Jehovah's Witnesses

The Jehovah's Witnesses (in English, Jehovah's Witnesses) are a millenarian and restorationist Christian denomination with anti-trinitarian beliefs distinct from the main streams of Christianity. They consider themselves a revival of early Christianity, a belief that is based on their understanding of the Bible, preferably its New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures. They claim that their goal is to honor Jehovah and evangelize the Kingdom of God throughout the world.

Its legal entity, the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, was founded in 1881 by Charles Taze Russell, who presided over it until his death in 1916. According to its official publications, it is currently governed by a Governing Body from its headquarters in Warwick (New York). This body is responsible for establishing the official doctrine of the world congregation.

According to its own data, in 2021, its publications were distributed in 239 countries and territories; they had almost 8.7 million “active publishers” (members involved in evangelistic activities) and the annual attendance at the “Commemoration of the Death of Jesus” was 21,367,603 people.

History

Russell and the Bible Students

Charles Taze Russell founded the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania from the Bible Students movement. He served as president between 1884 and 1916.

Jehovah's Witnesses arose from a group of Restorationist, Millenarian, and anti-Trinitarian Christians belonging to the Bible Student movement, which had been organized by American Charles Taze Russell in the 1870s in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania.. In July 1879, this movement published the first issue of the magazine Zion's Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, which continued to develop and has now been established as the best-known publication of Jehovah's Witnesses, under the Spanish name La Atalaya.

In 1881, Russell and a group of friends from the movement founded the Zion's Watch Tower Tract Society as a legal entity. Russell was appointed president in 1884, and the society changed further. later its name by the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, which corresponds to the main and oldest legal entity used by Jehovah's Witnesses. Since then the society began to publish and distribute various publications in different languages, related to with their beliefs.

In 1909 the headquarters moved to Brooklyn, New York, where it remained until 2017, the year in which they moved their headquarters to Warwick (New York).

In 1914 the first legal entity outside the United States, the International Bible Students Association, was created in Great Britain. Russell died two years later. By then, Bible students already rejected doctrines such as the Trinity, the immortality of the soul, hellfire, and expected the Second Coming of Christ in October 1914, but still celebrated Christmas, birthdays, and accepted the symbol of the cross.

Jehovah's Witnesses

Joseph Franklin Rutherford, second president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania between 1917 and 1942.

Former Jehovah’s Witness World Headquarters in Brooklyn, New York, which used until 2016.

After Russell's death, the presidency of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania was assumed in 1917 by Joseph Franklin Rutherford. During his presidency the organization grew considerably. Faced with criticism from various Christian denominations for their doctrinal principles, they established a legal body, through which positive rulings were obtained in the courts of several countries that gave them freedom of worship.^{[citation required]} Also during Rutherford's presidency, the name "Jehovah's Witnesses" was defined, based on the Biblical canon passage Isaiah 43:10, 11. The name was adopted on July 26, 1931, during the Columbus, Ohio convention, held July 24–30.

Between 1942 and 1977, the Society's presidency was held by Nathan Homer Knorr, who helped develop the structural aspects of the organization, strengthened the Governing Body, and created various schools to standardize evangelistic tasks, such as such as the Theocratic Ministry School (oratory training) or the Gilead Bible School (missionary training).^{[citation required]}

Frederick William Franz, who was a member of the Governing Body and had served vice president since 1945, served as president from 1977 to 1992. Near the end of his presidency, in 1991, the bans on Jehovah's Witnesses in Eastern Europe were lifted and Africa.^{[citation required]} After his death, Milton Henschel, former adviser to Nathan Homer Knorr,^{[citation required]} assumed the presidency until the year 2000,^{[citation needed]} being replaced by Don Alden Adams, who holds that position to this day, without being a member of the Governing Body. ^{[citation required]}

Beliefs and Practices

Jehovah's Witnesses preaching the Gospel at home in Lisbon, a common practice of his members.

The name of the LORD used according to the tetragrámaton before and after Babylonian exile.

Jehovah's Witnesses say they base their beliefs on the Bible, which they consider to be the exclusive source of reference for doctrinal matters. They believe in Jehovah as the only God, who is omniscient but not omnipresent, and they identify themselves as followers of a single leader, Jesus Christ, whom they consider to be the son of God but not God himself, and whom they also identify with the archangel Michael. Although they accept Mary as the mother of Jesus and his brothers, they do not venerate her or consider her the mother of God. They believe in the Great Apostasy and in free will over predestination. Unlike other Christian denominations, reject all the doctrines of the Council of Nicaea I and later, among them the Holy Trinity, hell fire and the inherent immortality of the soul. They perform baptism by immersion in water, in the name of the "Father", the "Son" and the "Holy Spirit" but reject the baptism of children. They do not celebrate Christmas, Easter, birthdays or other festivals and customs which they consider incompatible with Christianity due to their pagan origins. They also do not consider the weekly rest mandatory, arguing that the Sabbath holiday of the Mosaic Law was intended exclusively for Israel.^{[citation required]} They are contrary to ecumenism and identify other religions and Christian denominations with the name of "Babylon the Great". In their liturgies they avoid the use of images and symbols, they do not offer worship to the Christian cross (do not believe that Christ actually died on a torture stake) nor do they believe in the miraculous gifts, which they consider to have ended after the death of the twelve apostles.

They advise against playing chess, rock heavy metal and rap music, movies and literature on magical themes such as vampires, witches, ghosts and so on. Also the genres of horror, violent action, spiritualism or sexual content. For decades they prohibited the use of beards and long hair in men and the use of miniskirts or pants in women.^{[citation required]}

They believe that the parousia already occurred in 1914, so that since then Christ has been present and already reigns spiritually in Heaven. At the same time, they believe that Armageddon is near, that the establishment of the kingdom of God on Earth is the only way to be saved, and that only 144,000 humans, "the anointed", will go to Heaven. They believe that today's secular society is morally corrupt and influenced by Satan, so its members should limit their social interaction with people outside their faith. They often refer to their body of beliefs as "the truth" and consider themselves to be "in the truth". Jehovah's Witnesses, like most Christians, consider sin and immoral masturbation, pornography, fornication, homosexuality, induced abortion and spiritualism. For misconduct, Jehovah's Witnesses can be subjected to various disciplinary actions, which can range from "censure" to expulsion.

They are known for their house-to-house preaching, where they distribute their publications such as The Watchtower and Awake! for free. They are also known for their opposition to military service, their rejection of patriotic symbols and nationalism. In general, they declare themselves politically and militarily neutral; for this reason they reject violence and the use of weapons, which in World War II provoked the persecution and killing of its members.

Jehovah's Witnesses believe in divine creation and reject naturalism and biological evolution. For them, death and old age are a legacy of Adam's original sin.

They think that Jesus did not follow the Jewish tradition of not pronouncing the tetragrammaton, but on the contrary, commanded to sanctify it and make it known as the name of his father (Matthew 6:9; John 12:28; 17:3,6,26).

Meetings

Meeting in a congregation of a "kingdom of the kingdom."

National Assembly of Jehovah of Paraguay's Witnesses, in the Stadium of the National Bicentennial of Ypacarai.

Jehovah's Witnesses meet weekly with their respective congregations in so-called Kingdom halls. They also meet in annual assemblies and in their annual celebration of the Commemoration of the death of Jesus or the Lord's Supper. The latter is the only ceremony they celebrate. They perform it once a year on the date that corresponds to Nisan 14 according to the biblical lunar calendar (March/April), in which they remember the death of Jesus Christ and analyze it from a different perspective. religious point of view.

Jehovah's Witnesses do not believe in transubstantiation, so in these ceremonies the bread and red wine are only elements that symbolically represent the body and blood of Christ.

Songs composed entirely by Jehovah's Witnesses are performed at its meetings. Among its songbooks are Singing and Accompanying Yourself with Music in Your Heart (1969), Sing Praises to Jehovah (1986), Sing to Jehovah (2009) and Sing for Joy to Jehovah (2017), all of which have been translated by the Watch Tower Society into numerous languages.

Blood transfusion

Jehovah's Witnesses reject blood transfusions for religious reasons, stating that both the Old and New Testaments command abstinence from blood (Genesis 9:4; Leviticus 17:10; Deuteronomy 12:23; Acts 15:28, 29); they believe that for God, blood represents life (Leviticus 17:14), so they claim to obey the biblical command to abstain from blood out of respect for God, who gave us life. They refuse to have blood transfusions, even if their lives depended on it, which has led to numerous preventable deaths, including of children. Since 1961, acceptance of blood transfusions by a member without further repentance is cause for expulsion. They only accept surgery without blood.

Although historically they rejected vaccination and acceptance or organ donation, currently, it is a matter of personal decision, as long as it does not include blood transfusions.

Jehovah's Witnesses have two services related to this topic:

• Hospital Information Service (SIH): created in January 1988 in Brooklyn and subsequently implemented in other countries. It is dedicated to research and publicize medical techniques without use of blood. It also seeks to show the doctors the position of Jehovah’s Witnesses concerning blood and to keep a record of those who are willing to attend to them according to their conditions.
• Hospital Liaison Committee (HCC): mainly aimed at the visit of Jehovah ' s Witnesses in the hospital, and at dialogue with the doctors. Its members are trained by SIH. They have been criticized that in spite of being a personal decision of each member, their presence in hospitals is to pressure both doctors and members the fulfillment of their doctrines, which has had results of unnecessary deaths.

Organization

Jehovah's Witness Kingdom Hall in Cancun.

Jehovah’s Witness Assembly Hall in Herlufmagle, Denmark.

Governing Body

The Christian congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses is coordinated and directed worldwide by a Governing Body, which also serves as the main legal entity of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania corporation, whose headquarters are currently located in Warwick (New York). All members of the Governing Body are considered anointed, and rank above the president of the legal association. Its different branches are in turn directed by "branch committees", those that are in charge of a country or a group of countries. The branches are further divided into circuits, made up of about twenty congregations that receive regular visits from "circuit overseers" to help them organize and carry out the preaching work in their territories. Congregations meet in temples called "Kingdom halls". Each congregation has a "body of elders", who are entrusted with various oversight and shepherding tasks.^{[citation needed]}

Its legal body is the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society Incorporated, which participates as a publisher and distributor.

During the presidency of Nathan Homer Knorr (1942-1977), the Society's board of directors became part of the Governing Body, entities previously considered equivalent.^{[citation needed]} The Governing Body was expanded to eleven members, while the board of directors was limited to seven members. Since that date,^{[since when?]} the position of the presidency in the Governing Body, unlike that of the presidency of the Society, is of annual rotation, for alphabetical order of last names. The membership of the Governing Body was increased again in 1974.

As of 2013, the Governing Body consisted of David H. Splane, Anthony Morris III, D. Mark Sanderson, Geoffrey W. Jackson, M. Stephen Lett, Samuel F. Herd, and Gerrit Lösch and Guy H. Pierce. The current president of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, Robert Ciranko. Following the death of Guy H. Pierce, Kenneth Cook joined in 2018.

Judicial Committee

When a Jehovah's Witness commits what, according to community beliefs and standards, is a sin, he or she is judged by a "judicial committee," which is made up of three or more "elders." The committee meets with the accused to establish the seriousness of the sin committed. If the "sinner" shows repentance, a "censorship" is applied to him, that is, a series of suggestions based on the Bible that for them are aimed at reconciling the accused with Jehovah. In case of following these suggestions, the censorship is made public to the other members of the congregation, and the person is considered "censored". If, on the contrary, during the censorship stage the accused does not show repentance, then the a person is disfellowshipped from the congregation and isolated from it. A person may also voluntarily disassociate, in which case he is considered a publicly disfellowshiped person within the congregation. In such cases the person loses contact with their Witness relatives that they do not live under the same roof, and members of the congregation do not return to greet him or have social contact with him.

Financing

The financing of Jehovah's Witnesses depends fundamentally on the corporation Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, mainly engaged in the publishing business, in which many Jehovah's Witnesses work voluntarily, without receiving remuneration. From According to the scholar Wilbur Lingle, around 70% of their income comes from their millions of publications that they distribute annually at prices slightly above printing costs. The organization, for its part, defends that they are legally established as a corporation without for profit, so you don't have permission to sell anything. Hence, his work is supported only with voluntary donations and that his publications are freely accessible both in paper and electronic format through his website.

They reject the payment of tithes or obligatory or membership fees, nor do they pass offerings among those gathered; but they do collect donations in piggy banks that they post at Kingdom Halls and in arenas and stadiums when they hold their assemblies. These contributions are used to translate and print more publications, serve traveling missionaries and ministers, build or renovate meeting places and branches in developing countries, and care for victims of natural disasters.

Posts

Cover of a The Watchtower in 1907.

Since its inception, both the headquarters and branches of Jehovah's Witnesses have carried out an intense evangelistic publishing activity, which includes the publication of numerous texts each year, including bibles, books, pamphlets, religious tracts, videos and music, among others.

The Watchtower, its best-known magazine, began publication in 1879, two years before the founding of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania.^{[quote required]} Through their new legal entity, Jehovah's Witnesses began publishing their own Bible and other tracts beginning in 1896, ceasing to preach with the King James Bible, which they had used until then.^{[citation needed]} Initially, they used external printers, and acquired the rights to different existing versions of the Bible in the United States:^{[citation required]}

• 1896: 12th revised edition New Testament, with translation of the British Joseph B. Rotherham
• 1902: The Emphatic Diaglott, with translation of the British Benjamin Wilson from the Greek version of J. J. Griesbach.
• 1903: Holman Linear Bibleauthorised and revised versions of the translation from the Hebrew and the Greek.
• 1907: Bible Students Edition, version of the Bible of King James with marginal notes and an appendix prepared by themselves.

Currently, Jehovah’s Witnesses edit and distribute millions of copies of their Bible versions in many languages.

In December 1926, The Emphatic Diaglotton became the first Bible version printed directly on the presses of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania, located in Brooklyn, New York.^{[citation needed]} Since then they began printing various independent versions of the Bible:

• 1942: Authorized version, with new titles added on each page and an appendix that includes a list of own names with their meaning.
• 1944: American Standard Version from 1901, purchased and edited that year by the "Society Watch Tower".
• 1950: New Testament of the Translation of the New World of Holy Scripture, private version based on texts by Westcott and Hort.
• 1960: Old Testament of the Translation of the New World of Holy ScripturePrivate version.
• 1961: Translation of the New World of Holy ScripturePrivate version.
• 1972: The Bible in Living Englishwith Steven T. Byington translation.

The fact that the Witnesses have their own version of the Bible has been questioned, mainly because it differs from traditional translations, or because it is based on a critical text. Detractors and former members of this Christian denomination, as well as various religious groups, maintain that the content of the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures has been altered to support the particular beliefs of the Witnesses; to which Jehovah's Witnesses reply that their translation is precise, exact, and literally adjusted to the original manuscripts. Jehovah's Witnesses maintain that in the criticized passages they only use a translation style similar to that of other recognized versions, constituting unconventional but legitimate translations.^{[citation required]}

Demographics and statistics

Average number of members between 1931 and 2015

Jehovah's Witnesses are present in a large number of countries, although they do not form a large proportion of the population in any of them. Unlike other religious denominations that count their members by annual attendance at their services or by their baptized members, Jehovah's Witnesses count as such only when they are active preachers or publishers.^{[citation needed]}

The number of interested or sympathetic to their work is shown by attendance at their annual meeting, the Commemoration of the death of Jesus Christ. According to their own data, in 2019 20,919,041 people attended. According to their data, the current figures are as follows:

• Countries and territories where they are active: 240.
• Congregations: 119 712.
• Jehovah's Witnesses active in his preaching: 8.7 million.
• Assistance to your Commemoration of the Death of Jesus: 20,92 million.
• Assistance to your meetings or assemblies: 20 million.
• Languages in which Bibles and other publications are published: 1007.
• Number of Bibles published in 185 languages: 227 million.
• Total literature published in the last ten years: 20 billion.

In March 2014, the Jehovah's Witnesses website ranked first in religious sites visited in the world, according to Alexa counter.

Post 2014 demographic crisis?

After the 100th anniversary of 1914, the year that -according to the belief of the Witnesses- marks the beginning of the last days, the organization has seen a considerable decrease in its faithful, mainly in Europe, although it has softened with growth in Africa and the baptism of children.^{[citation needed]} Although there is still numerical growth, the sum of those baptized is much greater than the growth declared in their own reports. ^{[citation needed]} According to Jehovah's Witnesses, by contrast, in 2014, the average number of practicing Jehovah's Witnesses ("publishers") was 7,867.958 according to its Yearbook; in 2015: 7,987,279; 2016: 8,132,358; 2017: 8,248,982 and 2018: 8,360,594. The 118 branches that they had throughout the world were reduced to 90 in few years, and paid evangelists (special pioneers) and many branch workers (Betelites) were laid off. Statistics provided by witnesses, on the other hand, indicate that the network uction happened before and not after 2014, and the main reason they give is that technology simplifies work: "In recent years, advances in the field of printing and communications reduced the number of personnel needed in the large branches. That left room to accommodate some Bethelites from smaller branches. Now, from some strategic locations, Witnesses with a lot of experience attend to the work of Bible education in different countries. To cite one case, the Mexico branch has come to supervise the preaching work that is carried out in Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Panama. Consequently, those six branches have been closed. Forty members of the Bethel families in those countries were reassigned to the Mexico branch, and almost one hundred remained in their places of origin, where they undertook the full-time ministry." In Spain in 2016, 25% of the Salons, although witnesses in Spain state that the number of members increased by 1% in 2016 over the previous year, to 112,916 active members.

Magazines are being delivered more and more spaced apart,^{[citation needed]} even though they are being translated into more languages, and according to their data, media usage has increased significantly electronics, videos and films.

Religious persecution

The Nazis identified the Bibelforscher with a purple triangle.

Nazi Germany

Uniform of Jehovah ' s Witnesses prisoners during Nazi Germany.

Jehovah's Witnesses were persecuted by the Nazi Germans, primarily for their refusal to acknowledge state authority, use the fascist salute, and their conscientious objection to military service. It is estimated that during World War II Approximately 11,300 Jehovah's Witnesses were imprisoned in concentration camps, where they died, according to the source consulted, between 1490 and 2550, including 253 who were sentenced to death.

The European Circle of former deportees and internees of Jehovah's Witnesses assures that 97% of Jehovah's Witnesses in Germany suffered persecution by Nazism in one way or another. In the concentration camps, the so-called Bibelforscher they wore a purple triangle sewn on their clothing as identification. Jehovah's Witnesses could leave the concentration camp and regain their property and citizenship if they signed a document renouncing their faith.

On October 5, 2006, the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. hosted a day dedicated to Jehovah's Witness victims of Nazism.

Russia

In April 1951, some 9,300 Jehovah's Witnesses from the Soviet Union were deported to Siberia as part of Operation North.

On April 20, 2017, the Russian Supreme Court ruled against Jehovah's Witnesses, to dissolve the Administrative Center of Jehovah's Witnesses, thus restricting their evangelistic work, and issued an order confiscating the assets of Jehovah's Witnesses. the organization. According to the Supreme Court, it is an extremist organization.

Dennis Christensen, sentenced to six years in prison, is the first to be indicted since the ban on Witness activities.

Criticism

The beliefs and practices of Jehovah's Witnesses have been criticized from different quarters.

Child sexual abuse

Different members of the religious confession of Jehovah's Witnesses have been linked to cases of child sexual abuse. The historical behavior of many of the leaders and elders of the congregations was "secrecy", a kind of "code of silence", which influenced the victims so that they would not inform the authorities or the police, and which prohibited In addition, the discussion of these matters within the church. In Australia alone, the Witnesses branch contributed in 2015 the figure of more than a thousand minors assaulted since 1950, in just over half of the cases, by members of the religion. The local prosecutor defined Jehovah's Witnesses "as an insular sect with rules designed to stop reports of sexual abuse". This policy landed the congregation a series of lawsuits and payment of millions in compensation.

In response, the organization has stated that they have developed child protection policies to handle cases of child abuse committed by members of their congregations. Details of these policies have been issued in its publications and press releases issued by its Office of Public Information. Despite the above, the organization has preferred to pay high fines in exchange for withholding information related to the abuses.

Social criticism

Socially, Jehovah's Witnesses are criticized for multiple reasons, including:

• Sectarian behavior, which implies, among other actions, rejection and cutting all communications with those members who decide to leave the congregation, even being familiar.
• Autocratic and coercive leadership, which overly controls the lives of its members. For example, members are urged to avoid developing friendships with people outside their beliefs, so if they become expelled, they risk social isolation.

"(...) Christians who are relatives of a person expelled [or disassociated] who lives outside their homes must strive to avoid unnecessarily associated with it, and even to keep the trade deals with it to a minimum."

The Watchtower15 November 1981, p. 23, para. 18

• Uniformity of thought, in the sense that they only consider valid those beliefs based on publications and teachings accepted by Jehovah's Witnesses. Members with different points of view can be charged internally with apostasy, which for some dissidents like Raymond Victor Franz, often generates fear of criticizing the organization in members. The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania prohibits Jehovah’s Witnesses from reading criticism of the organization, as well as material published by other religions.
• To discourage higher education in their young members, so that they have more time to preach.

On the other hand, their conscientious objection to military service and rejection of greetings to national symbols has generated conflicts with some governments. Consequently, some Jehovah's Witnesses have been persecuted and their activities have been banned or restricted in some countries. For religious critic Gary Botting, the legal challenges they have raised have influenced legislation related to civil and political rights in some countries.

The absolute control of the thought of its members, which this religion is accused of, is favored by what is described as the belief that the loyalty of the organization is equal to divine fidelity, being the "central myth" of Jehovah's Witnesses employed to ensure complete obedience. Sociologist Andrew Holden has observed that Witnesses see no difference between loyalty to Jehovah and the movement itself, and Heather Botting Gary asserted that challenging the views of more high in the hierarchy is seen as tantamount to an anointed challenge from God Himself.

Joseph Franklin Rutherford posing in front of his Beth Sarim mansion, originally built to receive the patriarchs of the supposedly impending Second Coming.

Another permanent focus of criticism is the construction of the Beth Sarim mansion, supposedly built for the "imminent return of the patriarchs", which finally never had the use that was raised in the publications of the Wachtower Society, but was instead It was used as the private residence of Joseph Franklin Rutherford,^{[citation needed]}, the same person who popularized the idea of the Second Coming through his 1920 book, Millions Who now they live they will never die, published by the Watchtower Society.

Religious criticism

Cover Millions now living will never die (1920), in which Joseph Franklin Rutherford wrongly prophesied on the end of time.

Some Christian denominations criticize the fact that Jehovah's Witnesses use their own version of the Bible, the New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, because it presents translation differences and omits some texts from the best known versions.

Another criticism has to do with his failed prophecies, which have been explicitly or implicitly quoted in his publications, particularly those relating to the years 1914, 1918, 1925 and 1975. On such occasions when the prophecies were not they have fulfilled, doctrines have been altered, or the failure has been justified by the term "progressive revelations", which are interpreted as a gradual leading of God to the clearer understanding of the will of his followers.

A doctrinal aspect that means a historical problem for them is "the anointed". In other words, determine who is part of the number of 144,000 followers of Christ who will go to heaven to co-rule. The number of anointed still alive was established in 1930 and the number during the XX century decreased in hope that Armageddon would come before However, since the beginning of the XXI century the number began to increase without control. Another point of disagreement is the conviction that since 1914 the already deceased are already governing in a "spiritual way", but at the same time there is a certain number that has not yet died, and that are exclusively members of Jehovah's Witnesses.^{[ citation required]}

Until 1914, Jehovah's Witnesses expected the Second Coming. Since it did not occur, they declared that the term "parousia" actually means "presence" and not "arrival", that the Kingdom of God was spiritual and that the The world was living its last days. Subsequently, through publications such as Millions Now Living Will Never Die and issues of magazines, the years for the fulfillment of this prophecy were extended each time in time., without being fulfilled in any of the cases. The generation of 1914 passed away and died completely, so from 2010 onwards, when it continued without fulfillment, there is talk of the "overlapping generation" with which they lengthen the prophecy in time.