What will all the Jehovah Witnesses do on May 22nd?

The JWs aren’t behind this May 21 nonsense. It’s these guys

Probably the same thing as happened the last time someone predicted the end of the world. I believe that they got over it and set a new date.

@thorninmud As an aside, ”The Bible teaches us that the church age has come to an end; therefore, we have no affiliation or identification with any church or denomination of any kind” doesn’t sound right. ‘Specially the first part.

Interesting, @thorninmud—never heard of them. Did you see the page about Project Jonah? Sort of makes you wonder if those folks actually remember how things turned out for the fellow who didn’t want to go to Nineveh.

@Nullo is absolutely right. Personally I think it’s not about whether it happens or not, it’s about having something to believe and look forward to.

@Jeruba It looks like they’re attempting to learn from Jonah’s errors, skipping the whole “drown and be eaten by a fish” part. And they seem to be skipping the part where Nineveh repented and was spared, with this Domesday talk.
In short, they did a poor job of naming the Project.

Chock it up to “miscalculation” and determine that the “actual” date is March 4th, 2013 or something and the cycle repeats…over and over again… :)

I actually have some relatives who believe in this (they have bumper stickers and shirts saying stuff like “Judgment day: May 2011”. It’s embarrassing when you’re out in the public with them.) I haven’t asked them about what they would do if nothing happens because they’ll probably say something like “It WILL happen!” or they’ll get angry at me for “challenging” their beliefs (it’s happened before).

For the record, JW’s have given up on the date setting game. They have left such an embarrassingly well-documented trail of attempts to decrypt the timeline of the End Times that they can no longer credibly put forward another date. They’ve left it at “No man knows the day or the hour”, but by golly it’ll be any day now.

@thorninmud Well it’s about time. Maybe these EBible people will learn, too. Now, the “by golly it’ll be any day” mentality is a good one for a Christian; heck, it might be any day, and even if it’s not, expecting it keeps you in the right frame of mind.

Not so good at naming themselves, either, if you ask me, @Nullo. I am a good reader, I am not dyslexic in the least, and I don’t have any problem distinguishing my majuscules from my minuscules, and yet I can’t look at that name without seeing “edible.”

JW’s do not hold a date of judgement in their doctrine. They are not the one that came out with the idea that May will be any special event. Even they will tell you about the scripture where Jesus said ONLY the father knows that date. And they believe that the day of judgement is not the same as Armageddon. They believe that the day of judgement is not a literal day. but is period of time (just as the statement “back in my day”). They believe that they day of Judgement is a period of time where according to the lifestyle of people, they will be judged by God (Jehovah) and Jesus Christ (his son). Then actually, they believe that Armageddon is the time when God will destroy all evil doers and restore the earth to his original purpose where only obedient people will live. But never do they teach about any specific date on anything. but they are watching bile prophecies unfold. Most things that are said about JW are propagandas to try and soil them. But they are use to it, expect it, and feel privileged to be persecuted as Jesus was when he was on earth.

I hate when things like that happen on my birthday. Just to set the record straight, I am in no way connected to any upcoming apocalypse.

Seriously though, I think @Nullo has it right. I believe the last time it was the Jehovah’s Witnesses and Seventh Day Adventists who were predicting the end of the world. I have heard stories that some of them disposed of all their worldly goods in order to be able to enter heaven. When the day came and went without incident, I doubt that any of them changed their minds about anything. You would think someone might have thought, “My analysis of the scriptures was correct. I guess I can’t trust the Bible to be the word of God.” I seriously doubt that anyone thought that way or that any of the May 21 guys will change their minds about anything.

Ahhh I must have got it confused because I had a Jehovahs(or at least one that claimed to be such) at my door a couple weeks ago knocking on my door to tell me about it and some of the sites I went to read about it were jehovahs sites. Easy mistake. Thanks for clearing that up though guys :)

@LostInParadise The Bible explicitly states that we cannot know the date for The End. I can see someone losing faith in their ability to analyze Scripture, but not necessarily faith in Scripture itself.
It is my hope that at least some of these people will simply realize their error and return to the Church the wiser for it.

@LostInParadise: Its pretty clear you don’t know anything about JW. You need to research them properly from a reliable source…like say…well…them. I’m sure they will be proud to tell you what their beliefs are. try looking at this website: www.watchtower.org One thing I know for certain is that they strictly stick to the bible, nothing else. That’s what I know.

@Uberbatman: No REAL JW is going to come to your door and tell you that. They don’t know or talk about any specific date. All they know is that there will be an end to this wicked system at anytime God plans. No date is given. They tell people this all the time, that no one knows when. And they explain this that god does not reveal it for many reasons. One of these reasons is because people will only live with with a date in mind and not out of real love for God.

@naresh28 , I did a quick search on end of the world predictions and found this Look to the bottom to find documentation on JW predictions.

@LostInParadise: Are you that naive? The internet is full of so called documents. So you take this as facts? Do you know who is an Apostate? Aren’t you smart enough to know that there are people posing as JW and that you have others all over the place that were once JW who has decided to turn against them and post propaganda materials?Use you head. Its not new to people that anyone can pose as anyone on the internet. Apparently, you are like some who would rather take other sources as factual than from the horses mouth itself. There are many websites posing as JW’s websites, when in actuality, JW’s only have one official website. People that hate JW have posed as them to corrupt others. How can anyone think that humans can predict anything? Otherwise they would be a lot smarter. GOSH!

Here is a pdf file of a Watchtower Society book published in 1920, entitled “Millions Now Living Will Never Die”, based on a talk J.F.Rutherford gave over several years, beginning in 1918 (this is an actual copy of the book, for any who may be skeptical of internet documents).

On page 88, he says, “A simple calculation of these jubilees brings us to this important fact: seventy jubilees of fifty years each would be a total of 3500 years. That period of time beginning 1575 before AD 1 of necessity would en in the fall of 1925, at which time the type ends and the great antitype must begin. What then should we expect to take place?...We may expect 1925 to witness the return of these faithful men of Israel from the condition of death, being resurrected and restored to perfect humanity and made the visible, legal representatives of the new order of things on earth.”

p.89: “As we have stated,the great jubilee cycle is due to begin in 1925. At that time the earthly phase of the kingdom shall be recognized…Therefore we may confidently expect that 1925 will mark the return of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the faithful prophets of old…to the condition of human perfection.”

p. 97: ”...it is reasonable to conclude that millions of people now on the earth will still be on the earth in 1925. Then based on the promises set forth in the divine Word, we must reach the positive and indisputable conclusion that millions now living will never die.”

@thorninmud: thnx for that. people need to know that, according to the bible, the earth will never be destroyed. God knows how to get rid of bad people without doing anything to the earth. As the great God that he is, he knows where all of them are. The earth will always have people on it.

I’m curious though; you say, “How can anyone think that humans can predict anything?”, and “They don’t know or talk about any specific date. All they know is that there will be an end to this wicked system at anytime God plans. No date is given. They tell people this all the time, that no one knows when. And they explain this that god does not reveal it for many reasons. One of these reasons is because people will only live with with a date in mind and not out of real love for God.”

Yet here is an instance of the then president of the Watchtower Society predicting the beginning of the earthly manifestation of the kingdom and the earthly resurrection of the prophets, all on the precise date of 1925. All of his listeners were told they could “confidently expect” this. And how many of the people alive in 1918, when Rutherford first gave this speech, are now living and will never die? According to Rutherford, it would “indisputably” be “millions”.

@naresh28 Could you direct me to the verses that state that the Earth will never be destroyed? Nothing comes to mind, and I’d like to check something.

@Nullo: one thing you should understand, the bible is never going to use EVERY single term for us to believe singular expressions. so, it is written on a common sense level. So not because one might say “the earth will never be destroyed”, means you find those exact words. However, this means that principles should be applied. For example, in this case about the earth, there are several scriptures that talks about its condition that would let you use your common sense to know. here are some: Ecclesiastes 1:4, Isaiah 45:18, Psalm 37:29, Proverbs 10:30.

The Jehovah’s Witnesses also predicted the end of the world in 1975. I can’t find any back issues of Watchtower, but I found this page from a former JW. Apparently, there were at least a few people who had second thoughts after the world failed to end. I wonder if the church will make any future predictions.

@LostInParadise: They did not predict that the end was 1975. Miscalculation were made about signs that would show that it was close. But, as imperfect people, some witnesses took that and thought the society was saying that the end would come. This was a big test to the faith of some back then. Some sold their homes and got all prepared for it. But even back then, those persons were not serving god out of pure love for Him. They were serving Him with a date in mind. There is a scripture that says the the light keeps getting brighter. So some began to later understand and apply bible principles and live for the love of Jehovah. I wonder if you are an apostate. Because you keep misleading people on her and telling them that JW predicts the future and a date as to when the world will end. This is entirely misleading. I hope that some on here will get to study with them and come to learn the truth that JW do NOT predict the end of the wold. Rather, they tell people about signs that they bible tells us to look for when we are CLOSE to the impending destruction of “wicked mankind”. NOT the earth. A careful study of the bible is what people need to focus on. Because, even JW will help people to appreciate that all obedient people will serve Him forever, NOT until a specific date. Only God can tell that date. And so far, He has not revealed it to anyone. What would be the purpose of Him revealing it, if He already knows that some have the heart of only worshiping him because of a specific date, and not out of real love? Please, stop spreading lies, and get you FACTS straight. JW go STRICTLY by what the bible teaches. And no specific date is mentioned. And, just to correct you on one thing, JW is not a church. They are a worldly organization. Teaching people in over 236 countries. Their place of worship for each congregation is called a Kingdom Hall. Because they talk about God’s kingdom as the solution to all problems. I hope people on here will ask one of JW for themselves and not listen to all the lies and misrepresentations.

At the February 1975 JW convention in LA, Fred Franz, president of the Watchtower society, gave a speech about the timeline leading up to the end (the badge that the attendees of that convention wore had this text printed on it: “Who Will Conquer the World in the ‘70s?”). He said that the 1000 year reign of Christ ”...has a definite date for it to begin…so that we can calculate from date of the beginning of the millennial reign of the Lord Jesus Christ and know when it is going to end.”

He lays out all of the calculations counting from the creation of Adam, and ends up setting the start of the 1,000 year reign in the autumn of 1975 (just months from the time of the speech). He refers to a timeline to this effect in the book he was releasing (“Life Everlasting in the Freedom of the Sons of God”). The book shows 1975 as the start of the millenium, and 2975 as the end of the millenium) Then he says,“that’s all it says about the year 1975…[pause during which the crowd erupts in laughter and applause]…and that’s all we can say to John Dart, the religious editor of the Los Angeles Times, or anyone else out there in the world who wants to know what we have published regarding this critical year. We know it’s a critical year, we know we’re near something, but we’re not saying [again, crowd explodes in laughter and applause].”

Does he say that Armageddon will happen in 1975? Well, no. But clearly, that’s what the crowd read into those words, and he did nothing at all to correct that perception. That would have been the perfect opportunity for him to remind them that, as @naresh28 said, that only God can tell that date. But, significantly, he doesn’t.

This isn’t a case of just “some” JWs misunderstanding. This was coming from the very top of the organization. Likely, the leadership had been burned badly enough by the failure of their predictions regarding 1925 that they refrained from making an overt commitment to 1975 as the kickoff of Armageddon, but there was no such hesitation on the part of that cheering crowd.

If you want to listen to the speech, here’s the recording.

I know that JWs are no longer putting a date forward. But, @naresh28, you could at least recognize that this hasn’t always been the case.

@thorninmud: The top leader of JW is Jesus Christ. They consider him to be their shepherd. Either you are an Apostate or totally getting wrong information. I hope people will go to the website www.watchtower.org , to learn who JW are and their beliefs. I hope that anyone who does not know about JW read the information they produce and get the facts about what they believed in the past and what they say the bible teach about what god will do in the future. One fact remains: there will come the time when EVERYONE will know the truth. There will be no doubt in anyone’s mind at that time. Plenty people will be in shock. Speculations carry no weight. Only facts from god throughout the pages of His word the bible. Focusing on dates and other irrelevant issues, won’t bring anyone into a good standing with God, unless they live their lives by what God commands and the principles based on such.

@naresh28 The people at the top of the Watchtower Society are called the “Governing Body”. Does that really sound better to you than “leadership”?

I will point out that I haven’t referenced any material that didn’t come from the Watchtower society itself. Surely you’re not saying that that material shouldn’t be looked at?

@thorninmud : I am not in a debate with you. I am more informed than you. I know what the Governing Body is. And you need to be careful in how you use your words. Remember that people are on here that could misunderstand. Do you think that when you said leader, people would think that Jesus Christ is considered the leader of JW? They would assume that its humans that are the head. JW considers Christ as there head. And to answer you, YES, other materials NOT produce by JW are misleading and are spearheaded by SATAN and used by people with bad intentions, to tell lies about JW and Jehovah himself. Common sense will tell you that people who produces other materials about JW, DON’T have JW’s interest at heart. This is from the beginning until now. JW are proud of who they are and have no reasons to hide anything about themselves. They firmly believe in what they teach from the bible ONLY. Misunderstandings of the bible from people, have lead them to think we teach something different from it. JW does not teach DOCTRINES, only what the bible teaches. And Christ in heaven directs the Governing Body.

p.s: you still have not mentioned whether or not you are an Apostate. I am thinking that you he are. The Apostle Paul mentions about people like that. to be aware of them misleading people from the “healthful teaching”

If I had said “the Governing Body”, wouldn’t others have thought “wait a minute, isn’t it supposed to be Christ that governs?”.

You say,“And to answer you, YES, other materials NOT produce by JW are misleading and are spearheaded by SATAN”, but that doesn’t answer me at all. The only materials I’ve used are from the Governing Body, not some “apostate” source. Those, presumably, are not misleading or from Satan, so shouldn’t they be considered?

You certainly seem to throw that term “apostate” around freely. First it was @LostInParadise, now me. As near as I can tell, you think anyone who disagrees with the the pronouncements of the Governing Body is a mouth piece for Satan. But think about this: suppose you had been sitting in the audience when either Rutherford or Franz was giving those speeches and you realized, as you seem to now, that they were quite wrong about what they were saying. You wouldn’t have said anything, because you would have been afraid of being an “apostate”. Even now, you seem to have a problem saying they were wrong. That suggests to me that even though you say Jesus is your leader, you will still go along with absolutely anything the Governing Body says. What is your definition of “leader”?

@thorninmud: “Follow The Christ”. That’s my last words to you.