Could God Have Used Evolution?

[Marcia]

There are two points here. How are we made in the image of God. Do we look like him? God is a spirit or do you side with Mormonism? laugh: ) And we don't really know what Adam or Eve looked like. I just saw a History channel special on eve looking like she's from the Kikuyu tribe in Kenya. Was Adam a representative of Man or was he actually the first man? Keep in mind the bible seems to be promulgating incest at this point.

How do we know? We know from God's word:

1. 1. Genesis 1:26
      Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth."
      
      [*]Genesis 1:27
      God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
      
      [*]Genesis 9:6
      " Whoever sheds man's blood,By man his blood shall be shed,For in the image of GodHe made man.
      

   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=1&chapter=1&verse=26&version=49&context=verse

We are made in God's image because we have a thinking mind, will, a sense of moral right and wrong (through our conscience), can conceive of and communicate with God, and are able to worship. Animals do not have these traits.

Re Adam:
Yes, Adam was a real person, the first man. This is because he is mentioned as an individual in the Bible. I find the Gen. narrative to be narrative, not myth or allegory. It is in a simple straightforward style of writing.

There were no laws against incest at that time - the gene pool was pure. So yes, there was incest. No problem at that point.

 

[Marcia]

These people came from the same culture that built the Pyramids. I would not so quickly judge their knowledge of their world as being limited. The priest of Egypt had a strong understanding of how the stars moved. The ancients definately had an understanding of Eon. I would say yeah God was pointing out he made the heavenly bodies to reduce the view of these things being gods. But that would fit the outline perspective of creation rather than literal.

I didn't say anything about the Egyptians or their knowledge being limited. Why are you acting like I did?

 

[Marcia]

Now that is an interesting point. In Genesis it does say "the evening and the morning..." so it was at least written from a Jewish perspective of the day beginning at Sundown the previous day. That makes it sound even less like it is intended to be a science textbook and more like it is a Jewish tale of Creation making the point that God is God and not Tiamat.

But it wasn't the Jewish people who said this - it was God. God defined a day as "morning and evening and then it was the first/second/third/etc. day"

If it's a Jewish tale of creation, then it is not God's word. This is what the higher critics were saying, along with other things. They analyzed the Bible as though it were a mere record made by man about man's view of God and history, and throwing in myth, etc.

 

[Thinkingstuff]

I didn't say anything about the Egyptians or their knowledge being limited. Why are you acting like I did?

Now you're teasing me!!!

This is what you said:

After all, the people who first got this information around Moses' time would have had no inkling that these days could be ages or long periods of time. They would have assumed a "day" meant a day.

Why would we assumed that? They had significant science so they may have meant periods of time Eon. See.

 

[Thinkingstuff]

But it wasn't the Jewish people who said this - it was God. God defined a day as "morning and evening and then it was the first/second/third/etc. day"

If it's a Jewish tale of creation, then it is not God's word. This is what the higher critics were saying, along with other things. They analyzed the Bible as though it were a mere record made by man about man's view of God and history, and throwing in myth, etc.

From what I remember the only thing God wrote with by his own hand was the 10 commandments. Well, that's not true there was also the wall in the book of Daniel. So God used man to get his point across.

 

[lbaker]

But it wasn't the Jewish people who said this - it was God. God defined a day as "morning and evening and then it was the first/second/third/etc. day"

If it's a Jewish tale of creation, then it is not God's word. This is what the higher critics were saying, along with other things. They analyzed the Bible as though it were a mere record made by man about man's view of God and history, and throwing in myth, etc.

Couldn't God have inspired Moses to write an allegorical story giving the overview of Creation in a way that the Jews of that time could understand and get the point that only God is God? This doesn't make it any less inspired.

 

[Amy.G]

Here's an idea. How about we just believe the Bible?

What a concept!

 

[Thinkingstuff]

Here's an idea. How about we just believe the Bible?

What a concept!

We do. Just differ on how.

 

[Marcia]

Now you're teasing me!!!

This is what you said:



Why would we assumed that? They had significant science so they may have meant periods of time Eon. See.

OK, I see what you were referring to. But the books of Moses were written for the Jews, not the Egyptians. And no one then had the theory of evolution and would have thought that a day meant a long age, especially the Jews.

 

[Marcia]

From what I remember the only thing God wrote with by his own hand was the 10 commandments. Well, that's not true there was also the wall in the book of Daniel. So God used man to get his point across.

And how do we know about the 10 commandments? We know about them because they are in the Bible.

So you don't believe the Bible is a book of God's words to us? Even Jesus spoke of the OT as God's word.

 

[Marcia]

Couldn't God have inspired Moses to write an allegorical story giving the overview of Creation in a way that the Jews of that time could understand and get the point that only God is God? This doesn't make it any less inspired.

If it was an allegory, it would have been written as one. But it's not - it's written as an historical narrative, in narrative style.

And wouldn't God be misleading to tell them 6 days if it weren't 6 days? Especially when God refers to the 6 days of creation in Exodus?

 

[Thinkingstuff]

If it was an allegory, it would have been written as one. But it's not - it's written as an historical narrative, in narrative style.

And wouldn't God be misleading to tell them 6 days if it weren't 6 days? Especially when God refers to the 6 days of creation in Exodus?

How do you know what style it is writen in? Moses was not under the english system of writing. It is a translation so how do you know what style it was writen in? I haven't noticed anywhere in the Torah where Moses uses APA.

 

[Thinkingstuff]

Now since I've done a bang up job defending the evolutionist and non-literal view of creation I wonder if I should take up the other view? The more literal 6 day creation young earth view?

 

[webdog]

Now since I've done a bang up job defending the evolutionist and non-literal view of creation I wonder if I should take up the other view? The more literal 6 day creation young earth view?

Keep patting yourself on the back, but you were schooled my friend

 

[Thinkingstuff]

Keep patting yourself on the back, but you were schooled my friend

I beg to differ. And If I don't pat myself on the back it will never get done. I mean I can keep up the pro-evolutionist side of things and not throw you guys a bone.

 

[webdog]

What's that verse about pride coming before a fall?

 

[Thinkingstuff]

What's that verse about pride coming before a fall?

I don't know but Goliath was mentioning something about a smooth rock and loosing his head...... Look out below!

 

[Jim1999]

By the way, when were the angels and the fallen angel, the Devil, created?

Cheers,

Jim

 

[Marcia]

How do you know what style it is writen in? Moses was not under the english system of writing. It is a translation so how do you know what style it was writen in? I haven't noticed anywhere in the Torah where Moses uses APA.

Because there are specific styles of writing in any language. Hebrew literature also has some styles specific to it that we know of, such as parallelism. Several have written on Hebrew styles of writing. Leland Ryken, for one.

It doesn't take a special brain to see that Genesis is narrative. I was a literature major but you can see that without having been a lit major. Read it - is it poetry? No. Is it allegory? No. Is it narrative? Yes.

 

[Marcia]

By the way, when were the angels and the fallen angel, the Devil, created?

Cheers,

Jim

Before man, it seems.

We do know that God created the angels before he created the physical universe. The book of Job describes the angels worshipping God as He was creating the world: “Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone - while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?” (Job 38:4-7).

If we consider the function of angels, we might conclude that God created the angels just prior to the creation of mankind because one of their duties is to be “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hebrews 1:14). We also know they existed prior to the Garden of Eden, because Satan, who was formerly the angel Lucifer, was already present in the Garden in his fallen state. However, because another function of angels is to worship God around His throne (Revelation 5:11-14), they may have been in existence millions of years—as we reckon time—before God created the world, worshipping Him and serving Him.
http://www.gotquestions.org/when-angels-created.html