WOTM: A Paradise of Death?
In the comments section of my videos now, I routinely run into Christians telling me that physical death and sin have nothing to do with each other. This is not what I was taught, nor is it the traditional teaching of nearly 2,000 years of Christianity which took the Bible narrative literally — young Earth/Universe included.
Of course, modern Christians, hoping to appear at least slightly reasonable, have to go there unless they're willing to throw in with Ken and the Hamsters who assert that the Creation of the Universe is a very recent thing — and with it, death too... a result of Adam's sin (notice, the guy's always get the credit). But this idea has some drastic consequences for traditional Christian theology.
More thank yous all around! I hope you're enjoying this batch. I've saved the best (two) for last. B
Comments (8)
Wait- if you eat a plant, doesn't that kill the plant- or at least the cells in the plant? To be devoid of death, all the creatures in the garden would not be able to eat ANYTHING. Except maybe rocks and dirt I guess
Nuts and seeds — even eating the leaves wouldn’t necessarily “kill” the plant. But your point is well-taken. The whole story is nutty (pun intended).
I wish the damned Christians would read their own damned scripture. Adam and Eve were both forbidden to eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil and the Tree of Life. The Tree of Life provided immortality. So, if Adam and Eve had stayed in the Garden and not eaten from the Trees, what would be their fate . . . they would have died because they were not immortal!!! So, Adam and Eve's "sin" or "disobedience" did not bring death into the Garden. It already had predators and prey and I don't think lions would lie down with lambs without have some naughty thoughts.
The "Garden of Eden" is a reference to the Paleolithic Era, when humans were primitive hunter-gatherers. The "fall of man" refers to the invention of agriculture, which led to permanent settlements, and later to what we call civilization. So...how did our stone age ancestors live during that primitive time? Eden was no paradise. The closest thing to it today is North Andaman Island. The Sentinelese people there are like Adam and Eve. And death is always present. See this: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kionasmith/2018/11/30/everything-we-know-about-the-isolated-sentinelese-people-of-north-sentinel-island/?sh=73569e9f35a0 This is how our ancestors lived before they "fell from grace."
Interesting. Just watched a short documentary on them. I love learning about peoples still stuck in another age. So much to learn and understand! Thanks for the link!
GOD: Creates a world of deathless vegetarians and calls it good. Also GOD: Lays out exacting instructions of how to slaughter creatures and fling the blood around, and calls it pleasing to God.
How well I remember when I was departing on a mission and we all gathered in the SLC temple's Assembly Hall after going through an endowment session. Ezra Taft Benson asked if we had any questions, and one young man asked: "But what about evolution?" Wowza, Benson practically went apoplectic and chewed him out for even mentioning false theories of man after we had seen how the world and humankind were actually created. I guess that scene planted the first seed of my inevitable apostasy, for I already had NO doubt that we were a product of evolution.
How horrifying and awful. What a prick! I'm grossed out just thinking I ever had any part of that organization!