Has the Society concluded its date-setting activities or has it prophesied other dates such as 1975?
It continues submitting new dates. A classic example is an entire article devoted to a prophecy concerning the year, 1975. This was calculated to be the year of the end of this present age. Its title: “Why Are You Looking Forward to 1975?”
Watchtower, Aug. 15, 1968, p.494
Has the Society confirmed the 1975 date as accurate?
Yes. “According to this 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.”
Life Everlasting-In Freedom of the Sons of God, p.28
What did the Society members believe about the 1975 date? Would it be the end of the present system of things?
Yes. According to Erroll Burton, spokesman for the Paradise Valley Unit of the Jehovah’s Witnesses in Arizona, the 1975 date would mean “‘A change in the political system of things,’ when ‘all presently existing influences must be eliminated. After 6,000 years of the deterioration of mankind, there will be 1,000 years of refining mankind…’ ‘At the end of that period, man will be perfect, as Adam and Eve were before the fall.'”
The Society clearly has instructed its followers that 1975 represents “…the end of the world as we have known it,” and it predicts that the “…thousand-year reign of Christ will begin.”
The Arizona Republic (newspaper), Aug. 24, 1969
Did the Society members begin to get rid of their possessions and make special sacrifices in order to prepare for 1975? Did the Society condone this activity?
Yes. In various ways this information was reported and evaluated. The Society’s attitude is revealed in the following: “Reports are heard of brothers selling their homes and property and planning to finish out the rest of their days in this old system in the pioneer service. Certainly this is a fine way to spend the short time remaining before the wicked world’s end.”