JayJayDee
Avid JW Bible Student
All artists do. God cannot create anything imperfect...unusual, unique, amazing...but always perfection in its detail....why else would microscopic creatures be so perfectly detailed?They're amazing. So you think God creates each, with aesthetics in mind?
I believe that we originally had perfect bodies and perfectly functioning immune systems and somehow that was compromised by the death penalty given to Adam. Because it was a penalty already stated, we have no idea how it was implemented, only that "sin" (an archery term for missing the mark) "spread" to all mankind and now we all age, get sick and die.l struggle to understand this concept, although lve heard it before. Does this mean that the punishment for original sin includes the corruption of our DNA to the point where birth defects and / or congenitaI disease is introduced?
Our inner selves are not programmed for death, nor is our subconscious expectation of life able to deal with hardship, pain and tragedy. It was never programmed in us to get sick, degenerate into old age, lose our loved ones and die.
No human was supposed to behave wickedly, so our expectation of human behavior is also not our experience. It wasn't in God's first purpose. Every awful thing in this life is foreign, even though it is all we have ever known. Why do we all seem to have this inner programming, this collective expectation of how life should be, unless it is designed into us? Why are we all drawn to "paradise" settings?
Like genetic disorders that are passed on to successive generations, it is not the fault of the parents who did not choose the faulty gene and had no malicious intent in passing it on to their children.Assuming Im ballpark close with that, and that the punishment was warranted, l struggle with the concept of the son bearing the guilt of the father. You've used a parenting analogy a few times but isn't this akin to punishing a grandchild?
Adam knew the penalty for disobedience and chose it. His children suffered as a result, but God stepped in with a rescuer right away. We are suffering because the God who is dealing with rebellion in the spirit realm does not operate in earth time. It is actually a kindness that we have such a short lifespan. Sleeping in death for the majority will mean a resurrection when God fixes things up down here. But I guess that's a bit fanciful for you?
Thanks. It is enjoyable to speculate with you without animosity.Happy to share my thoughts on anything, but In trying to understand your beliefs more than convince you of mine.
LOL, no, I'm not disputing the point of science itself but in going to the nth degree in explaining how life 'evolved', but having no definite stance on how life began. That leaves a Creator somewhere down the bottom of the list of possible explanations, but it does not eliminate him. If there is a purposeful Creator, it changes everything, but it's such a remote possibility that science does not even allow for it.The point of science? Im not sure I understand your question but I can try and answer.
I think that applies spiritually speaking as well. Lack of knowledge is really the problem with everything. We should all educate ourselves a little better, but we are basically lazy.So I don't see how our lack of knowledge is anything more than our lack of knowledge.
That also applies spiritually speaking. Evolution cannot answer the question of spirituality. No survival advantage is demonstrated in human creativity either, yet all humans down through history have been both spiritual and creative....just like God. (made in his image)For example, if you look a medical research, there is nothing to suggest we are 'medically advanced' other than comparison. Comparison with the third world, or comparison with our own history.
In a thousand years will be seen as pioneers (kindly) or infants (less kindly). There is no reason to point at our lack of knowledge as indicating futility, nor to assume the permanence of that ignorance.
I believe that all will return to God's original purpose. We will return to a state of physical, moral and spiritual perfection and see fulfilled the life that is programmed into us. We all have an expectation of happiness, peace and security. 'We was robbed' of that through no fault of our own, but the Creator has promised to get it back for us. We need patience whilst he deals with rebellion, not only with humankind, but in his own realm, which has a universal timeframe and those who want us to lose our inheritance.
The Bible tells us that God's purpose is revealed gradually over time and that when it's the time for God to turn the hose on us, (so to speak) we will know about it. He foretold a cleansing and refining in "the time of the end". Cleansing meant that things had gotten soiled and refining indicated that impurities needed to be brought to the surface and eliminated.Even WTS doctrines have changed over time. Does the recognition of earlier mistakes render the journey pointless?
God gave us a sign to indicate when it was the "season" for this cleansing, but no day or hour will be revealed. It will drop out of the blue and be a shock for everyone who is not expecting it, but his servants have been warning people about it for many decades now.
I think that's what I love about being a JW. We study and research and examine details and ask questions. It is a very satisfying thing to have the Bible answer all the difficult questions. I've been a "why" kinda gal my whole life. Answers have to gel with me and I take nothing at face value.Hmm...I will read and try to understand your Biblical references, but fair to say my NT is a little rusty and my OT not up to that poor standard.
Yes, often the difference between functioning at full capacity and not.Absolutely, although this is also the case with humans.
God created life and life is reproduced by those creatures already in existence. It is not that God created every life individually, but that he designed the reproductive process in all his living creatures. The components form from a few dividing cells that all work together to eventually form a living being at the end of the process. The variety of ways in which this is carried out is awe inspiring! Don't you agree? Stem cells are only now being experimented with to repair damaged body parts. Amazing!Other computers could make them. Although, honestly, I don't see the importance either way.
No one wants to be broken or badly put together. We all want to function optimally and require our computers to do the same. Sometimes that is not the case.If you're making the point that everything has to be just right for the computer to work then I'd raise a couple of points;
1) No. It doesn't. But there are a bunch of non-negotiables. Sometimes you might use a 'broken' Computer for a long time without knowing it's broken.
That raises so many more questions than it answers for me.2) Whilst I said I'd steer clear of evolution arguments, it's worth remembering that how I think 'computers' began is more akin to my three year old counting on her fingers, rather than a laptop. From there to the abacus, etc.
I think about bee hives too. Like termite mounds, they need builders using materials conveniently provided in nature. Are you not blown away by the termite's ability to utilize ventilation and solar positioning? Just pot luck? What about the perfection of bee hives in their hexagonal shape? Did the bees design that for any conscious reason?We come across a house, can determine it's been built, not grown (at which point I could ask about termite mounds), and then are able to tell that a single Creator built the house?
Do the carnivores in the wild that will eat the young of other animals, just accidentally know not to eat their own? Why do animals who can breed with other species, not do so in the natural world. Why do they all reproduce exclusively with their own "kind"?
Computers are programmed by someone, they do not design, build and reproduce without a program installed by someone with skill....humans and all other living things are programmed as well. Who is their programmer?
back to you....
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