The Perfect Flesh (not bent toward sin?) Okay, I would like to challenge a JW belief on the flesh - So here it goes........... There is the notion that the flesh of Adam was perfect and therefore not bent toward sin and the flesh thereafter is imperfect, bent toward sinning. My idea is that Adam and Eve's flesh as well as ours is, in itself bent toward wanting to be satisfied and thereby 'missing the mark'. Adam and Eve's flesh, as well as ours, has feelings and desires that can lead us astray. It's true that now, men have diabetes, anxiety disorders, or other health issues, that affect us. And it's true that some of these health problems may beacon the flesh to want to be fulfilled more than a healthier man. An example of this: Take a person who is pre-diabetic. Their low or high blood sugar would affect their body, at times make them crave carbohydrates more than a healthier man. This could lead to over eating at times. Another example: A man who has some sort of nervous disorder, may want to drink more than another man. There are also things in our environment that can lead us to wanting to satisfy the flesh. Some examples of this may be childhood trauma, such as sexual, emotional or physical abuse. These can lead one for longing for fleshly fulfillment in different ways. Also things that happen to us such as post traumatic stress or wrong association in the form of friends, family, books, internet or movies, etc. that can lead to desires of the flesh. So my point being, yes Adam and Eve had not the genetic disposition, nor the environmental problems but never the less, were in the FLESH, which longs for satisfaction. The fact that Adam And Eve did go against their better judgment and at the forbidden fruit, demonstrates their flesh was weak. In Adams case, probably his desire for Eve to love him and not feeling alone again, as he may have felt before she was created, lead him to sin. In Eve's case, the fruit looked desirable to her eyes, and thereof was one of the reasons she sinned. Both carnal in nature. So whether a man has genetic imperfections or not, his feelings and experiences in life can lead the flesh to overcome practical thinking to do the right thing, as was the case with Adam and Eve. So that being the case, there is no perfect flesh, that is not bent toward sin. But rather it is the very nature of the flesh to pull us against our better judgment, whether genetically perfect or not. The phrase fallen flesh is not in the bible and therefore I do not think, there is a fallen flesh and a flesh not fallen. One thought about Jesus: He came down to earth and became FLESH. He was made in our humanity and then therefore would understand the pull that the flesh has on our spirit, and would be able to be the sympathetic high priest, being tested in everyway like we, ourselves. Whether Jesus was genetically flawed like we our self or not, he would still understand our struggle. I am leaning toward the notion that he was from the tribe of Judah and bloodline of Abraham, as well as Adam and therefore had any genetic dna imperfections that that entailed. I do however, believe that in this baby Jesus, was the pure spirit, of the spirit son of God, from heaven who had been at his father's side and was faithful and good. This gave him the ability to resist sin, in a way that no other man had been able to do, and therefore was the only man ever qualified to pay the ransom for our sins as he was the 'son of God' and the 'son of man'. Jesus was able to conquer his flesh and the world and successfully pay a price for our sins that no man had ever paid before or since. Therefore the 1 st Adam, in the FLESH, gave in and ate the fruit, and the 2 nd Adam in the FLESH, was able to resist sin, and conquered and was made 'perfect' or 'complete'. And then paved the way for us to be of courage and have faith, because maybe, just maybe we can also conquer the world.
A Challenge to a JW teaching
by NewTruth 2 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Spook
The JW tomfoolery of denying the "soul" as a necessary theistic teaching drops them into a chasm of absurdity regarding the ransom and the nature of the "fall" in their teaching. I'm an atheist of course, but the trouble with JW's is that they cannot use the theodicy of other more refined orthodoxies to counter questions about "evil."
JW's actually do believe in an immortal soul. It's all just wordplay and mindless metaphysical nonsense used to get around the traditional challenges of theology. Their faith in the organization supplants the need other theists have had throughout history to actually answer questions that poke holes in their theology like the world's most rotten lump of swiss cheese.
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NewTruth
Hi there Spook... Yes, I agree, JW's do actually believe in a sense that some have an immortal soul.. The 144,000 . Yes word play.
You are right, their idea of the soul is wrong.. I think, I didn't make the article easy to understand. My main point is that, I believe, Adam was in the FLESH, Jesus was in the FLESH and we are in the FLESH. And it is a drain on all of us, and can defeat us, if our spirit is not strong enough.