Strange concepts

lurkernomore

I don't know why this popped in my head earlier today but here goes:

Satan apparently blinds the eyes of un-believers towards the 'truth'. This point has been discussed both at meetings and during discussions with others in the congregation over the years.

But Jehovah is said to seek out deserving ones, by reading their heart condition etc.

If Satan (an arguably far superior being to Humans) is capable of blinding un-believers, and Jehovah allows this to happen, then surely that would absolve them of their sinful actions and the destruction of everyone but Witnesses would be a false claim. Aswell as this it would make the need to seek out 'deserving ones' redundant as that's surely what the ransom sacrifice was there for.

Any thoughts on this or any other concepts that don't really add up to you lovely people?!

Apognophos

Well, I think the JW answer is that their wrong heart condition allows Satan to blind them. So, say somebody likes owning nice things -- Satan makes sure that there are lots of fancy cars and nice clothes to distract them from seeking out the truth.

Of course, the fact is, there's really no need for Satan in the equation at all in order to explain the world. Any bad acts, any distractions in this system, can all be attributed to natural human actions and random chance.

OneEyedJoe

Not to mention the ever-perplexing question that arrises:

If Satan is blinding the minds of the unbelievers, would the unbeliever know it? Typically it would be quickly agreed upon that, no, they would not be aware that they were being blinded, because such awareness would likey counteract the effects of being blinded. Once you acknowledge that someone being blinded by satan wouldn't know it, the next question is "How do I/we know that Satan isn't blinding my/our mind(s)?" The more you try to disregard the question, the more you're forced to face that maybe your desire to disregard it is due to the effects of having your mind blinded. The only way to prove that you're not being blinded is to look at the evidence objectively, and anyone honestly doing that can only come to one conclusion.

lurkernomore

I totally agree with your summary Apog.

But surely an individual's traits as a human being are more often than not determined by the environment their brought up in. No one has choice in the matter of being born therefore negative influences which one is exposed to has to have an affect on the way they behave and view situations in life, whether this means being susceptible to wanting more riches due to a poor upbringing or settling disputes with their fists rather than their tongue.

It seems that the witness concept is basically putting the blame on the individual then as they are the ones allowing Satan to influence them further in their selfish or wrong inclinations. That would then make Satan seem more of a side line player if anything.

Crazyguy

The writers of the gospels seem to agree because belief in Christ was all that was needed.

Apognophos

That would then make Satan seem more of a side line player if anything.

Yes, exactly, it's never really clear where Satan factors into anything. Did something bad happen to a Witness? Maybe Satan did it, or maybe it was chance, or just human imperfection....

I actually made a thread about a somewhat related strange concept just the other day -- that supposedly our heart, our judgment, is untrustworthy; but then how did we recognize the truth in the first place? As OEJ mentioned, how do we know when our judgment is good and when we're maybe being misled? http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/282320/1/Did-my-heart-become-untrustworthy-when-I-was-baptized

lurkernomore

I missed that thread. Makes for interesting reading Apog

Band on the Run

Satan is not a towering figure to Jews. In fact, he helps humans.

Strange concepts

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