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Predictions and dates · Claim record

The magazine printing of The Watchtower of 1 January 1989 p.12 said Paul was laying a foundation for a work 'that would be completed in our 20th century'; the bound volume and the online library read 'completed in our day'.

Claim ID claim-predictions-1989-20th-century-changedConcerns 1 January 1989Explicit statement
Explicit statement · 1 January 1989 Verified

The magazine printing of The Watchtower of 1 January 1989 p.12 said Paul was laying a foundation for a work 'that would be completed in our 20th century'; the bound volume and the online library read 'completed in our day'. The Watchtower (original magazine printing), 1 January 1989The Watchtower (bound volume / Watchtower Online Library text), 1 January 1989

The organisation’s position or later explanation: No published explanation located.

Show the evidence (2 sources)
Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower (original magazine printing), “'The Hand of Jehovah Was With Them'”

1 January 1989 · p.12 · par. 8 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“He was also laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our 20th century.”

Said of the apostle Paul's missionary work.

Scan of original

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Comparison scan (magazine page and bound-volume page of w89 1/1 p. 12) opened and read as images by the independent source auditor on 19 September 2026: the magazine reads 'in our 20th century', the bound volume 'in our day'; both pages carry the footer '12 THE WATCHTOWER—JANUARY 1, 1989'. The scan is catalogued under a French title but reproduces the English page.

Scan provenance. Internet Archive upload by Veillez.org: side-by-side scan of p. 12 in the magazine and in the bound volume. The PDF's OCR layer is empty, so the image was not machine-read in this session.

Corroborated by. src-w-1989-0101-p12-bound-in-our-day

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1989-0101-p12-magazine-20th-century

Primary JW publication Verified

The Watchtower (bound volume / Watchtower Online Library text), “'The Hand of Jehovah Was With Them'”

1 January 1989 · p.12 · par. 8 · Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society

“He was also laying a foundation for a work that would be completed in our day.”

Same sentence as the magazine printing, with 'in our 20th century' replaced by 'in our day'.

Official source

Provenance and verification note

Confidence note. Opened on wol; page marker 12; wording 'in our day' confirmed; a wol phrase search for 'completed in our 20th century' returns nothing.

Corroborated by. src-w-1989-0101-p12-magazine-20th-century

Accessed. 19 September 2026 · Source ID. src-w-1989-0101-p12-bound-in-our-day

Claim page

A direct link to this claim is https://jwtruth.org/evidence/claim-predictions-1989-20th-century-changed/. 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.