My letter to Bethel about the flood

by Cornbread 85 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Crazyguy

  Going along with girlnextdoor there are e two older flood stories the one she listed and that of Atrahasis both written way before the Hebrews wrote their story. The Noah story is almost a complete rip off with only minor changes. Names of the characters and that it was a global flood instead of a more local one. Even the lineage of Adam through to Noah is just a language change. The names are different from the Sumerian kings list but the translation or meaning of each name is the same.

  Just about everything in the book of Genesis is a rip off of older Sumerian writings.
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  Half banana

  Cornbread, love your post. Speaking as someone familiar with prehistory, an understanding of earth sciences is vital to contextualise the archaeological artefacts and past events on our planet. It so happens that the last 15,000 years of late ice-age and post ice-age geology and geography is very well recorded and understood.

  The ice cores were a fundamental tool used to resolve the accuracy and pattern of ice age events and climate change during the late Pleistocene and present Holocene period. The deep sea sediment cores back in the1970s were even more important but the data is less transparent to the general public. In fact the picture of the Earth’s climate has been determined by the corroboration of quite a number of careful scientific endeavours culminating in a clear framework of historic and prehistoric climate, none of which allow for a global flood (academic references available if you are interested).

  Indeed with a massive scientific data base to the contrary, and set alongside the nature of the account as a mythical narrative and the sheer logistical impossibility of the story; Noah’s flood categorically did not and could not have taken place. It is naive in the extreme to imagine that one took place so recently in the historic period and JWs should feel shamefaced for such ignorance.

  The fact that Jesus and Peter refer to it, is no authority at all since there is little to no evidence that these individuals either existed or were the authors of the words attributed to them. Most certainly what they are purported to have said, was never taken down verbatim and at best could only have been recalled many years later giving the real writer every opportunity to pen precisely what he wanted them to say. A concept alien to the gullible Watchtower organisation and other fundamentalists...who blindly believe any ‘sacred’ thing they want to hear.

  I would love to hear a reply from WT HQ like this: Thank you Bro Johns for your input on the contrary evidence for the Flood. We all agree here that you are right and we had got it wrong all along. We will immediately stop believing in this childish nonsense and dissolve the WTBTS immediately. Your Brothers WTBTS.

  Well you can dream!
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  Malachi Constant

  When I was young, the WT society supported (a little green book) the "water-canopy theory", a version where the water needed for the flood had been in the atmosphere. I wonder if they have cancelled that teaching or just decided to forget it.

  It was argued that high enough in the atmosphere there are conditions suitable for water to exist in vapor phase. One of my first enlightments concerning the authority of the WT was related to this argument. First, if you add so much water in the atmosphere, it is no more the same atmosphere, so there is no point in referring to the conditions now. Second, related, if there were enough vapor to correspond to, say, one kilometer deep layer of liquid water on the surface of the earth, that would make the air pressure down here a hundred times larger.
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  Brokeback Watchtower

  Write back a reply telling the bro who wrote it, that you wondering if doubts have effected him since he has to write letters like this one to many people who may have a question about some teaching.And he does it 5 days a week. Ask him if there is a term limit on his job because it can cause doubt having to answer all these letters..
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  StarTrekAngel

  Is funny how they responded to one of the letters on the watchtower letters website. The writer asked about the flood not being literally worldwide and the society gets the worst response. It is clear the society itself does not understand the concept of bearing witness. The society argued that if the flood was not worldwide then why would God ask Noah to build and ark and save animals when they all could have moved to another place. Is simple, from reading the bible you realize God does not use power to destroy because that is his preferred method. He needs to have witnesses to the power of destruction as well as to the miracle of salvation. Noah had to be visibly doing something out of the ordinary and the salvation witnessed by either side of the story. This proved God power in front of every eye. Had Noah been instructed to just move, he would have not seen the destruction and the power of God and someone could have followed him and save themselves too.
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  suavojr

  Once again god is guilty of manufacturing the complete annihilation of humanity because he loves to tamper with evidence and hide vital information from unsuspecting human beings.
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  Warren Wilson

  As I have mentioned in another post,my 55-year-old dub brother still believes firmly that the only reason the rainbow is in the sky is because of god's promise. Nothing could possibly convince him otherwise. Nothing.
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  DesirousOfChange

  Jehovah left just enough info out of the bible so that "one who wants to find an excuse for not believing can find it," and Satan is trying to deceive you with "an avalanche of lies."

  Since Jehovah desires that no one be destroyed (in the Big A) it's just too damn bad he didn't see that there was convincing evidence to the flood. Is this all about Him "testing us"? I thought that He wouldn't play those kind of games?

  Doc
  
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  DesirousOfChange

  As I have mentioned in another post,my 55-year-old dub brother still believes firmly that the only reason the rainbow is in the sky is because of god's promise. Nothing could possibly convince him otherwise. Nothing.

  A couple responses come to mind:

  You can't fix stupid.

  and

  

  Doc
  
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  inbetween

  Why do they not throw out the litera flod story, and accept that it either was a local event or just a story? the lessons, to obey God and fear him still would be there.

  They easily casted the idea of literal creation days, and they admit , that sun and stars falling down (revelation) is only an illustration.

  So why not admit the same with the flood story?

  IMHO here is the main reason:

  The WTBS will never give up on a literal interpretation of the flood story,

  it too much serves as a predecessor of their belief in big A, everyone will be wiped out except of those in the arc (modern times: those in the org)

  Its an intergarl part of their gult and fear tactic to keep the sheep under control