Posted by Jaypeeto [Jaypeeto] on March 27, 1999 at 05:20:09 {Hq/lZhRVmkL6ZM7/RrpEMWt/CPYT8orz2}:
In Reply to: The Nature of the Divine posted by AveMaria on March 26, 1999 at 20:55:14:
I think Charles Russell, though basically Arian,
had a much better concept of the
"nature" of Deity as infinite spirit,
than his thunderheaded successor JF Rutherford,
who felt that God dwelt on one of the stars
in the
Pleiades.
JWs, at least the ones I knew, do ***not*** believe that God is "omniscient", unless the Society has in recent years adopted and promoted that view.
The reason I say THIS, is that the JWs I knew, back when I was a JW, ALL
TO A MAN asserted
that when God created Adam and Eve, he had
absolutely no idea that they would break his law, though they asserted that He had a
"Contingency Plan" in place just in case they did.
In fact, the Elder who conducted my book study, told me flat out that Jehovah "had no WAY of knowing" that they would fall.
I don't regularly read JW publications anymore,
so I don't know whether the Society has specifically written against such a
viewpoint
in recent years.
The description of God given by Cygnus below
is much much closer to the Orthodox theological position than anything I ever
heard when I was a JW.
Since his departure from Watchtowerism is much more
recent than mine, perhaps his view reflects
a more current Watchtower viewpoint, but I'm not certain.
Best I can do, hope this helps!
Jaypeeto :)