Sin didn't kill Adam...the food did

by onacruse 14 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Narkissos

  onacruse

  I was especially thinking of Seventh-Day Adventism as the most successful heir of the Millerite movement: very early their doctrine combines a belief in the "last days" with dietary counsel and interest in health, health reform or alternative medicine. This was true of the early Watchtower days, too (cf. the many "health" articles in The Golden Age, which addressed a similar audience). Gradually the health aspect was toned down (although the blood prohibition might indeed be construed as one unconscious resurgence or perversion of it).

  I said paradoxical because there is an apparent contradiction between the belief that the end is near and the concern about present health improvement. But you can also see it as a compensation... Adventism (including the WT) owes as much to disappointment about short-term eschatology as to short-term eschatology itself.
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  onacruse

  Narkissos:

  I said paradoxical because there is an apparent contradiction between the belief that the end is near and the concern about present health improvement.

  Indeed. That was the reason that I found these earlier emphases on the "food" versus the "sin" interesting.

  Perhaps you've observed the same: there was a certain level of angst in the congregation when someone was 'really into health stuff,' as if that was an abandonment of the belief that Paradise was so close that what you did (or didn't do) to your body was almost irrelevant. There was one sister, for example, who was a general manager for a health-food store, and she was all hyped about herbs and vitamins and cleansing, etc...the elders told her to keep her opinions to herself.

  All-in-all, I don't recall that very many JWs gave a hoot about their physical health (and that certainly includes me).
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  avidbiblereader

  I always heard it; It wasn't the apple in the tree but rather the pair on the ground, that killed them.

  abr
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  RAF

  I've come to the conclusion that, insofar as the Genesis account is relevant to human existence, it's meaning is that humanity must take that first step of self-awareness...and the responsibilities for self-decision that come along with that step

  Yeah that's what I've meant ... you've put it way better ! Thanks Onacruse
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  Elsewhere

  Ok, according to the WTS interpretation of the bible,

  1. People die because of sin.
  2. Jesus died to remove sin from everyone.

  If Jesus removed the sin from everyone, then why do people still die?