COGNITIVE DISSONANCE – A CASE OF FALSE PROPHECIES BY THE WATCHTOWER ORGANISATION

INTRODUCTION

This writeup tries to present what we have been seeing occurring every now and then in almost every religious organization. Inside observers of these event in the affected religious organization may not understand or accept the significance of such event, but outside observers accept these significances more readily. The question is, Why? Why do outside observers seems to be more mentality in tune and alert to these events while insiders these event affect are not? In particular, why do outsider see cases of false prophecies in religious organization which signify a lack of God’s backing, called it for what it is “a false prophecy” while insiders of these religious organization make excuses for them, sometimes even blinded to it?

What is here presented is written to those whose background are those of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the first section prevents cases of false prophecies or prediction, of which members of Jehovah’s Witnesses will quickly point to these as signifying a lack of God’s support. It tries to show how they explain these events and why they are right in such explanations. It also shows how members/followers of these source of false prophecies response to them.

In section 2, though not exhaustive, I try to present how the parent organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses justifies their own false prophecies. The argument can range from; wrong expectations, blaming members for reading meaning into messages that was not “intended”, claiming they based their interpretation from the bible to denying used the specific expression “in the name of Jehovah” among others. These arguments are attempt to avoid calling a spade a spade. However, I also need to prove without any reasonable doubt that watchtower and the leaders of Jehovah’s Witnesses bear the responsible for those false messages which they cannot deny. It is shown that watchtower, together with their governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses see themselves as God’s spokesman, God’s prophet, the only source of direction from God etc.

In section 3, I presented what amounted to a double standard, from the members of Jehovah’s witnesses and their parent organization, the watchtower and their leaders the governing body. In essence, they use one sort of measure to justify own false predictions while using something different to measure the false prophecies of others.

In section 4, I tried to explain why cognitive dissonance is such a strong force, basically blinding the minds and heart of these religious adherence to what they are really seeing and why they find it hard to comprehend and accept that there have really been cases false prophecies by false prophet which never had God’s backing.

Section 5 concludes the presentation, bringing home the point. I presented why members of Jehovah’s Witnesses and of other religious group hardly ever understand the significance of false prophecies within them while being quick to point the finger at others.

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SECTION 1:
CASES OF FALSE PROPHECIES/PREDICTIONS IN RECENT TIMES


In 2015, these notable prophecies were made by men who claim to represent God.

Apostle Fredrick, Senior Pastor of Wonder City Chapel and President of the BB Frederick Ministries, Ghana prophesied “Nigerians should watch out for the second term of His Excellency President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. Although it looks very challenging with him and his ruling party now, yet the Lord says Nigerians shouldn’t lose hope in Jonathan. As long as I’m concerned as a man gifted by God to see the past, the current and the future beyond the curtains of the natural, I know by the inspiration of the Almighty that President Jonathan is the set man for Nigeria. His next term on the seat will bring liberation to Nigeria...On this account I therefore declare that HE Goodluck Ebele Jonathan will win the coming elections.”

Senior Pastor, Champions Royal Assembly, Prophet Joshua Iginla also prophesied: “President Jonathan will win, but he has to pray about his health and so many political blows. I pray the two people who enter the Aso Villa will leave together.”

Apostle Johnson Suleiman, Selman Nimmak of the Eternity Network International (E.N.I) prophesied: “I see president Goodluck Jonathan coming back but trouble… Patience Jonathan needs serious prayers. 2015 presidential election will be rigged, marred in violence and end up in court case. 2015 election is another June 12. The man who truly won will not govern or rule.”

Needless to say, these prophecies all failed. Though these men prophesied with force, claiming God’s backing, that such prophesies came from God, but evidently, to any discerning mind, it was not. The Almighty of the universe never commission them to reveal such prophecies neither did he send them.

Jehovah’s Witnesses Response to these prophecies

Ask any Jehovah’s Witnesses today, as to these prophecies and their claim to God’s backing, they will quickly dismiss them, as works of the devil, even if the prophecies never turn false. They will quickly show you from the bible that these men are workers of lawlessness (Mt 7:23), God never sent them and they prophesied falsely in God’s name (Deut 18:20-22)

Response of the followers of these ‘men’ to these prophecies

Members or followers of these ‘men’ of God will quickly dismiss these failed prophecies as regards their significance. To them, it is no sign of lack of God’s backing or approval. To them, they simply dismiss the significance of these to ‘God changed his mind’ or ‘God works in a different way’ or "God acts in mysterious ways". They could also claim your lack of understanding.

For instance, after the failed prediction on US general election, where President Donald Trump won, Pastor Prophet T. B. Joshua deleted his failed prophetic declaration in the Church Official Facebook account. In its place, he posted a seven-line prayer urging his members to join him in prayer.

While many comment on the page reminded readers and posters of the false prophecy by a man who claimed God sent him, one of such post saying clearly “TB Joshua prophecy just showed 80% of Nigeria pastors are broad day light armed robber who use spiritual guns to kill you”, it didn’t take long for church followers to swarm the church official Facebook page with prayers, praising “Papa Prophet T.B Joshua for his powerful and amazing prayers.”

Less than two hours after his Wednesday call for prayers on Facebook, the post garnered nearly 4,000 comments. Post such as these are seen:

“Thank you Lord Jesus Christ for all you have done and still doing in my life, Holy Spirit give me the grace to live a life of purity and honour to the glory of your name and assist me to overcome every evil spirit against my life and family. Thank you, God for in Jesus mighty name, I pray amen”,

“Lord Jesus I kneel before and ask for kindness make me strong to resist evil spirits and stand before, purify my heart and make me clean from bad thing in me. Lord bless my thought and accompany me in my pray during morning ours.”

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The point:

The point is, the significance of these failed prophesies is never examined by followers of these movement. If they had, it would have been clear to them that in the words of Deuteronomy 20:18 – 20, these men spoke presumptuously in God’s name. Frankly, “Jehovah did not speak that word. The prophet spoke it presumptuously.” (Deut 20:20)

It is easy for an outsider, who is not a member of the movement to consider with an open mind the significance of these occurrence. It certainly is easy for Jehovah’s witnesses to consider frankly, reading the scriptures to show that indeed, God was never with these men neither did he sent them.

How about asking themselves the same questions when their prophecies fail? How about being frank with themselves, considering their failed prophecies with an open mind as they often do with other religion?

Let us see!!!

SECTION 2:
WATCHTOWER ORGANISATION JUSTIFY THESE FALSE PROPHECIES

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For the avoidance of doubt, Jehovah’s witnesses have a 100% rate of prophecy failure. None of their prophecies or predictions ever come true. Below is listing of a series of failed prophecies of Jehovah’s Witnesses, from the days of Russel, till Rutherford and during the reins of the present governing body.

Coming of Christ 1874
Resurrection 1878
End of favor to the Gentiles 1881
Armageddon 1914
Abraham, Isaac etc. to be resurrected 1915
Christendom and its churches destroyed 1918
Disappearances of the Republic 1920
Establishment of God’s Kingdom on earth 1925
Abraham, ancient worthies to be resurrected 1925
End of the world, Armageddon 1925
This generation shall not pass away 2010

For detailed consideration of these false prophecies, please read these articles
https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/failed-1914-predictions.php
https://www.jwfacts.com/watchtower/1800s.php
https://jwfacts.com/watchtower/jehovahs-prophet.php
http://www.bible.ca/Jw-Prophecy.htm

The awake! March 22, 1993 pages 3-4, says

“There are some who make spectacular predictions of the world’s end to grab attention and a following, but others are sincerely convinced that their proclamations are true. They are voicing expectations based on their own interpretation of some scripture text or physical event. They do not claim that their predictions are direct revelations from Jehovah and that in this sense they are prophesying in Jehovah’s name. Hence, in such cases, when their words do not come true, they should not be viewed as false prophets such as those warned against at Deuteronomy 18:20-22. In their human fallibility, they misinterpreted matters.” *

In the accompanying footnote, they continued

“Jehovah’s Witnesses, in their eagerness for Jesus’ second coming, have suggested dates that turned out to be incorrect. Because of this, some have called them false prophets. Never in these instances, however, did they presume to originate predictions ‘in the name of Jehovah.’ Never did they say, ‘These are the words of Jehovah.’ The Watchtower, the official journal of Jehovah’s Witnesses, has said: “We have not the gift of prophecy.” (January 1883, page 425) “Nor would we have our writings reverenced or regarded as infallible.” (December 15, 1896, page 306) The Watchtower has also said that the fact that some have Jehovah’s spirit “does not mean those now serving as Jehovah’s witnesses are inspired. It does not mean that the writings in this magazine The Watchtower are inspired and infallible and without mistakes.” (May 15, 1947, page 157) “The Watchtower does not claim to be inspired in its utterances, nor is it dogmatic.” (August 15, 1950, page 263) “The brothers preparing these publications are not infallible. Their writings are not inspired as are those of Paul and the other Bible writers. (2 Tim. 3:16) And so, at times, it has been necessary, as understanding became clearer, to correct views. (Prov. 4:18)”—February 15, 1981, page 19.”

More of such argument can be found in Watch Tower 1926 Jul 1 p.196; The Watchtower 1976 Jul 15 pp.440-441; The Watchtower 1980 March 15 p.17; Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom p.633

The watchtower argues that:

• They were “sincerely convinced that their proclamations are true”, because their proclamations were “based on their own interpretation of some scriptural text”
• They also argue that since they do not use expressions such as “their predictions are direct revelations from”, that never in these predictions “did they presume to originate predictions in the name of Jehovah” and that they did not say “these are the words of Jehovah” (See footnote above)
• That their official Journal, the watchtower had said “We have not the gift of prophecy”, “Nor would we have our writings reverenced or regarded as infallible.” (See footnote above)
• They treat their failed prophecies as mere mistakes, evidence of human imperfection, as evidence of great desire and enthusiasm to see God’s promises fulfilled.
• After the fail prophecies of 1975, the watchtower defended themselves by shifting the blames on members, claiming that they had mistaken view of expected events. In 1976, the Watchtower printed an incredulous article chastising those that planned their lives around a certain date, a date which they prophesied and built expectations on. (See The watchtower, 1976 Jul 15 pp.440-441)
• Shifting blames after the failed 1925 prophecies, the watchtower uses expressions such as “but this was merely an expressed opinion; besides it is still shortly after 1925”; “On the basis of what was said there, many hoped that” (See Watch Tower 1926 Jul 1 p.196, Jehovah's Witnesses - Proclaimers of God's Kingdom p.632)

Counter Argument – Fact:

• It is one thing for wanting to see something happen, to have a desire and enthusiasm to see God’s promises fulfilled. It is quite another thing to urge others to share these views, to criticize those who do not, even to question their faith or impugn their motives if they do not see the matter as you see it.
• Ask any member of Jehovah’s witness how they view materials in the watchtower publications, their response will be that such materials come from God. The publication of the governing body are seen and view as coming from God. They interpretation of any scriptural text and its application cannot be questioned. Infact, the day you question such, is the day your ‘loyalty and faith’ to God is questioned. Any that questions the governing body or its publication is likened to Korah, Dathan and Abiram of the bible. If care is not taken, and if the individual does not recant, he will be disfellowship.
• Basically, questioning the governing body or its interpretation or publication is equated to questioning God. It cannot be done and strictly forbidden.
• There is no excuse as to who the watchtower claim to represent, in their own words, they are the ‘only true religion’, the only religious organization having God’s favor, God spokesman, God’s prophet.
• The bible recognizes no such simplistic criteria for determining the wrongness of presuming to speak in the name of God and foretelling things which fail to come to pass.
• In ancient Israel, a false prophet may not necessarily employ specific expressions such as “this is a direct revelation from Jehovah” or speaking of themselves by such terms as “infallible” and “inspired”, but the pretense is there that their words were indeed from Jehovah.
• To argue that since they do not use expressions such as, “this is a direct revelation from Jehovah,” or to avoid applying such terms as “infallible” and “inspired” to themselves do not in any way absorbed them from the guilt of false predicting.
• The pretense of being Jehovah’s mouthpiece was there and is always there.
• Insight on the scriptures, Page 468, paragraph 2 recognizes that to “speak or to act ‘in the name of’ another denoted doing so as a representative of that one.” To “speak in God’s name” mean doing so as a representative of God. The watchtower organization lays claim to being the only organization representing God, to the exclusion of all others.
• The Watchtower organization lays claim to being Jehovah’s true prophet. In an article entitled “They Shall Know that a Prophet Was Among Them.” (See the Watchtower, April 1, 1972, page 197) They claim Jehovah has a prophet today, called “Jehovah’s Christian Witnesses”, joined by hundreds of thousands of others.
• In their false prophecies, expressions such as - “we see no reason for changing the figures-nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God’s dates, not ours” - are often seen.
• While true that in recent times, expressions like “our understanding” is often used, how meaningful are such expressions when at the same time, God is brought into the picture as backing up these predicted dates or understanding? Or that they are unquestionable, must be accepted hook, line and sinker?
• In trying to explain away the failures of “this generation” prophecy to accommodate an “overlapping generation”, the expression “Jesus evidently meant that” is used. (See Watchtower Jun 15, 2010, p.5) How meaningless are the claim made that since they did not use the specific expressions “this is a direct revelation from Jehovah”, they are not guilty of false prophesying when Jesus is brought into the picture and a claim to know what Jesus meant?
• Consider phrases such as “emphatically manifest”, “clearly marks the time”, “prove”, “a fact firmly established by the scriptures”, “an established truth”, “is definitely marked in the scripture”, “particularly marked in the Scriptures”, “the indisputable facts” among others used in their argument to support the time prophecies.
• Russell referred to himself as God’s spokesman and presented the chronological predictions as the product of God’s guidance upon his people. God’s name and his Word were certainly involved in all that is presented.
• Rutherford indicated (in The Harp of God p. 234) that a person is not of “reasonable mind” if they do not believe the time prophecy he promulgated, that the “physical facts cannot be disputed”
• In the Revelation, Its Grand Climax at Hand! watchtower distinctly describes its leadership as the Two Witnesses that prophesied accurately. (Revelation, It's Grand Climax At Hand! p.164)
• The old mission statement of the Awake! was that it “builds confidence in the Creator's promise of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away”. (See Why Awake! Is Published, Awake! 1993, page 4) The generation that saw 1914 had since passed away. The ‘creator’s promise’ - of a peaceful and secure new world before the generation that saw the events of 1914 passes away – had since failed. How else does Watchtower hope to speak in Jehovah’s name than this?
• The Watchtower Organization claims to have been “commissioned to serve as the mouthpiece and active agent of Jehovah … commission to speak as a prophet in the name of Jehovah…" (See The Nations Shall Know that I am Jehovah" - How? pp.58, 62)
• The Watchtower organization claims to be “commission to speak as a "prophet" in His name…" (See Watchtower 1972 Mar 15 p.189), it’s magazine is “a magazine without equal in the earth … This is not giving any credit to the magazine's publishers, but is due to the great Author of the Bible with it truths and prophecies, and who now interprets its prophecies." (See Watchtower 1943 Apr 15 p.127)
• How meaningless are the claim made that since they did not use the specific expressions “this is a direct revelation from Jehovah”, they are not guilty of false prophesying when Jehovah is brought into the picture and a claim is made as He being the source of the prophecies?

Since the vast majority of Jehovah’s witnesses and readers have no access to their earlier publications, the watchtower organization can trade on their ignorance, downing playing the seriousness and its significance of their false prediction by a selective use of quotations and either gloss over or deliberately ignore other clear statement made by earlier publication that could have shown their false prophecies.
Very frequently the tactic employed is that of emphasizing the absence of specific terminology, such as, “in the name of Jehovah” as if the nonuse of those particular words or phrases frees them from having made false predictions in the name of God.

This tactic is simply a “red herring”, an act of drawing attention away from the failure of the prophecies by switching focus to the willingness of many to stick with and support the organization despite its having fed them false hopes, while representing those who opted not to do so as being “spiritually weak”, as “having grown weary in God’s service,” or being governing by selfish motives.

Looking at the above quotes from watchtower publication, it is very clear how they view themselves and their publications. It is not necessary to use the expressions “these are the words of Jehovah”, the pretense was there that their proclamations were from Jehovah and in so many cases, they have repeated called themselves Jehovah’s prophet.

SECTION 3:
TWO SORTS OF WEIGHT FOR MEASURING


Two sorts of weights are something detestable to Jehovah, and a cheating pair of scales is not good. —Proverbs 20:23.

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When other religious groups and their prophecies turns false, The Watchtower Organization and Jehovah’s witnesses are quick to prove from the scriptures that they are indeed a false group. (This is also true even if the predicted event occurs)

They will quickly show the words of Jesus as Mt 7:22 as evident lack of God’s back for prophecies of today, both those unfulfilled and those fulfilled. Consider one of such condemnation from the Awake! of 1968, Oct 8, p. 23. The watchtower, while trying to build expectations and hope for the failed 1975 end of the world prophesy stated:

“True, there have been those in times past who predicted an “end to the world,” even announcing a specific date … Yet nothing happened. The “end” did not come. They were guilty of false prophesying. Why? What was missing?

Missing from such people were God’s truths and the evidence that he was guiding and using them”
Obviously, while making the 1975 prophetic proclamations, the watchtower organization believed they had ‘God’s truth and the evidence that he was guiding and using them’. The ‘evidence’ provided by the watchtower origination was there, “all of it” and “overwhelming”.

Obviously, while making the 1975 prophetic proclamations, the watchtower organization believed they had ‘God’s truth and the evidence that he was guiding and using them’. The ‘evidence’ provided by the watchtower origination was there, “all of it” and “overwhelming”.

The 1975 prediction came and went, nothing happened. The “end” the watchtower proclaimed did not come. From they own words, watchtower was guilty of false prophesying. Evidently, in their own words, what was missing in the watchtower’s prophetic proclamations was “God’s truths and the evidence that he was guiding and using them.”

More recently, the May 1, 1997 Watchtower, on page 8, said:

“JEHOVAH GOD is the Grand Identifier of his true messengers. He identifies them by making the messages he delivers through them come true. Jehovah is also the Great Exposer of false messengers. How does he expose them? He frustrates their signs and predictions. In this way, he shows that they are self-appointed prognosticators, whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning—yes, their foolish, fleshly thinking!”

To arrive at their prophetic proclamations, the watchtower organization uses a series of reasoning, chronological calculations and some obscured, unrelated reasoning and argument. As these prediction fails, there are a signs from God that the watchtower is a self-appointed prognosticator, whose messages really spring from their own false reasoning, their fleshly thinking.

The watchtower organization treats the failures of their prophetic messages as mere evidence of human imperfection and also as evidence of a great desire and enthusiasm to see God’s promises fulfilled. Yet, they apply a different measure to other religions that use the bible to predict event that fails. As an example, Christian Preacher Harold Camping used Bible calculations to predict Judgement Day and the "end of the world" in 2011. The Watchtower refers to these predictions as prophecy, stating:

"Some believed that the earth would end on October 21, 2011. It did not. Thus, the prophecy of U.S. radio broadcaster Harold Camping rang hollow. He predicted that Judgement Day would come on May 21, 2011 …" (See Watchtower 2012 Feb 1 p.25)

By the watchtower’s own standards, its interpretative predictions are prophecies and so the failure of these prophecies deem it a false prophet. They also try to justify their false prophecies as wrong expectations, comparing it to the first century Christian and also shifting the blame from where it truly lay, from the leadership’s false prediction to the expectations of Jehovah’s Witnesses as a whole. (See Watchtower, Jan 1, 2013 p.

But this is a faulty argument, as the wrong expectations among the first century Christians or Jesus disciples where not taught as truths from Jehovah, as the watchtower has been doing. Jehovah's Witnesses are trained to dismiss changes and errors as either mistaken eagerness or incomplete truths, yet they are quick to point to others as false prophet.

The is a case of double standard, using two sorts of weights for measuring, a case of applying different standards to the same situation.

A Jehovah’s witness will see all the proofs that their religious organization had prophesied falsely. That they have had series of predictions that turn out false, dates are changed after failures and future prophesies may also turn out false. They themselves have been prominent in referring to the predictions of other religious groups as false and predictor a false prophet.

QUESTION

However, the question is, why have they been able to ignore the falsehood in their own religious structure? Why have they not recognize something to be wrong or look into the scriptures to see how they apply with their religious organization?

SECTION 4:
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: WHAT IS IT? HOW DOES IT WORK?


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Cognitive dissonance is the mental discomfort (psychological stress) experienced by a person who simultaneously holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values. The occurrence of cognitive dissonance is a consequence of a person's performing an action that contradicts personal beliefs, ideals, and values; and also occurs when confronted with new information that contradicts said beliefs, ideals, and values.

A simple way of illustrating what cognitive dissonance is can be compared with a cigarette smoker who believes that smoking is bad for his health has an opinion that is dissonant with the knowledge that he is continuing to smoke. He may have many other opinions, beliefs, or items of knowledge that are consonant with continuing to smoke but the dissonance nevertheless exists too.

In a religious setting, this real-life example shows how cognitive dissonance works, making people to continue with a belief system though proven false.

As early as the second century, the charismatic leader Montanus gained a following around the belief that the second coming of the Lord was at hand, and that this would occur at a specific location according to his "New Prophecy". Harold O.J. Brown in his book Heresies (1984) says,

"Montanus' conviction that the end of the age was at hand led him to call on Christians to abstain from marriage, dissolve marriages already contracted, and gather in an appropriate place to await the descent of the heavenly city. The heavenly city did not descend when expected, and consequently Montanus and his followers had to come to terms with its delay, as the whole church had to learn to deal with the postponement of Christ's Second Coming."

What is interesting, however, was that the Montanists did not die out right away, but continued for several centuries in Phrygia of Asia Minor. But how did the failure of the prophecies affect the members, their belief in the prophecy gets stronger, and how did they cope with disillusionment and finally regroup with greater strength?

Leon Festinger’s theory explains that the dissonance produces discomfort and, correspondingly, there will arise pressures to reduce or eliminate the dissonance. Attempt to reduce the cognitive dissonance reveals that the dissonance exists in the first place. Such attempts may take any or all of three forms. The person may try to change one or more of the beliefs, opinions, or behaviors involved in the dissonance; to acquire new information or beliefs that will increase the existing consonance and thus cause the total dissonance to be reduced; or to forget or reduce the importance of those cognitions that are in a dissonant relationship." (p. 25-26)

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Leon Festinger also explained that, alternatively, the cognitive dissonance is reduced or eliminated if the members effectively blind themselves to the fact that the prophecies have failed. But most members are in touch with realities and would not simply blot out their cognition of the unequivocal and undeniable fact that such failures exist, but they try to ignore it and they usually do. They may convince themselves that the date was wrong but that the prediction will, after all, be fulfilled shortly or they can simply set another date or timetable.

The members also rationalize, which reduces the dissonance somewhat. And the rationalization is effective, as they can turn to other members suffering the same disillusionment for support. New explanations to the fail prediction is presented, members show their support and the movement recovers somewhat from the shock of the disconfirmation.

A research conducted by Festinger which study a small group of followers, who predicted a world cataclysm but which evidently failed shows that the end of the failure of a prophecy often have the opposite effect of what the average person might expect. An average person may think that failures of prophecies will lead to the movement dying out, however, the opposite is often true. The movement often gets stronger, members even more convinced of the truth of their actions and beliefs!

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Festinger observes:

"A man with a conviction is a hard man to change. Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.”

"We have all experienced the futility of trying to change a strong conviction, especially if the convinced person has some investment in his belief. We are familiar with the variety of ingenious defenses with which people protect their convictions, managing to keep them unscathed through the most devastating attacks.”

"But man's resourcefulness goes beyond simply protecting a belief. Suppose an individual believes something with his whole heart; suppose further that he has a commitment to this belief, that he has taken irrevocable actions because of it; finally, suppose that he is presented with evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that his belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of his beliefs than ever before. Indeed, he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting other people to his view.”

SECTION 5:
CONCLUSION


The above explains why Apostle Fredrick, Prophet Joshua Iginla and Apostle Johnson Suleiman still have followers, irrespective of their false prophecies, which could have indicated to the members of their movement they never had God’s backing.

The above also explains why Prophet T. B. Joshua still have a following despite their failed prediction and obvious lack of God’s backing in his prophecies. The example shown illustrated above clearly shows that, in the words of Deut 18:18-20, the self-appointed prognosticators, who message proceeded from their own false reasoning, the prophets “spoke it presumptuously”.

The evidence that the watchtower organization has been predicting falsely is overwhelming. None of their prediction has ever come true, none will. The claim that 1914 was predicted correctly is completely false. The claim date for Christ invisible presence was not change, until the year following J. F. Rutherford’s death, Rutherford Died in1942.

The failure of “this generation” prophecy in 2010 was another clear indication, that the watchtower organization had no backing from Jehovah in their false prophecies. Just like in all cases of cognitive dissonance in all religious organization, the watchtower organization had found a way to rationalize their failure, explained in a different way and shifted the prophecy to apply to some sort of overlapping generation. Anticipating the failures of “this generation” doctrine, the governing body of Jehovah’s Witnesses, the head controlling the watchtower organization had introduced a new generation teaching, an indication of their lack of confidence that the end may not occur within the lifespan of the generation of the previous prophecies.

Of course, this was all a part plan in preparation of when the last member of the governing body, who witness the event of 1914 died and it was no surprise that the “this generation” of Mt 24:34 was then extended to include an overlapping generation.

The question then is, despite the failures in prophecies, and the significance that God never originated the prophecies, that the predictions were a result of own false reasoning, why do members of the organization of Jehovah’s Witnesses, members of the synagogue church of God, followers of Apostle Fredrick, Prophet Joshua Iginla and Apostle Johnson Suleiman and a litany of other small groups and movement still follow their leaders?

The answer can be found in these two words “Cognitive Dissonance”

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There's cognitive dissonance and intellect disconnect on matters of religion and sense. Mutually exclusive events, period.