By the way, I’m not saying I prescribe to things like purgatory or heaven or hell. I’m just saying that the reason why millions aren’t leaving the churches to switch out their beliefs for the Witnesses is that the JW misapplication of time to God’s existence makes their arguments in eschatology weak. Neither heaven, hell, or purgatory are considered literal places and neither can someone be “delayed” from heaven by undergoing the process of purgation since there is no time in the realm of “eternity” wherein God exists according to mainstream theology.
Why did God create humanity?
by XPeterX 59 Replies latest watchtower bible
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Ding
Doesn't Scripture indicate we were created to show the greatness of God (Isa. 43:7; Eph. 1:12)? He shows his grace, mercy, patience, and other attributes toward humans.
Also, we were created for Christ (Col. 1:16).
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keyser soze
Better question- why did he make penguins?
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Terry
God does not exist in time. God transcends it.
I wish I could understand what you mean here.
Existence has nothing to do with time per se. Time is the distance between events. You can arbitrarily make any periodicity a standard (rotation of your planet or revolution around a star.)
If God exists before events he is at the starting gate of time waiting for the Big Bang. At the point of creation God is relative to man within a context of periodicity. Otherwise, He could not be said to be eternal.
What am I missing here?
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jaguarbass
The reason I come up with is we are God and we wanted to have human experiences.
Nothings going on in heaven this is where all the action is.
You have your main gods, your demigods and then us lowly pawns.
You know how a pawn works in a chess game.
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moshe
What about T-Rex? Doesn't it make sense that Jehoobah created him first- then I guess T-Rex must have pissed God off- goodbye T-Rex. It seems like God has a habit of killing off his "perfect" creation.
Sounds like a deranged God to me- or maybe no God did any of it.
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Terry
I think of the Creator God as a kid with a wild imagination. For 65 million years God amused himself by making dinosaurs to play with.
He made veggiesaurous and eat-the-veggiesaurous and watched them fight like a Roman emperor in the coliseum with gladiators entertaining him!
When he matured a bit he started on more intellectually stimulating fun: thinking toys!
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MarcusScriptus
You are correct in your concept of reference for time. You need add only one extra ingredient to understand this equation. First ask yourself, “Before the universe was there time?” And also add in as a factor that God lives outside this physical universe.
Time is relative, according to both theology and science. Time is nothing more than the measurement of change. It exists in our realm where we have an existence in three dimensions. We are bound to the space-time continuum in which we exist, even if parts of that continuum get interrupted, twisted about, etc. There’s even talk in physics of the possibility of creating wormholes or even folding this continuum to enable intergalactic space travel. This would be necessary to travel in this universe because we cannot live outside of the influence it has on us.
Just Draw a Line ...
Now draw a line on a sheet of paper. Once finished, look back on the line. You can see the line’s beginning, it’s middle, and it’s end, practically all at once if you stand back far enough, right? You don’t live on the line. You transcend it. If a tiny spec of life lived at one point on this line it could not see either end. It could not know the beginning from the end. But you still can, despite the spec’s limitations.
It’s similar with God. God created the universe with its physical laws that govern the continuum. He isn’t bound by the laws because there was a time they were not. God was before them and, if science is correct, God will exist after this space-time continuum folds up. Once it is gone, will time as you or I know it exist? Will God stop existing because time as understood in this continuum ends? Of course not.
As one theologian stated, “Eternity can take place in an instant of time.” “Eternity,” meaning the realm above our continuum (or the “temporal” plane) was not dependent on what a minute or a second is in this universe before it began or even after it ends, if that type of end does takes place. It is the other way around. This universe has time because history was set in motion by One that can definte it, manipulate it.
There is no “start” for God, for God has always been “Is.” From our standpoint there are beginnings and endings, but God is not defined by our standpoint. There was never a time when God has been anything else than Always. Since God does not change there is no need to measure what doesn’t occur with God. There just is no such thing as time as far as God is concerned.
Other Dimensions to This Other Dimension
There is also no space in Eternity. Heaven is not a place like you and I live in. God requires no space to live in because God exceeds the ability for any space to hold him. You can’t travel to Heaven in a spaceship because it is not a “location” or “place” as you or I understand those concepts.
There is no distance to travel, there is no close or far, there is no yesterday or today, there is no past, present, or future. There is, however, always. But that is as far as this theology has uncovered.
Remember God is not relative to man in any sense of the word. Man is relative to God always, but never the other way around. Humankind is not necessary for God to exist. The universe and its boundaries of time do not need to exist.
You did not need that line you drew in order to exist. You can now tear it up and toss it away and you will still be. Whatever was bound by that line has never, will never, and can never have any control over you. It is similar to God.
Footnote: The concept of Holy Communion as practiced by many Christians where they believe Christ is present as “sacrifice” is based on this concept. They believe that since God is not bound by time, the blood of Christ is freshly poured before God always. It is always there on the cross and on the ground. One can always exercise faith in that sacrifice and no other one is needed because it doesn’t disappear like all those that did at the Temple. Like Abel’s blood that still bears witness, like the fact that God is still the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob despite their being dead from our standpoint, considering that the letter to the Hebrews tells us that Christ is always begging for us through this sacrifice on our behalf is based on this very theology that to God this Precious Blood always IS. That’s how Orthodox, Anglicans, Roman Catholics, and some Protestants “offer” the Sacrifice of Mass without it being a new sacrifice, for the value of the sacrifice on the Cross is as fresh today as yesterday in the eyes of God who is not bound by time and can always see it on the line of that continuum in which we exist.
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ziddina
Why did 'god' "create" humanity???
Insane egotism????
"Let us make man in OUR [MY!] Image..."
