Re: [asa] Historical Theology and Current Theology re: Original Sin & Monogenism

But of course that person wasn't the only person alive at the time, nor was he the only person from that time who contributed genes to the human population.

?

But would that really affect the transmission of original sin through the lines that _are_ fallen (in particular through the paternal line)?????

More generally, how pristine does the boundary have to be between human and non-human?? There is that passage where the "sons of God" had children through the "daughters of men."? I have to believe this is a reference to fallen angelic beings (like Mesopotamian gods)?since it produced supernatural results.? (Otherwise the context becomes internally non-sensical.)? In that case God destroyed the offspring, perhaps implying they were not human (???).? But if non-humans had indeed intermarried with humans, then that shows such intermarriage is at least possible in a biblical theology.? So we don't have to expect a completely pristine situation in defining the biological boundaries between human and non-human, imago dei or not, fallen or not.

Other thought experiments:? If I have 100% natural human DNA, then am I more in God's image than someone who was conceived with an engineered gene to prevent some disease?? What are the limits on who is human and who is non-human as increasing quantities of the DNA are artificially engineered or spliced in from other sources?? We now?have the technology to upset monogenesis artificially, regardless of what happened in the ancient past, and we can expect to see it being used very soon.? Will the fallenness of mankind not be transmitted to someone who has artificially engineered genes, and is therefore not in the monogenetic "family"?

Also, what if Neanderthals had intermarried with humans -- were the offspring?human or non-human?? Or what if a retrovirus got spliced into our DNA -- are we now part virus instead of fully human and therefore not completely in God's image?

I have to believe the pristine boundaries around imago dei and fallenness are spiritual and not biological.? I think the same goes for salvation -- we may backslide, repent imperfectly, and have a belief loaded with doubt, but our spiritual re-birth is something that has either occured or not and God knows who are his.??Since the?spiritual re-birth is not physical, then fallenness and being in God's image should likewise not be physical, right?? Therefore, we needn't necessarily expect pristine biological boundaries around these things.? So if we discover the biological boundaries were not pristine way back 100,000 years before Moses wrote Genesis, then would that really upset the essentials of the faith?

Phil

________________________________________________________________________
Email and AIM finally together. You've gotta check out free AOL Mail! - http://mail.aol.com

To unsubscribe, send a message to majordomo@calvin.edu with
"unsubscribe asa" (no quotes) as the body of the message.
Received on Fri Nov 23 19:36:04 2007