"Someone who accepts the Watchtower Society as God's
spirit-directed prophet and theocratic organization upon the earth."
"A zealous people who blindly proclaim an ever changing
future catastrophe"
"What is sociologically interesting about JW's is that
they derive psychological satisfaction from perceiving a coherent
pattern in their beliefs regardless of possible inner inconsistencies,
and that, even if they do notice inconsistencies, they can then
abrogate personal responsibility for their own beliefs in the
safe conviction that someone, somewhere in the WTS must be able
to solve the problem. An implicit premise in the argument is usually
that, if the perceived inconsistencies were real, then the beliefs
would not have gained widespread popularity" (James A. Beckford,
"The Trumpet of Prophecy: A sociological Study of Jehovah's
Witnesses", p120)
Example of doctrine changing over
time:
Old Light
New Light
"Millions Now Living Will Never Die" Rutherford, 1920
"You can survive the end of this system of things" Watchtower 6/15/89, p7
"Millions Now Dead Will Live Again" Watchtower, May l, 1990
