A point which virtually every JW will miss in this week's book study

by sir82 37 Replies latest jw friends

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  sir82

  From this week's book study, the "Draw Close to Jehovah" book, chapter 5:

  Biologists have identified well over a million species of living things on earth; yet, opinions vary as to whether there may be as many as 10 million, 30 million, or more.

  Wow! Impressive!

  But wait - how did all those species fit on the ark in the global flood, 4400 years ago?

  Aha - Insight book, volume 1, to the rescue! (topic: Ark)

  It has been estimated by some that the hundreds of thousands of species of animals today could be reduced to a comparatively few family “kinds”—the horse kind and the cow kind, to mention but two. The breeding boundaries according to “kind” established by Jehovah were not and could not be crossed. With this in mind some investigators have said that, had there been as few as 43 “kinds” of mammals, 74 “kinds” of birds, and 10 “kinds” of reptiles in the ark, they could have produced the variety of species known today. Others have been more liberal in estimating that 72 “kinds” of quadrupeds and less than 200 bird “kinds” were all that were required. That the great variety of animal life known today could have come from inbreeding within so few “kinds” following the Flood is proved by the endless variety of human kind —short, tall, fat, thin, with countless variations in the color of hair, eyes, and skin—all of whom sprang from the one family of Noah.

  Hmm...so we went from 300 or so species to 30 million ...well, let's remember the marine "kinds" and the plant "kinds" and say a few thousand species, to 30 million +.

  Isn't "genetic change leading to distinct species over time" a pretty decent working definition of "evolution"?

  Uh-oh!

  Oh - wait - let me re-read that IT-1 citation again...

  Oh yes, there it is. How did we go from a few thousand species to 30 million in 4400 years? "Inbreeding".

  Well, I could believe the authors of that IT-1 article are "inbred", anyways.....

  And of course, virtually every JW who attends the book study this week will utterly and completely miss the implications of that "10 to 30 million species" point......
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  never a jw

  i missed it too
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  blondie

  Which picture....can't see at work...can try jw.org

  Thanks

  (Blondie may see it but not say it...like a jewel to find)
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  KateWild

  But wait - how did all those species fit on the ark in the global flood, 4400 years ago?-Sir82

  You asked a question, the book study is to answer questions direct from the paragraph, you cannot ask questions, its simply not allowed. Kate xx
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  Laika

  Who are these 'some investigators' and what are there credentials? And what is a 'kind'? Are there dog kinds and wolf kinds or do they fall under the same kind? I'm very confused.
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  blondie

  JWN has an article about the science ignorance not just among jws but non-jws as well. I would not be surprised. The WTS likes to stop mentioning things or connecting them to past sayings...e.g., 7,000 year creative day.
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  AndDontCallMeShirley

  "some investigators" = WT staff writers (aka, janitors) making B.S. up off the top of their head....
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  Vidiot

  sir82 - "And of course, virtually every JW who attends the book study this week will utterly and completely miss the implications of that "10 to 30 million species" point......"

  The irony of a Genesis account that indirectly supports evolution if taken literally is lost on a lot of people.
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  Heaven

  Hmm...so we went from 300 or so species to 30 million ...well, let's remember the marine "kinds" and the plant "kinds" and say a few thousand species, to 30 million +.

  Wait... I thought God stopped creating after the 6th day?
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  Apognophos

  Yes, and the Flood article in Insight 1 also supports the idea of the current species descending from a few species on the ark. The important point is that the Society and other creationists teach that the "kind barrier" cannot be broken; so-called "microevolution" producing lots of species within one kind is not problematic for a Witness because they believe this kind of speciation is distinct from the macroevolution that those godless evolutionists believe in.

  This is a desperate last defense against the facts, of course. No matter how many scientists reiterate that evolution is evolution and there is nothing like a "kind barrier", you can't confuse JWs with the facts because they refuse to learn them. I point this out simply because JWs will have a response for this point, and there is nothing one can do to disprove their concept of micro- vs. macro-evolution because they won't listen to you long enough to let you disprove it. But at least if you anticipate it, you might be able to think of a pithy response to get in, before they shut down the conversation.