Dear Ryan and others of the ASA:
I'm responding to you within the context of your letter. See below.
Ryan J. Rasmussen wrote on Thursday, February 10, 2000 2:09 PM:
(Russ wrote)
> > As I
> > understand it, the geneetic reason for avoiding
> > brother-sister marriage is
> > related to genetic imperfections, imperfections which would not have
> > existed at the beginning.
> Why do people insist in thinking that everything was "perfect" in the
> beginning? Russ if things were perfect in the beginning we wouldn't have
> the physical laws that we do now. The sun would be able to go on burning
> forever, life would be a bundle of joy down on ol' earth for all
eternity.
We ought to think about what is mean by "perfect" in the context in which I
used it. You said,
> But thats not the case because the rules that God laid down at the very
> beginning of time ultimately lead to the creation but also eventual
"death"
> of stars and whatever life they might be supporting on their planets.
Thats
> a bit of an imperfection if we were meant to live for all eternity on the
> earth wouldn't you say? While mans sinless nature may have been perfect
in
> the beginning... this universe and its laws have never been perfect. That
> includes genetics.
I certainly do not deny the sun was running down, animals and plants died,
etc., etc., before Adam and Eve fell. At the same time, God said at the end
of his creative activity that his creation was very good. Now if Adam and
Eve were to bear his image and multiply, they had to have children, their
children had to have children and so on. So, in this very good creation did
God put one or more defective genes in Adam and Eve, which would result in
defective children should brother and sister marry? Remember, it was the
children of Adam and Eve who were to propagate children who in turn were
also to be image-bearers; not bearers of broken images, for there was to be
no sin. No, the defective genes were not present in man in this very good
creation.
Russ
Russell Maatman
e-mail: rmaat@mtcnet.net
Home: 401 5th Avenue
Sioux Center, IA 51250
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