The Librarian

I personally would challenge some of their numbers above...... but just don't have the time. 

@JW Insider please do some splitting off of separate yet interesting topics.... your thread has been hijacked. ;-)

Étudiants et enseignants ont été impressionnés par les bibles, les publications bibliques et les vidéos exposées au Salon du livre Gaudeamus en Roumanie.
la source

Then I see this headline:

I bet you can guess what I was thinking....

??

 

Reminds me of this earlier post:
http://www.jw-archive.org/post/135327348228/jesus-face-drawn-by-medical-artist-based-on

Several scriptures that may reveal the identity of the Angel of Wisdom.  “Your servant Jo?ab has done this to change the appearance of things, but my lord has wisdom like that of the angel of the true God and knows all that is happening in the land.” (2 Samuel 14:20)
“He is the Maker of the earth by his power, The One who established the productive land by his wisdom And who stretched out the heavens by his understanding.” (Jeremiah 10:12) and (Jeremiah 51:15)
“Jehovah founded the earth in wisdom. He solidly established the heavens in discernment.” (Proverbs 3:19)
“Jehovah produced me as the beginning of his way, The earliest of his achievements of long ago. ?From ancient times I was installed, From the start, from times earlier than the earth. ?When there were no deep waters, I was brought forth,” (Proverbs 8:22-24)
“I rejoiced over his habitable earth, And I was especially fond of the sons of men.” (Proverbs 8:31)
“For the one finding me will find life, And he receives approval from Jehovah. ?But the one who ignores me harms himself, And those who hate me love death.” (Proverbs 8:35-36)
“Wisdom has built her house, she has hewn out her seven pillars:” (Proverbs 9:1)
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the killer of the prophets and stoner of those sent to her—how often I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her chicks under {her wings}! But you did not want it.” (Matthew 23:37)
“For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve,” (Acts 27:23 KJV)
“As for the sacred secret of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars mean the angels of the seven congregations, and the seven lampstands mean the seven congregations.” (Rev 1:20)
“After this I saw another angel descending from heaven with great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory.” (Rev 18:1)
“And my temptation which was in my flesh you despised not, nor rejected; but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus.” (Galatians 4:14)
“Then the angel of the true God who was going ahead of the camp of Israel departed and went to their rear, and the pillar of cloud that was in front of them moved to the rear and stood behind them.” (Exodus 14:19)
“Moreover, his head and his hair were white as white wool, as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame,?and his feet were like fine copper when glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters.” (Rev 1:14-15)
“Then Jehovah’s angel appeared to him in a flame of fire in the midst of a thornbush. As he kept looking, he saw that the thornbush was on fire, and yet the thornbush was not consumed.” (Exodus 3:2)
“Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God.” (1 Corinthians 1:24)  “Come, eat my bread And share in drinking the wine that I have mixed. ?Leave behind your inexperience and live; Walk forward in the way of understanding.” (Proverbs 9:5-6)

Found a couple of the references. In the second one, the brackets are in the original quote.
*** w56 6/1 p. 343 par. 3 Keep Pace by Conforming to Theocratic Requirements ***
After 1919, and especially since 1935, great crowds of people, out of all nations and tribes and peoples and tongues, began to assemble to the New World society for theocratic instruction.
*** w51 12/15 p. 752 par. 14 Release Under Way to the Ends of the Earth ***
14 Have this “great crowd” come to Zion and submitted to the theocratic rule of Jehovah who is seated on the heavenly throne? They have; for one of the elderly persons identifies the crowd to John and says: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation [this locates their coming between 1919 and Armageddon] . . . "
*** w62 6/1 p. 340 par. 16 Why Should Christians Accept and Discharge Responsibility? ***
As one of the elderly persons informed John concerning the “great crowd” of “other sheep”: “These are the ones that come out of the great tribulation, and they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev. 7:9-14) These meek, sheeplike people, who, according to John’s vision, are an unnumbered great crowd, began to come to the royal house or temple after they heard God’s kingdom preached to them from A.D. 1919 onward.
I think that after enough years, it was not thought that those who were alive in 1919 could survive long enough to be part of a "great crowd" who come out of the great tribulation and survive into the new order (i.e., new world, new earth). Technically, we should typically add the term "other sheep" so that it doesn't appear to apply only to those who live long enough (even from 1935) to survive out of the great tribulation. Now, 1919 is almost exclusively with reference to the "anointed."
*** w07 11/1 p. 15 par. 6 Highlights From the Books of Obadiah, Jonah, and Micah ***
Since 1919, anointed Christians have been collected together “like a flock in the pen.” Being joined by the “great crowd” of “other sheep,” especially since 1935 . . .
*** w02 2/1 p. 18 par. 16 Are You Among Those Loved by God? ***
Since 1919, they have brought forth Kingdom fruitage in abundance, first other anointed Christians and, since 1935, an ever-increasing “great crowd” of companions.
*** w91 1/15 p. 26 The Pure Language Unites a Great Crowd of Worshipers ***
Ezekiel pictures the spirit-anointed remnant, particularly since 1919. Especially since 1935 have they been joined by the “great crowd.”
*** w91 5/1 p. 22 Thrilling Visions That Strengthen Faith ***
Blowing the fifth calls forth locusts that picture anointed Christians swarming forth to do battle from 1919 onward. With the sixth trumpet blast, a cavalry attack takes place. In fulfillment, anointed ones, reinforced since 1935 by the “great crowd,”
 
 

That article from 1951 does indeed indicate that the Watchtower had been teaching that from the death of Jesus (until 1931) all Christians were only allowed to be in line for the heavenly gift, the heavenly calling. Note this from 1965:
*** w65 3/1 p. 148 pars. 18-20 Part Two ***
However, down till recently, the Fine Shepherd Jesus Christ was not calling out and gathering his “other sheep” in hope of everlasting life on earth.—John 10:16.
19 The inspired Scriptures show that God set a definite time for himself to gather together the “other sheep” for whom he reserves everlasting salvation on the Paradise earth under the kingdom of his dear Son. God’s provision for such “other sheep” is not a sort of safety net to catch all those whom he calls to the heavenly inheritance but who do not meet the requirements for it by a Christian course faithful to the death. Christians who have the heavenly inheritance reserved for themselves must either prove worthy of entering into it or else fail altogether without any other life prospects to fall back on. . . .
20 According to the historical facts, the gathering of the “great crowd” of other sheep began not before 1931 C.E., but particularly from 1935 C.E. forward.
So the 1951 and the 1965 articles said that the heavenly hope to be one of the 144,000 was the only hope open to Christians during those centuries following Christ's death [up until 1931].
*** w52 1/15 p. 62 Questions From Readers ***
. . .  the Scriptural limitation of 144,000 placed on the number being in Christ’s body, and which position was the only one open to Christians during those centuries?
The answer to that "Question From Readers" implied that most of these ones must have been only "professed Christians" and "not in line for the high [heavenly] calling." The reader might assume therefore that they could have been in line for an earthly calling, the "other sheep." But we were still teaching even in 1965 that there was no other calling between 33 CE and 1931.**[see footnote]
**footnote: Actually, for a time, up until the 1950's and 1960's, it was taught that the group identified in 1935, had not only been called since 1931, but since 1919, and we just hadn't recognized it yet. The reasoning, if I remember right, is that John saw them come out of the Great Tribulation, and we believed (at the time) that the Great Tribulation was still in effect up until 1919, before a break in the tribulation (on account of the chosen ones). I'll find the reference if anyone is interested.
I asked Brother Fred Franz about this, and he said that many of these 100's of thousands of Christian martyrs must be in Gehenna. He said even if they were just swept up in the Christian movement, they must have had a taste of the heavenly gift. 
(Hebrews 6:4-6) 4 For as regards those who were once enlightened and who have tasted the heavenly free gift and who have become partakers of holy spirit 5 and who have tasted the fine word of God and powers of the coming system of things, 6 but have fallen away, it is impossible to revive them again to repentance,. . .
This idea (that hundreds of thousands of persons who were willing to die for their Christian faith ended up in Gehenna) didn't sound right to my wife, who asked Brother Rusk about it. Brother Rusk was the Watchtower's Editor at the time, and he also was the brother who performed our wedding ceremony. He implied that all these reported numbers of  martyrs were just too high, so that these reports were all probably exaggerations in the first place, and so not to worry about it. If you knew the two men, you might have easily guessed that Franz would be judgmental, but Rusk would be more flexible with the Gehenna idea. At least Rusk never made the same claim that we could judge them to Gehenna, but he wouldn't deny it either. I wanted to believe, of course, that if they had not made it to full Christian maturity, then Hebrews 6 didn't apply. After all, the verses leading up to Hebrews 6:4 are these:
(Hebrews 5:12-6:2) 12 For although by now you should be teachers, you again need someone to teach you from the beginning the elementary things of the sacred pronouncements of God, and you have gone back to needing milk, not solid food. 13 For everyone who continues to feed on milk is unacquainted with the word of righteousness, for he is a young child. 14 But solid food belongs to mature people, to those who through use have their powers of discernment trained to distinguish both right and wrong. 6 Therefore, now that we have moved beyond the primary doctrine about the Christ, let us press on to maturity, not laying a foundation again, namely, repentance from dead works and faith in God, 2 the teaching on baptisms and the laying on of the hands, the resurrection of the dead and everlasting judgment.
JUST ONE LITTLE PROBLEM . . .
Of course, as ex-JWs will often point out, since upwards of 56,000 were partaking around 1931-1935, and there are something like 19,000 partaking now, this would mean that more than half the 144,000 are already accounted for among Jehovah's Witnesses. That would mean that in those 1,898 years (between 33 and 1931) that only about 69,000 Christians existed on earth. That works out to be about 36 new Christians every year. But we also know that there were at least 10,000 Christians in the very first century. Leaving us with 59,000 in about the same number of years, or 31 new Christians every year. It would almost look like the Gates of Gehenna had overpowered Christianity.

These are the worldwide percentages of Jehovah´s Witnesses and where they live. A whopping 50% live in the Americas, and a whopping 35% live in the US, or Mexico, or Brazil. (The percentages shown on the right pie graph are of the worldwide total, so if it says 15% for the US it means that 15% of all JW´s worldwide live in the US, not 15% of the ones that live in the Americas).

For example the data below is from the 2017 Year Book, pages 47 to 76 - "Preaching and Teaching Earth Wide" 

Learn more about Jehovah's Witnesses

These are the worldwide percentages of Jehovah´s Witnesses and where they live. A whopping 50% live in the Americas, and a whopping 35% live in the US, or Mexico, or Brazil. (The percentages shown on the right pie graph are of the worldwide total, so if it says 15% for the US it means that 15% of all JW´s worldwide live in the US, not 15% of the ones that live in the Americas).

For example the data below is from the 2017 Year Book, pages 47 to 76 - "Preaching and Teaching Earth Wide" 

Learn more about Jehovah's Witnesses

NF - South Africa

@Julie Bayley I just realized in that photo ..... that was her literature cart..... 

These are the worldwide percentages of Jehovah´s Witnesses and where they live. A whopping 50% live in the Americas, and a whopping 35% live in the US, or Mexico, or Brazil. (The percentages shown on the right pie graph are of the worldwide total, so if it says 15% for the US it means that 15% of all JW´s worldwide live in the US, not 15% of the ones that live in the Americas).

For example the data below is from the 2017 Year Book, pages 47 to 76 - "Preaching and Teaching Earth Wide" 

Learn more about Jehovah's Witnesses

Then I see this headline:

I bet you can guess what I was thinking....

So upsetting As soon as I saw the cart clearly visible in this photograph of the aftermath of this awful attack we wondered if any of the brothers & sisters had been targets. Hardly any coverage in UK by media or reference to a terrorist attack but the attacker was supposed to have shouted "Allah Akbar" whilst he wielded his knife.
The world has gone mad!

@Kurt Thanks for highlighting this particular site, HRWF. The focus is on religious intolerance, and I must say I was surprised at the hundreds of incidents around the world that are so similar to ours. Must say, though, that currently it's the JWs getting hit the hardest in Russia.

[sarcasm] It's too bad there was no pure worship during the time of Jesus and during the lives of the apostles. Otherwise the true Christian faith could have been built upon the foundation of Jesus and the apostles. [/sarcasm]

One of them was a 23 year old sister at her witnessing cart, she was stabbed in the throat and died very soon thereafter :
 
Read more:
 

One of them was a 23 year old sister at her witnessing cart, she was stabbed in the throat and died very soon thereafter :
 
Read more:
 

One of them was a 23 year old sister at her witnessing cart, she was stabbed in the throat and died very soon thereafter :
 
Read more:
 

One of them was a 23 year old sister at her witnessing cart, she was stabbed in the throat and died very soon thereafter :
 
Read more: