If you don't understand what "accretion" is---how can you understand Bible?

by Terry 32 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  Terry

  I think we do not understand 'perfection' in the same way that God understands perfection.

  How can there be two different kinds of "perfection"?

  Perfection implies two things: a purpose and a tool for the purpose.

  A fork is perfect for eating peas but imperfect for eating soup. The purpose and the tool much match.

  The fork, by itself, is neither perfect nor imperfect.

  People are not, of themselves, imperfect. They are suited for or not suited for particular purposes.

  If God wanted humans to understand that eating fruit from a certain tree was "bad" it strikes me as passing strange that he

  created them unlike Himself "not knowing good and bad." The result was that Adam & Eve were missing an important part of their humanity.

  They had the craving "to be like God knowing Good and Bad" but not the nature.
• 

  tec

  I will rephrase.

  I do not think that our definition of perfection is the same as God's definition for perfection.

  We tend to think of perfect as in making no mistakes, needing nothing. What if God thinks of perfection as acting in love and mercy at all time, and to all? Then our definition of what it means to be perfect and God's definition of what it means to be perfect are different. So like you said, depends upon the purpose.

  Peace,

  Tammy
• 

  Terry

  We tend to think of perfect as in making no mistakes, needing nothing. What if God thinks of perfection as acting in love and mercy at all time, and to all? Then our definition of what it means to be perfect and God's definition of what it means to be perfect are different. So like you said, depends upon the purpose.

  Everything acts according to its nature. Only.

  A rock is hard and falls when let go of. A helium balloon rises in the air.

  To ask of a balloon that it be hard and fall to ground or ask of a rock that it rise in the air is to GO AGAINST NATURE.

  Humans have a nature which is not one that can act in love and mercy at all time. We did not create ourselves. We did not build into ourselves

  the nature that falls short of what this GOD (who asks that rocks float and balloon fall and smash our toes) demands.

  The reason for this is that man has entirely invented such a described GOD out of his imagination. The actual Living God would be far more intelligent.
• 

  tec

  Well, Terry, you can't show mercy to someone unless they've done something requiring mercy and/or forgiveness, right?

  Peace,

  tammy
• 

  N.drew

  God deliberately created man INFERIOR.

  Inferior? You ask.

  Yes. INFERIOR to Himself. He built-in the problem in man's very nature.

  To wit: NOT being like God KNOWING good and bad.

  Incriminatingly: What did Adam lack? What he sought by sinning!

  By saying the above are you assuming the Bible that is written "the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat or you shall die" means right and wrong?

  I think it means whatever you will do, will it be "good" in the eyes of Jah or will it be "bad" in the eyes of Jah? It is God who knows if what we do pleases or angers Him. We should not know that, because by thinking that we know it we engage assumption which causes bad things between people. And we make ourselves God's equal if we presume what God thinks of us.
• 

  Terry

  Well, Terry, you can't show mercy to someone unless they've done something requiring mercy and/or forgiveness, right?

  Would it not be far better to have no NEED to show mercy in the first place?
• 

  tec

  Would it not be far better to have no NEED to show mercy in the first place?

  I don't know. That would assume that no one would ever do something wrong, or make a mistake, or cause harm to someone else, even by accident. The only way I can see that happening for certain is if we had no free will, and God programmed us to do only as He commands. Instead of letting us learn it on our own, so that we can choose to do good.

  Maybe he didn't want robots. Maybe a robot can't be perfect because it can't choose to show love and/or mercy.

  Peace,

  tammy
• 

  Terry

  By saying the above are you assuming the Bible that is written "the knowledge of good and bad you must not eat or you shall die" means right and wrong?

  I think it means whatever you will do, will it be "good" in the eyes of Jah or will it be "bad" in the eyes of Jah? It is God who knows if what we do pleases or angers Him. We should not know that, because by thinking that we know it we engage assumption which causes bad things between people. And we make ourselves God's equal if we presume what God thinks of us.

  You have an interesting mind!

  Let us parse this just a bit for clarification.

  For something to be bad it must create injury. God cannot be injured. A sinner harms himself and others. But, God? No.

  For God to be displeased is a peculiar description of an absolute being who possesses the power to have anything, make anything, change anything, destroy anything--AND YET IS THWARTED by an inferior!

  The implied imbalance does not compute!
• 

  Terry

  The only way I can see that happening for certain is if we had no free will, and God programmed us to do only as He commands. Instead of letting us learn it on our own, so that we can choose to do good.

  This is the one thing nobody is ever able to explain to me!

  If you design something to operate in a specific way in order to obtain a precise outcome and it doesn't work---tell me again why we don't blame the designer/manufacturer??

  Oh--that FREE WILL maguffin!

  Total nonsense.

  Who would design something that could "decide" for itself to do harm? How is that in any stretch of imagination an asset rather than a liability???

  How does anyone suffer if God simply creates a person who always does good and is happy about doing so rather than a conflicted "decision maker" who all too frequently screws up causing death, injury and chaos?
• 

  N.drew

  Thank you. It does not please God that we humans hurt other life. It pains him.

  If I plan to do something and if I have the fear of God in me I will be mentally immobilized if I "know" God will be pained by it. But how can I even begin to imagine that The God will be pained by it if I never do it because God will be pained by it?