Thanks for your response. I'm going to have to take some time and think
this through further. Pity that we don't have the point of view that the
Old Testament saints had who could understand the nuances of Genesis 1.
For example, what is the real meaning behind the description of God
"forming adam from the dust of the earth and breathing into his
nostrils," the (to us) strange - and rather detailed - description of
the creation of "woman." What is the real meaning behind the act of
eating the forbidden fruit, the curse of God that condemned the serpent
to crawl on its belly and eat dust? Did the serpent speak and, if it
did, would this have startled the woman or was this a normal way to
"commune with nature?"
What I find also surprising is that the Old & New Testament people
evidently had no problems with this account. I'm not a historian by any
stretch of the imagination, but is there any evidence that people in
antiquity questioned the Genesis account?
I agree with you that the fear expressed by Cain points at the presence
of "others" who might kill him. Whether or not this fear was based on
any fact is of course not known. If we assume that there were others
who lived outside the Garden of Eden, why would Adam and Eve not have
expressed the same fear as Cain?
As for "moral degeneration," this would suggest that, at one time, moral
standards of the "others" was higher. We read in Gen. 1:27 that "God
created man in his own image" whatever that means. If these "males and
females" were created "good" (vs. 31), should we then assume that they
didn't kill each other?
I should probably do some background reading including Dick Fischer's
and Glen Morton's books before commenting further. Maybe my questions
have been answered by them or others.
Chuck Vandergraaf
> ----------
> From: RDehaan237@aol.com[SMTP:RDehaan237@aol.com]
> Sent: Saturday, June 13, 1998 6:47 AM
> To: Vandergraaf, Chuck
> Cc: asa@calvin.edu; dfischer@mnsinc.com;
> asa-owner@udomo2.calvin.edu; bjmcarth@pacbell.net
> Subject: Re: RE: Drawing Lines
>
> Chuck,
> In a message dated 6/12/98 4:09:50 PM, you (vandergraaft@aecl.ca)
> wrote:
>
> <<At first glance, this looks too simple a solution. At second
> glance, it
> raises all sorts of questions, such as
> * how did sin enter into the world?
> * how did Mankind (?) "morally degenerate?"
> * how do we read the story of the eating of the forbidden fruit?
> * why were Adam and Eve driven out of the Garden of Eden and what
> does it signify?
> * how do we interpret the curse of "thorns and thistles" and "pain
> in childbirth?"
>
> etc., etc.
> >>
>
> I do not claim special expertise to answer your questions. But let me
> try.
> I'll take your first two questions:
>
> * how did sin enter into the world?
> * how did Mankind (?) "morally degenerate?"
>
> The Bible doesn't give an answer to your questions. It merely hints
> that the
> society into which Cain was banished from the Garden was a potentially
> murderous society. As I wrote in a different post, the sin and
> immorality of
> Pre-Adamic man were sins against each other. This brings me to your
> next
> questions.
>
> * how do we read the story of the eating of the forbidden fruit?
> * why were Adam and Eve driven out of the Garden of Eden and what
> does it signify?
> * how do we interpret the curse of "thorns and thistles" and "pain
> in childbirth?"
>
> Since Adam had a covenantal relationhsip with God his sin was against
> God. He
> disobeyed God and disrupted the covenantal relationship. The Bible
> says Adam
> and Eve were driven out of the Garden because they might eat of the
> Tree of
> Life in the Garden and live in their sinful state forever. Being
> driven out
> of the Garden deprived them of all the blessings of living in Garden
> and
> tending it in direct fellowship with God, consigning them and all
> humanity to
> the curse of "thorns and thistles" and "pain in childbirth.
>
> Bob
>
>
>