of ashamed of this doctrine since it's a complete contradiction from what they grew up with.

And look, the original generation teaching was complete nonsense as well, but at least it was clear and it did infuse the preaching work with urgency. But all of that is gone now. All the sense of urgency was greatly diminished in 1995 and completely killed off after co.

The Watchtower has been crying wolf for so long that I'm sure most JWs are just going through the motions now. I mean, how many false predictions can you make before your followers start to get suspicious or at least start halfassing their service to Jehovah? The truth is once this generation of governing body members kicks the bucket, the Watchtower will eventually have to get rid of this broadcast.

I mean, even overlapping generations have to end eventually. And then once they delete this JW broadcasting and wipe it off of existence, this new light from Jehovah will be tossed away into the ever growing pile of failed Watchtower prophecies. Yet another reminder that this religion is false and has misled millions of people into wasting their life for a delusion >> any day now.

So guys, let me know what you thought of this video in the comments below. It was a really fascinating topic and I actually learned quite a lot as I was doing my research. So let me know if you were from the generation of the original generation teaching.

How did it affect your life? Were Jehovah's Witnesses more zealous back in the 70s and the 80s? What was your experience?

And how did you react when David's plane introduced his overlapping generation nonsense? Let me know in the comments below. And once again, special thank you to Paul Grundy from JW Facts website, guys.

Go check it out. It's a treasure trove of old watchtower articles which just show you that this religion has always been a full of baloney. Paul Grandy, thank you once again.

If you would like to support my work, please head on over to Patreon or become a channel member. It's only $1 a month and you get early access to all my videos. Thank you so much.

Take it easy, guys. Have a wonderful day and stay away from false prophets. Goodbye little sheep.