Is it true that the WTS's prophecy that Armageddon will come before "the end of the generation of 1914" (You Can Live Forever In Paradise On Earth, pg 154), is no longer taught as "the Truth"? If so, then does this mean that this teaching of the WTS, which they have taught as "the Truth" for decades, was really a false teaching? Since the WTS claims that they are the "one channel that the Lord is using during the last days of this system of things" (Jehovah's Witnesses-Proclaimers of God's Kingdom, pg 626) and that the governing body is "the mouthpiece of Jehovah God", does this mean that God changed His mind about this teaching and the definition of "generation"? Is it possible that God could change His mind? Has the WTS ever changed their mind before about a teaching that they once taught as "the Truth"?
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In the first century the apostles were selected to be the mouthpiece for Christ and to determine correct doctrine, etc. However, all during Christ’s ministry the apostles and other disciples were laboring under the delusion that Jesus was going to restore the kingdom of David on earth at that time. When Jesus told them he was going to suffer and be killed the apostles could not understand what he was talking about. But after Jesus was resurrected Jesus opened up their minds to understand the prophecies, at least up to a point.
Right before Jesus ascended back to heaven Peter asked Jesus what would become of John. Jesus responded: “If it is my will for him to remain until I come, of what concern is that to you? You continue following me.”
The account in the 21st chapter of John goes on to say: “In consequence, this saying went out among the brothers, that that disciple would not die. However, Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but: ‘If it is my will for him to remain until I come, of what concern is that to you?’”
So, the apostles, the mouthpiece of Christ, the governing body of the Christian congregation back then, misunderstood Jesus, and as a consequence they started a rumor that “went out among the brothers” that John would not die before Christ returned. When John wrote his gospel version he was quite aged, perhaps as much as 60 years had passed and apparently it was only as he neared his own death that the misunderstanding was set straight. The question is: Were the apostles false prophets?
To be sure, though, there is more to the Watchtower’s 1914 doctrine than a mere misunderstanding. Bible prophecy reveals that God allows for an operation of error to be put in place that will test the love of the truth of his chosen ones and company as an immediate prelude to the actual return of Christ and day of Jehovah.
For additional reading see the following articles:
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