2 Timothy 3:1
2 Timothy 3:11But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
JWs read as a prophetic description of conditions intensified since 1914 — selfishness, disobedience, and lack of natural affection are said to characterise the "last days" that began with Christ's invisible enthronement. The passage is a staple in door-to-door presentations as evidence that we are living in the final part of the last days.
Paul tells Timothy to "turn away from these" () — a present-tense imperative that is meaningless if the people described will not exist for another 1,900 years. The instruction only makes sense if the "last days" were already present. Six additional NT passages confirm this: (Peter at Pentecost: "this is what was spoken"), ("in these last days"), ("it is the last hour"), , , and . The identical Greek phrase (eschatais hēmerais) in and demolishes the claim that these are two different periods. Paul's remedy for the last days is not an organisation but Scripture itself — "all Scripture is inspired… so that the man of God may be fully competent" ().