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Jehovah's Witnesses: Their Claims, Doctrinal Changes, and Prophetic Speculation. What Does the Record Show?

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Jehovah's Witnesses by Professor Edmond Gruss is one of the best documented and most devastating critiques of the Watchtower ever written. It contains thousands of quotes from official Watchtower sources that prove the Watchtower over and over has made scores of totally false predictions. Professor Gruss, an ex-Witness himself, has done his homework (he has been at work for 40 years on this topic, ever since he completed his graduate thesis on the Watchtower). He has produced the most definitive work ever published on the Watchtower's many false predictions. It proves the Watchtower cannot be trusted in the least. This book is 358 large (8.5 x 11.5 inches) sized pages with hundreds of footnotes documenting the text. I too have research this topic for many years, but Professor Gruss has gone far beyond me. From my research, I can vouch for the accuracy of his conclusions. I have most of the Watchtower publications back to 1879, so was able to check many of his references. How someone can remain a Witness after reading this book is beyond me.The Watchtower's own words condom them (no wonder they discourage Witnesses from reading the older publications!) Also, as a lover of fine books, I was surprised at the high quality of this book (the printing was excellent as was the cover). I buy a lot of books and the quality of many disappoint me. This one didn't! It will most certainly become the classic text in this area and will cause thousands of Witness to seriously question the credibility of their "mother organization."

Although it is not an extremely readable book--this is because there are a lot of quotes since it is meant to be a general resource more than just a book you sit down and read--I know of nothing more valuable that so clearly depicts the JW's prophetic record. And it doesn't look good for the folks in Brooklyn. I believe that any thinking Witness who was to consider the false prophetic claims as produced by Watchtower leaders and shown in this book would have their world shaken apart, so caution on their part must be taken before picking this up to read. But truth is something that is worthwhile to find and grasp, and in this case, I highly recommend the Witness go through the well-documented records as put together by Gruss and determine this: If the Governing Body could be so wrong about so many things in its entire history, what else could they be wrong on? (i.e. view of God, view of Jesus, view of authority, view of salvation, etc.) For these are not just men claiming to be fallible leaders, but rather, their very words are examined and studied by the 7 million JWS located around the world as being equal in authority with anything the Bible says. And these kind folks are coming to our doors, urgently trying to share their faith. I believe a book like this would be valuable on the shelf of every Christian who realizes that, when a Witness knocks on their door, it's time to go to work and share our faith--and we don't even have to take our bedroom slippers off!) The amount of work that went into this book is incredible--my hat's off to Ed Gruss, a great researcher on the religion of the Jehovah's Witnesses.

The Watchtower organisation has made some rather strong claims about themselves. They are, so they say, the only ones that understand the Bible properly and in order to be a Christian you need to submit to their authority. Edmond Gruss has collected a large amount of quotes from the Watchtower literature, that shows (over and over again) that the Watchtower organisation cannot be trusted. Failed predictions and changes in interpretation, sometimes from one position to another and then back to the first again, are not at all unusual in their history.

A lot of Gruss' material concerns the predictions about Armageddon and the end of the World order. The 19th century background in Adventist calculations that the end would be in 1844 and then postponed 30 years to 1874, the latter which Russell came to accept; the 1914 date, which is still central; and the failures of 1925 and 1975 are all dealt with.

Because of its importance, quite a lot of space (pp.74-149) is devoted to different aspects of the 1914 date. According to the Watchtower, Christ was installed in heaven in 1914, and in the following years he inspected the churches, and then appointed the Watchtower "over his domestics" in 1919. In other words, the Watchtower draw their authority from what they allege happened in 1914. Gruss discusses what Russell in fact did predict for the year 1914; none of the seven specific predictions came true. The interpretation of the Bible that led to the date is shown to be very questionable in many regards, and the claim that the signs that we are living in the last days are present since 1914 (earthquakes, wars and so on) is examined and found to be baseless. The thorough discussion of the 1914 date is quite welcome, since it's so important for the Watchtower's identity and claims.

The quotes about 1925 and 1975 shows a movement that is a bit more careful not to be as specific in their predictions. Still, claims that it's not about years but months or weeks cannot reasonably be called anything but failed predictions. The time from the 1920:s and onward for decades shows a movement that constantly expected the end to be around the corner, and the Watchtower advised it's people to use what little time that was left to witness and to wait with getting married until the new system had come, after Armageddon. The events concerning 1975 are quite sad. Before 1975, Witnesses were commended for selling their homes and devoted the little time that was left until Armageddon to witnessing. After 1975 the very same Watchtower criticized the Witnesses that had not planned their economy to last past a certain date. They also blamed the ordinary Witnesses for the 1975 expectations, while the expectations had been produced by the Watchtower. Not only did they fail to take responsibility for their mistakes, but they let the people they were supposed to lead take the blame for their own mistakes.

In the first chapter, Gruss discusses the claims of the Watchtower organisation. The relationship between the organisation and the ordinary Witness seems to be rather odd. A Jehovah's Witness is expected to believe everything that the Watchtower teaches them, while at the same time the Watchtower claims not to be infallible. This means that the organisation goes free from responsibility, while their people are to follow them blindly. The consequences were made clear to me when the 1975 date was dealt with, but there are examples throughout the book of this kind of spineless leadership.

Gruss' book is not very uplifting, but it gives a good picture of the Watchtower's false claims, and with the huge amount of quotes one gets a feel of the Watchtower thinking. Gruss' own commentaries are quite sparse. He usually seems to prefer to quote others (e.g. Carl Olof Jonsson or Raymond Franz) when giving a more extensive critique than a line or two. This book is definitely not necessary to read if you want to be able to talk to a Jehovah's Witness, but it is very helpful if you want a deeper look at the dark side (is there a light side?) of the Watchtower history.

Also note the format of this book. It's 11.0 x 8.2 inches, which is about twice of the normal ~6 x ~8 inches. In other words, it would make about 700 pages with the normal format.

This is a great book for those doing research on the history of Jehovah's Witnesses. Each chapter is a premise set forth by the author that is either proven or disproved by the sources quoted in the chapter. The author left no stone unturned when searching for information. You'll read quotes from court transcripts, snippets of "Watchtower" and "Awake!" articles, articles by C. T. Russell, interviews with former Bethelites, and much more.

But don't open this book expecting to be entertained. This book is research, not pleasure reading. If you can plow through the dry reading, you'll learn a great deal about what made Jehovah's Witnesses into what they are today. I don't regret reading it.

I HAVE READ AT LEAST 10 BOOKS ON THE WITNESSES.
THIS FINE BOOK BY EDMUND GRUSS IS THE BEST ONE
THAT I'VE READ,ALONG W/CRISES OF CONSCIOUS.
IT DOES A SUPERB JOB OF GOING BACK TO THE
FOUNDER OF THE JWS,CHARLES T. RUSSELL.
IT UNEQUIVALLY HOW THE WATHCHTOWER HAS CHANGED
IT'S TEACHINGS AND ALSO HOW IT'S BEEN TIME AND
TIME AGAIN ABOUT THE LAST DAYS!
THIS IS A MUST HAVE BOOK ON THE JEHOVAH'S WITNESSES!
REMEMBER "THE TRUTH WILL SET YOU FREE".

Edmond Gruss was raised by a mother who was a Jehovah's Witness; he is also the author/editor of books such as We Left Jehovah's Witnesses: Personal Testimonies, Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation, Apostles of Denial, The Four Presidents of the Watch Tower Society (Jehovah's Witnesses), etc.

He wrote in the Preface to this 2001 book, "The more I investigated the matter, the longer the study became. It resulted in my book, 'The Jehovah's Witnesses and Prophetic Speculation'... The study looked back at the past Watch Tower Society failures and forward to the year 1975 (which also failed). As I write this, many years have gone by ... and much has been written exposing the doctrines and prophetic failures of the Witnesses. My interest in the subject has continued over the years with the collection of further historical information, examples of prophetic failure, erroneous interpretations, and doctrinal changes, far beyond what I put in the 'Speculation' book. The present study is the result of those findings."

Here are some additional quotations from the book:

"Russell's statement in The Time is at Hand is quoted... 'In view of this strong Bible evidence,' Rev. Russell wrote in 1889, 'we consider it an established truth that the final end of the kingdoms of this world and the full establishment of the Kingdom of God will be accomplished by the end of A.D. 1914.'" (Pg. 85)
"In conclusion, 'The World Magazine' article, which stated that 'the terrific war outbreak in Europe has fulfilled an extraordinary prophecy,' cannot be used to support the Society's claim that Russell accurately predicted the beginning of World War I. Rather, it should be seen as another proof of prophetic failure." (Pg. 86)
"(T)he Watchtower's book Revelation: Its Grand Climax at Hand! also ignored the claims made for The Finished Mystery and stated concerning it: 'In time, though, this book proved to be unsatisfactory as an explanation of Revelation. The remnant of Christ's brothers had to wait a little while longer, until the visions started to be fulfilled, for an accurate understanding of that inspired record.'" (Pg. 172)
"But not until a few years ago were readers of Watch Tower Society publications informed 'that the prime foundation and the whole strength of the claim that "Millions Now Living Will Never Die" rested on the predictions about 1925, predictions that proved utterly false.' For example, Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose... makes no reference to the 1925 focus of the campaign..." (Pg. 186)
"Jehovah's Witnesses in the Divine Purpose (1959) makes no mention of the fact that Watch Tower Society presidents C.T. Russell and J.F. Rutherford (until 1932) were strong promoters of Zionism. Since that time, many articles or statements in Watch Tower publications---which disparage Zionism---make no mention of this fact." (Pg. 199)
"Rather than 'one of the outstanding blessings to be carried home,' the Society's latest promotion of the 6000-year theory was the basis of what turned out to be yet another Watch Tower directed fiasco..." (Pg. 312)
"...note how the November 1, 1995 Watchtower interprets its past record: '...Jehovah's people have at times speculated about the time when the "great tribulation" would break out, even tying this to calculations of what is the lifetime of a generation since 1914.' ... The new understanding of 'this generation' is then stated: '..."this generation" apparently refers to the peoples of the earth who see the sign of Christ's presence but fail to mend their ways.'" (Pg. 329)
"The more one investigates the interpretations and speculations of ... others responsible for the publications of the Watch Tower Society, the more one sees the magnitude of their errors, follies, fiascoes, and failures... There is a record of over 125 years..." (Pg. 341)

The Bible : ( New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures)...PROVERBS 16: 6 " By Loving-kindness and trueness ERROR is atoned for , and in the fear of Jehovah one turns away from bad."

This book proved a disappointment. One reviewer said "Jehovah's Witnesses by Professor Edmond Gruss is one of the best documented and most devastating critiques of the Watchtower ever written." So, after reading and thoroughly enjoying the two books written by Raymond Franz, former Governing Body member, I read this one. But it's little more than a review of other's research. As a literary piece, it's written like a third grade degree essay, offering little critical examination and never really adding anything new. Don't bother with this one!

No useful information is given. every religion in the world has claim to know when the world will end. everything Jehovah Witnessesss believe is find in the bible everything from the 144,000 in Revelation 14:1-4. To The end of this world.