Re: The wrong horse in evolution education

Hi Dick, you wrote (Apr 07 2006):

> Hi Peter, you wrote:
>
>> I grant that Gen. 5:1b-2 refers back to 1:27f., but /'adam/ refers to both
"man"
>> (in the collective sense of "human" or "humanity") and the person Adam. I find
>> it significant that 5:2 does not say, "When God created Adam and Eve",
although,
>> in a secondary sense, every individual human being is created (in the image of
>> God), cf. Is. 43:7.
>
> I thoroughly agree with what you grant. Adam is Adam is Adam. Also, in
> some instances 'adam can mean "man," although I can't think of a place
> in Genesis 1-11 where it does. Now, Isaiah proves my point. Those in
> the image are expressly those in the covenant line from Adam to Christ -
> not generic man (beginning with Fred Flintstone I believe). Start with
> Isaiah 43:3.

Of course, as you know, here I don't agree with you. However, I agree with all
you say below about Isaiah 43:3-7. Except that it doesn't prove your point.

When God created humanity (Gen. 1:27), he created a new dimension, the spiritual
dimension of all humans, characterized by the expression "in his image". But God
also creates every human individual born after that, as we can see, for
instance, in Is. 43:7. This passage, of course refers to Israelites only - well,
it is even restricted to a God-fearing remnant among them, not all descendents
of Adam. But God creates all human individuals, no matter what their ancestry
(Ps. 89:47; Ps. 102:18; Ecc. 12:1; Is. 54:16; Ez. 28:13,15). Is. 43:7 specifies
that he "creates" them (/bara'/, out of nothing), but also "makes" them
(/^asah/, through "natural" processes) and "forms" them (/yatzar/, in their
mother's womb). All this applies to all humans, not only the faithful remnant of
Israel, to which Is. 43:7 refers. I discussed this in detail in my paper,
"Dimensions of the Human Being and of Divine Action", PSCF 57/3, 191-201 (2005).

Peter Ruest

> Isaiah 43:3: "For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy
> Saviour: I gave Egypt for thy ransom, Ethiopia and Seba for thee."
>
> Who are "thee" - the people addressed? The Israelites!
>
> Isaiah 43:4: "Since thou wast precious in my sight, thou hast been
> honorable, and I have loved thee: therefore will I give men for thee,
> and people for thy life."
>
> Whom did God love? The Israelites!
>
> Isaiah 43:5: "Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from
> the east, and gather thee from the west ."
>
> Whose "seed" was God gathering? The seed of Israel!
>
> Isaiah 43:6: "I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep
> not back: bring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the
> earth ."
>
> What "sons" are these? The sons of Israel!
>
> Isaiah 43:7: "Even every one that is called by my name: for I have
> created him for my glory, I have formed him; yea, I have made him."
>
> Gosh, who could He be talking about here?
>
> Dick Fischer

-- 
Dr. Peter Ruest, CH-3148 Lanzenhaeusern, Switzerland
<pruest@dplanet.ch> - Biochemistry - Creation and evolution
"..the work which God created to evolve it" (Genesis 2:3)