RE: [asa] Event or process revisited

Hi Jack, you wrote:

>>I don't know if that is what the qualities of an eternal soul are. I
dont

know how the presence of an eternal soul would manifest itself. I do
think

that living things, that is things that are endowed with the breath of
life,

the spirit of God, are capable of all of these things. And this would

include humans and other animals. But Man is obviously unique and the
only

one created in the image of God. The question is, what does that
mean.<<

The phrase, "image of God" won't help with the issue of who has souls
and

when did we get them.

According to Edmond Jacob, "The ancient orient shows us with ever

increasing clarity that the purpose and function of an image consists in

representing someone,". "An image, that is to say a statue of a god is

the real presence of this god ..." In that context, Adam (not "man")
would

have been God's representative to the world, or conversely, the world's
representative to God, but in either case, an already populated world

by 7,000 years ago when Adam arrived on the scene.

Who is the "man" in Genesis 1:27? It has been argued that this verse

applies to generic man, all Homo sapiens, and not exclusively to Adam

and his following generations. Most Bible scholars believe this passage

applies solely to Adam and Eve and their descendants who came under

the Adamic covenant (although most scholars also labor under the

allusion Adam was the first of our species).

This is implied in Genesis 5:1-3:

"This is the book of the generations of Adam. In the day that God

created man, in the likeness of God made he him; male and female

created he them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the

day when they were created. And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years,

and begat a son in his own likeness, after his image; and called his

name Seth."

Who was created "in the likeness of God"? The man, Adam, who "lived

an hundred and thirty years and begat a son," "and called his name
Seth."

Who were not created "in the likeness of God"? Those who did not live

"an hundred and thirty years," and did not "begat a son" called Seth -

the indigenous populations. That would be Sumerians, Egyptians,

Persians, Africans, Chinese, Scandinavians, native Americans, Brits ...

Did I leave anybody out?

Dick Fischer, Genesis Proclaimed Association

Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History

www.genesisproclaimed.org <http://www.genesisproclaimed.org/>

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Sat May 19 12:04:10 2007