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Bible Questions and Spiritual Discussion
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Hey Lanny, thanks for your thoughts. I agree, no need to be in a yelling match, since that's all this is. One day in heaven, we'll just let God explain how he did it :-)
God bless,
John
| John, I can assure you that no one is yelling here. Lanny and I are friends. It's just an exchange of ideas and interpretation of fact.
Be blessed,
Marcie
| How do you rationalize that man was created in God's image if we evolved from goo?
| LOL!
That's a good question!
I'll have to think about it when I'm more alert,
and try to come up with a good answer tomorrow.
| Actually, I couldn't wait until tomorrow!
My first thought was, if God could make Adam out of dirt,
as the Genesis story describes it,
he could have used the process of evolution to create people out of goo.
Thinking about it some more,
I found this statemtn which makes a lot of sense to me:
I think that scripture allows us to view the "Image of God" as an act of grace poured out on God's chosen creatures when those creatures had in effect "come of age." Here the evolutionary origin of humanity provides some helpful metaphors. Here's one way to think about it: God providentially directed the evolutionary development of humans to the point at which they possessed the mental and emotional capacity for conscious fellowship with Him. At that point, God revealed Himself and established a covenant relationship, making them divine representatives to the rest of creation.
http://www.asa3.org/ASA/education/origins/humans-km.htm
In that same article, the author quotes from one of his earlier articles:
We are the image of God in creation -- that is why the command against making graven images is so powerful. We stand in a unique position within creation -- as God's representative, as His viceroy over the Earth. I believe that the basis for that unique position is our dual nature. We have at once a kinship with the rest of creation and with the creator. Genesis describes the origin of humankind in precisely the same manner as that of all other living things (Gen 2:7,9,19). The origin of our physical nature is not different from that of other creatures -- we are made of the same stuff. If God used and providentially controlled evolutionary mechanisms in the creation of plants and animals, I see no reason to reject an evolutionary origin for humankind. In fact, the testimony of both scripture and nature is that we share a oneness with the rest of creation. Our physical natures are inseparably connected to the rest of life on Earth.
An inseparable part of being created as images of God in the world is the authority delegated to us by God. We have been chosen out of creation as God's representatives, His stewards. God commissioned us to "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground" (Genesis 1:28). Adam was placed in the garden "to work it and take care of it" (Genesis 2:15). Our ability to exercise this divine commission to rule and care for creation is, I believe, based on our dual nature. Our physical unity with the natural world is as vital to our appointed role as image bearers as is our spiritual apprehension of the divine.
{ Keith B. Miller, 1993, Theological Implications of an Evolving Creation in Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, vol. 45, p.150-160. }
Makes sense to me.
| Lanny has a done a good job. There are a large number of Christians (in earth science and other fields) who believe in an old earth. I do not get on here as much (used to do that at night but now I hit the hay earlier so I can walk my 6 miles each morning, listen to DAB, worship). Anyway along time ago God told me it was not worth arguing because I would not convince those who believe in a young creation vs old one. But Lanny is right the point of genesis is the creator and why he did it not the details of how or what the words in hebrew translated as day mean.
I find most of the young earth organizations to be as much arrogant as the extreme atheist scientists and find I do not agree with either. I also have read many things on web about the word death and what it meant. And the death emphasized by the bible is that in terms of the broken relationship with God, so have no real problem with physical death in other animals before the fall of man but there are many other web sites that deal with that and I am not going to get into arguments that the Lord told me not to get in to. So I am here and have read this but will follow my Lords guidance on this.
Blessings.
Russ
| Just as a FYI, here is my favorite site kind of a counterpart to Answers in Genesis young earth views:
http://www.answersincreation.org/
The purpose of this site:
Welcome to Answers In Creation, a creation science ministry dedicated to supporting old earth creationism. Because of the false teachings of young earth creationism, many people do not realize that a Christian can believe in an inerrant Bible, a literal translation of Genesis, and believe that God created the world over a period of billions of years.
This website exists to provide rebuttals to the false claims of young earth creation science. We currently have over 1,500 articles disputing the claims of young earth creationism. Want to read a typical rebuttal to see what this website is about? Click here. If you have more time, consider taking our One Hour Tour. Feel free to look around, and thanks for visiting.
Anyway for Lanny or anyone else wanting to know some balanced good old earth creationist views similar ot mine this is a great place to visit and hear answers to the young earth claims.
And in regards to your question Marcie here is the link on the subject of physical death before sin from the old earth creationist viewpoint.
http://www.answersincreation.org/death_before_sin.htm
There are a whole bunch of good articles and links there.
russ
| Good comments, Russ.
Thanks for your input.
| I just read this thread, we've had ones like it before I know, this is a topic that I haven't formulated an opinion on. My faith seems to have room for either point of view, and neither side can really deal a death blow to the other. But TRWord said something that I found interesting and wonder if we can start a thread on this?
"Remember we were created in his image.
So it’s of utmost importance that we understand this fully.
WHY? This is the method of prayer.
The work is first done in the spirit, (prayer in our case) followed by a period of rest, (faith in our case) then there is the manifestation."
| one final word - be careful on your preaching in relation to science. Science changes (so don't base your faith on it, but augment it instead), but scripture does not.
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