What do Jehovah's Witnesses teach about resurrection, marriage and reproducing on the paradise earth?
Upvote:1
In one of their official publications was the subject 'Marriage'; five pages on came this sub-heading - 'Marriage and the Resurrection'. I quote it in full:
A group of Jesus' opponents who did not believe in the resurrection asked Jesus a question that was calculated to embarrass him. In answering them, he revealed that "those who have been counted worthy of gaining that system of things and the resurrection from the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage." - Lu 20:34, 35; Mt 22:30 Insight on the Scriptures Vol.2, p.344, published 1988
There is not a word of explanation following on. After that very short paragraph is another heading about marriage - 'Symbolic Uses' - which has nothing to do with child-bearing anywhere.
The only other bit of information I could find was in Volume 1. Under the heading 'Child - Children' it said:
Individuals privileged to receive a resurrection from the dead are spoken of as 'children of the resurrection' (Lu 20:36). Ibid. Vol. 1 'Insight', p.436
The heading immediately following - 'Childbearing' - says not a word about bearing children in a paradise earth. Of course, I may be looking in the wrong direction for the information you seek, so I hope someone can quote relevant details from some other official Watchtower Society sources.
Upvote:2
The latest Jehovah's Witness view on whether people who live during the millennium on a paradise earth will be able to marry and have children is based on a new understanding of what Jesus said to the Sadducees that those who are resurrected "neither marry nor are given in marriage." (Luke 20:34-36)
At one time, Jehovah's Witnesses thought Jesus was talking about the earthly resurrection but in 2014, that view changed.
For years, our publications have said that Jesus’ words about the resurrection and getting married likely refer to the earthly resurrection and that those resurrected to life in the new world will evidently not marry.a (Matt. 22:29, 30; Mark 12:24, 25; Luke 20:34-36) While we cannot be dogmatic, is it possible that Jesus’ words refer to the heavenly resurrection?
They now say it is possible that Jesus’ words about marrying and the resurrection apply to the heavenly resurrection. That means that all who are resurrected to heavenly life do not marry, they cannot die, and they are in some respects like the angels.
The article concludes:
If Jesus’ words about the resurrection and getting married apply to the heavenly resurrection, does this mean that those who come back in the earthly resurrection will be able to marry? God’s Word does not give a direct answer to that specific question. If Jesus was, in fact, talking about the heavenly resurrection, then his words do not shed any light on whether resurrected ones on earth will be able to marry in the new world... Understandably, we may have many questions about life in the new world. Rather than needlessly speculating on the answers to those questions, we will just have to wait and see.
The conclusion of the matter is that Jehovah's Witnesses simply do not know if the inhabitants of a paradise earth will marry and have children.
Source: 15 August 2014 Watchtower pp 29-30 Questions From Readers on Marriage and the Resurrection
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