--------------887EC68B4751B7F78845D1EA
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Hi Moorad;
Moorad Alexanian wrote:
> Hello Glenn,
>
> C.S. Lewis said that paradisal man could be like a brute that when we knew
> him we would fall to his feet a worship him. I do agree with that view. In
> fact, the movie "Being There" reminded me of that description of unfallen
> man and I was not surprised with the ending of the movie where Peter Sellers
> actually walks on water! But all this is a particular interpretation of
> Scripture. We really do not know but certainly the Fall does indicate a
> drastic change in kind and not merely a change in degree. We really do not
> know man before the Fall. Was he able to subsist without eating, sleeping,
> and so on? My reading of Scripture is that man before the Fall was superior
> in intellect and closer to God that present day man.
While I agree that our knowledge of pre fallen man is sketchy, we can draw some
inferences from the biblical text, reason and nature - as we presently know it.
For example, if humanity were able to "subsist without eating, sleeping and so
on", then they would not be mortal and therefore not human which is a
contradiction of God's intended end. i.e. "man". Additionally, food was provided
for all of the creatures which does imply the 2nd law was in effect ( it had to
be for the Earth to have any resemblance to what we observe today! ) which,
therefore, would further imply birth and death were operational (seed after its
kind, water needed for plant growth, etc.). The fact that humans lacked
knowledge of good and evil alone reveals an inferiority of knowledge as compared
to post fallen humanity. Furthermore, there is no reason to conjecture that Adam
and Eve lost any capabilities of communication with God after the "apple event"
since God admits to their attainment of God-like status and God calls for and
speaks to them as He/She did before the event.
The "closeness" to God you mention was undoubtedly severed! But this is not
intellectual, but relational.
The symbolism of the two trees, in my view, is everything. The tree of life was
a counter to deterioration (it appears three times in the Bible and always in
the context of healing or nourishment for the body; the tree of knowledge of
good and evil was there to affect a greater change than a mere test of human
will; it was purposed to "make us like God"- and that it did!
Sincerely,
George.
--------------887EC68B4751B7F78845D1EA
Content-Type: text/html; charset=us-ascii
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
<!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en">
Hi Moorad;
Moorad Alexanian wrote:
Hello Glenn,While I agree that our knowledge of pre fallen man is sketchy, we can draw some inferences from the biblical text, reason and nature - as we presently know it. For example, if humanity were able to "subsist without eating, sleeping and so on", then they would not be mortal and therefore not human which is a contradiction of God's intended end. i.e. "man". Additionally, food was provided for all of the creatures which does imply the 2nd law was in effect ( it had to be for the Earth to have any resemblance to what we observe today! ) which, therefore, would further imply birth and death were operational (seed after its kind, water needed for plant growth, etc.). The fact that humans lacked knowledge of good and evil alone reveals an inferiority of knowledge as compared to post fallen humanity. Furthermore, there is no reason to conjecture that Adam and Eve lost any capabilities of communication with God after the "apple event" since God admits to their attainment of God-like status and God calls for and speaks to them as He/She did before the event.C.S. Lewis said that paradisal man could be like a brute that when we knew
him we would fall to his feet a worship him. I do agree with that view. In
fact, the movie "Being There" reminded me of that description of unfallen
man and I was not surprised with the ending of the movie where Peter Sellers
actually walks on water! But all this is a particular interpretation of
Scripture. We really do not know but certainly the Fall does indicate a
drastic change in kind and not merely a change in degree. We really do not
know man before the Fall. Was he able to subsist without eating, sleeping,
and so on? My reading of Scripture is that man before the Fall was superior
in intellect and closer to God that present day man.
The "closeness" to God you mention was undoubtedly severed! But this is not intellectual, but relational.
The symbolism of the two trees, in my view, is everything. The tree of life was a counter to deterioration (it appears three times in the Bible and always in the context of healing or nourishment for the body; the tree of knowledge of good and evil was there to affect a greater change than a mere test of human will; it was purposed to "make us like God"- and that it did!
Sincerely,
George.
--------------887EC68B4751B7F78845D1EA--
--------------F292FF5A055F7F6EC3297F58
Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii;
name="gandrews.vcf"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Description: Card for George Andrews
Content-Disposition: attachment;
filename="gandrews.vcf"
begin:vcard
n:Andrews Jr.;George
tel;home:757 565 2890
x-mozilla-html:TRUE
org:College of William & Mary;Applied Sciences
adr:;;;Williamsburg;VA;23188;
version:2.1
email;internet:gandrews@as.wm.edu
title:Graduate Student
fn:George A. Andrews Jr.
end:vcard
--------------F292FF5A055F7F6EC3297F58--