Why “Thousands of years” instead of Billions???

by Bloody Hotdogs! 20 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

  • St George of England
    St George of England

    It used to be said that each creative day was 7,000 years in length. However, I think in recent years they have dropped the idea of putting any sort of timescale on the creative days for obvious reasons.

    Thus this recent (2010) quote from "Was Life Created?":-

    *** lc p. 26 Science and the Genesis Account ***

    How long, then, were the creative days? The Bible does not say; however, the wording of Genesis chapters 1 and 2 indicates that considerable lengths of time were involved.

    George

  • designs
    designs

    "For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth" Exodus 20:11

    Wt- "How long, then, were the creative days? The Bible does not say."

    HA!!

  • blondie
    blondie

    The WTS has backed off using the phrase 7,000 years but here it shows the concept is still official.

    *** w12 10/15 p. 22 par. 2 Obey God and Benefit From His Sworn Promises ***

    Having reviewed his creative works, Jehovah God announced the beginning of a seventh day—not a 24-hour day, but a long period of time during which he has rested from further works of earthly creation. (Gen. 2:2) God’s rest day still has not ended. (Heb. 4:9, 10) The Bible does not reveal exactly when it started. It was some time after the creation of Adam’s wife, Eve, about 6,000 years ago. Ahead of us lies the Thousand Year Reign of Jesus Christ, which will ensure the fulfillment of God’s purpose in creating the earth to be an everlasting paradise filled with perfect mankind.

  • WTWizard
    WTWizard

    If each "day" is 7,000 years, we are in the late part of the 7th day. This means we are at 48,000 years less whatever time there is remaining until Armageddon. And that is the age of the whole universe, not the earth.

    Is it any wonder they needed to slaughter anyone who did not accept this idiocy in the LIE-ble?

  • cliff
    cliff

    God has 10 fingers

    So, of course, she counts in decimal. 10s 100s, 1000s.

    Just like mankind. Strange co-incidence ....

  • wallsofjericho
    wallsofjericho

    yes as Blondie showed the WTS does not ascribe to specific lengths of time for the creative days.

    However, it is interesting that the 7th day (gods day of rest) which has not ended is effectively 7000 years (if the end is sooooo close)

    so the other 6 creative days are billions of years but God only took 7000 years off to rest followed by a meger 1000 years "millenial" reign

    was this new light? or had not science and physics proven beyond a shadow of a doubt the vast age of the universe would the WTS still acribe to the 7000 year creative days?

    Another intersting point is how many active JW's still to this day would defend the 7000 creative days if challenged. Its "new light" that no one likes to talk about. Which is always a sign that the WTS has been made the fool

  • FadeToBlack
    FadeToBlack

    If a 'day' could be an indefinite length of time, why do they all have to be the same? Couldn't one day be 737 million years and another 1.5 billion years? Sounds to me like someone had an agenda. In other words, conclusion first, then force-fit your evidence to support your theory.

  • Finkelstein
    Finkelstein

    Two things to take note of is firstly the ancients (Hebrews) did not know of the length of time

    that already transpired when they were imaginating the universe's time scale.

    .

    And secondly the WTS. leaders did have much education to think diffidently from what they read in the bible

    or from other sources, particularly Russell.

    Human ignorance is something that we all have to endure but as history has shown having an open

    mind to things not yet learned is an advantageous and beneficial for all humanity in the long run.

  • baldeagle
    baldeagle

    I’ve added some additional comments found in March 2014 Awake.

    HOW LONG DID GOD TAKE TO CREATE THE UNIVERSE?

    The Bible states that God created “the heavens and the earth.” This broad statement, however, makes no reference to the length of time involved in creating the universe or to the methods he used to shape it. In the Bible account, each of the six creative days could have lasted for thousands of years. God had already created the universe, including a lifeless planet Earth, by the time the first creative day began. Evidently the six creative days were long periods during which Jehovah God prepared the earth for human habitation. The Bible account of creation does not conflict with scientific conclusions about the age of the universe.

    1985 Life—How Did It Get Here? By Evolution or by Creation? Chap. 3 pp. 26-27 pars. 5&7 What Does Genesis Say?

    5 This last sentence appears to fit the creative “days,” for certainly they were periods when extraordinary events were described as happening. It also allows for periods much longer than 24 hours.

    7 It would seem reasonable that the “days” of Genesis could likewise have embraced long periods of time—millenniums.

    WT January 1, 1987 p. 30

    Second, a study of the fulfillment of Bible prophecy and of our location in the stream of time strongly indicate that each of the creative days (Genesis, chapter 1) is 7,000 years long. It is understood that Christ’s reign of a thousand years will bring to a close God’s 7,000-year ‘rest day,’ the last ‘day’ of the creative week. (Revelation 20:6; Genesis 2:2, 3) Based on this reasoning, the entire creative week would be 49,000 years long…..and humans have existed, not for 49,000 years, but for about 6,000 years.

    Blondie made an excellent point: “The WTS has backed off using the phrase 7,000 years but here it shows the concept is still official.” I looked it up for myself and as she quoted it’s found in a recent WT study namely the October 15, 2012. This was news to me.

    Over the years I noticed they were using expressions like, millenniums, thousands of years, extended over many thousands of years, each of these epochs evidently lasted thousands of years, etc.”

    I asked some JW’s over the years (when I was still involved) and many said that the literal view of 7000 years per creative day had been discarded and many more said they were unsure what the real answer was!!

    Evidently the 2012 WT reveals that their still hanging on to the 7000 years for the creative days.

  • Bloody Hotdogs!
    Bloody Hotdogs!

    This is outrageous! JWs are so smug about NOT being creationists. This has to be among their most blatant lies.

Share this

Google+
Pinterest
Reddit