by rebel8 16 Replies latest jw friends
The Adam family tree, simplified.
Eve:
I recently read a speculation that the particular mutation on my branch of the tree (J), allows us to run hotter. Which might have given us a slight advantage migrating to northern climates.
It is true; I do run hot.
That's a lot of dents.
When I was first introduced to Witness theology, I was confused by the association between physical imperfection and sin. I'd been taught that sin is a choice. There seemed to be an awful lot of tolerance by Witnesses for "imperfection", as if it were unavoidable. At the same time, Witnesses do seem to have an affinity, a yearning for physical perfection, no matter how unachievable here on earth. I thought also that the magazine artistry reinforced this association with physical perfection...all those lovely people picnicing together.
I know that my JW husband had a strong affinity for my daughter, a poster child for Witnessism; physically close to perfection, modest, clean, and good. He had the opposite, visceral reaction against my flawed son.
The reaction by the Witnesses to this woman remind me of the way my hubby reacted to my daughter.
When I was in I spoke against the Jello mold/bread tin illustration, because I said that if sin were a genetic problem then at some point man would genetically engineer to get rid of it, and there would be no need for Jesus and his sacrifice.
I cannot see anything wrong with my thoughts then, from a Bible point of view, or anything right with the WT view, but you know the JDubs, they didn't have an answer for me, but the "Slave" must have it right, however silly.
To me then at that time I viewed Inherited Sin as more that we did not inherit the legal right to life, Adam had lost that and could not pass on what he did not have in a legal sense, a bit like someone who has gambelled away a fortune, his heirs will not get that money.
Somehow that I did not understand, because the WT could not explain sin properly, so of course they did not explain how realease from sin would work, somehow Jesus restored that legal right to life, got the fortune back for the heirs.
Of course, I now know that the whole thing is a load of rubbish from start to finish. Adam is a fictional character, sin is only the evil that men do, it cannot be "inherited", and if Jesus existed, he has been dead for close on two thousand years.
He is incapable of doing anything.
Yeah, the whole "imperfect" gene theory of Adam's Sin was created by someone who never took, let alone understood, a course in molecular genetics: it's almost too goofy to try and correct the defects of the claim.
For starters, there's no "perfect" genes: perfect, according to whom? Pure science fiction to imagine there are...
And as pointed out, random mutations are contantly occurring in each of our gametes (egg/sperm cells), and each offspring is not simply a copy, or even a mix of the genetics of the parents, but a distinct individual who's slightly different than either of the parents, or the mix of the parents.
And Jello is disgusting anyway. Especially with sour cream and nuts mixed in.
LOL! Nice conclusion: way to torpedo your own analogy!! :)
But you raise a good point that is often forgotten: analogies are TEACHING DEVICES, or models with known characteristics which are designed to serve as proxies when dealing with an unknown system. ALL analogies break down, if you try to take them beyond the point where similarities exist. The problem is, the student is not aware of where the boundaries of knowns and unknowns are, and will try to extend them beyond where they should be used.
The same drawback applies to Jesus' beloved practice of teaching in parables....
Phizzy said:
When I was in I spoke against the Jello mold/bread tin illustration, because I said that if sin were a genetic problem then at some point man would genetically engineer to get rid of it, and there would be no need for Jesus and his sacrifice.
I cannot see anything wrong with my thoughts then, from a Bible point of view, or anything right with the WT view, but you know the JDubs, they didn't have an answer for me, but the "Slave" must have it right, however silly.
To me then at that time I viewed Inherited Sin as more that we did not inherit the legal right to life, Adam had lost that and could not pass on what he did not have in a legal sense, a bit like someone who has gambelled away a fortune, his heirs will not get that money.
Somehow that I did not understand, because the WT could not explain sin properly, so of course they did not explain how realease from sin would work, somehow Jesus restored that legal right to life, got the fortune back for the heirs.
The biological basis to original sin is silly: Jesus would have to carry "perfect" genes (ALA as YHWH supposedly inseminated virgin Mary), that were prevented from mutating, and then Jesus would have to reproduce via in-vitro fertilization in a female surrogate, with his own genes serving as the template. A good time to do THAT kind of this would've been AFTER the World-wide Flood, NOT after he was executed. Clearly, the work wasn't divinely-inspired, and YWHW was the Master Biologist you'd expect the "Intelligent Designer" to be.
JWs takes a legalistic view to the question of original sin (not surprisingly, being that lawyers had a strong influence on developing the eschatology of the religion, even using a legal term in the name, "Jehovah's WITNESSES"). This is also reflected in the fact the OT was written by Hebrews, people who knew a thing or two about legal matters, and contract law!
But there again, the Xian's idea of God entering into a legal contract with mankind to offer salvation is absolutely bollocks: for one, where would humanity go in order to sue God for breach of contract? And why would a supernatural being who cannot lie even bother with entering into covenants (contracts) with mankind (eg the rainbow was supposedly created as God's promise NOT to flood the Earth again. He promised....)?
Somehow that I did not understand, because the WT could not explain sin properly, so of course they did not explain how realease from sin would work, somehow Jesus restored that legal right to life, got the fortune back for the heirs.
The whole Christian plot is bog-nuts, I can't even repeat it with a straight face. Here's the idea of God's "perfect justice" from DarkMatter
I'd like to know why Adam's sin caused the earth to have violent earthquakes, floods, tornadoes and hurricanes......which.....especially F5 tornadoes and Category 4 hurricanees.....can't help but take human lives.....no matter how "perfect" their genes may be.
Perfect genes don't stop a Volvo from landing on your head.
