by cedars 190 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Would you agree that the narrative in the first 3 chapters doesn't actually describe the idea of inherited sin as we know it,
Exactly!
I don't believe in the idea of inherited sin.
Adam was created mortal and dying. He was prevented from acheiving immortality. (Whether by eating from the Tree of Life or not being able to go through the correct PROCESS of eating, as Botch suggests.)
And for that matter, yellow kernal vegetables? Dark purple fleshy vegetables? (the word Aubergine would be a hint)
Can't we discuss the meaning of this story? If it is going to be a joke I think I'll just leave.
For the record, I absolutely agree this is an allegory.
Cedars, I believe you are starting to understand the ancient secret of Wibble.
I think in the story the Tree of Life represents communion with God in perfect relationship. I think the Tree of Knowledge represents trying to make ourselves God. Original sin was a breaking of the relationship. It still exists, but it is comparatively feeble.
For the record, I absolutely agree this is an allegory.
For the record, I am allegoric to the Sandia. (an American hint is Watermelon)
A life is to live. It can be like a tree. A soul can be like a tree.
Can the Tree of Life mean what will become of the living? And can eating of the Tree of Knowledge mean having knowedge of the life before it happens? If so, it would explain what is wrong with eating it and also why it was there.
To eat from the tree represents trying to be something a human is not, which is God.
I think eating from the tree represents trying to be something we are meant to be, which is god-like.
We have been prevented from that. The question is : WHY?
We are not sinners, we didn't "inherit sin". We are trapped in a flawed world.
As Nathaniel Merritt explains:
This is in all animals. All animals are selfish, self-seeking and self-willed. Just as we are. Are animals "sinners"? Or are they simpley animals partaking of the flawed nature of material existence, the same as we are?
The only difference is that humans have a spirit, which is our destiny to return to.
Again the question: Why did Jehovah prevent them from achieving that?
Can we please not make this a Wibble thread?
This may hve been the deepest discussion of "free will" I have yet read on JWN.
