B. J. Kotwall

Perhaps the
most frequently repeated lie in the Watchtower Society’s (WTS) publications
is that from 1876 onwards 
- 38 years before 1914 - they forecasted that 1914 marked
the START of “the conclusion of the system of things”.

In support the WTS often quotes the Bible
Examiner. This paper was published by one 
George Storrs (1796-1879) who greatly influenced Charles
Russell the first president of the WTS. Russell wrote in the
Bible Examiner of 1876 an article called 
Gentile Times: When Do They End?
This article is frequently referred in WTS publications but
has never been quoted in full for obvious reasons.

We are quoting below an extract
from this article to show that what WTS now says about what Russell 
actually wrote in 1876 is dishonest. Russell referring to
the Gentile Times as a period of 2520 years wrote:

At
the commencement of our Christian era, 606 years of this time had
passed…which deducted from 2520, would show that the seven times
would end in 1914…We will ask, but not now answer, another question:
If the Gentile Times end in 1914, (and there are many other and
clearer evidences pointing to the same time) and we are told that
it shall be with fury poured out; a time of trouble such as never
was before, nor ever shall be; a day of wrath etc., how long before
does the church escape? as Jesus says, “watch that ye may be accounted
worthy to escape those things coming upon the world”.

Bible Examiner October 1876
pp. 27-28

The fact is that
the article by Russell does not and could not have referred to 1914
as the START of the “conclusion of the system of things”. Russell
firmly believed that “the conclusion of the system of things” (also
called the “time of the end”) began in 1799, and that Christ came
invisibly in 1874 and that the church would “escape” before 1914.
It was taught by Russell almost right up to 1914, that 1914 was
going to be the END of the “system of things”.

For example:

We
see no reason in 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.

The Watchtower July 15, 1894 p. 226

…the
full end of the times of the Gentiles, i.e., 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. 

The Time Is At Hand 1889 p. 76-77.

Following are a
few extracts from WTS’s CD-ROM acclaiming or implying their sham
prescience about 1914 marking the START of “the conclusion of the
system of things”.  

Awake!
1973 1/22 p. 8
Of all men used by God to prophesy,
Jesus is outstanding. Based on what he said, along with the words
of Daniel and John, Jehovah’s witnesses pointed to the year 1914,
decades in advance*, as marking the start of “the conclusion of
the system of things.”

 
*See, for example, the Bible Examiner, Vol.
XXI, No. 1 (Whole No. 313), October 1876, pages 27, 28.

Awake!
1973 10/8 p.18
So counting from 607 B.C.E. when the
Gentile nations gained exclusive domination of the earth, when do
those “appointed times” end?
The answer is 1914. Jehovah’s witnesses pointed to that year as
early as 1876 in an article written by C. T. Russell and published
in the Bible Examiner. Thirty-eight years later that
marked year of 1914 arrived.

Yearbook
1975 p.37
Even earlier, however, C. T. Russell
wrote an article entitled “Gentile Times: When Do They End?” It
was published in the Bible Examiner of October 1876,
and therein Russell said: “The seven times will end in A.D. 1914.”
He had correctly linked the Gentile Times with the “seven times”
mentioned in the book of Daniel. (Dan. 4:16, 23, 25, 32) True to
such calculations, 1914 did mark the end of those times and the
birth of God’s kingdom in heaven with Christ Jesus as king. Just
think of it! Jehovah granted his people that knowledge nearly four
decades before those times expired.

The
Watchtower 1981 2/15 p. 10
Hence, another respected authority
(Harold Macmillan) adds his voice to those of numerous statesmen
and historians who, in looking back, recognized the significance
of the year 1914. Yet, decades before that year arrived, dedicated
students of Bible prophecy were able to identify 1914 as a climactic
turning point. (The “Bible Examiner,” October 1876, pp. 27, 28)
These Bible prophecies also reveal that the “generation” that saw
the events beginning in 1914 would also see the “conclusion of the
system of things.”—Matt. 24:3, 7-22, 32-35.

The
Watchtower 1983 5/15 p. 16

As early as in the year 1876, in an article that he submitted for
publishing in The Bible Examiner, the president
had pointed forward to 1914 as the date for “the times of the Gentiles”
to end, with serious consequences for the whole world of mankind.
(Luke 21:24, Authorized Version) Amazingly, at the
time that the president announced to the Brooklyn Bethel family
that the Gentile Times had ended, the first world war of all human
history was in its 66th day.

Revelation
- Its grand Climax At Hand! (1989) 
p.105
From the mid-1870’s, Jehovah’s people had been anticipating that
catastrophic events would start in 1914 and would mark the end of
the Gentile Times.

The
Watchtower 1990 10/15 p. 19
For 38 years prior to 1914, the Bible
Students, as Jehovah’s Witnesses were then called, pointed to that
date as the year when the Gentile Times would end. What outstanding
proof that is that they were true servants of Jehovah! 

Our
Incoming World Government (1977) p. 131
Ever since the year 1876 those who
became associated with the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society and
the International Bible Students Association had been publicly declaring
that the Gentile Times would terminate in early autumn of 1914.

What should be remembered
is that the present leaders of the WTS have rescued only the phrase
“end of the Gentile Times” from pre-1914 WTS publications as can
be seen from the above quotations. What they deceitfully do not
tell is that 1914 marked, in pre-1914 publications, the end of the
world and the ushering in of Armageddon at that time.

The 
Watchtower says:

A
religion that teaches lies cannot be true.
The Watchtower December
1, 1991 p. 7