Do Jehovah's Witnesses believe in Creationism?

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No.

We do believe that God created everything, but we do not agree with creationism. Why not? Consider the following two examples:

Length of the six days of creation. Some creationists assert that the six days of creation were literal 24-hour days. But the word “day” in the Bible can refer to a considerable length of time.— Genesis 2:4; Psalm 90:4.

Age of the earth. Some creationists teach that the earth is just a few thousand years old. However, according to the Bible, the earth and the universe existed before the six days of creation. (Genesis 1:1) For that reason, Jehovah’s Witnesses have no objection to credible scientific research that indicates the earth may be billions of years old.

As a result, the teaching of creationism actually discredits the Bible, making it appear unreasonable and inaccurate. Although Jehovah’s Witnesses believe in creation, we are not antiscience.

We believe that true science and the Bible are compatible. Here are a few amazing ways science has allows us to see Jehovah God's "invisible qualities." (Romans 1:20)

The Stars and Universe.

The deeper that astronomers peer into space, the more stars and galaxies they find. How many are out there? Scientists estimate there could be billions of galaxies and stars. We may never know the true number, but this is not so of our Creator, Jehovah God. “He is counting the number of the stars; all of them he calls by their names,” says Psalm 147:4.

The prophet Isaiah made similar expressions. In fact, he went a step further, stating with remarkable scientific accuracy that the material universe is a product of God’s infinite energy. “Raise your eyes high up and see,” Isaiah wrote. “Who has created these things? It is the One who is bringing forth the army of them even by number, all of whom he calls even by name. Due to the abundance of dynamic energy, he also being vigorous in power, not one of them is missing.”—Isaiah 40:26.

How did Isaiah, who lived some 2,700 years ago, know that the universe is a product of God’s infinite energy? He certainly did not figure that out himself! Rather, he wrote what Jehovah inspired him to write. (2 Timothy 3:16) Thus, he, as well as the other Bible writers, did something no science textbook or telescope can do. They identified the One who gave the stars their beauty and glory.

The periodic table of elements.

Scientists have identified over 100 chemical elements. Their atomic structure displays an intricate mathematical interrelationship of the elements. The periodic table points to obvious design. Such amazing design could not possibly be accidental, a product of chance.

Christian Chabanis, a member of the French Academy of Sciences, stated: “Natural order was not invented by the human mind or set up by certain perceptive powers. . . . The existence of order presupposes the existence of organizing intelligence. Such intelligence can be none other than God’s.”

The Natural Laws.

When the Bible was being written, many people in antiquity believed in various gods that inhabited the world and that those gods, not natural laws, controlled the sun, the moon, the weather, fertility, and so on. But that was not the case with the ancient Hebrew prophets of God. Of course, they knew that Jehovah God could directly control the natural world and that he did so on specific occasions. (see Joshua 10:12-14; 2 Kings 20:9-11) Nevertheless, John Lennox, professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, England, observed that those prophets “did not have to have their universe de-deified [of mythical gods]. . . , for the simple reason that they had never believed in the gods in the first place. What had saved them from that superstition was their belief in One True God, Creator of heaven and earth.”

How did their belief protect them from the superstitions of their day? For one thing, the true God revealed to them that he governs the universe by precise laws, or statutes. For example, more than 3,500 years ago, Jehovah God asked his servant Job: “Have you come to know the statutes (laws) of the heavens?” (Job 38:33) In the seventh century B.C.E., the prophet Jeremiah wrote about “the statutes (laws) of heaven and earth.”—Jeremiah 33:25.

In harmony with the views of many scientists today, the ancient Hebrews also believed that the universe had a beginning. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” says Genesis 1:1. Also, some 3,500 years ago, God revealed to his servant Job that the earth ‘hangs on nothing,’ or is suspended in space. (Job 26:7) And finally, more than 2,500 years ago, the prophet Isaiah wrote that the earth is a circle or sphere.—Isaiah 40:22.

The order of creation

Noted geologist Wallace Pratt commented: “If I as a geologist were called upon to explain briefly our modern ideas of the origin of the earth and the development of life on it to a simple, pastoral people, such as the tribes to whom the Book of Genesis was addressed, I could hardly do better than follow rather closely much of the language of the first chapter of Genesis.”

He also observed that the order as described in Genesis for the origin of the oceans and the emergence of land, as well as for the appearance of marine life, birds, and mammals, is in essence the sequence of the principal divisions of geologic time.

Consider: How did Moses—thousands of years ago—get that order right if his source of information were not from the Creator and Designer himself?

The Water Cycle

The Bible describes the water cycle, saying: “God . . . draws up the drops of water; they filter as rain for his mist, so that the clouds trickle, they drip upon mankind abundantly.” (Job 36:26-28) In the thousands of years since those scientifically accurate words were written, man has had a lot of time to try to understand the water cycle.

States the 2003 textbook Water Science and Engineering, “Currently the mechanism of raindrop formation is not known with certainty.” What scientists do know is that raindrops are formed from microscopic particles that become the nuclei of tiny droplets in clouds. Each of these droplets must increase in size a million or more times to make a single drop of rain. It is a complex process that can take several hours. A science textbook, Hydrology in Practice, states: “There are several theories of how cloud droplets grow to become raindrops, and investigations into the details of several proposed methods continue to claim the attention of research workers.”

Jehovah God, the Creator of the mechanisms that produce rain, could ask his servant Job these humbling questions: “Does there exist a father for the rain, or who gave birth to the dewdrops? Who put wisdom in the cloud layers? . . . Who can exactly number the clouds in wisdom, or the water jars of heaven — who can tip them over?” (Job 38:28, 36, 37) Some 3,500 years later, scientists still grapple with these difficult questions.

DNA

King David described the information needed to build a human body as being written in a figurative book. Speaking of Jehovah God, he said: “Your eyes saw even the embryo of me, and in your book all its parts were down in writing, as regards the days when they were formed and there was not yet one among them.” (Ps. 139:16) Understandably, David was moved to praise Jehovah when he considered the way his own body was created, but as inspired by God his words speak of scientific knowledge eons ahead of its time.

The Fibonacci Sequence

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAbGCV8EqY4[/youtube]
Truly, after reviewing the mountain of evidence it is worth repeating Romans 1:20. "For [God's] invisible [qualities] are clearly seen from the world’s creation onward, because they are perceived by the things made, even his eternal power and Godship, so that they are inexcusable;"

The Bible is not a scientific textbook, but when it speaks about scientific things it did so truthfully, accurately and thousands of years before humans have been able confirm them. And even still today there are many scientific things humans cannot fully understand, but Jehovah God knows it all.

(Job 26:14) Look! These are the fringes of his ways,
(Ecclesiastes 3:11) Even time indefinite he has put in their heart, that mankind may never find out the work that the [true] God has made from the start to the finish.
(Isaiah 55:9) “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than YOUR ways, and my thoughts than YOUR thoughts.
(Psalm 92:5) How great your works are, O Jehovah! Very deep your thoughts are.

Last edited by kxmode on 08 Dec 2013, 4:30 pm, edited 3 times in total.

Welcome back! I don't think that you have posted in a while. Usually you inspire some pretty good debates.

They always come back ...

If you don't believe evolution is a reality but instead believe God directly created mankind, you are a creationist.

Being a creationist and believing in creationism isn't mutual exclusive. I have already pointed out two sound reasons from the bible to show why I do not believe in creationism.

Here's another one: 2 Peter 3:8 ...one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

If something cannot be known by science, how can it reasonably be called "scientifically accurate"?

Nice find!

@kxmode

In several discussions I have had with Jehovah's Witnesses who came to my door including their local leader, it was made clear that your church does not accept even the possibility that God used evolution as a tool of creation to make human beings even though all the evidence of the physical world clearly shows that is how humans developed. Even if we had never found any fossils at all, the genetic evidence alone is strong enough way beyond any reasonable doubt to show that humans share common ancestry with other animals. And then of course there is the fossil record that clearly shows modern humans developing over time from more ape-like ancestors.

So what is the point you are trying to make with this new thread of yours? That you don't insist on young earth creationism? Even old earth creationists are still out of touch with demonstrable reality and sanity if they deny the evidence indicates humans evolved along with other animals. Notice I am not saying absolutely that humans evolved. All I am saying is that all the evidence we can observe and measure from every branch of science all points to the same reality that includes evolution happening, and no evidence yet found falsifies evolution. Of course if you are saying that maybe humans did evolve and that might be how Jehovah created us, that is something different, but somehow I don't think you would agree with that. Or do you?

The type of evolution you speak of is a blending of creationism and evolution. The problem is the two are incapable. Like oil and water they don't mix. In what ways?

Use sound reasoning and ask yourself this question, Why would the Grand Creator put so much effort and detail into giving his creation order and then allow something as chaotic as evolution to run it's course? This goes contrary to Jehovah God's personality. At 1 Corinthians 14:33 he is called a God of order. This personality trait can be seen not only in creation but in how Jehovah dealt with his people. For example to the countless animals entering into the ark Genesis 7:15 states, "And [the animals] kept going to Noah inside the ark, two by two, of every sort of flesh in which the force of life was active." Two by two... they were arranged in an orderly fashion.

The order of creation can be seen in the physical world through the precise timing on a microscopic as well as on a macroscopic scale. For example atoms vibrate at consistent rates. International time-standard clocks are accurate to 1 second in 80 million years because they are regulated by orderly atomic vibrations.

The movement of planets and stars demonstrate order in how they are precisely timed. Their predictable positions in the sky have been used to mark the seasons and to aid in navigation for thousands of years.

Jehovah's order in creation can also be observed in the world of biology. The life cycles of many plants and animals are regulated by internal clocks. Many birds instinctively know when to begin their migration. (Jeremiah 8:7) Humans too have internal clocks. We are usually governed by a 24-hour cycle of day and night. After a traveler crosses several time zones by airplane, it may take days for his body to reset these clocks.

The theory of evolution is the exact opposite of order. It states that the first living organism developed randomly from lifeless matter. Then, as it reproduced, it is said, it randomly changed into different kinds of living things, ultimately producing all forms of plant and animal life that have ever existed on this earth. All of this is said to have been accomplished with random chance without any supernatural intervention or design from a Creator.

Clearly the vast "evident demonstrations" found on our planet and in the universe shows that Jehovah God used order, not random chaos, to create everything. (Hebrews 11:1; Genesis 1:1) I know for many this is a difficult thing to wrap their head around, but the bible is able to help people learn the truth about Jehovah God in order to overturn "strongly entrenched" beliefs, like evolution. (2 Corinthians 10:4)

Last edited by kxmode on 09 Dec 2013, 12:27 am, edited 2 times in total.

You are wrong on two counts, kxmode.

Evolution has nothing to say about the origin of life. Evolution also says nothing for OR against the idea of God. Whether it happened by totally random processes, or these processes were guided or planned by some supernatural agency, either way evolution does NOT say one or the other. All evolution does is describe and explain the evidence, and it does so very well. We understand more about the mechanism of evolution than we do that for gravity. The basic idea is so simple a child can grasp it. It makes total sense AND it is backed by ALL the evidence and falsified by NONE.

So again I claim, and I challenge you to show where I am wrong, that if evolution did NOT happen then Jehovah is a liar for making it look so much like it DID happen.

I have already use scriptures and sound reasoning to answer your questions. Thank you.

No, you didn't. I pointed out two errors in the following paragraph of your words:



First you conflate abiogenesis with evolution. Evolution does NOT address the origin of life from non-life. Just because it can't explain everything does not mean it explains nothing. Saying "God did it" while useful to explain everything, actually explains nothing because nothing can be produced from that assumption.

Second, natural selection is NOT random! and like I pointed out (but you did not answer), the scientific idea of evolution does not say anything against God. It doesn't say anything for God either. But the point is that it is not against God just because the followers of some interpretations of the Bible are out of touch with demonstrable reality. Why would Jehovah make it look so much like evolution happens if it doesn't? And if you think the evidence does not clearly show evolution happens that just shows how badly misinformed you are about the actual evidence. Try reading some other sources besides those "approved" by your church. You are being lied to.

I was with an witness girl in engineering class for environmental development, and her two brothers were as well studying engineering subjects. So naturally all existence and rules, leading to our nowadays life have been developed by god for them, but they had no probs with genetic evolution, age of earth, or anything else scientific.

I think the failure many of you do is see an religion always from an hardcore point. Sof if someone is catholic, you automatic link it with someone denying birth control, fighting abortion and knows hell what. If its about muslim you only think about hardcore wahabitic believers. And with the witnesses Jehovas, it seems to be similar.

But the truth is that anyway, what might stand in some ancient rules of an religion, most people nowadays are moderate believers. They dont follow some old stuff blindly, but actively think about it, and what they think they want to involve in their life of it.

Some of those prejudices toward an religion are simply totally outdated, that even the religious people themself dont know about it anymore. In a thread someone was blaming catholic church for their denial of birth control... as someone born and raised catholic, I needed to think myself to remember, that more then a century ago, long before my parents were born, it was really that way. ^^ Maybe some hardcore catholics, that are even blaming the church itself for having become to moderate, really still do so. But around the majority of christian folk around here, including priests, nobody has the expectation of people still bearing a football team of children themselves. ^^ One century ago, it was another life for people and from 10 kids you got, mabye 3-4 survived. But luckily we dont have that horrible dying statistics anymore, so its not necessary anymore to "breed" 10 children for the outcome of 3 reaching matured age.

So catholic church still values family, and recommends people to marry and have children, but at least around here in middle europe, with 2-3 kids you are already among the industrious people.

So there might be just as well, some outdated stuff in the Jehovas Bible, telling that according to the book, evolution would not exist. Does not change, that for the ones I knew it did exist without any problem. So animals evolving and changing according to their surrounding, was nothing they denied. The only thing, my classmate denied, was that other animals could be able to acchieve the intelligent and consciousness, that we humans have. So for them, this was the "godly spark" that god gave the ancestors of humanity, to separate them from other animals = the creation of human. So for them it was impossible, that any other animal, every was able to receive that form of intelligence, because of that was given by god for them. They did as well not denie that "relatives" as gorillas, orang-utans and so on, had quite some similar intelligence, but while they were for them still instinct driven, in opposition to that, the relative of them, that became human ancestor was given to ability to make himself aware of his surrounding by an desicion of god.

Might be a bit weird, but in opposition to all that "world is 4000 year old and has been made in 6 days" creationists, nothing of that opposes actual scientific knowledge. There have been some human-monkey kinds, and one of those finally evolved our nowadays intelligence level. I see no prob with that believing, only because of them thinking, that this last step of evolution was done by god, by giving "a spirit" = soul and intelliengece to a certain kind of human apes.

It is a religious sort of thinking to think that that we are the last step in evolution. Evolution does not have such conscious thoughts. And it weren't the monkeys that we evolved from. We evolved from ancestral apes.

Also, part of creationism is rejecting evolution. kxmode still believes in creationism; he simply chooses to agree with science that the earth is much older than what the Bible suggests.

Yes.

Your own posts indicate you believe in creationism. Creationism was debunked many years ago. Nothing has changed since, except we've discovered vast amounts more about evolution, its mechanisms and how it continues to change organisms today. Your posts above indicate you are still ignorant of science and in denial of the truth. Anyway, that's your problem not mine; I'm fed up of these uneducated creationists spouting nonsense. They are just best ignored IMO, they are beyond reason.