Walter Hicks wrote:
> Woodward Norm Civ WRALC/TIEDM wrote:
> >
> > Thanks for the response.
> >
> > Perhaps as expected, I do not agree with much of your conclusions, but you
> > have opened my mind on some concepts which I did not think about before...
> >
> > In that passage in Romans, it does seem to indicate that all creatures are
> > yearning for the time that we may reunite in that eternal Paradise on High,
> > just as we were together in that earthly Paradise long ago.
>
> In several recent posts, the theory that animals have souls has been
> stated. No definition of a souls was posted -- that I noticed.
>
> That Jesus was the Savior for man has not been brought into doubt by ASA
> mwmbers (so far) ---- but what about the animals? If they really have
> souls (as many think), then can they sin? Do they have a Savior also?
> (Do Ducks have a "Duck Savior"?) Where all does this leave
> "conventional" Christianity?
>
> I wonder
Almost by definition, animals that are not moral agents are not able to
sin. But sin isn't the only things creatures may need to be saved from. Human
beings need to be saved (either temporarily or in an ultimate sense) from death,
suffering, meaninglessness, & other things. For the Greeks, including
hellenistic Christians, "corruption" was the major threat, & that concern seems
to be in the background of Paul's language in Rom.8:21 about creation being "set
free from its bondage to decay."
God is the only savior in the ultimate sense, as Is.43:11 says. But this
isn't just a matter of citing a Bible verse. If there were any ultimate savior
other than God then we would owe our lives in a fundamental sense to someone
other than God and there would be a breakdown of the 1st Commandment. That's one
of the primary reasons why the divinity of Christ is an essential teaching.
& Col.1:15-20, as I've pointed out, certainly says that the
reconciliation of "all things" to God takes place through the cross of Christ.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
"The Science-Theology Interface"
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