1. Jesus' PRESENCE is different than His COMING. His coming would be his final judgment on the nations (though he still does not become visible).

2. SEEING does not have to mean literally seeing. It can mean seeing "with eyes of spiritual discernment." Therefore, if one studied world events and compared them with the signs Jesus gave in Matthew 24:3-14), one would discern that Christ returned in 1914. Thus, only a "perceptive" person could "see" the return of Christ.

3. Christ could not be visible when he returns, because (a) the whole world could not see Christ at the same time; it being a physical impossibility, (b) Christ gave up his human body permanently, and (c) said he was coming back the same way he left, meaning invisibly in the clouds. Also, he said to his disciples they would "behold him" but that the world would behold him no more (John 14:19).
     By this clever reasoning, they succeed in turning Jesus' words around 180 degrees, so that he is interpreted as saying exactly the opposite of what one's common sense would lead one to believe. To refute these three main points as listed above, note the following responses:

RESPONSE #1: A study of the Greek words "parousia" and "erchomai," rendered by the Watchtower as "presence" and "coming," reveal that both are often used interchangeably to say the same thing, though the word "parousia" can convey the added meaning of "continuing alongside" after one's coming. Yet, this does not prove an INVISIBLE return; just that Jesus would remain with his disciples after his return. In all other usages of the word "parousia" in the New Testament, it is referring to a VISIBLE RETURN of someone. Check them out in the following passages: I Cor. 16:17; II Cor. 7:6,7; Phil. 1:26. Additionally, the Greek "erchomai" is used interchangeably with some of the above situations, such as in II Cor. 13:1 and Gal. 2:12. Therefore, the usage of "parousia" for Christ's return does not prove anything with regard to his being invisible.

RESPONSE #2: There is no reason to believe Jesus was speaking of symbolically "seeing" him as having returned in Rev. 1:7. There are enough passages that indicate a literal, visible return to refute this idea, not to speak of Jesus' warning against those claiming a secret return in Matthew 24:23-26.

RESPONSE #3: (a) Today it is possible through the agency of television (or means yet unknown) for the whole world to see the return of Christ. (b) There is no passage that indicates that Christ gave up his human body; but rather that his body was changed into a glorified, spiritual body (I Cor.15:43,44).

CHRIST'S ENTHRONEMENT AND
COMING TO HIS "TEMPLE"

     Another publication, You May Survive Armageddon, (1955), p.100 says,
      "Jehovah the heavenly Father brought forth his kingdom by bringing forth his anointed King-Priest Jesus Christ and elevating him to the active kingship in the throne of God's right hand."

     Putting these 2 statements together we see that (1) from the time of his Ascension to Oct. 1, 1914 he sat at the right hand of God the Father and that (2) on Oct. 1, 1914 the Father placed the Son on the throne at His right hand. (!)

     To add to the confusion, Reasoning From the Scriptures, (1985), p.97 says this about Jesus:
     "he was enthroned in 1914."

     When was Christ enthroned? Ephesians 1:20-22 says:
     "Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places. Far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come: And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church,

     So this scripture shows that Christ was certainly enthroned by the time the letter was written in 60 A.D. Where does the Bible change the enthronement to 1914? How can the phrase "sitting at the right hand of God" designate anything less than Christ's Kingly reign from Heaven?
     Also, if Jesus simply assumed a throne in Heaven, how can this action possibly be called a "return?"

     According to the Watchtower, in the fall of 1914, Jesus was crowned as King. Three and a half years after that he cleansed Jehovah's spiritual temple. They also believe that a very short time after this temple cleansing, still in the year 1918, the heavenly resurrection of certain Christians occurred and these then began to live and reign with Christ in Heaven. (From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, (1958), p.213)
     The "spiritual temple" is the Jehovah's Witness organization. The "cleansing" occurred in 1918 when Christians who had selfish hearts and wrong ideas towards His (Christ's) service dropped out of his organization. A short time after this spiritual cleansing of the temple, the members of the anointed class who had died by that time were "raised" with spiritual, i.e., non-physical bodies and were placed on the throne with Jesus Christ.
     According to From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, p.213, Christ's coming to the temple in 1918 was his "coming" to the earthly organization to cleanse it of rebellious members. But according to the authors of The Truth Shall Make You Free, (1943), pp.303,304 and the book You May Survive Armageddon, pp.103,104 however, the temple Christ came to in 1918 was NOT the earthly organization but the HEAVENLY temple! So there is ambiguity and confusion as to which temple he came to! Even if one understands that the JWS mean that the temple to which Christ came to in 1918 was the heavenly one, rather than the earthly organization, one is still at a loss to know exactly what they are trying to say because:
1. If the heavenly temple is just another name for the 144,000, it is not correct to say that Christ "came" to them in 1918, for they were then raised to be with him in heaven. It would be more correct to have said that in 1918 the temple came to Christ.
2. If the heavenly temple is the name of a certain place in heaven, we wonder where this place is. From New Heavens and a New Earth, (1953), p.319 we learn that the 144,000 that are raised are by such a spiritual heavenly resurrection granted to sit with Jesus Christ on his throne. These words imply that the place to which the raised 144,000 is the place where Christ is (for Christ has been seated on the throne since 1914). If this is so, how can Christ be said to "come" to his temple in 1918? How can one come to a place where he already is? On p.275 of This Means Everlasting Life it is unequivocally asserted that the throne from which Christ rules in heaven is at the same time the place where he ministers in the heavenly temple.
     Jesus Christ could not have come into his "second presence" in 1914 because the living saints were not glorified in 1918, when there was only a "partial" rapture of the 144,000 occurred. The remainder are said to be raptured individually at death. I Thess. 4:16,17 and I Corinth. 15:51,52 when correctly interpreted make such a "presence" impossible. A footnote in the New World Translation at this verse says "at the same time" the living saints will join those who already died. Another impossibility is: how is it possible for those who remain to "always be with the Lord" in the same sense as those who had been raised from the dead? Many of the "anointed" after 1918 no longer followed the Watchtower Society and would not be viewed by it as being united with Christ "in the service and worship of Almighty God." Also, there is no legitimate reason to understand a literal resurrection in one passage (I Corinth 15:51) and not in the other (I Thess. 4:17). In fact, I Corinth. 15:51 in the New World Translation is cross referenced to I Thess. 4:17!

MOVING CHRIST'S "PAROUSIA"
FROM 1874 TO 1914

     But in 1930, under the leadership of second president, Joseph Rutherford, the date for the beginning of Christ's ' "parousia" was changed from 1874 to 1914!:
     "In Matthew 24 Jesus gives his disciples some proofs that he would be present...These tangible evidences will be the beginning of the work of destroying the present evil conditions and systems. This work of destruction began in 1914... If it is true that Jesus has been present since the year 1914, then it must be admitted that nobody has seen Him with his natural eyes." - Golden Age, 1930, p.503

     Surprisingly, the book God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached places this change in the year 1943 rather than 1930:
     "In the year 1943 the watch Tower Bible & Tract Society published the book "The Truth Shall Make You Free." In its chapter 11 entitled "The Count of Time," it did away with the insertion of 100 years into the period of the Judges...Naturally, this did away with the year 1874 C.E. as the date of return of the Lord Jesus Christ and the beginning of his invisible presence or parousia." pp. 209,210

     Why would the Society publish this obviously incorrect statement? It is very unlikely that it was by mistake. The book God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached was written by Frederick Franz who served as Society president from 1977 up until the time of his death. Franz had been proofreading all the materials published by the Society since 1927!

     Proofreading gave Franz a detailed knowledge of the doctrinal development of the Society. It was virtually impossible that he would have been unaware of the fact that the Society had been placing the "parousia" in the year 1914 since 1930; not 1943! Where were the supposed "eyes of understanding" in 1914 to discern that Jesus had begun his "parousia?" Is there any reason he did not want to mention the original statements in which the new doctrine was originally introduced?
     If we carefully examine the early statements dating the "parousia" to the year 1914, we will see that they just stated the new date without any explanation or support of the changed doctrine. The change from 1874 to 1914 was made solely because of the necessity to deal with the failed prophecies for the year 1914, and it was not based on any new chronological information as the Watchtower purports. A reader unfamiliar with the background will get an impression that the dating of the "parousia" was moved from 1874 to 1914 for sound chronological reasons based on biblical research, rather than because of the failed prophecies for the year 1914.

FAILED PROPHECIES AND COVER-UPS

The Time is at Hand, (1888), p.101
     "...the "battle of the great day of God Almighty which will end in A.D. 1914 with the complete overthrow of earth's present rulership, is already commenced."

Watchtower 7/15/1894 p.226
     "We see no reason for changing the figures - nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble."

BEFORE..... AND AFTER:

BEFORE 1914:
The Time is at Hand - 1906
     "...the full end of their lease of dominion will be reached in A.D. 1914; and that date will be the farthest limit of the rule of imperfect men." ...it will prove that sometime before the end of 1914, the last member of the divinely recognized church of christ...will be glorified."

AFTER 1914:
The Time is at Hand - 1920
     "...the full end of their lease of dominion will be reached in A.D. 1914; and that date will be the disintegration of the rule of imperfect men." ...it will prove that sometime before the end of the overthrow, the last member of the divinely recognized church of christ...will be glorified."

BEFORE 1914:
Thy Kingdom Come - 1906
     "That the deliverance of the saints must take place some time before 1914...Just how long before 1914 the last living members of the body of Christ will be glorified, we are not directly informed."

AFTER 1914:
Thy Kingdom Come - 1916
     "That the deliverance of the saints must take place very soon after 1914...Just how long after 1914 the last living members of the body of Christ will be glorified, we are not directly informed."

QUOTE.....MISQUOTE

From Paradise Lost to Paradise Regained, (1958), p.170
     "In the Watchtower magazine of March, 1880 they said: "The Times of the Gentiles extend to 1914, and the heavenly kingdom will not have full sway till then." Of all people, only the Witnesses pointed to 1914 as the year for God's kingdom to be fully set up in heaven."

Watchtower, 7/1/73 p.402
     "Zion's Watch Tower of March 1880 had declared: "'The Times of the Gentiles' extend to 1914, and the heavenly kingdom will not have full sway till then."

AWAKE! 10/22/89 p.20
     "Accordingly, in its March 1880 issue, Zion's Watch Tower declared: "'The Times of the Gentiles' extend to 1914, and the heavenly kingdom will not have full sway till then."

     Well, what did Zion's Watchtower of March 1880 REALLY say? The above quotes, which end with a period, really ends with a comma (,) so the quote continues. Here is the complete original quotation:

     "The Times of the Gentiles" extend to 1914 and the heavenly kingdom will not have full sway till then, but as a "stone" the kingdom of God is set up "in the days of these [ten Gentile] kings," and, by consuming them, it becomes a universal kingdom - a great mountain and fills the whole earth." (Emphasis mine)

     So the establishment of the predicted kingdom was to be set up on EARTH! This is why the Society deliberately omitted the last part of the quote. This is dishonesty! Also, two paragraphs before this quote it says that the kingdom was set up in heaven in 1878!

THE 1919 INSPECTION

     However, the Watchtower Society today claims that after many centuries, Jesus Christ made His final inspection in 1919 and found a "faithful and discreet slave class," a group of individuals dispensing spiritual food. But in fact their founder and first president, Charles Russell, alone was considered that "servant" or "slave" during that time period. This was the official doctrine until 1927, when Judge Rutherford changed it back to a class of 144,000 people. The Society has written:

      "Without a question of doubt, it was a real time for inspection of the Master's "slave" class. all the facts of the case argue that the Master came for the work of inspection of the time.......Could they, by even their latest record down till 1919, prove that they themselves were the composite "faithful and discreet slave" class of the heavenly Lord and Master, Jesus Christ? He as Judge would indicate what his findings were by the way he thereafter dealt with the hundreds of religious sects of Christendom." - God's Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached, 1973, p.349

     "On inspecting the remnant of his anointed disciples in the year 1919 C.E., the reigning King Jesus Christ did find the appointed "slave" faithful and discreet in the feeding of his "domestics." - God's Kingdom of A Thousand Years Has Approached, 1973, p.355

     "Jesus spoke about his returning to inspect his "slave" class as to whether they were doing so, that is, feeding his domestics their food at the proper time. - WT 1/15/75, p.47

      "(The anointed)...their "master" appointed a collective "faithful steward" class, the body of anointed Christians on the earth since Pentecost 33 C.E., since the "master" found the remaining ones of this body faithfully and discreetly giving out "food supplies" when he arrived for inspection in 1919, he appointed them "over all his belongings." - WT 9/15/83, pp.19,20

     Christ's appointment of the Watch Tower Society was supposedly based also on an understanding of doctrinal matters--that is, the quality of the spiritual food or teachings that the "slave" was serving when Jesus made His inspection. We can examine the material the Watch Tower was serving in the 1918-19 time period, for indeed the spiritual food was dispensed by way of the printed page.

     The Finished Mystery, printed in 1917, was the latest food. It claimed on p.144 that:
     "Though Pastor Russell has passed beyond the veil, he is still managing every feature of the harvest work."

     Just HOW he transmitted this information has never been revealed by the Watch Tower.

     The following are some of the book's teachings that Jesus Christ would have inspected when He was supposedly choosing the organization that would be His representative on earth:

• In 1918 God would destroy the churches and church members by the millions, and Christendom would go down into oblivion in that year.
• There would be worldwide anarchy in the fall of 1920.
• God's kingdom would be established in 1931.
• Behemoth of Job 40:15 was the stationary steam engine. Its loins were the boiler plates and its tail the smokestack.
• Leviathon of Job 41:11 was the steam locomotive and it's tongue was the coupling-link. It's soft tones were the locomotive's whistle.
• The sleeping saints were resurrected in 1878.
• In 1918 demons would invade the minds of the church members of Christendom (referred to as "the swine class") and cause them to engage in things that would lead the enraged masses to destroy them.
• Revelation 9:13 mentions a voice, and that was the voice of William Miller, the Adventist, from 1829 to 1844.
• The "little flock" of Bible Students then alive would be glorified in 1918.
• The "man child" of Revelation 12:5 was the Roman Catholic papacy.
• Michael and his angels mentioned in Revelation 12:7 were the Pope of Rome and his bishops.
• The publishing of The Finished Mystery was foretold in Revelation 14:20, where the 1600 furlongs represent the distance from where it was authored in Scranton, PA to Watch Tower headquarters in Brooklyn, NY - provided you traveled by way of the Lackawanna Railroad and the Hoboken Ferry.
• The seven volumes of Studies in the Scriptures were the Seven angels of Revelation 15:1.
• The Lord assumed an interest in and responsibility for the complete series of Studies in the Scriptures.
• The Lord's second advent had taken place in 1874.

     (Can you imagine that! The Watchtower leaders were appointed in 1919 to teach pure spiritual truth to the Witnesses - yet for 24 years [1919-1943] they didn't know that Jesus had really returned in 1914; not 1874!)

     The above claims would be laughable if the implications weren't so tragic. It would mean that Christ Jesus selected a religious organization that was fostering false teachings!

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