Re: After their kind

Glenn Morton (GRMorton@gnn.com)
Mon, 15 Jul 1996 20:35:21

Hi Denis,

I knew that my eisegetical uncleanliness would get your blood flowing. :-)

You wrote:

>Hi Glenn,
>Interesting thought. Of course, the answer is God clearly knew,unless of
>course, we are talking about some Process God which I can't see could be
>the God of the Bible.
>

I agree fully. God obviously could foresee this. My rhetorical question
was designed to show the conflict between observational science and the
common interpretation of the Scripture. It is ludicrous to think that God
could not have foreseen this especially given that He created the entire
universe. Since animals today obviously are not restricted to reproducing
after their kind, to claim that the Bible teaches that doctrine places
Biblical truth in the position of being untrue. An interpretation of
Scripture should not place Scriptural truth in this conundrum.

>But more importantly, was THE WRITER of Genesis 1 aware? That is, when
>the Holy Spirit inspired the writer did He permit the him to write within
>his intellectual context (i.e., the ancient agrarian notion of
>reproduction after one's kind)?

(Here comes my uncleanliness)

I think it is less important for the writer to be aware of it than for
the Inspirer to be aware. The Jews of the 1st century knew that a Messiah
was promised but many were unaware that Jesus was the Messiah. Even John
the Baptist was not certain of who Jesus was (See Matt 11:1-5). He had
read all the O.T. but didn't make the connection. Why is it impossible
for the writer to write what God inspires him to write, but not fully
understand it? What about some of Daniel's prophecies which God told him
he would not understand (Daniel 12:9). Understanding on the part of the
writer is not a prerequisite of Divine inspiration.

glenn
Foundation,Fall and Flood
http://members.gnn.com/GRMorton/dmd.htm