Posted by 1 [1] on November 08, 1999 at 07:32:45 {Nq8EnQ8RVAoLB7Y6H2dwO5mu/o1Vh.}:
for yrs jw have often spoken of getting food from god thru the wt publications.
if your avg jw is asked ARE THERE ANY PUBLICATIONS THAT YOU CONSIDER NOT FOOD FROM GOD
they would answer NO.
WELL THEN let's just enjoy some of the fine fixins, yes down home grub, the kind of good cooking that would make you slap your daddy:
Under the informative heading of
"Who Created that Pesky Fly that's on my Cornbread?
God or Satan!!!
Several Golden Age magazine articles I have read recently made statements about Satan
creating animals such as insects in a matter-of-fact manner with little or no explanation.
For example, in 1923 in an article on insects, C.J. Woodworth, the editor of the magazine
made the following comments about the Satanic origin some insects he considered "pests"
to Man:Some people regard the common house-fly as comparatively harmless; but in
point of fact it is one of the greatest disease carriers known.... One thing that
tends to prove that the fly was originally created by the devil is that it loves
every evil thing and hates every good thing. The odors that are most
unpleasant to man,... are all pleasing to the fly....THE mosquito has a bad record. He it is that carries the germs of malaria,
yellow fever, [and other diseases].... If you have a disease of any of the above
varieties, the mosquito loves to come and bite you and poison you,.... Then he
goes off and bites some luckless chap and injects the germs of your disease
into him. And if that does not show the disposition of the devil, will you please
point out something that does?...The Japanese beetle is said to be, at this time, our country's worst pest....
Perhaps the devil made this one, too; it looks like his work...Probably the Lord made some of the useful insects. No doubt the devil made
some of the others. The Lord is the better architect... [8]It seems that Woodworth believed that Satan created flies, mosquitoes, etc. because they
spread diseases or ruined human crops, thus were in some sense evil. No explanation was
given as to when Satan created these "pests." I'm sure if he had known about the species
of parasitic ant referred to by Hull in his response to Johnson, Woodworth would have
deemed it of Satanic origin given its behavior.In response to this article, a reader who was not sympathetic to these and other Bible
Student views wondered if Woodworth was actually being serious in making these
statements. He said the following as printed in a later Golden Age:If these statements are intended facetiously they certainly would have the
effect of misleading many readers, who accept them as intended seriously. I
doubt if there is any authority, either Scriptural or zoological, for accepting
such theories as facts. It is certainly unscientific to suppose that this great
class of the arthropoda family sprang separately by diverse creations, certain
species being created by the will of the Creator of all things, and others (even
of the same entomological order) being separately created by the author of
sin.... Your assumption, on the face of it, seems analogous to asserting that
light and warmth, daytime and summer, are the works of a good deity; and
that darkness and cold, night and winter are works of an evil spirit.... Pastor
Russell conceded the likelihood of the process of evolution with respect to the
lower forms of life below man. I doubt there is any Scriptural warrant for
supposing that Satan participated in the work of material creation; in fact the
Gospel of John seems to state otherwise. Pastor Russell explained that only
that part of physical life survived the Flood which had escaped corruption by
fallen angels. When, then, could noxious insects have been created by the
devil? Their fossilized remains are found in the old geologic strata. [9]Woodworth responded by saying:
Our argument that Satan is probably the author of some of the pests that mar
man's present habitation is based upon a thought suggested by Pastor Russell
in THE WATCH TOWER for July 15, 1897...Woodworth then quoted the following from the article by Russell:
We have every reason to believe that the fallen spirits have learned
considerable during the past four thousand years and that they have much
wider range of power today. We are inclined to believe that the grasshopper
plagues and the multitudinous farmer-pests and the spores and animal life in
recent times, may be manifestations of the same power for evil.Russell was more explicit in claiming Satan was the creator of some animals and insects
that are human "pests" in an 1894 Watch Tower. There he said bacteria, worms,
"numerous insects" and beetles "that plague the farmers" were at that time being created.
Since God is still resting from His work of creation, he claimed Satan was creating these
pests, which cause disease and destruction. He also believed that Satan was using
"calamities, diseases, plagues, storms, etc." in these last days. According to Russell, the
"time of trouble" would be plagued by "storms, hail, drouths, pests, disease-germs and
diseases" caused by Satan. [10]Thus, starting with C. T. Russell, the Bible Students (now Jehovah's Witnesses) believed
that Satan was responsible for many insects, diseases and destructive weather and that
these would increase in frequency and severity as the "Time of the End" came to its close
in 1914.They believed that Satan was the "prince of the power of the air" which meant he
controlled Earth's weather, thus any "evil" caused by weather was the Devil's doing. On
the other hand, both Russell and his successors taught that God did cause some "evil" such
as plagues and destruction of cities, etc. as judgements against humans. This included
severe weather phenomena. In 1922, The Golden Age magazine stated that since 1874
when Jesus returned invisibly, He was slowly taking over as the new "power of the air"
and was thus beginning slowly to control the Earth's weather. During the New World or
Golden Age (which at the time was expected to begin in 1925), there would be no storms,
earthquakes or blizzards as The Christ (Jesus and the 144,000) would completely control
the weather. [11] Before the Millennium, they believed the weather would gradually
improve by getting gradually warmer, the ice caps would melt, and the average tempeture
would remain fairly constant, preparing the way for the Millennium.This seems in conflict with their belief that the weather was going to get worse as the time
of the end progressed due to Satan's evil schemes. On the one hand they said Satan was
the "Prince of the power of the air" and responsible for bad weather and its supposed
increase as the end approached. On the other hand Jesus was the new "power of the air"
and was beginning to control the weather so that the weather was gradually improving.
Any evidence of worsening or improving weather was viewed as a sure sign the Golden
Age was at hand.
The Golden Age
The concluding paragraph of Woodworth's 1923 article on insects said the following about
insects in the Millennium:Evidently the subjugation of the 750,000 varieties of insects is going to be a
big job; but the One that will supervise the work is fully equal to the task.
Probably the Lord made some of the useful insects. No doubt the devil made
some of the others. The Lord is the better architect, and victory is sure... [12]They believed most insects would be destroyed when the "electrical ring" which was
believed to surround the Earth fell, in accord with the Valian or Canopy theory.[13] It
appears that in the Golden Age many people will be required to dispose of the dead,
electrified insects and subject the remaining insects to the ubiquitous rule of the Pleiadean
gods.
Farmer-pests from Hell
Some insects and animals were normally not harmful to man and thus were viewed by the
Bible Students as being originally created by God. However, as the time of the end
appeared, Satan would use these God created animals to create calamities and havoc for
humans, rather than creating totally new species from scratch. Some animals they said
were demon controlled or even demon possessed.For example, in a 1922 Golden Age, Woodworth published an item by A.E. White that
said the following:NOT long ago a farmer told me of a very strange thing. We were talking
about a neighbor's hog killing one of my hens. He said: "Did you ever hear of
a sheep killing chickens?" I said, "No." Then he said his neighbor had a
sheep that would kill and eat a chicken every chance it could catch one. He
also told me of a man he knew who had a mule that would kill and eat a
chicken. Last week I read of where big frogs caught and killed frying-size
chickens in Oklahoma.Some time ago I read where bees were caught robbing other beehives. I had
the same experience. I called a man to look at them. He... said, "They seem to
be fighting. Some have their wings eaten about half off..."...the bees soon left.I believe that the demons are loose, and that surely the time is nearing for the
Battle of Armageddon. [14]
- *Food From God? The KICKER is.. 07:52:38 11/08/99 (1)
- **Food From God? U R Cold 15:38:39 11/08/99 (0)