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Predictions and dates · Claim record

The organisation taught that Christ's invisible presence began in 1874 (not 1914) from Russell's time until the 1940s: The Watch Tower of 1 March 1922 called it an 'indisputable fact' that 'the Lord's second presence began in 1874', and the 1 April 1923 issue said 'his second presence was due in 1874'. Proclaimers (1993) dates the corrected chronology to the 1943 book The Truth Shall Make You Free.

Claim ID claim-predictions-1874-presence-taught-until-1943Concerns 1 March 1922Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 1 March 1922 Verified

The organisation taught that Christ's invisible presence began in 1874 (not 1914) from Russell's time until the 1940s: The Watch Tower of 1 March 1922 called it an 'indisputable fact' that 'the Lord's second presence began in 1874', and the 1 April 1923 issue said 'his second presence was due in 1874'. Proclaimers (1993) dates the corrected chronology to the 1943 book The Truth Shall Make You Free. The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, 1 March 1922The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, 1 April 1923Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (jv), 1993The Truth Shall Make You Free (book), 1943

The organisation’s position or later explanation: jv p.133 fn. i attributes the 1874 date to chronology 'flawed because of relying on an inaccurate rendering of Acts 13:20' and says 'a clearer understanding... was published in 1943'.

Show the evidence (4 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, “(article reviewing Russell's role; 'The indisputable facts')”

1 March 1922 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“The indisputable facts, therefore, show that the 'time of the end' began in 1799; that the Lord's second presence began in 1874; that the harvest followed thereafter”

Shows the Society still taught an 1874 invisible presence eight years after 1914. Study questions in the same volume ask 'How has God confirmed the dates 1874, 1914 and 1918?'

Scan of original

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Wording confirmed; nearest page header reads 'March 1, 1922'. Page number not legible (the task's '1 Nov 1922 p.333' reference was not the passage located; treat that citation as unverified).

Scan provenance. Internet Archive upload by Veillez.org of the 1922 volume. Public domain.

Corroborated by. src-jv-1993-00-p133-1874, src-wt-1923-0401-p106-1925

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-wt-1922-0301-presence-1874

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watch Tower and Herald of Christ's Presence, “Questions and answers (on reports that pilgrims were told to stop talking about 1925)”

1 April 1923 · p.106 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“Our thought is, that 1925 is definitely settled by the Scriptures, marking the end of the typical jubilees. Just exactly what will happen at that time no one can tell to a certainty; but we expect such a climax in the affairs of the world that the people will begin to realize the presence of the Lord and his kingdom power.”

Denies that pilgrims were told to cease talking about 1925.

Scan of original

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Issue header 'APRIL 1, 1923' and page markers 105/106 precede the passage in the scan OCR.

Scan provenance. Internet Archive upload by Veillez.org of the 1923 volume; public domain.

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-wt-1923-0401-p106-1925

Primary JW publication Verified

Jehovah's Witnesses—Proclaimers of God's Kingdom (jv), “Chapter 10, Growing in Accurate Knowledge of the Truth”

1993 · pp.133 (and footnote i) · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society of New York

“From Mr. Barbour ... Russell also came to be persuaded that Christ's invisible presence had begun in 1874. ... [fn. i] A clearer understanding of Biblical chronology was published in 1943, in the book 'The Truth Shall Make You Free,' and it was then refined the following year”

Official account that the 1874 presence date rested on flawed chronology corrected in 1943-44. The chapter also records early expectations that 1914 would bring the Church's glorification and that 'months and then years passed, and the Bible Students did not receive their heavenly reward as they had anticipated.'

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on wol; page marker 133; footnote i read in full.

Corroborated by. src-wt-1922-0301-presence-1874, src-tf-1943-00-p239-241-p300-302

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-jv-1993-00-p133-1874

Primary JW publication Verified

The Truth Shall Make You Free (book), “Chapters 'Seven Times' and on the Kingdom's birth”

1943 · pp.239-241, 300-302 · Watchtower Bible and Tract Society

“the 'times of the Gentiles' ... would continue and extend to the fall of A.D. 1914. ... the Government at its birth in A.D. 1914 ... Christ's coming to the temple in 1918 was entirely unexpected, even to his devoted faithful followers.”

1943 chronology places the end of the seven times and the Kingdom's birth in 1914 and Christ's coming to the temple in 1918; the book does not mention 1874 (grep found no occurrence). Proclaimers (p. 133 fn. i) identifies this book as where 'a clearer understanding of Biblical chronology was published in 1943'.

Scan of original

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Passages and page markers (239-241, 300, 302) read in the OCR. The claim that this book is where the presence date moved from 1874 to 1914 rests on jv p.133 fn. i plus the absence of 1874 here; a sentence explicitly saying 'presence began in 1914' was not found.

Scan provenance. Internet Archive / Digital Library of India scan. Copyright 1943; short quotation only.

Corroborated by. src-jv-1993-00-p133-1874

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-tf-1943-00-p239-241-p300-302

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-predictions-1874-presence-taught-until-1943/. 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.