by logansrun 12 Replies latest watchtower bible
I thought about this years ago....
So, if the "Tree of Knowledge of Good and Bad" really represented Jah's "Universal Sovereignty", why not just call it the "Tree of God's Universal Sovereignty"? That would have made everything a lot simpler, wouldn't it?
Bradley
But He did "inspire" Ms. White (7th day Adventist phophetess)to extrapolate from the story the whole issue of 'Universal Sovereignty' so that Russel could learn about it and publish it as his own idea. lol
How about The Tree of Bad Fruit? That would have kept them away.
What a mean thing to do to humans. "You can eat from every tree but THAT ONE!!!" If you can't have it, of course you're gonna want it! It's just like when your woman's denying you sex, you want it even more!
Same with children. If you tell a child that they can have any cookie they want out of the jar except THAT ONE, then you're going to find the child sitting in the corner with forbidden cookie all over his mouth.
Peaceful Pete, That's the first time I've ever heard that White originated the "Universal Sovereignty" hypothesis and that Russel got the idea from her. Would you care to expand on that comment? Bradley
i was told at primary school not to eat berries form the deadly-nightshade, and i've been itching to scoff one ever since. the agony of stopping myself is just unbearable.
Logan...Ellan White's writttings read like isssues of Zion's Watchtower. Her "Universal Sovereignty" teaching impressed Russel became incorporated into his work. He didn't even change her terminology. I checked when Russel first used the expression years ago at our KH that had reprints of the earliest WTs. I couldn't find Russel using the term or expounding upon the doctrine prior to White's early works.
Yeah it's like God placing this tree in the centre of the garden with a big neon sign above it saying "do not touch" *blink* blink* blink* ...
Then when they did eat from the darn tree God jumps from behind a bush shouting "gotcha!" (*) and punishing them for something they couldn't have known was 'bad' in the first place as they lacked such knowledge, hence the tree's name.
Weird.
Greven
(*) joke is from Hitch hiker's guide to the galaxy by Douglas Adams
LR, the mystery of what The Tree of The Knowledge of What is Good and What Bad is....is so simple that I often wonder why so few recognize it for what it is....
The simple explanation comes from realization that PAPER comes from trees....and BOOKS are made of PAPER, containing ENGRAVED IMAGES (printers' engravings) of most anything under the sun....also, the PAGES in a BOOK are referred to as LEAVES.....ergo, since Eve was alleged to have merely LOOKED at the tree and discerned it WAS good (rather than physically tasting its fruit, which would have had to occur in order to determine if something edible had a good flavor, because one cannot LOOK at fruit and judge whether it's good to eat)....AND....since the tree is alleged to have contained KNOWLEDGE of GOOD and BAD....it MUST BE a BOOK.....a book adorned with engraved images, coining judgments of what is good for us and what is bad for us to do, to say, to wear, and regarding our appearance as humans....
Even something as maligned as what some call "numerology" or "occultism"...the Chaldean-Kabala Alphabet....shows that the words..."The Tree of The Knowledge of What is Good and What is Bad".... have a combined and reduced numerical value of 66.....and there are 66 books in.....you guessed it....
which equals.....
Frannie B (singin' for da book) ...."Hey-hey-hey-hey! Kitchy-kitchy-kitchy...
Hey-hey-hey-hey!
PD:
I think you've hit the nail on the head, with that comment.
Thank you... and peace to all of you!
I wanted to respond, NOT necessarily to "set you all straight," so I hope you don't take it that way. I wanted to respond, because the wrong teaching with regard to WHY the command was so makes it seem as if God purposefully planted a means to "tease" Adam/Eve... which would mean that He (God) truly was/is a spiteful person. Dear ones... nothing could be further from the truth!
Contrary to folks misinterpretation of the word "knowledge"... the fruit of the Tree... of the Knowledge of Good and Bad... was not fruit that would make one WISE. To the contrary, it was fruit that would make one KNOW... and in this case know good... AND bad. Adam/Eve already knew good: life. They knew it because they ATE... from the Tree... OF Life. And thus... they had life... and knew what it was... to LIVE.
Eating from the other tree, however, exposed them to something they did NOT know... bad. Death. Prior to eating from that tree... they did NOT know death... for death did not exist in their world. After eating, therefore, they came to know good (life)... AND bad (death).
And it was this, death... "BAD"... that God was trying to protect them from. He wanted them to know ONLY good... life. For that was all they NEEDED to know. Death, however, was bad... as God knew and Satan knew... for Death... deals in spirits. And God and Satan are spirits.
Why did God plant the tree? Perhaps at some time Adam and Eve WOULD be able to eat from it... as perhaps at some future time... it would have no effect on them. But at the time in question, it was there as a "completion"... of the creation (light/dark, life/death)... and as a "safety valve": since Ad-ham (earthling man) was a free agent, there may have come a time when God NEEDED him... or someone of his offspring... to eat from that tree... in order to save others. Every thing that has been started... has to have a means to stop it... if necessary... or the "creator" isn't very... wise.
Unfortunately, many today STILL eat from that Tree (of Knowledge): they STILL believe that knowledge... of good AND bad... leads to life. Yet, my Lord said that it is the knowledge of GOOD ("there is only One that is good" and "this means everlasting life, their knowing you, the True God)... that leads to everlasting life. Not good... and bad.
I have a young friend, who now holds a Master's degree (Anthropology) who, at one time believed that ALL knowledge is "good." I disagreed with him (and another young "intellelect" companion) that such is not true, but rather... folly. That NO ONE needs to know ALL things... good and bad.
Their argument was that all knowledge IS good, because we learn from it. My position was that I didn't need to know... say... what it felt like to be raped. I didn't need to know... what it felt like to be mutilated. I didn't NEED to know... what it feels like to die... particularly from something as heinous as cancer. I didn't NEED to know... bad. And I couldn't even fathom my children needing to know such things.
At the time (oh, 4-5 years ago)... they... disagreed. One of them is now a father, and may have changed his "need" a bit. I don't know. I would hate to have reason to even think when seeing him, "yes, your daughter/son NEEDED to know how that (bad thing) felt."
I do know that if I have, say, a stove in my house... (or, okay, a campfire - I'll go prehistoric, if you like)... for MY purpose (say, warmth and preparation of food for my family)... and I tell my child do not touch it because if he/she does... he/she will get badly burned... and then KNOW what it feels like... and yet, my child wants to KNOW... what it means... to be burned... what it feels like... and so, because the stove/fire does indeed look... and someone has convinced it that I was justing holding out on them... that the fire is NOT that dangerous, and that, in fact, if they DO touch it they WILL be like me and no longer need ME to tell them anything (let alone what fire feels like!)... and he/she... decides to find out... and indeeds touches it... and are in fact very badly burned... perhaps fatally... then I am not to blame.
The blame... should go on the one who lied to them and enticed them to touch it... as well as on them for listening to him and disobeying ME... to their own detriment.
I needed the stove to prepare food for the sustenance of such child, so the stove... had a valid purpose... and I lovingly issued a warning, so that my children would not be caught off guard. Just because I know what it feels like to have my skinned burned, does NOT mean I want my child to know it, too.
My point? Just because God knows good... AND bad... does not mean He should want us to know it... too. He did what any loving parent would do: try to protect us from harm... by at least warning us of the consequences of an action we might take. And every parent out there knows what it feels like when you warn a child... and they fail to listen... and get hurt.
God did not issue an ultimatum and punishment; He issued a WARNING... and the consequences of not listening to such warning.
But... as we can see... it is not that way: the true culprits are excused... while the One who TRIED to warn them... is blamed. But, then, that is the "way" of earthling man, yes? Yes. To them, what is good is bad... and what is bad... is good.
Some will say, "No, it was God, because afterward He blocked them from entering and eating from the Tree of Life."
My response to that would be... do you know what Adam BECAME... after eating? Hard-headed... and deceitful. He NEVER took responsibility for what HE himself did... but blamed Eve first, then God. He never apologized, never acknowledge ANY error on his part: he had NO control... according to HIM... and only did what someone else MADE him do... someone that was defectively given him by God. How then could he EVER be held responsible for his actions? If he were to eat... and live forever... and then chose to commit some error... even heinous... how could he be held responsible? Nothing... would have ever been his fault.
Dear ones... don't let Satan get away with what he did. He lied... to the resultant death of Adam, Eve and all mankind thus far. And he is sitting back on his laurels, enjoying freedom from blame for what HE did... while folks are ready, willing and eager... to blame God. Who, then, is truly being deceived NOW?
I bid you peace.
A slave of Christ,
SJ
