Posts by Awakened07

32

Dinosaurs and the Bible

by zennin in

if you were a jw (!!

), how would you explain dinosaurs and the bible?

?

I think they've flip-flopped (or, hit the "new light" -switch on and off and on again) a few times on this, because in C. T. Russel's day, he said in the Photodrama of Creation that it was 7000 years each. But then I think later on, in the fifties or so, the understanding was that it was a thousand years pr. creation day. I'm not sure if they have ever came out and said "from now on it's an indefinite period of time", but they never do it that way; it's just suddenly snuck in there in a sentence, plus the earlier teaching is not mentioned anymore in articles you'd think it wold be mentioned. Then again, it should be possible to find the approximate time when they went from one teaching to the other.

[edit] I've checked, and it was "thousands of years" pr. day in the 1985 Creation book. It would make sense that the 7000 years (or 1000) pr. day teaching would have been in effect until around 1975, but not much longer. [/edit]

32

Dinosaurs and the Bible

by zennin in

if you were a jw (!!

), how would you explain dinosaurs and the bible?

?

Awakened07

Well, it's not like dinosaur bones were invented in the 19th. century. I'm pretty sure dino bones have been found throughout mankind's history, and are probably the origins of certain myths, like dragons. Moses himself could have stumbled on a few bones; it wouldn't be completely unthinkable. Why not tell mankind about these bones they inevitably one day - sooner or later - would come across?

32

Dinosaurs and the Bible

by zennin in

if you were a jw (!!

), how would you explain dinosaurs and the bible?

?

Awakened07

-But you'd think God, the Author of the Bible and Creator of the dinosaurs, would have known about them?

32

Dinosaurs and the Bible

by zennin in

if you were a jw (!!

), how would you explain dinosaurs and the bible?

?

Awakened07

Yes - the almighty God who had just created the entire huge universe, decided it would be a good idea to create gigantic animals that would fertilize the ground, and kill them off when their job was done, instead of simply creating fertile soil on earth directly to begin with. Sadly, since all the dinosaurs (according to JWs) were herbivores, and plants hadn't been created because the dinosaurs hadn't left their droppings to make fertile soil yet, because there were no plants to eat because the dinosaurs hadn't left their droppings yet... ...well, you get the picture... the dinosaurs probably died before their job was completed, or even begun.

Or:

Yes - the almighty God who had just created the entire huge universe, decided it would be a good idea to create gigantic animals that would keep vegetation down so there would be a garden for mankind, and kill them off when their job was done, instead of simply directly directing the growth of vegetation himself.

Or:

The dinosaurs were created like any other animal, but were killed off in the global flood of Noah's day, ~ 4400 years ago. Why weren't they granted access to the ark? What about the sea-dwelling dinosaurs? What about bones found in rock that is clearly older than ~ 6000 years? [ooops, sorry - that was intended for young earth creationists. JWs say the days were indefinite periods of time now IIRC].

All of the above are perfectly logical, biblical explanations (that admittedly raise a few questions).

21

A question from my wife: OTWO, what do you think about women on the Pulpit?

by OnTheWayOut in

jw
friends

out of the blue, my wife asks: what do you think about women on the pulpit?.

otwo: why?

(silly little paranoid me.

Awakened07

Wife: God said that MAN was made in his image.

Yes - but then again, not so much:

"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. | So God created man in his [own] image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them."

Seems more like 'mankind' if you ask me. Not that I care much. But for the sake of argument.

As for Paul... It's ironic (to me) that one argument the WBTS will use for there being four gospels, is that they were eye witnesses to the events, and that even though their accounts vary, that's to be expected, since they saw it from their own perspectives. This must mean that they wrote down their own recollections of that happened. For instance, one of them said a garment was purple, the other said scarlet. This again must mean they were free to write it down as they saw it. If they were inspired in this instance, there'd be no need for several corroborating witnesses in the first place, 'cause God is the ultimate authority (many [most, actually] other accounts in the Bible is after all not corroborated by several witnesses). This again leads us (me) to thinking that if they were allowed to write down their own accounts "undoctored" by God, then we can assume that Paul's rather personal letters to congregations reflect his personal opinions as well. Why not?

37

Even NEWER LIGHT on Generation doctrine???

by integ in

jw
friends

hello friends,.

i heard from a "brother" whose daughter is in bethel, that his daughter told him that there will be 'new light" released in january pertaining to "adjustments in understanding" of the generation doctrine.. does anybody know what this may be about?

or what the change might be?.

Awakened07

- Jesus is whispering in their ear, but unfortunately the GB has always been a bunch of old men hard of hearing, so whatever he whispers comes out wrong the first few times, and he has to repeat it so they can get it right eventually. Sadly, they haven't heard him correctly yet.

"Hey guys! Guys! I didn't say.... No, no, no - what are you printing now!? Listen to me! Hello!? Guys! What I said was.... Guys!? OK, let's try this again. Is this thing on? Boy, I wish I hadn't chosen such a bunch of old farts."

100

Staying a Christian Upon Leaving

by serotonin_wraith in

so you found out the jehovah's witness religion/cult was bogus.

congratulations, it's a step in the right direction.

now all you have to do is escape the cult of christianity.. while other christian groups are (perhaps arguably) less controlling (on the whole), the foundation christianity rests on is bogus too.

Awakened07

Freedom to be allowed to disagree with each other.

This is important. I'm an atheist, but I don't try to 'convert' people to my world view. That said, I will of course be colored by what I think, and will defend what I have found if I feel it necessary. Some of my posts I'm sure can come across as trying to 'convert'. But it's more about clarifying misconceptions, and/or getting answers from those who believe about what they believe and why. But the ultimate choice is up to each and every one of us. Which is a freedom everyone benefits from, atheist and believers alike. Glad I'm not living in Iran etc.

13

Comments You Will Not Hear at the WT Study (10/8 Train Children)

by WT Comments in

Awakened07

Bumping this because I think it deserves more attention (and because it must take a lot of time to prepare it).

Thank you for the hard work.

112

A CALL TO ACTION: HIGH PRIORITY

by Wingman in

jw
friends

hi everyone,.

a letter has been prepared by anonymous brothers to be sent to bodies of elders around the world.. of course this is a massive undertaking and we are asking for assistance from active and inactive ones around the world who share the sentiments of the letters contents.. your participation in this action indicates your sincere desire to see change within the organization that has become authoritarian in recent years.. we ask that the letter be addressed to "the body of elders" in each respective congregation.. please do not add any further information or commentary.. we are also relying on non-english speaking brothers to translate and distribute this letter.. it will not matter if more than one letter is received by each congregation.

.

Awakened07

To be fair, 'brothers' is JW-speak for both brothers and sisters. We used to have some fun with this when I was still active; even then we knew how wrong it was, but we smiled at it. It may be sexist, but then the Watchtower is sexist.

112

A CALL TO ACTION: HIGH PRIORITY

by Wingman in

jw
friends

hi everyone,.

a letter has been prepared by anonymous brothers to be sent to bodies of elders around the world.. of course this is a massive undertaking and we are asking for assistance from active and inactive ones around the world who share the sentiments of the letters contents.. your participation in this action indicates your sincere desire to see change within the organization that has become authoritarian in recent years.. we ask that the letter be addressed to "the body of elders" in each respective congregation.. please do not add any further information or commentary.. we are also relying on non-english speaking brothers to translate and distribute this letter.. it will not matter if more than one letter is received by each congregation.

.

Awakened07

I remember around ten years ago or so, when I was still active, people in the congregation (in my family among others) would say: "Until now, the trouble [I couldn't find the word I was looking for here] came from outside the congregation, now it comes from within the congregation and families." If it was true back then, it sure is true now. They actually thought Satan had started working the cong. from within. I guess Jehovah wouldn't bother protecting them.