Stay Alive ‘til 75!!

If you are an honest JW and were in the “truth” in 1975 or before, then you would know all about the phrase “Stay Alive ‘til 75.” This blog will explain its meaning and why it is an arrow in the heart of the WTBTS. For those who became JW’s after 1975 the phrase is entirely foreign—in fact today’s JW’s deny that anything of significance happened throughout the “Truth” in the fall of ’75.

In 1966 the WT published a book, Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God. A PDF copy of the book is available here (be patient--this may take some time to download.)

Prior to the release of the book, JW’s were prepped with talks about how the WT, in times past, had predicted dates, mostly concerning the battle of Armageddon, but those dates proved to be wrong. (I have blogged about these failed prophecies here and here and here. I also did a six (6) part series entitled, A Prophet Was Not Among Them! part 1 is here.) And why were they wrong? The WT says because they were not based on reliable Bible chronology. (If you read my aforementioned blogs on WT false prophecies the WT said that many of the other failed prophecies were also based on the Bible. I hope you noted that by this admission, the WT is confessing to being a False Prophet.)

JW’s were now told, in 1966, that the Battle of Armageddon, spoken about in Revelation, would occur no later than the fall of 1975. And this date was reliable because it was based on Bible chronology as laid out in Chapter 1, pages 31-35 of Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God.

In the Life Everlasting book page 29, the WT stated emphatically that, ”according to trustworthy Bible chronology six thousand years from man’s creation WILL END in 1975 and the seventh period of a thousand years of human history will begin in the FALL OF 1975 C.E. So six thousand years of man's existence on earth will soon be up, yes, within this generation.”

Did man’s existence on earth end in the fall of 1975? If not, then the WT shows itself to be a False Prophet.

As the years rolled on from 1966 to 1975, the WT published article after article pointing to the 1975 date and raising the expectations of JW’s worldwide. Then in the August 15, 1968 edition of the WT, pages 494-500, came an article entitled “Why are You Looking Forward to 1975.” In the article the WT started to hedge its predictions. They stated, “Our chronology, however, which is reasonably accurate (but admittedly not infallible).” They said that their prediction might be in error but it would “involve only a difference of weeks or months, NOT YEARS.”

As 1975 came and went, the WT needed a scapegoat. Someone or some group to take the blame for their false prophecy. And who better to blame than each and every JW who was "Looking Forward to 1975.” The WT said that we never predicted Armageddon in 75. You 'door knockers' read what you wanted into the WT publications and caused this mass hysteria among the useful idiots that "Looked Forward to 1975."

How could the WT get away with such a lie, with such a rewriting of history, when many JW’s still had in their possession, “Life Everlasting in Freedom of the Sons of God? Not a problem says the WT. We just need to remind the rank and file to:

“Meekly go along with the Lord's theocratic organization and wait for further clarification, rather than balk at the first mention of a thought unpalatable and proceed to quibble and mouth criticisms and opinions as though they were worth more than the slave's provision of spiritual food." The Watchtower, February 1, 1952, pgs. 79-80.

“Avoid independent thinking . . . questioning the counsel that is provided by God’s visible organization (WTBTS).” The Watchtower, Jan 15, 1983, p. 22.