by hoser 12 Replies latest watchtower bible
Definition of GIFT
gift gift / noun noun: gift ; plural noun: gifts
It's a bit like the prevalent misuse of the term 'free will', which actually means a choice between alternatives which are equal in terms of consequences, made by someone without influence by outside sources.
The word 'free' in the phrase 'free will' means 'free from conseqences', where threat of punishment for choosing one of the options removes the option of calling it a 'free will' scenario. There ARE strings attached to one of the choices, so the decision is heavily-biased by God to influence the decision a certain way.
That's why the old JW saying, "God didn't want to make Adam as a robot who had to love and obey him, so he created Adam with free will" is such silliness, since Adam HAD to obey Jehovah's prohibition against eating the forbidden fruit, and that's supposedly why Adam and all of his descendents were condemned to death thereafter: Adam disobeyed.
HOWEVER, Adam's violation of God's law was NOT a situation where Adam was permitted to exercise his judgment, so it was NOT a "free will" decision, and hence the phrase is rendered as irrelevant since Adam didn't use "free will" (the WT is careful to characterize it as 'freedom of choice', which IS accurate).
But on the gift thing: religions like the JWs should just follow the lead of the junk mail sent from Publishers Clearing House, except have the envelope say, "YOU MAY HAVE ALREADY WON ETERNAL LIFE!"
Adam
when i was a witness it never felt like a free gift even helped my wife prepare a talk in the school where the elder in charge needed to make clear in his comments after that your not earning it.
