In a message dated Fri, 28 Sep 2001 11:03:07 AM Eastern Daylight Time, "Mark Hubbard" <HUBBARD@cofo.edu> writes:
> I have been watching the PBS series that last couple of nights and
> was wondering what Christians think about where Adam came into
> the picture in the common descent idea. Shortly thereafter Keith
> Miller came on and, in response to a question, mentioned that God
> may have chosen an early man to breath life and spirit into (I hope
> I'm paraphrasing Keith fairly)
>
> Are there other thoughts and ideas on how Adam and the garden
> coincide with current human evolutionary theory? I would be
> interested in hearing any.
Off the top of my head, I can think of 3 basic scenarios that are consistent with orthodox Christianity and with the evidence for human evolution:
1) God breathed spiritual life into an early human (or hominid ancestor), this was Adam and all humans are descended from him.
2) Same as #1, but Adam is not the physical ancestor of all humans. In this scenario, Adam is the "federal" head of the human race; he was somehow a representative for all other humans, and his choice had consequences for those not physically descended from him.
3) Adam and Eve were not historical individuals; instead this story is in the Bible as a figurative way for God to convey various truths, especially the truth that we are fallen.
Allan Harvey, steamdoc@aol.com
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