In the film “The Sixth Day”, based in the near future where
cloning of pets is allowed but not of humans, the main character, Adam, played
by Arnold Schwarzenegger, wakes up in a taxi, not knowing how he got
there. He travels home only to see another
man inside with his family; this man looks exactly like him. Before being able to confront the imposter,
Adam is attacked by unknown assailants and has to run.
This being an Arnie movie there are lots of shoot outs and
the body count is high as Adam attempts to find out what is going on. It turns
out that he has been cloned and the cloning company is trying to clear up the
loose ends. Spoiler alert; it turns out
he is the clone and the other Adam is the original.
The story highlights some problems with the Watchtower’s
ideas about ‘resurrection’. They teach
that, at death, who we are ceases to exist; there is no soul or spirit that
survives death, nothing of our essence continues on. All that remains of us exists only in Jehovah’s
memory.
After Armageddon Jehovah resurrects those in his memory and
they populate paradise earth. However,
this resurrection is not really a resurrection, a ‘standing up’ as the original
Greek word intimates, but a re-creation instead. Jehovah recreates a body and plants in it the
memories and personality of the person it represents. So, in essence, it is a clone of the original
person. The original person ceased to
exist when they died.
Taking a cue from the film; hypothetically, what would
happen if Jehovah started recreating people early, before the original
died? If the original decides to reject Jehovah
and so incur death at Armageddon, would it mean the clone will too, even though
they may have not rejected Jehovah themselves?
If the clone decides to reject Jehovah, then does that doom the original
too?
Is a clone liable for the evil deeds of the original and
vice-versa? Is the original to be lauded
for the good works of the clone or are they completely separate entities?
In paradise will people really meet their lost loved ones as
the Watchtower teaches, or will they just meet people who look and sound like
them? Will it really be them meeting their
lost loved ones, or just someone who looks and sounds like them?
A clone, however similar to the original, is not the
original so it isn’t a resurrection, a ‘standing up’, but, a creation of a
completely new person. Witnesses are
obviously convinced that it will be them meeting their real loved ones, but, in
reality, it won’t be so.
The Bible tells us that we will rise in bodily form, but a
form greatly superior to the original, as superior as Jesus’ resurrected body
was to His earthly body. It will be
raised imperishable, immortal, spiritual (though not a spirit) (1 Corinthians 15
v 42-44). It is the body that is ‘sown’
that is raised but then clothed with the imperishable (1 Corinthians 15 v
53). Our essence, who we really are, our
spirit, lives on after death and it is this that is reunited with our upgraded body
at the resurrection so it will really be us who lives on.
We have no fear of meeting our ‘other selves’, we are unique
and we can look forward to an eternity with our Father and our saviour. In the film the good guys prevail and the Adam
clone goes on to live a happy life in Argentina while the original goes back to
his family. The ending for a Jehovah’s
Witness won’t be so happy!
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