Re: [asa] Question for all the theistic evolutionists

On Mar 19, 2007, at 8:47 PM, Glenn Morton wrote:

> ***
> Terry Gray wrote:
> >>Herman Dooyweerd's philosophy has the idea of anticipatory
> aspects (or something like that). I'm no expert in Dooyeweerd and
> actually may have this all wrong, but I think the idea can be
> useful in discussing image of God sorts of things. Animals may
> display image of God like behaviors which are anticipatory of the
> full image bearing. Think of the various "image of God" attributes
> that have been cast into doubt because we find them in animals--
> tool use and tool making, reasoning, language, etc. I think that
> one of the answers to Glenn's claims about Neanderthals is along
> these lines: art, music, burial of the dead, etc. are anticipatory
> of the full blown image of God. Thus, while these creatures may
> have aspects of the image of God they are not full image-bearers.<<<<
>
> Does the building of religious altars fall into the category of
> anticipatory image?

Yes. It's possible. Let's speculate that in God's plan that a certain
neurophysiology had to be in place prior to full image-bearing and
the possibility of a covenantal relationship with God (at least the
relationship that He wanted). Evolutionary precursors (or dead-end
evolutionary branches) on the road to such may have had a
neurophysiology so that some religious sensibilities evidenced
themselves in the ways that you are describing WITHOUT being the real
deal.

> H. erectus altars--Bilzingsleben 425,000 years ago
>
> H. erectus venus figurines (such figurines used up until modern
> times)--Tan Tan Morocco 400 kyr Berekhat Ram 325 kyr
>
> Neanderthal altars--Bruniquel--47,000 years ago deep in a cave
> Nahr Ibrahim, Lebanon--Deer arranged
> by neanderthals covered with red ochre
>
> Neanderthal figurine--Wildmannlisloch 70kyr
> Neanderthal bear cult
> "The most famous example of what has been claimed to be Neandertal
> hunting magic is the so-called bear cult. It came tolight when a
> German archaeologist, Emil Bachler, excavated the cave of
> Drachenloch between 1917 and 1923. Located 8,000 ft (2,400 m) up in
> the Swiss Alps, this 'lair of the dragons' tunnels deep into a
> mountainside. The front part of the cave, Bachler's work made
> clear, served as an occasional dwelling place for Neandertals.
> Farther back, Bachler found a cubical chest made of stones and
> measuring approximately 3.25 ft (1 m) on a side. The top of the
> chest was covered by a massive slab of stone. Inside were seven
> bear skulls, all apparently arranged with their muzzles facing the
> cave entrance. Still deeper in the cave were six bear skulls,
> seemingly set in niches along the walls. The Drachenloch find is
> not unique. At Regourdou in southern France, a rectangular pit,
> covered by a flat stone weighing nearly a ton, held the bones of
> more than 20 bears." ~ Bernard G. Campbell and James D. Loy,
> Humankind Emerging, (New York: HarperCollins, 1996), p. 441
>
> "The cave of Bruniquel in southern France has just produced
> fascinating new evidence. Several hundred metres in from the cave
> entrance, a stone structure has been discovered. It is
> quadrilineal, measures four by five metres and has been constructed
> from pieces of stalagmite and stalactite. A burnt fragment of a
> bear bone found in it was radiocarbon analysed, yielding a 'date'
> of greater than 47 600 years BP. This suggests that the structure
> is the work of Neanderthals. It is located in complete darkness,
> which proves that the people who ventured so deep into the large
> cave system had reliable lighting and had the confidence to explore
> such depths. Bruniquel is one of several French caves that became
> closed subsequent to their Pleistocene use, but were artifically
> opened this century." ~ Robert G. Bednarick, "Neanderthal News,"
> The Artefact 1996, 19:104
>
> They sacrificed a bear, deep in a cave which would require control
> of lighting, and communication. The only way we can say that such
> evidence doesn't indicate very intelligent people like us, is
> through sheer bias. The Geico ads are right.
>
> glenn
> They're Here: The Pathway Papers
> Foundation, Fall, and Flood
> Adam, Apes and Anthropology
>
> http://home.entouch.net/dmd/dmd.htm
>

________________
Terry M. Gray, Ph.D.
Computer Support Scientist
Chemistry Department
Colorado State University
Fort Collins, CO 80523
(o) 970-491-7003 (f) 970-491-1801

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Tue Mar 20 10:57:53 2007