Crazy theories and tough questions asked by a kid

by fade_away 8 Replies latest jw experiences

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  fade_away

  Sorry for the lengthy thread, I've spent too many years preparing talks. I can't help it.

  I had so many questions as a kid when my dad read me "My Book of Bible Stories". I seemed to be the only kid that had so many questions at the time. A lot of children just sat there and ate up those stories, but my curiosity made my dad a little uncomfortable. I was like 9 years old when I started having trouble imagining a God with no beginning. I could picture the infinite future of God but not the infinite past. Until this day I still have trouble imagining something with no beginning.

  Was there possibly at one point an older God that created Jehovah? If so, where did THAT God come from and where is he now? Is he dead? Maybe Gods eventually die. Maybe they live for billions of years and like a star, just die and are replaced by a new God. Maybe Jesus will replace Jehovah after He dies, and in that sense God exists forever. Lol! I know it sounds stupid but as a kid, these funny theories made it easier for me to believe in God.

  Another question I had: if Jehovah has no beginning, but the Earth began about 6-7 thousand years ago, then what was God doing a billion years ago? A trillion years? A quadrillion or a quintillion years ago? If he was alone in the universe for an infinite time, what took him so long to create life? A quintillion years before life I guess he just hovered in an empty black space all alone with nothing to do for so many years until just 6,000 years ago he finally decided to create the Earth.

  A nother question was if lions and bears and wolves and such were meant to eat hay and be peaceful domestic animals, why did God create them with such sharp fangs and claws and obvious natural killing tools designed to rip through flesh? What about the dinosaurs? Why did the raptor had such a huge claw on each foot? Why does the T-Rex have such huge razor sharp teeth? I'm sure it's not for tearing viciously through hay and leaves. If you say that they developed sharp teeth and claws after Adam and Eve sinned, then isn't that evolution? Snakes have venom, sharks have teeth, and it was all used to eat vegetables and seaweed?

  These questions eventually angered my dad when I wouldn't drop them. I remember he slammed the book shut half-way through the story and told me I'm asking too many stupid questions, then he went to bed. I felt so rotten and terrible! But I see now that I wasn't doing anything wrong. I just had curious questions. My dad must've taken these questions as an affront to God's existence but I didn't mean it that way.

  But, wow! Now that I think about it, if a child can think outside of the box, why can't a Jehovah's Witness adult do the same? That's the only question I've asked with an obvious answer:...Brainwash.
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  Knowsnothing

  I too always found it hard to wrap my head around a God that has had no beginning. BTW, WT doesn't teach 6000 yr old earth anymore. You might wanna update on this...

  As for creation itself and the questions you asked, they are perfectly logical. I mean, sharks have rows of teeth that grow back, are razor sharp, can smell blood from a mile away, etc. etc. Scorpions naturally have venom. The Earth's crust sits on techtonic plates, and the crust is continually renewed thanks to subduction, conversion zones, which cause earthquakes. Volcanos also exist thanks to the pushing up of the plates against each other. Wolves are highly social animals, and hunt efficiently in packs. Same think with killer whales, dolphins, etc. God made fungus to break down organic substances, such as rotting trees; bacteria to break down dead animals, humans... So your right. It just doesn't make sense that this is somehow "imperfect creation". Look at how complex ecosystems and food chains are. Yet they work!

  And that's just creation. Analyze some biblical passages, and you can't even give a decent explanation for some of them. One of the stories that has always bothered me is Babel. Genesis 8:3-9

  1 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward, [a] they found a plain in Shinar [b] and settled there.

  3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”

  5 But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

  8 So the LORD scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel [c] —because there the LORD confused the language of the whole world. From there the LORD scattered them over the face of the whole earth.

  First off, any technology back then could not compare to today. So, any possible tower being built could not possibly have been any higher than say, the Dubai tower. If God, in his infinite knowledge and foresight, saw humanity build these enormous structures today in the future, why did he decide to stop them then? Again, there is nothing back then that comes close to the stuff humans are doing now. Humans are practically playing God by cloning, creating organs out of stem cells, and so much more.

  In verse 6, God seems to fear that these simple humans can apparently do anything. Huh? Why would Godfear humans? These tiny specs of dust? And, what of God's purpose for humans to “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”(Genesis 1:28)?

  Instead of confusing their language, why not simply ask them nicely to extend themselves over the earth? Something about this account doesn't seem right...
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  fade_away

  That's a good observation. I've thought a lot about these things too even though we can't question these things without being shunned upon. But when did the WT change the 6,000 year old Earth teaching? I guess I must've been so zoned out of the boring meetings I can't remember any other teaching.
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  exwhyzee

  if a child can think outside of the box, why can't a Jehovah's Witness adult do the same? That's the only question I've asked with an obvious answer:...Brainwash.

  Because it scares people who aren't prepared to handle the "actual" truth.

  Even though they don't understand it, JW's believe that someone as complex and as powerful as God had no beginning and had no creator. But can't wrap their heads around the possibility that the earth too could have always existed and didn't have a creator either. You're not supposed to think too much about it these things, just nod your head and move as directed and say things like "wasn't that an upbuilding article"
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  Band on the Run

  I popped out of the womb with questions. It did not endear me to Witnesses, particularly my brutal, stupid father. First, I was very confused by statements of Jehovah is here during some assembly, all of which were sheer hell to endure. I started looking at the air vents, etc. Yet I knew if you saw God's face, you would die or something. It was very spooky and how does a little kid figure out when thousands of years of human thought have yet to solve.

  My next bump was in third grade. We had no friends in the Witnesses. I was very social. The isolation pained me. I hated it. Of course, I had no choice. Flag salute, blood, birthdays, holidays - hell. The kids tormented me at school. My mom said to say we were Christian if anyone asked. I did. The kids found out I did not cross myself. Some kids refused to talk to me since I was a heathen.

  Fifth grade was the turning point. I could always read several grades above my level. Some WTBTS book was written on a very simple level. The all powerful brothers could not read. They were functionally illiterate. I assume the apostles were illiterate. Jesus read in the Temple. I kept reading the paragraph and it was clear, they screwed up big time. My problem was that I had the thought that they were wrong. I convinced myself that I sinned against the Holy Spirit (males). It caused great torment. Would God strike me dead at Peter's behest? I still find those passages bizarre. Make them do extra labor to atone for holding back money. Jesus dies for us and then we're struck dead! There was no one I could talk about my fears and my discovery. My aunt and uncle lived in a suburb. There brothers could read. Why could I not have a nice hall and brothers who could read.

  Teenage years - I know from my very soul that the WTBTS is false. My family has been in since Russell. All of the stories of major corruption and venality don't total up with the Kingdom Hall orders. Fundamentally, every person I love and respect will perish at Armageddon, which my mom says not to mind b/c she lived through two separate Armageddon dates. Close family friends sold all their assets and went up a mountain. They were ruined. In contrast, every person I hate with an ardor is a Witness, who will live through Armageddon. Once Armageddon is over (and all my family is certain we are not good enough), I can look forward to shoveling up carcasses for a thousand years after which an epic battle will take place. The Beatles land in the US. I screech with glee. Bob Dylan does Newport. Civil rights workers are murdered in Missippi. I am often in Manhattan. Something has to give. The Witnesses go. My father literally drags me to the KH. He kicks me and pinches me in full view. I am very adamant that my physical body may be present but he can't control my mind. He dies. My mother refuses to use physical violence. Two weeks later, my entire family does not go.

  Whenever I think life is rough, I remember my WTBTS years. Life is glorious.
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  WontLeave

  Was there possibly at one point an older God that created Jehovah?

  That would require Jehovah to be a liar and if our God is a liar, we are all screwed and there isn't anything we can do about it.

  what was God doing a billion years ago?

  Some would say, "Playing with dinosaurs". Obviously our universe has existed much longer than 6k years and obviously there was life here before us. The Bible pretty much just tells us what we need to know. The whole account of creation is only 2 chapters of the entire Bible, so it would seem it was left pretty sparse on purpose. Who knows how long Jesus existed with Jehovah and then there are "myriads of myriads" of angels.

  Why does the T-Rex have such huge razor sharp teeth?

  Many scientists theorize that T-Rex was a scavenger.

  That's about all I can offer, right off the top of my head. I'm sure God won't keep you hanging forever. We'll have forever to learn and new scrolls will be opened.
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  fade_away

  "New scrolls will be opened" "wait on Jehovah". It's always the same answer I get. I guess the T-Rex was a scavenger. What was he scavenging? Vegetables and leaves and hay of course! Why else would you need razor sharp teeth.
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  fade_away

  I also wonder why the Triceratops needed such long horns on his head. For protection or for scavenging? Protection against what? Vegetables and hay?
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  Knowsnothing

  Or the ant-eater, and it's extremely long tongue to suck on difficult to get grapes? Or the chameleon, with its wicked fast and long tongue to whisper sweet nothings into a fly's ears?