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Predictions and dates · Claim record

Against the defence 'we never claimed to be prophets': The Watchtower of 1 April 1972 asked 'does Jehovah have a prophet... to declare things to come?', answered 'in the affirmative', and identified that prophet as 'not one man, but... a body of men and women... known as Jehovah's Christian witnesses'; and in 1894 the Society called the 1914 chronology 'God's dates, not ours'.

Claim ID claim-predictions-defence-never-claimed-prophetsConcerns 1 April 1972Context
Context · 1 April 1972 Verified

Against the defence 'we never claimed to be prophets': The Watchtower of 1 April 1972 asked 'does Jehovah have a prophet... to declare things to come?', answered 'in the affirmative', and identified that prophet as 'not one man, but... a body of men and women... known as Jehovah's Christian witnesses'; and in 1894 the Society called the 1914 chronology 'God's dates, not ours'. The Watchtower, 1 April 1972Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, 15 July 1894

The organisation’s position or later explanation: Since 2017 the position is that 'The Governing Body is neither inspired nor infallible'; the 1914 Watch Tower also said 'we are not a prophet'.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower, “'They Shall Know that a Prophet Was Among Them'”

1 April 1972 · p.197 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“So, does Jehovah have a prophet to help them, to warn them of dangers and to declare things to come? These questions can be answered in the affirmative. ... This 'prophet' was not one man, but was a body of men and women. ... Today they are known as Jehovah's Christian witnesses.”

The article says the only way to prove the claim 'is to review the record'.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on wol; page marker 197.

Notes. The often-quoted form 'Do you believe Jehovah has a prophet...' is not the exact wording; the actual sentence is 'So, does Jehovah have a prophet...'.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1972-0401-p197-prophet

Primary JW publication Verified

Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, “Can It Be Delayed Until 1914? (editorial reply to readers)”

15 July 1894 · pp.226 (standard citation); Reprints pp. 1676-1677 (the passage falls under the [1676] marker) · C. T. Russell (editor) · Tower Publishing Co., Allegheny, Pa.

“our readers are writing to know if there may not be a mistake in the 1914 date. ... We see no reason for changing the figures—nor could we change them if we would. They are, we believe, God's dates, not ours. But bear in mind that the end of 1914 is not the date for the beginning, but for the end of the time of trouble.”

Reply to readers who, seeing labour unrest, doubted conditions could last until 1914.

Scan of original

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Wording and 'July 15, 1894' issue header confirmed in the scan OCR; Reprints marker [1676] precedes the passage. Original page number 226 is the standard citation but not read from the scan.

Scan provenance. Internet Archive upload by Veillez.org of the 1894 volume (Reprints pagination visible, e.g. '[1676]'). Public domain.

Notes. Important: the sentence explicitly says 1914 was expected to be the END of the time of trouble.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-zwt-1894-0715-gods-dates

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-predictions-defence-never-claimed-prophets/. Every source above opens the original document or the best available copy. If you believe the wording, date or context is wrong, report an error.