1See also 2 Tim 2:24-26.

2Copies of Watchtower literature referred to in this paper may be obtained from the following organizations: Free Minds, Inc., P.O.Box 3818, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266; Wit-ness, Inc., P.O.Box 597, Clayton, CA 94517.

3See also Luke 12:42-48.

4The Watchtower, March 1, 1896, 47.

5The Watchtower, July 15, 1906, 229.

6The Watchtower maintains that only 144,000 will go to heaven–all other Jehovah’s Witnesses deemed worthy of salvation will spend eternity in a paradise on earth. This interpretation is based upon Revelation 7:3-4, John 10:16, and other Scriptures. The 144,000 are supposedly made up of Jehovah’s Witnesses baptized before 1935. Since 1935 the ingathering of the “great crowd” (people who will dwell on the earth) began. According to Watchtower figures, of the 144,000, only 8661 are still alive today. From this group of “annointed ones” the members of the Governing Body are chosen.

7God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1975), 350.

8The Finished Mystery (New York: International Bible Students Association, 1917), 84.

9Ibid., 93.

10Ibid., 230.

11Ibid., 119.

12Ibid., 146.

13Ibid., 155.

14Ibid., 178.

15Ibid., 273.

16Ibid., 167.

17Ibid., 188.

18Ibid., 159.

19Ibid., 15.

20Ibid., 258.

21Ibid., 485.

22Ibid., 64. It should be noted that shortly after these prophecies failed, Watchtower president Joseph Ruther-ford embarked upon the “Millions Campaign,” giving public lectures and publishing a booklet on the subject “Millions Now Living Will Never Die.” Rutherford maintained that the end of the world would come in 1925.

23Raymond Franz, In Search of Christian Freedom (At-lanta: Commentary Press, 1991), 151.

24The Watchtower, April 1, 1972, 197.

25 The Time Is At Hand (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1889), 76-77.

26Ibid., 99.

27The Watchtower, September 1, 1916, 265.

28The Finished Mystery (New York: International Bible Students Association, 1917), 485.

29Millions Now Living Will Never Die (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society, 1920), 88.

30The Watchtower, September 15, 1941, 288.

31Consolation, October 29, 1941, 11.

32The Watchtower, December 15, 1941, 372.

33 Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York, 1966), 29-30.

34The Watchtower, May 1, 1968, 272.

35Awake!, January 8, 1982, 2. This prophetic word continued to appear in each edition of the Awake! magazine until November 8, 1995, when the words were changed to read, “Most important, this magazine builds confidence in the Cre-ator’s promise of a peaceful and secure new world that is about to replace the present wicked, lawless system of things.” The Watchtower finally had to admit that the gen-eration that saw the events of 1914 had largely passed away. Continuing to print the failed prophecy as spiritual food for Jehovah’s Witnesses was comparable to serving meat or milk long after the “sell before” date stamped on the pack-age. Like spoiled food, the prophecy had begun to stink.

36Matthew 7:15-16. Christ also warned that before his second coming “many false prophets will appear and deceive many people” (Matt 24:11).

37Deuteronomy 18:20-22.

38To fear a prophet means to respect that prophet as a messenger of God or to obey his or her words.

39Awake!, March 22, 1993, 4.

40Pages 6-7. The expression “[of 1914]” is in the original.

41Reasoning from the Scriptures (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1985), 136.

42The Watchtower also makes reference to Nathan, “who encouraged King David to go ahead with what was in his heart regarding the building of a house for Jehovah’s worship. But later Jehovah told Nathan to inform David that he was not the one who would build it. Jehovah did not reject Nathan for what he had said earlier but continued to use him because he humbly corrected the matter when Jehovah made it plain to him” (Ibid., 134). Indeed, Nathan offered advice to David concerning the temple of God, but that advice was not based upon any prophetic revelation that Nathan had received, and it was not a message that he spoke as a pro-phet “in the name of the Lord.” There is no record in Scripture of any prophet who prophecied in the name of the Lord only to later be compelled to correct that prophecy because it was in error or failed to come to pass.

43The Watchtower, January 15, 1982, 6-7.

44You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1982), 206.

45Aids to Bible Understanding (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1971), 1060.

46The Watchtower, March 1, 1996, 14. The magazine is quoting from Zephaniah 3:12-13 (New World Translation) and applying the words of the prophecy to the Watchtower leader-ship.

47You Can Live Forever in Paradise on Earth (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1982), 147.

48The Watchtower, January 15, 1993, 5.

49The Watchtower, November 1, 1914, 326.

50The Watchtower, March 1, 1923, 67.

51The Watchtower, January 1, 1924, 5.

52See God’s Kingdom of a Thousand Years Has Approached (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1973), 186.

53The Watchtower, September 15, 1941, 288.

54Consolation, October 29, 1941, 11.

55Kingdom Ministry, January 1968, 5.

56The New World Translation, completed in 1961, is the Watchtower’s official translation of the Bible. John 1:1 reads: “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”

57The Watchtower, April 1, 1983, 31.

58Ibid.

59Page 111.

60Qualified to be Ministers (New York: Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1967), 199.

61The Watchtower, May 15, 1983, 6.

62A copy of this letter, dated September 30, 1982, can be seen in The Signs of the Last Days–When? by Carl Olof Johnson and Wolfgang Herbst (Atlanta: Commentary Press, 1987).

63Should You Believe in the Trinity? (New York: Watch-tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, 1989), 4.

64The Encyclopedia Americana (New York: Americana Corporation, 1977), 27:116.

65Should You Believe in the Trinity?, 6.

66The New Encyclopaedia Britannica (Chicago: Encly-clopaedia Britannica Inc., 1985), 10:126 [Emphasis added].

67 A Jehovah’s Witness may argue that the source quoted did say those words; therefore, the Watchtower is not guilty of misquoting the author. However, that is not the issue. The point is, did the author mean what the Watch-tower is telling the reader he meant?

68John 8:44.

692 Cor 4:4.