POINT/COUNTERPOINT: Dialogue with JW's concerning the Watchtower's "eyes of understanding."

JW says:  Where did you get those quotes from?  How do you know they are accurate?

Christian reply:  I assure you that these quotes can be backed up by the originals from which they came.  Question is, what will you do when they prove to be true?

JW says:  These quotes could have been taken out of context.

Christian reply:  To the contrary, these statements are very explicit.  For example, in 1916 the Watchtower said that "the Battle of the Great Day of God almighty is now in progress."  The meaning has been made very plain.

JW says:  Those weren't false prophecies, just honest mistakes made by imperfect people.  They were just trying to serve Jehovah God as best they could.  Everyone makes mistakes!

Christian reply:  While it is true that people make mistakes, God calls these kinds of mistakes false prophecies.

JW says:  But they've admitted their mistakes!  That's what I like about the Society, the fact that they're willing to admit their errors.

Christian reply:  The fact still remains that they falsely prophesied.  And God says that it only takes one false prophecy to make one a false prophet.

NOTE:  In 1931, the Society did admit that their 1914, 1918, and 1925 dates failed to come to pass, and that they learned to quit fixing dates (Vindication I, pp.338-339).  Yet, as one might expect of a false prophet, they were right back at it only a few years later!

JW says:  Was Nathan a false prophet?  In 1 Chronicles 17:1-4, Nathan told David that God was with him in his desire to build a temple.  But God told Nathan in a vision that that was not true!

Christian reply:  What Nathan said to David was not put forth as prophecy.  Nathan was making a judgment call based on David being God's annointed.  Nathan's telling David not to build God a house, however, was set forth as prophetic (shown in verses 4 and 15).

JW says:  What about Jonah?  His proclamation that Nineveh would be destroyed in forty days was definitely set forth as prophecy.  Yet it didn't happen!  Was Jonah a false prophet?

Christian reply:  No, since what Jonah said was conditional.  Jeremiah 18 shows that God on occasion makes prophecies conditional to repentance.  Certainly the situation involving Nineveh is an illustration of this.

NOTE:  According to Jeremiah 18:7-8, conditional prophecies involve a single nation and the possibility of that nation repenting.  The Armageddon prophecies set forth by the Watchtower do not fit this category.

JW says: Okay, so they were wrong!  But you can't hold the entire Society responsible for what was written by only a few of its staff members!

Christian reply:  According to the Watchtower, "The true prophet of God today will be telling forth what the Bible teaches, and those things that the Bible tells us are soon to come to pass.  He will not be sounding forth man-made theories or guesses, either his own or those of others" (The Watchtower May 15, 1930, p.155).

JW says:  But the Society doesn't claim to be inspired.  They're just a prophet in the sense that they "speak forth" those prophecies already found in the Bible.  That's what the word "prophet" means, one who simply "speaks forth" God's word.

Christian reply:  Where does it say in the Bible that 1925 would mark the return of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob?  Furthermore, the Bible recognizes only two kinds of prophets:  TRUE prophets and FALSE prophets!  There's no such thing as a "prophet in the sense!"  (Cf. Deut. 18:20-22).

JW says:  Why do you focus only on the negative?  What about the many good things that the Society has done?

Christian reply:  The Bible says that we are to examine everything carefully (1 Thess. 5:21); that we are to put to the test those who claim to be prophets (1 John 4:1).  Jesus said that we would know them by their fruits (Matt. 7:15-20), and that "a good tree cannot produce bad fruit" (v.18).  Certainly what we've been looking at here is bad fruit!

JW says:  But the Bible says that the light gets brighter and brighter (Prov. 4:18).  That was just "old light" back then.  We now have "new light!"

Christian reply:  How can the Society refer to false prophecies as "old light?"  Since they did not come true, they can only be called "darkness" (cf. Isa. 5:20)

JW says:  I don't see why you must go so far back in our history.  Why don't you look at what we teach today?

Christian reply:  The Watchtower has invited us to go back.  In fact, they said that it's the  only way that we can find out whether they are a TRUE or FALSE prophet.  (Watchtower 4/1/72, p.197)