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I realise that Jehovah's Witnesses believe there will be survivors from Armageddon who do not die and who will enter into the earthly kingdom. Then billions of dead people will be resurrected with physical bodies and will get a chance to live forever on this paradise earth.

I have been asked what Jehovah's Witnesses believe regarding marriage and reproduction on the paradise earth, and I would hate to misrepresent the official view. Because Jesus said there will not be marriage or reproduction in heaven, my question is focused on humans who will be living on earth.

Will marriage and reproduction be restricted only to the Armageddon survivors, those individuals who did not die? And will that privilege also be extended to children born of those survivors by virtue of the fact they were never resurrected? Or will the earth already be filled by the time all the billions of dead people are resurrected.

With regard to people who inhabit the paradise earth, will there be marriage and reproduction and what Bible verses support the Jehovah's Witness view?

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    I've spent a lot of time going through 2 of their alphabetic volumes, under a wide array of headings, but have only found this one sentence: "Individuals privileged to receive a resurrection from the dead are spoken of as 'children of the resurrection' (Lu 20:36)." That was in Vol. 1 'Insight', p.436. I'll keep looking.
    – Anne
    Sep 14 at 15:38
  • 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 fol
    – Anne
    Sep 14 at 16:04
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    @User14 - Most helpful, thank you. My information was out of date, going back to the 1950's.
    – Lesley
    Sep 15 at 15:47

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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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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.

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