Re: Inspiration and Authority

Hi Dick,

A day or so ago you wrote, "I know there is an overwhelming desire on this list to resolve all biblical difficulties, but we need to stay within historical constraints." It therefore occurs to me that you are just the man to answer a question that has troubled me for some time (one, however, which appears to trouble no one else!) - viz as a campaigning evolutionst, How have you, personally, come to terms with the biblical assertion that birds were created before reptiles? Whilst the concept of reading creation "days" as vast periods of time may seem reasonable to many, the _succession_ of events recorded must surely remain inviolate - otherwise, IMO one really is guilty of _wresting_ (or _distorting_) the scriptures (2Pet.3:14-17).

Vernon

    
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Dick Fischer
  To: ASA
  Sent: Tuesday, June 07, 2005 5:14 PM
  Subject: Re: Numerics

  David wrote (to George):

  I am content to accept any of your suggestions concerning God's first utterances. As long as we can agree it was in the universal language that preceded Babel.

  What universal language? The tower of Babel was the Mesopotamian ziggurat at Babylon originally constructed somewhere around 2300 BC (give or take a couple hundred years). The word bab-el means "gate of God" in Hebrew, and bab-ilu, from which Babtylon is derived, means "gate of God" in Accadian. At that late date, languages were all over the place, many originated in place. In Africa, disparate languages exist among tribes located only a few hundred miles apart.

  Many languages developed in situ whereas many modern languages derived from previously spoken languages and changed over time as people migrated. In the region of Babylon at the time that zigurrat building was all the rage two languages were in use, Accadian from which Hebrew is derived, and Sumerian a totally unrelated language. So even in southern Mesopotamia at the time of Babel there were two different languages being spoken.

  I know there is an overwhelming desire on this list to resolve all biblical difficulties, but we need to stay within historical constraints.

  Dick Fischer - Genesis Proclaimed Association
  Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
  www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Wed Jun 8 16:42:55 2005