A good idea not to have Children

by new boy 12 Replies latest jw friends

  • new boy
    new boy

    Does anyone one here remember any articles in the Watchtower in the nineteen sixties or seventies that specifically stated the that the Witnesses should refrain from having children because of the proximity of Armageddon?

    I guess I should never have made a bound fire with my thirty years of bound volumes lol.

  • Pete Zahut
    Pete Zahut

    Matthey 24:19 " And woe to the pregnant woman and those suckling a baby in those days "

    JW's have taught for 100+ years that we are living in the time of the end and have quoted Matthew 24:19 over and over in their literature and from the platform. They constantly held up as an example to all, anyone who has entered the full time preaching work and has intentionally forgone having a family due to the nearness of the end.

    My mother became unintentionally pregnant with my youngest sister in 1969. The 1975 fever was in full rage and as someone with an unbelieving mate, she was already dreading how she was going to get the rest of us kids through the much touted "great tribulation" on her own . In those days, they used to say that unbelieving mates may turn on their JW spouses and turn them in to the authorities.

    I remember a carload of Sisters out in Field Service stopping by our house to use the bathroom. My poor Mother told them the news that she was pregnant and they began talking about the nearness of the end. One sister quoted Matthew's warning of woe, to those suckling a baby etc. I was only 12 at the time but I remember how visibly shaken she was by this and I wanted to smack this one particular sister in the mouth. By the time my father came home that evening Mom was in full panic mode and he had to talk her down off the ceiling. He told her not to listen to those silly women and he assured her that everything would be fine and that he would take care of us no matter what.

    My mother and father are gone now and my youngest Sister is 48 and just became a grandmother. My Mother often said in later years that she wished that she would have been able to enjoy and appreciate her last pregnancy instead of worrying so much about Armageddon through the whole thing.

    I can only imagine how helpless and trapped Mom and must have felt and to this day it saddens and angers me every time I think of that day and those sisters who frightened her to death instead of comforting her. By the way, I also think about how glad I am that my sister was born....can't imagine not having not grown up without her in our family.

  • stuckinarut2

    It started away back in the early days of the Society.

    The book "Children" had a whole section promoting that young witnesses remain childless, and even unmarried!

  • truth_b_known

    It's funny how you cannot hold a position in the congregation for sending your kid to college but you can for having a kid. According to the Witnesses, wouldn't that show a lack of faith and a lack of belief that we are in the last part of the Last Days? I wish it were enforced. The whole cult would literally die off in a generation. A real generation and not an overlapping generation.

  • Atlantis

    Awake! November 8 1974 p.11 (Atlantis!)

    A great crowd of people are confidant that great destruction is imminent, which has been a major factor in their decision not to have children.

  • Splash


    NO - w1887 Feb. Vol VIII R901 pg.3

    The time is short; so that they [of us] who have wives should be as if they had none. The establishing of an earthly home and the rearing of an earthly family, which is generally regarded as the principal business of life, should not be the ambition of the saints...

    NO - w1938 Nov. 1, p. 324)

    "...mark the words of Jesus, which definitely seem to discourage the bearing of children immediately before or during Armageddon....It would therefore appear that there is no reasonable or scriptural injunction to bring children into the world immediately before Armageddon, where we now are."

    NO - Face the Facts (1938) pp.46,50

    "Would it be Scripturally proper for them to now marry and to begin to rear children? No, is the answer, which is supported by the Scripture. Those Jonadabs who now contemplate marriage, it would seem, would do better if they wait a few years, until the fiery storm of Armageddon is gone"

    NO - Children (1941) p. 312-313

    "Should men and women, both of whom are Jonadabs or "other sheep" of the Lord now marry before Armageddon and bring forth children? They may choose to do so but the admonition or advice of the scriptures appears to be against it... That would appear to indicate it would be proper that those who will form the "great multitude" should wait until after Armageddon to bring children into the world."

    YES - w51 6/15 p. 362 On Service Tour in New Zealand

    From the Scriptures it was shown that it is proper for Christians to marry and the purpose of marriage is the rearing of children.

    NO - w71 4/1 p. 214 Preach God's Kingdom with the Right Viewpoint

    In modern times, among the many examples that might be cited is that of the young American couple that had settled down in a fine home and were planning to raise a family. Then one day the husband came home and said to his wife: 'Just what difference is there between us and the people of Christendom? We are contenting ourselves with mere token service when there is nothing to keep us from being in the full-time ministry. Let's quit our secular jobs, sell our home and enter the full-time pioneer ministry.' His wife gulped, for she had been looking forward to the joys of motherhood, to bearing and rearing a number of children. But she went to Jehovah in prayer and asked his help. And he did help her. So they entered the pioneer ministry and in a few years were invited to attend the Gilead missionary school.

    NO - w88 3/1 pp. 21-22 par. 17 Childbearing Among God's People

    Interestingly, during all this pre-Flood period, Noah's sons and their wives had no children. The apostle Peter specifically states that 'eight souls were carried safely through the water,' that is, four married couples but no children. (1 Peter 3:20) The sons' remaining childless was possibly for two reasons. First... they had a divinely appointed job to do that required their undivided attention. Second, they doubtless felt disinclined to bring children into... a world "full of violence." This is not to say that the course of action taken by Noah's sons and their wives before the Deluge was meant to set the rule for married couples living today. Nevertheless, since Jesus compared Noah's day to the period in which we are now living, their example can provide food for thought.

    IT'S YOUR CHOICE - w88 3/1 p. 26 par. 14 Responsible Childbearing in This Time of the End

    So the matter of childbearing in this time of the end is a personal one that each couple must decide for itself. However, since "the time left is reduced," married couples would do well to weigh carefully and prayerfully the pros and cons of childbearing in these times.

    NO - Jeremiah book (2010 - Studied 2013) chap 8 p.94-95 par. 7 Will You "Keep Living," as Did Jeremiah?

    6 What relevance is there in God's command that Jeremiah not marry or have children? Today, some loyal Christians are unmarried or have no children. Consider first that Jeremiah was to remain childless. Jesus did not command his followers to abstain from having children. Yet, it is noteworthy that he pronounced "woe" on pregnant women or those nursing a baby when tribulation came on Jerusalem in 66-70 C.E. That time would be especially difficult for them, given their situation. We now face a greater tribulation. This should add a dimension for Christian couples who are deciding whether to have children. While each couple must decide if they will have children, Jeremiah's case is worth considering.

    NO - w2016/4 p.9 Par.17 Being Faithful Leads To Gods' Approval

    17. (b) How do the words at Hebrews 6:10-12 encourage you to be self sacrificing?

    Thousands of young Christian men and women are willingly sacrificing marriage or are not having children—at least for now—in order to serve Jehovah to the full. Older ones too may be sacrificing the time they could otherwise spend with their children and grandchildren in order to work on theocratic construction projects or to attend the School for Kingdom Evangelizers and to serve in areas where the need for Kingdom publishers is greater... Such wholehearted service brings deep joy to Jehovah, who will never forget their work and the love shown for him. (Read Hebrews 6:10-12) Would it be possible for you to make additional sacrifices to serve Jehovah more fully?

    Note: 130 years after first being told not to, JW's are still being cautioned against having children.

    Besides, in the new system there will be no children:

    Golden Age 1930, April 2. Page 446 Bible Questions and Answers

    "The Scriptures do not reveal what the relationship of men and women will be after the resurrection is completed. The most that we know is that there will be no children born during the last 100 years of the Millennium (Isa. 65: 20), nor any born after that, because men and women do not have children after they reach the age of 100 years."

    Note: If JW's aren't meant to have children, where did Caleb and Sophia come from?

  • Atlantis


    Get out of the way cause Splash is taking no prisoners. Excellent!


  • new boy
    new boy

    Thank you that was just what I was looking for!

  • Crazyguy

    The were still lauding to that crap in the 80s and 90s

  • Wasanelder Once
    Wasanelder Once

    Yes, no, yes, no, yes, no... its the WT new light see saw.

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