The Untold Story of Creation

by mynameislame 22 Replies latest watchtower bible

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  mynameislame

  Posted on behalf of Jon P

  http://www.jw.org/en/publications/magazines/g201403/untold-story-of-creation/

  I don't find the article itself very compelling but it seems to be opening up the possibility that a creative day is not a specific time period.

  “In the Bible account, each of the six creative days could have lasted for thousands of years”

  Wasn’t armageddon’s coming tied to the length of the creative days? If so doesn’t this pretty much destroy their entire timeline for being in the time of the end?
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  subytrek

  I like how they dismiss evolution yet admit those life forms have undergone great changes and have great variation. Isn't that what evolution is? I happen to believe there is a God that started the creative process but then used evolution to take over. It seems like Watchtower is kind of admitting the same thing without admitting it. They want to appear like they agree with science yet they have to be different simply to be different. It's interesting that this article says the creative days could have lasted thousands of years because I thought the last time they talked about this they said the creative days could have been millions of years long.
• 

  Phizzy

  They have made that claim for the length of the days for years now.

  There is a lot wrong with that article. Just two things for now :

  1. They quote Alfred Russel Wallace as though his thoughts on the Mind and the Universe somehow undermine Darwin. In no way do they, Wallace as a proponent of Natural Selection before Darwin went in to print, was certainly no Creationist. His concept of "Mind" was very Philosophical, and was not it seems along the lines of modern "Intelligent Design", which is what this article is hinting at.

  2. They say this " The Bible account of creation does not conflict with scientific conclusions about the age of the universe."

  That is true, but what they don't say is the Bible's account of "creation" conflicts with all the Science in other respects !

  The other thing that amused me was the Chart at the end, a "Timeline", which it isn't, it just lists what the Bible says happened on each Day, but it says "culminating in the creation of the first human couple".

  That must have been then long before the humans were running around on what is now a Norfolk, U.K beach, i.e 800,000 years ago.
• 

  Jon Preston

  • According to the Bible, Jehovah God created all the basic kinds of plant and animal life, as well as a perfect man and woman who were capable of self-awareness, love, wisdom, and justice.

  they were NOT perfect! If they were and had perfect knowledge they wouldnt have been so easily deceived by a talking puppet snake.....And apprently the same qualities as self awareness and love and wisdom were balanced by gullibility, foolishness, free will to disobey.
• 

  Jon Preston

  Also read this carefully

  “For [God’s] invisible qualities are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship.” (Romans 1:20)

  So Gods qualities are CLEARlY seen, BECAUSE they are perceived by the creation.....

  whens the last time a dog bowed to worship God?

  and we rely on mans perception to prove Gods existence? Hmm
• 

  Jon Preston

  Wait wait wait.

  • 

    SECOND DAY

    The earth is covered with water and a dense mantle of vapor. These two elements are separated, creating a gap between the watery surface and the canopy of vapor. The Bible describes this space as “an expanse between the waters,” and calls it “Heaven.”—Genesis 1:6-8.

  • Heaven is the expanse between the ocean and the atmosphere....so Heaven is the sky? This must be the FIRST heaven. This, to me, demonstrates a serious lack of insight....kinda like the four corners of the earth thing....the earth wasnt flat.
• 

  Jon Preston

  You know what lets just post the timeline so we can analyze it....

  • THE BEGINNING

    The material heavens and earth are created.—Genesis 1:1.

  • 

    DARKNESS

    The earth is formless, desolate, and dark.—Genesis 1:2.

  • 

    FIRST DAY

    Diffused light evidently penetrates the earth’s atmosphere. If there had been any observer on the surface of the earth, the sources of light would have been imperceptible to him. Yet, the difference between night and day became discernible.—Genesis 1:3-5.

  • 

    SECOND DAY

    The earth is covered with water and a dense mantle of vapor. These two elements are separated, creating a gap between the watery surface and the canopy of vapor. The Bible describes this space as “an expanse between the waters,” and calls it “Heaven.”—Genesis 1:6-8.

  • 

    THIRD DAY

    Surface water subsides and dry ground appears. The atmosphere clears up to allow more sunlight to reach the ground. Some vegetation appears, with new species sprouting through the third and subsequent creative days.—Genesis 1:9-13.

  • 

    FOURTH DAY

    The sun and moon become discernible from the earth’s surface.—Genesis 1:14-19.

  • 

    FIFTH DAY

    God creates underwater creatures and flying creatures in great numbers with the ability to procreate within their kinds.—Genesis 1:20-23.

  • 

    SIXTH DAY

    Land animals are created, both large and small. The sixth day culminates with a masterpiece of God’s physical creation: the first human couple.—Genesis 1:24-31.
• 

  mynameislame

  Hmm so they got rid of the 6000 year creative days a while ago? I wonder if it was after I was out or I just wasn't paying attention. If they don't know how long the creative days are how do they claim to calculate where we are in the stream of time? That and 1914 seemed to be the two anchors to the whole religion. I guess they have to rely more on the time, times and half a time in daniel. (I gave a talk on how ambiguous Nostradamus was with his predictions and that scripture came instantly to mind). My head is starting to hurt :-)

  One thing that seems a bit bizarre to me is the idea of the earth being surrounded by water in the atmosphere. Where did the bible writers come up with that? Seems like they would have written stuff based on what they saw around them in nature. Maybe they came up with the idea of a flood and had to backport the story to match?

  FOURTH DAY

  The sun and moon become discernible from the earth’s surface

  That seems like it might be stretching what that scripture says a bit at least without some qualification.

  That one never really sat well with me even back in the day.
• 

  Finkelstein

  I think its laughable theology to think that a god would work on set and specific

  time scale that would be relative to the 24 hrs day time scale we assume today.

  The human imagination is grand is it not ?
• 

  Laika

  So the creative days could have lasted thousands of years, but what about millions or billions? Would they ever admit to that?