Some of you by choice or by compelling reason will attend the book study to consider the “Creator” book. During the study you might want to ask a few questions. Here are some things to ponder and maybe you can formulate some questions to ask your conductor.
This book is dreadful in its use of quotations. Very few have any indication of their source. Even if they do there is no issue number or date and the book contains no bibliography. (See Francis Crick’s statement on page 42.) I would love to know when Dr. David Premack made his statement on page 60. I’d be willing to bet that the quote is quite old!
I find it interesting that while on page 111 Urwick’s writings are pointed out as being outdated, the book continues to quote Wallace Pratt, (page 101) a geologist from the 1920’s, and E.A Milne (page 16) who died in 1950. (E.A. Milne calculated the age of the universe to be 2 billion years old -- only half the accepted age of the Earth today.) Also, after attacking scientific speculation the last paragraph on page 93 is pure speculation as is most of the chapter.
Regarding the flood of Noah read the footnote on page 95. It comments that flood accounts are found in many cultures earth wide. But it makes this leap to conclusion:
“This historic event left an indelible mark on the human survivors and their descendants, as anthropologists confirm.”
Rubbish! Anthropologists confirm there are many flood legends, they don’t credit this to a global flood. Perhaps you should ask the study conductor to explain how ice core samples drilled from both the Arctic and Antarctic regions preserve a record of Earth history going back 150,000 years. How come there is no evidence of a global deluge in the cores? How come annual snowfall can be measured going back 100,000 years? (Each annual layer of snow contains variations in dust and pollen content.) How come the ice cores contain a record of Earth’s varying global temperature and that periodic ice-ages can be determined? The lack of a chapter about the flood as history shows the evidence is lacking. The flood account support is added as a footnote only.
On a biblical note, ask who are the “scholars” who believe that Moses is the writer of the Torah and the book of Job. (Page 126) Get the conductor to find a book other than a WTS published one to support the notion.
My conclusion is that this book is just a “feel good” justification for the beliefs of Jehovah’s Witnesses. The rehashing of current doctrine, with it all it’s assumptions and the supposed scientific proof will make most unthinking JW’s feel warm and cozy. It is written in a way that while the quotes are fairly accurate the lack of acknowledgement will make it difficult to check and most people won’t go beyond underlining the sections that match the questions.
Have fun with it or shut-up and stay bored stiff.
Thirdson
Edited by - Thirdson on 18 February 2001 10:14:45
Edited by - Thirdson on 18 February 2001 10:15:51