>I don't have a degree in theology, so I want to approach this as carefully
>and respectfully as I can. But it occurred to me that we are not
>physically descended from Jesus Christ. There is a sense in which we are
>his offspring (ala Isaiah 53:10) but we are his spiritual offspring, and
>that relationship is sealed by our baptism into his death. That much I'm
>sure is not controversial.
>
>But is it possible that a similar form of "descent" holds for Adam. Adam
>taught his children to fear the Lord, and at least in the case of Seth,
>this teaching was effective. Seth and his descendents preached to their
>contemporaries, some of whom became believers. Can we make a case for
>saying that any believer, whether or not he is physically descended from
>Adam, is _spiritually_ descended from Adam? If so it makes a nice symmetry
>with our spiritual descent from Jesus Christ, the second Adam.
Proving you don't have to have a degree in theology to gain the truth from
Scripture.
Speaking as one who is encumbered with such a degree, I would like to
point out that the solution to the origins question came not from my
camp. It came from archaeologists who cared not a whit what us pious
know-it-alls thought about it. They dug up the treasures of Mesopotamia,
destroying much of it in the process, and reported their findings
honestly. If it corroborated Genesis, so be it, it was certainly not
their purpose.
The early Accadians, who date to as early as 4000 BC, originally appeared
to believe in a Trinity. The first god (or God), who was the father god,
was called ilu, an early form of "el" which can be seen in elohim, El
Shadai, etc. Their second god was Ea, adopted by the Sumerians as Enki.
"En" meant "lord" or "king" of the earth, "ki." The third, Enlil, meant
king (or lord) of the "air," "breath," or "spirit."
The Sumerians were racially distinct from the Accadians, spoke an
unrelated language, and worshipped a pantheon of 3,000 to 4,000 gods.
What is interesting is that both of Adam's grandsons have the "En"
prefix (Enoch and Enosh), indicating they were kings over Accadian
and Sumerian subjects. I wonder how that would be treated in an OT
theology class?
Faithfully,
Dick Fischer
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* THE ORIGINS SOLUTION *
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* An Answer in the Creation - Evolution Debate *
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* Web page - http://www.orisol.com *
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