Also, I know that all mankind is sinful, totally depraved. I believe
1Cor.15:22: ". . . in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive."
I know that I was there when Adam sinned, but that because of Christ I am saved,
and will be with Him on the new earth. See as well Romans 8:18- 23. Much of
the richness of the Bible disappears when we try to fit things in our scientific
categories. I am sure on the new earth we will all know how things were, and if
not, we will still be perfectly happy.
The trouble I have with much of the discussion about dating "The image of
God" is that we try to read something into the Bible which is foreign to the
climate of the Bible, especially to the climate of Genesis. The beginning of
Genesis is written for a people, which lived among Sun and Moon worshippers.
Now God comes and tells them: neither sun nor moon is god, I created them, "I
am" the Creator of everything. Let us hold on to that. That we as a scientists
(not me, it is outside my field) want to study remains of men and/or possible
ancestors of men is a scientific business, which is done in God's service. From
my experiences since highschool and at the university, it is very, very
dangerous to try to read "scientific" data out of the bible, especially out of
Genesis 1-11. The type of literature is different from a historical text, as is
already clear from the order of creating in Gen.1. If you want to read it
literally, it is easy to point to contradictions between Gen.1 and 2. If
treated as a "historical" text in talking with students, you do more harm than
good, especially if they are taught by completely secular, unbelieving
scientists, at a secular university.
Jan de Koning