by Doug Mason 11 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
I am mapping out Part 3 of my Critiques on the Watchtower's (JWs) brochure, "The Origin of Life". I drafted a sketch to help me visualise the task and thus develop the structure and reasoning. The sketch is available at:
https://jwstudies.com/Religious_Imperatives.pdf
I will appreciate any criticism, comment, advice, and/or suggestion that will help me. This is my honest, genuine attempt to understand their Creationist mindset. Does the diagram make sense?
Doug
Doug, tell me otherwise but isn't the underpinning of all JW belief the predication of the Bible as God's inerrant word? Hence in your algorithm, the interpretation of the the complexity of DNA leading to God's handiwork is not a response to biology but to the JW dogma that all matter is the result of God's work.
In other words rejection of evolution starts from a fear of contravening "sacred scripture" and therefore displeasing God. So shouldn't the chart begin with this base point?
It is the too casual acceptance of this historically held error of sacred scripture which stymies intellectual perceptions in a believer. So it seems to me that the way forward is to reveal what is going on in the mind set which asserts divine creation, i.e. why they are induced to believe in human mythology in the Bible which gave an explanation for everything in terms of divine activity.
This can be done by a/ seeing how the Bible is greatly flawed and not from God, and b/ by understanding the process of evolution --easier said than done!
In other words rejection of evolution starts from a fear of contravening "sacred scripture" and therefore displeasing God.
Well said. in fact i've never hard a JW using the complexity of DNA to support creationism. Dare I say that most JWs don't even know how complex DNA is.
The main reason are always the fact that Bible says God created everything, and the disbelief that human could actually have come from "monkeys" ( as they put it).
I doubt there is a single coherent logical process that can be graphed out. But if you need a flow chart for most people it could be much simpler.
Familiarity and assumption of the religion my friends and family have....anything that threatens that must be wrong.
For some people the process is slightly different.
Personal comfort zone of beliefs gathered from many sources.......Anything that threatens that must be wrong.
The Creationist arguments are invented post hoc. The disbelief comes first then comes the fashioning a rationalization for that conclusion.
Half banana - “...isn't the underpinning of all JW belief the predication of the Bible as God's inerrant word?”
For the average rank-and-filer, yes, although the word “inerrant” is essentially replaced with “perfect” (JW ideology has an odd fixation on so-called “perfection”).
For the overarching theological structure, however, evolution is rejected because WT cosmology is too fundamentally dependent on the Genesis creation narrative being literal history.
Thank you all for your stimulating thoughts.
I think my diagram might need to reflect the overlay that "the earthly kingdom of God" ceased in 607 BCE and was reinstated in the appointment of the Watchtower Hierarchy in 1919 CE. To me, that could be a starting point, rather than the Bible. Any number of bodies accept the Bible, but what matters to a JW is the understanding through the eyes of the WT's explanations.
If the Bible were "perfect/inerrant" there would be no excuse for splattering the word "Jehovah" throughout their NT. What is "perfect" is the WTS, inasmuch as it is in direct contact with God's heavenly government.
Thus their explanation of Evolution must be correct. How then do I produce a diagram that correctly illustrates their "logic"? Is there one? When I read their brochure "The Origin of Life", it appears to me that the author is saying "look at the wonder of the complexity, this proves there has to have been a designing engineer". Hence the reason for my starting point. Am I reading the brochure's intent incorrectly?
My supposition comes from the following, as well as illustrating the WT's simplistic dichotomy (Evolution or Bible):
“If evolution is true, then it should seem at least reasonably possible that DNA could have come about by means of a series of chance events. If the Bible is true, then DNA should provide strong evidence that it is the product of an orderly, intelligent mind.” – The Origin of Life, page 13
Doug
"...DNA should provide strong evidence that it is the product of an orderly, intelligent mind.."
Interesting statement, considering that virtually everything I've read about DNA indicates that it's anything but "orderly".
I'm no biologist, but frankly, I'm sometimes amazed it even works.
Thank you Vidiot,
You have opened a veritable Pandora's Box, and more.
Suggested sources are most welcome.
Doug
Half banana is right in that the complexity of DNA is not the starting point.
Hell, not even belief in God or the Bible is the starting point. Christians all believe in God and the Bible, yet the majority of denominations officially accept that evolution is a fact.
There is something else that is the 'starting point': Watchtower doctrine.
Watchtower insists that many of the tales in the Bible must be literally true, accurate accounts of real historic events. This includes the creation of Adam and Eve, and Noah's rainy days. Why? They claim because that's what the Bible says, but in reality it's because that's just Watchtower's very literal interpretation. There are plenty people who read these tales and see them and allegories or warnings in symbolic language.
Evolution must be rejected because it doesn't fit Watchtower doctrine.
Otherwise they would have no problem accepting it.
At first they claimed all life was created max 49.000 years ago (7 creation days of 7000 years each). That idea is clearly contradicted by all available evidence, and since the age of plants and animals is not critical to Watchtower doctrine they had no issue changing their doctrine on that point (although they did so very slowly and obscured to not scare away the oldtimers)
It wouldn't even surprise me that if Watchtower exists another 100 years, there'll be new lite and they manage to weave the fact of evolution into their doctrine too.
It should be noted that JW (and other creationists) either out of ignorance or on purpose mix up evolution and abiogenesis when augmenting against it.
As if an all mighty God could not have created life and given it the capability to evolve.
Another thing is that there's a fair amount of circular reasoning involved in JW (and others) rejecting reality. Any flowchart should show the circular reasoning too.
E.g.
The Bible is true because it is God's perfect word. How do we know? Because it says so in the Bible.
In fact the whole system of belief is an intricate web of interconnected assumptions that often lead back to each other.
(literal) Creationists believe what they believe because they started with 'God created the heavens and the Earth, animals after their kinds, and Adam and Eve from dust' instead of asking 'what does the evidence show about life?'
Any argument they present against evolution is not in an attempt to find evidence of what actually happened, but an attempt to justify their religious beliefs.
A flowchart should reflect that. DNA doesn't really matter, nor does any other perceived evidence against evolution.
The starting point is belief in God and a literal interpretation of the Bible, without giving any place to physical evidence.
before there is the complexity and messiness of the genetic process, there is the question of existence and the laws of nature.
The incomprehensible possibility of eternally old and future uncreated energy and time.
The bible's errors on nature rule it out as a textbook for contact with the divine. that rules out wt inc too.
Doug, are you trying to prove that?
