by cedars 190 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
Some very interesting points being made - plenty of food for thought.
It's a shame that you only start to make sense of Genesis once you stop taking it seriously as a historical narrative.
In any case, I'm going to bed before james_woods drags me over onto his wibble thread - something altogether more incomprehensible!!
Cedars
I have another "theory". Some stories in the bible are legend and some are historical.
I think the Adam/Eve/Tree legend symbolizes mans evolution into a higher state of intellect. First man was not intellegent, and with evolution of intellegence/ego/choice came more responsibility. One makes an incorrect choice, there is consequence that can effect a good or bad out come, thus the story of right and wrong....
On the other hand:
If one believes in evolution from a type ape, then I can also see how animal instinct in time developed into Homo sapiens intellegence with new higher intellect (ego) now knowing right from wrong, which still needs to be honed in with practice of consequence thus the story again of good and bad.
On the other hand:
And if one believes in the bible account, again, I can still see how it represents the devlopment of ego in humans......who need to learn, with higher intellegence comes consequence.....just like children need to be taught...
As far as Ndrew's explaination....don't know if it is indeed fact.......but sounds good to me....
It's a shame that you only start to make sense of Genesis once you stop taking it seriously as a historical narrative.
This is the first step to understanding it...
Can we please not make this a Wibble thread?
No. All threads are somewhat Wibble.
In any case, I'm going to bed before james_woods drags me over onto his wibble thread - something altogether more incomprehensible!!
No one is dragged to Wibble. Each one has his own Wibble - even if there is no Wibble in them. Each one is free to Wibble or not Wibble. This is the expression of the free will of Wibble.
As far as Ndrew's explaination.....don't now if it is indeed fact.......but sounds good to me....
It does make every bit as much sense as the fundamentalist view of this Genesis story.
Yay!!
We all agree it shouldn't be taken literally!!
Is this a JWN first?
I haven't read the whole thread yet, though I did read the blog. So I'm going to post my thoughts and then go back and read.
Knowledge of good and evil is not knowing of good and evil, nor knowing the difference between good and evil. It is KNOWING (as in e x periencing/an intimate knowing). Death falls under that category. Knowing death, would mean dying. They already knew good... life.
I don't claim to understand everything in the account, but I do know that their death was a consequence of what they did.
Something to think about.
Peace,
Tammy
Who is to say what is right and what is wrong
It is after all up to our owned individual conscience
And if we are to be judged, by this we will be judged.
Jesus, the Great Teacher, taught just as His Father taught.
"All these things Jesus said to the crowds in parables; indeed, he said nothing to them without a parable."
"Then the disciples came and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” And he answered them, “To you it has been given to know the secrets of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given."
Those who hold to a fundamentalist view are like those who listened to Jesus and did not dig any further and missed the real lesson. Come to think of it, fundamentalists do this with even some of his obvious parables, such as the Rich Man and Lazarus--or the Sheep and the Goats (hint: if the sheep & goats are figurative, so is the fire!)
I always wondered if Satan was sooooooooo smart, being created by JC and all, why wouldn't he have them eat the eturnal life tree first? Then would they live forever in a sinful state? I don't think this ever happened. Where is Lilith in all this? She must have already booked and was waiting outsid the garden to have sex with the sons. She was never told she would live and toil or be in pain having babies. She is just as real as old Adam and Eve.
I always wondered if Satan was sooooooooo smart, being created by JC and all, why wouldn't he have them eat the eturnal life tree first?
Maybe Satan knows the tree of life is the tree of knowledge. Evil laugh
I think the tree of life is something you must continue to eat from in order to continue to live. Or in order to have life over death. There is nothing in the account to state whether or not they had already eaten from the tree... other than that they had life. If you must continue to eat from the tree of life, then it doesn't matter if you've eaten from it before or not.
Peace,
Tammy
