Why do Jehovah's Witnesses say that God's Kingdom was established in 1914? Let us examime their two solid lines of evidence. (1) BIBLE CHRONOLOGY (2) WORLD HISTORY/EVENTS

Let's take up BIBLE CHRONOLOGY first. I'm requesting you to read DANIEL 4:1-17. This talks of the Babylonian King's dream about a 'Great Tree Being Chopped down and Banded So That It Will Not Regrow Until SEVEN TIMES Have Passed.

Verses 20-37 of Daniel chapter 4 show that this prophetic dream had a fulfillment upon Nebuchadnezzar. BUT it also has a larger fulfillment. How do we know that?

Verses 2 and 3 show that this dream of Nebuchadnezzar is a God-given dream and it deals with the Kingdom of God. Verse 17 shows the God's promise to give his Kingdom, 'to the one whom he wants to... even the lowliest one of mankind.' Who is this 'lowliest one of mankind'?

The bible's description of Jesus shows that he was indeed 'the lowliest one of mankind.'(Phil 2:7,8; Matt 11:28-30) Interestingly, the entire bible shows that Jehovah's purpose is for his own Son, Jesus Christ, to rule as His representative over mankind.(Ps 2:1-8; Dan. 7:13,14; 1Cor. 15:23-25; Rev. 11:15; 12:10) THE PROPHETIC DREAM,THEN, POINTS TO THE TIME WHEN JEHOVAH WOULD GIVE RULERSHIP OVER MANKIND TO HIS OWN SON.

WHAT WAS TO HAPPEN IN THE MEANTIME? The large tree and its rootstock represent God's rulership over mankind. At verse 14, the angel tells that the 'tree' must be chop down, meaning God's rulership over mankind ceases. At verse 16, the 'tree' would have 'the heart of the beast.' What does this mean? It means that mankind will be dominated by governments that displayed the characteristics of wild beasts.

Its worthy noting that in modern times, the bear is commonly used to represent Russia; the eagle, the United States; the lion, Britain; the dragon, China. The bible, itself, uses wild beasts as symbols of world governments.(Dan. 7:2-8,17,23; 8:20-22; Rev. 13:1,2) WHAT WILL THESE GOVERNMENTS DO OVER GOD'S KINGDOM? Jesus, giving a prophecy pointing to the conclusion of the system of things, said: 'JERUSALEM WILL BE TRAMPLED ON BY NATIONS, UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIMES OF THE NATIONS ARE FULFILLED. (Luke 21:24) (KJV uses 'Gentile Times') Jerusalem represents God's heavenly Kingdom.(1Chron. 28:4,5) So, the Gentile governments would 'trample' on the right of God's Kingdom to rule over mankind. FOR HOW LONG?

What? Coolit - please get to the point... How are you tryin to fit the Watch Tower to God's Kingdom IN 1914? I clearly dont have a problem with a statement like ''jw are the only seavents talked about in the bible. But putting years? Please man. Dont hit around the bush - show proove! Where does 1914 fit in the bible???

Uhm.. I'm not done yet fellow. Don't get too excited. Hehe... Now, i continue...

FOR HOW LONG WOULD EARTHLY GOVERNMENTS BE PERMITTED TO TRAMPLE ON GOD'S RULERSHIP OVER MANKIND BEFORE JEHOVAH GAVE THE KINGDOM TO JESUS? Daniel 4:16 says: 'SEVEN TIMES'.('seven years,' AT, Mo,) The bible shows that in calculating prophetic time, A DAY IS COUNTED AS A YEAR.( Ezek. 4:6; Num 14:34) How many prophetic 'days' are involved in this prophetic 'seven years'? Bible year is equal to 360 days (Rev 11:2,3) So 'seven years' would be 2,520 days. Applying the rule 'DAY FOR A YEAR' would result in 2,520 years. The question now is: WHEN DID THE COUNTING OF THE 'SEVEN TIMES'(2,520years)BEGIN?

According to Daniel's prophecy, SEVEN TIMES would start after the TREE was cut down. The TREE represents God's rulership over mankind. And JERUSALEM served as the typical Kingdom of God. On 607 B.C.E., Zedekiah, the last king who ruled in Jerusalem was removed from the throne by the Babylonians.( Ezek. 21:25-27) NO GOD- APPOINTED HUMAN KING has ruled in Jerusalem since 607 B.C.E. So, God's rulership over mankind has been inactive since 607 B.C.E. However, after SEVEN TIMES, God will give the Kingdom to Jesus Christ. HOW, THEN, IS THE TIME CALCULATED DOWN TO 1914?

Counting 2,520 years (seven times) from the last quarter of 607 B.C.E brings us to 1914 C.E. What happened in 1914?

In 1914, Jehovah entrusted rulership over mankind to his own Son, Jesus Christ, glorified in the heavens- Daniel 7:13,14. (to be continued)

coolit the only thing in this entire post that is correct is the DAY for YEAR principle in Bible prophecy.I didn't even know JW knew that.Anyway thats all you are correct on.

I read a great answer from yahoo answers (its the 1st or last one on the 1914 question), its a bit similar to your thou. I now understand why JW are so sure about 1914. I feels a lil bit true...

Well... Im not going to protest anybody's beliefs. I dont have any bible quote that will counter this belief anyway (n I dont plan on getting one). an*lyzing the bible wont benefit me at all, it will just make me do some wrongful end of world predictions like other christian groups have done.

Maybe it's time to present the 2nd solid evidence: historical evidence pointing to 1914 as the turning point in history. This will show that in 1914, Jesus Christ has taken up the Kingdom and began ruling. Thus, in 1914, Revelation 12:7-12 has already been fulfilled. The said passages say that Michael (also known as Jesus) and his angels had a war against Satan and his demons. The latter group lost and they were hurled down to earth. What is the result of this hurling down of Satan and his demons to the earth? Verse 12 answers: '...woe for the earth and for the sea because the devil has come down to you, having great anger, knowing he has a short period of time. If this event happened in 1914, then, logically there must be an evident manifestation of the worse situation on earth because Satan was hurled down here having great anger. Now, let us see and examine what the historians say about 1914.

(1)''The modern era... began in 1914, and no one knows when or how it will end... It could end in mass annihilation.'' The Seattle Times.(2) In the year 1914 the world, as it was known and accepted then, came to an end.' James Cameroon, 1914

3)Security and quiet have disappeared from the lives of men since 1914. Konrad Adenauer (4) In 1914 the world lost a coherence which it has not managed to recapture since... This has been a time of extraordinary disorder and violence, both across national frontiers and within them.' The Economist, London Pls visit this for more info http://www.watchtower.org/e/dg/article_09.htm

There are so many more secular historians to qoute but i think i dont have to qoute them anymore. I guess you have got my point: that the world noticed that something happened in 1914- but they did not know what it was.