Re: [asa] Adam and the Fall

As well, at a glance, I'll stand as third out of three to make the call against Denis Lamoureux's gaping swing that "Adam never actually existed," "Adam never actually sinned" and "Adam was never actually judged by God to suffer and die," full stop. 
 
The problem with the quoted text is not as much a question of 'evidence' and 'reasoning' or 'proof' as it is an example of an exclusivist communication style. It appears to be inflexible and chauvinistic (by which I mean heavy-handed interpretation, though maybe it was not meant to appear that way, since Denis has crossed-over from YEC to OEC, to his current position of EC). Denis' style thus seems to be, as Ian suspects of it, inflammatory, even for a biblical non-literalist such as myself.
 
This is perhaps why he took out the label 'evangelical' from the earlier proposed title of the book, which nevertheless, I am glad to hear is published. I support Denis' work and fully agree with Ian that "Denis has something substantive to say to us as we struggle to faithfully respond to God's revelations of himself through the book of God's word and the book of God's works." I'd be glad to hear from either Ian or David O. or others who have a copy of the book to suggest what the 'significant break-throughs' might be.
 
People have been arguing against a 'strictly literalist treatment of Genesis' for years and years. Leaving the question of 'man's/Adam's origins' open rather than closed (e.g. "Adam never existed") is attractive in some ways that either choosing a purely naturalistic-physicalistic human origin(s) scenario (but this is not Denis?) or a special creation/interventionist one (i.e. Denis' former YEC position) lacks in nuance and respect for myth and mystery.

It may be, and I speculate here based on earlier texts by Denis, that the main problem is not with his biological, dental or theological knowledge perspectives, but rather with his philosophy of history. Surely Moorad will have some comments to make on this thread about the limitations of science, as they overlap with philosophy and theology. And, of course, with respect to operational and historical explanations and descriptions.
 
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Received on Wed Nov 12 15:41:53 2008