Hi Burgy, you wrote:
>Dick Fischer wrote:
>OK, I understood you to have claimed this. And, I admit, it does make a
>lot of sense. What it does NOT do is answer my question -- just when did
>Imago Dei first appear?
I see two options. First look at Gen. 1:27: "So God created (bara) man
(‘adam)
in his own image, in the image of God created (bara) he him; male and female
created (bara) he them."
If by "creation" we can say "through evolution" and if 'adam means "generic
man"
and not Adam the husband to Eve and father of Cain, Abel and Seth, then you
could say that this verse pertains to the creation of mankind as they sprang
from ape ancestry. If this works for you, then every hominid that ever walked
the earth bears the iamage of God whatever that means.
On the other hand, if bara means an act of special creation and if 'adam is
Adam, then the image originates about 7,000 years ago and follows the line of
descent of the Jews until Christ makes it available for all.
Today, if you like the first choice, everyone is in the image of God. If you
prefer the second choice (as I do), then it only accrues to followers of
Christ.
Dick Fischer - The Origins Solution - www.orisol.com
"The answer we should have known about 150 years ago."
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