RE: Adam and Recognizing the Creator...

Rasmussen, Ryan J. (rasmussen@mcnamee.com)
Wed, 18 Nov 1998 09:08:07 -0500

>Now, the interesting thing to this discussion is the apparent lack of
>worship among the Ona. Bridges was no mere outside observer,he was
raised
>from birth with them and he went through the entire manhood ceremonies
with
>the Ona and was initiated into their society. Here we have a people who
>didn't worship. Were they descendents of Adam?

Why would worship be prerequisite to be a descendent of Adam?

>Do they have the image of God?

I guess the first thing to settle is what is the meaning of
"image of God".

>Assuming that Adam is a late figure, and assuming that prior to Adam
>were non-human humans, then can we treat the Ona like animals?

Depends on how you treat animals.

>The case of the Ona is one of those that would be firmly in the gray
area. I >believe that the Ona, with or without religion, are fully
human.

I guess I don't understand where having an established religion
could be grounds for whether or not a being is "human". I think what
does set us apart from every other creature on this earth is rational
thought, self awareness, and capacity to know and commune with God.