Any explanation from the WT as to why Adam and Eve did not have sex before they sinned? (and other Genesis stumpers)

by BU2B 65 Replies latest watchtower bible

  • BluesBrother
    BluesBrother

    No answers here but just some Wt quotes on the subject showing that, at least in the '50's they clearly taught "no sex in Eden" and it is implied by the quote from 2011 :

    Wt '56 9/1 p537

    God’s Word tells us very little of the married life of Adam and Eve outside the paradise garden of Eden. It was not a happy life, that is sure. As each one looked at the other and recalled the respective part that each had played in bringing about this sad result, neither one could be happy in the other. Adam had now lost his perfect self-control. It was first outside of Eden that he had sex relations with his wife.

    Wt '59 9/1 p542

    Perfect man and woman had full control of their sexual desire. This is apparent from the fact that Adam and Eve did not have relations while in the garden of Eden. The exercise of the procreative function was not so strong a desire for them that they could not wait. No, they had much to learn about their other duties, caring for the garden, exercising dominion over the lower animals, and, in particular, getting acquainted with their Creator, as he visited them in the “breezy part of the day.” That this must have been the case appears from the fact that had Adam and Eve cohabited in Eden Eve certainly would have been pregnant before the fall into sin and Cain would not have been conceived in sin, whereas we are assured that because of Adam’s transgression all men are sinners.

    Wt 2011 11/1 p 4

    Furthermore, it was when Eve’s husband was not with her that she “began taking of [the forbidden] fruit and eating it. Afterward she gave some also to her husband when with her and he began eating it.”—Genesis 3:6.
    Finally, Adam and Eve were not censured when they had relations and brought forth children. (Genesis 4:1, 2) Clearly, the fruit that Adam and Eve ate did not represent their having sexual relations but was literal fruit that grew on a tree.

  • Comatose
    Comatose

    god this is so dumb... I used to believe this!!!

  • StephaneLaliberte
    StephaneLaliberte

    Also, how could the entrance to the garden of eden be garded by swords? Why would it have been invented or created back then?

  • 88JM
    88JM
    Also, how could the entrance to the garden of eden be garded by swords? Why would it have been invented or created back then?

    Another questions from readers that is a total cop out:

    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.

    Which is part of an even crazier larger article trying to explain why animals only ate vegitation before the flood!

  • Comatose
    Comatose

    What other language did Moses use that was not literal???

  • blondie
    blondie

    The answer should, the Bible does not say, but apparently......

  • Band on the Run
    Band on the Run

    I had problems with Genesis since childhood. Why create Eve if they were not going to have sexual relations? I thought of the incest. Cain and Abel's story did not seem fair. It is a problematic book. Karen Armstrong wrote a book concerning these stories. Adam and Eve seems the least likely of all Bible stories. They make no sense without the addition of a lot of conjecture. Don't the stories seem very disjointed?

    Being female, the focus on Eve as evil-doer and sexual temptress annoyed me no end. I wanted to scream out to defend her.

  • galaxie
    galaxie

    The more we read these fantastically incredibly naive mythological stories, the sadder we are that our families/friends who are JWs can believe this ..NON...SENSE , The mind is

    truly a strange thing that it can be manipulated in such a way.

  • BU2B
    BU2B

    Uggghhh- It is so sickening once you are awake. It is so obovious how they just arbitrarily pick what will be leteral and what isnt.

    Flaming swords? Figurative

    Talking snake? Literal

    Global Flood? Literal

    144,000? literal number- Everything that describes them virgins, males, marks on forehead all figurative

    Great Crowd? Literal-

    Great Crowd standing before the throne and lamb? Figurative

    Number 666? Figurative

    Daniel Prophecy having 2 fulfillments? Literal

    7 creative days?- Figrurative

    This list could go on and on.. Any more?

    Hellfire? Lake of fire? Jesus Parable of the rich man and lazarus? Figurative

    Generation? Literal, then figurative, back to literal but overlapping (try finding a dictionary with that definition)

    Lions will eat straw? Literal

    Faithful and Discreet slave parable? Literal

    Evil Slave? Figurative

    Slave that Knew what the will of his master was but did not do it? Figurative

  • cofty
    cofty

    God ADMITS the serpent was correct when he said they would become like him when he said "Here the man HAS BECOME LIKE US in knowing good and evil

    Good catch. Believers read the bible through a filter. They don't really see what's there.

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