Hi Terry, you wrote:
I'm sure this is in your work
somewhere, but how about a quick answer. What do you do with Acts
17:26?
From one man he made every nation of men, that they should inhabit the
whole earth; and he determined the times set for them and the exact
places where they should live.
Is the "one man" here not Adam?
The KJV is similar: "And hath made of one
blood all
nations of men for to dwell on
all the face of the
earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the
bounds of their habitation ..."
Instead of "men" the KJV translates the Greek
haima as
"blood."
The Greek word
ghay, translated as "earth"
means:
1. arable land
2. the ground, the earth as a standing place
3. the main land as opposed to the sea or water
4. the earth as a whole
5. the earth as opposed to the heavens
6. the inhabited earth, the abode of men and animals
7. a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land,
territory, region
But the word that causes us confusion is the word "all" or
"every" because the Jews used the word similarly to the way we
would say "much," "many" or "some." I
copied this out of the Strong's definition for
pas:
... "the whole world has gone after him" Did all the world go
after Christ? "then went all Judea, and were baptized of him in
Jordan."Was all Judea, or all Jerusalem, baptized in Jordan?
"Ye are of God, little children", and the whole world lieth in
the wicked one". Does the whole world there mean everybody? The
words "world" and "all" are used in some seven or
eight senses in Scripture, and it is very rarely the "all"
means all persons, taken individually. The words are generally used to
signify that Christ has redeemed some of all sorts -- some Jews, some
Gentiles, some rich, some poor, and has not restricted His redemption to
either Jew or Gentile ... "
I said this in my book:
In Genesis 41:48, "And he gathered up all the food of the
seven years, which were in the land of Egypt ..." All
the food? The resident Egyptians ate none of it in seven
years?
"And the famine was over all the face of the earth ..." (Gen.
41:56). Were the Americas similarly affected?
Australia? China? "And all countries came into Egypt to
Joseph for to buy corn ..." (Gen. 41:57). That would be a long
trip for someone living in Scandinavia.
In I Samuel, David and 600 of his men were in hot pursuit of the
Amalekite army. When David's band made contact with the Amalekites,
"behold, they were spread abroad upon all the earth ..." (I
Sam. 30:16). Whereupon David smote them; only 400 young Amalekite
men escaped death (I Sam. 30:17).
David the psalmist wrote, "... and all my bones are out of
joint" (Psa. 22:14). Could we admit that in all likelihood 206
bones were not out of joint.
So in accordance with common Hebrew usage in the passage in question we
can use the word "some" rather than "all" or
"every." Translated thus the man in question is Adam of
Genesis.
The next passage would suggest that is the man Paul refers to: "That
they should seek the Lord ..." (Acts 17:27). Only the
Israelites, descendants of Adam, sought after God. Certainly the
Egyptians didn't.
Now you could make a case that this passage refers to biological
mankind. As a statement inclusive of all men it still is
true. So it doesn't make a whole lot of difference whether it is
Adam of Genesis or an unnamed hominid who dwelt in Africa over 195,000
years ago.
If you wish to equate Adam of Genesis with the biological head of our
species then either Genesis is wrong placing him in Mesopotamia or
scientists are wrong placing him in Africa. If you separate them as
I do then Genesis is correct and scientists are correct since they don't
reference the same person.
Dick Fischer -
Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Tue Mar 1 17:06:06 2005