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Posted by Rational [trw] on October 28, 1999 at 15:02:15 {BrTq3yWfsYYgCUWv3.1cm0FN8UzOHE}:

In Reply to: ************ posted by on October 28, 1999 at 10:20:48:

Friend,

I give up. Either you're still thinking in your native language (presumably not English), or you're simply too self-invested in defending your ego that you cannot admit what is obvious to anyone else.

My comments were not a "red herring". This is the red herring:

> ... Unless you contend that the Society teaches that Jesus’ parable could not apply until beyond [the period of] 'the conclusion of the system', then you cannot contend that the supposed 'serious mistake' was made.

The actual quote, again, was:

> Survival into a New Earth (1984) p.120

> It would be a serious mistake to reason that, because the destruction of the "goats" is everlasting, the parable could not apply until later on, perhaps during the Millennial Reign of Christ. On the contrary, Jesus gave this parable as part of the sign of "the conclusion of the system of things." (Matthew 24:3) What he describes takes place after he is enthroned but also while his "brothers" are still in the flesh and experiencing the hardships that he mentions.

Now, did the Society associate the parable with the "sign" of a certain time period or did they not? Did they associate it with the time period during which Jesus' "brothers" were experiencing hardships fomented by the world, or not? The words are right there: "Jesus gave this parable as part of the sign of 'the conclusion of the system of things.'" Inarguably, they associated the parable with "the sign". That "sign" was understood (and still IS!) to have begun in 1914 and to be the precursor of Armageddon, NOT part of Armageddon. So to say that the parable was "part of the sign" was to say that it preceded Armageddon. This is borne out by the additional statement that the parable would be fulfilled "while his 'brothers' are still in the flesh and experiencing the hardships that he mentions," which hardships precede (and, according to the Society, even provoke) Armageddon. The Society had no intention of suggesting that the parable might be fulfilled sometime (anytime) before the Millennium. The only "period of time" during which the Society originally allowed for it to be fulfilled was from 1914 up through the time concommitant with "the sign" and "the hardships that he mentions." Anything else was "a serious mistake."

Rational

P.S. Would you please stop calling everything you find difficult to refute "irrelevant"? It's irritating.

Follow Ups:

- ************** Friend 16:09:04 10/28/99 (3)
  - *************** Rational 17:30:31 10/28/99 (2)
    - **************** Friend 20:16:53 10/28/99 (1)
      - ***************** Friend addendum 20:38:29 10/28/99 (0)

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