You never know what may stroke a persons curiosity

donny

I learned today that one can never know what may make a dedicated JW think. I have a man working for me who is a pretty devout JW. He knows I used to attend meetings and occasionaly tries to "rescue" me and I always throw him a few reasons as to why I quit and he just shrugs it off. It's like water on the back of a duck. Well we had a conversation today and I was basically being a smart ass with my comment and reasoning, but it lo and behold it got him thinking. He is how it went.

He was telling me about a recent talk in his hall where the brother was explaining about how man, after his fall in Eden, created weapons to kill one another. He said the speaker emphatically stated that one of the earliest weapons fallen man created was the sword and it has led to the death of untold numbers. He then went on to cite several early conflicts in which the sword was a primary weapon.

Me (interrupting): I don't think that's right.

Bob: What's not right

Me: That man created the sword

Bob: Who created it then, Satan? (laughing)

Me: Jehovah did

Bob: Donny I know you have become weird since you quit going to meetings, but you may need to think about going again.

Me: No, I'm ok. But think about it. When is a sword first mentioned in the bible?

Bob: (Sarcastically) I don't know Donny, where?

Me: It's at the end of chapter three or four I think. It's where God kicked Adam and Eve out of the garden of Eden. He put a rotating flaming sword to keep them out.

Bob: Uh, well.......you're right, but there has to be an explanation. Maybe Jehovah looked into the future and saw the sword man invented and then made a copy and came back in time.

Me: (laughing) What is this, a Back to Future prequel?

Bob: (laughing nervously) I guess that's not the explanation.

Bob left and went back to his work area and about an hour later I went to his area to see how things were going.

Me: So what about the sword thing:

Bob: I have to admit, you got me thinking about that one and I have no explanation. I read the section you referenced and that is apparently the first mention of a sword in mans history. Gosh I have no answer. I have to think about this over the weekend.

I have to say that of all things I have thrown at this guy, I am flabbergasted that it was this that is making him think.

What do you think his response will be?

LayingLow

What an odd thing for him to get hung up on. I suppose it mainly happened because the speaker had given him such a bad setup. I remember being a JW and being told that the sword was shown to men by God at the garden and that it was a divine instrument. I guess they don't have unity in everything.

megawatt

Uh oh, independent thinking alarm going off!!! Quick to the elder mobile!!!!

compound complex

Good for you Donny!

Spanish metal was no match for English mettle ...

CoCo

blondie

That follows along with my wondering why Abel killed the sheep for a sacrifice since they were supposedly vegetarians and had never killed animals for food and not for sport let alone for religious reasons. Yet Abel sacrifice was acceptable and Cain's was not.

blondie

Actually here is the WTS "explanation" of the sword and if God invented it.

*** w94 2/1 p. 31 Questions From Readers ***Consider another example from the early chapters of Genesis. After Adam and Eve sinned and were expelled from the garden, Jehovah prevented them from returning. How? Genesis 3:24 says: "He drove the man out and posted at the east of the garden of Eden the cherubs and the flaming blade of a sword that was turning itself continually to guard the way to the tree of life." Notice, "the flaming blade of a sword." Did God invent swords?

We need not conclude that our loving Creator was the first one to make what we know as swords. Adam and Eve saw turning in front of the angels something that was blazing. What exactly was it? By the time Moses wrote the book of Genesis, swords were well-known and used in warfare. (Genesis 31:26; 34:26; 48:22; Exodus 5:21; 17:13) So Moses’ words "the flaming blade of a sword" enabled his readers to visualize to a degree what existed at the entrance of Eden. The information known in Moses’ day contributed to the understanding of such matters. And the language Moses employed must have been accurate, for Jehovah had it included in the Bible.—2 Timothy 3:16.

Quandry

I always wondered how animals started eating meat after the flood, when supposedly they had all been vegetarians previously.

I believe I remember an Awake article yeeeeeeeaaaars ago stating that the animals began to copy man, who started killing.

Anyone know that reference? At the time, I wondered why animals would observe man and say to themselves, "Hey, I think I'll do that, too."

donny

I always wondered how animals started eating meat after the flood, when supposedly they had all been vegetarians previously.
I believe I remember an Awake article yeeeeeeeaaaars ago stating that the animals began to copy man, who started killing.

It's kind of funny how crazy explanations become when you have to defend an absurd belief that completely conflicts with reality. One can look at the design on many animals, and even some plants, and understand that they evolved to eat the flesh of other creatures.

Billy the Ex-Bethelite

Before the flood, didn't the mosquitos bite trees and drink the sap? Probably after the ten plaques of Egypt they started drinking blood.

See, it's easy making up these fairy tales... like a talking snake and naked lady causing all the world's problems.

B the X

LockedChaos

Billy

Never heard a talking snake
But................

Did have a LOT of trouble years ago
Due to a naked lady

Probable not the same though HuH

You never know what may stroke a persons curiosity

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