RE: The wrong horse in evolution education

Hi Phil, you wrote:
 
I must respectfully differ with Dick's (and others') model that Genesis
dates Adam. I'm aware of the arguments but I don't agree with them,
because I'm convinced that there must be a large gap between Adam and
Seth. I think there is extremely strong textual evidence that supports
this.
 
I would be absolutely overjoyed if there was a way to reconcile
Scripture with all of our preconceptions. Commencing the entire human
race with Adam is ingrained in Christian literature among liberals and
conservatives alike. Of course, many liberals don't believe there was a
flesh and blood Adam, but even so we still all got Original Sin from him
even though he didn't really exist. Then conservative Christians think
there was a real Adam planting a garden 144 hours after the Big Bang.
So I guess my ideas aren't so cockamamie after all. Still I'm fighting
an uphill battle.
 
One of the interesting things I discovered from my two years spent in
the Library of Congress is that there is more extra-biblical
confirmation for Genesis 2-11 then there is for the entire rest of the
Bible. I'm sure there was parallel literature being written by the
Israelites but very little survived thanks to the invention of
perishable papyrus. Clay tablets are more or less permanent and if the
Brits hadn't stacked them in baskets and trekked them across the desert
on camels delivering to the London museum a pile of dust and broken
fragments, we would know more than we do today.
 
Dumuzi is an interesting fellow who appears fifth on the pre-flood
Sumerian king list and is called "the shepherd." Then he is fabled in
his courtship with the goddess Inanna where he plies her with dairy
products. He disappears and women weep and wail at the city walls for
the departed Dumuzi. In the legend of Adapa, Dumuzi guards the gates of
heaven where Adapa flatters him with how much he is missed on earth.
The cult following of women crying at the gates for the long-departed
Dumuzi continues for centuries. Even Ezekiel mentions it and calls him
by his Hebrew name, "Tammuz."
 
From all the evidence I would conclude that Dumuzi was a real person who
led a fabled life - a real Arnold Schwarzenegger type of guy who had a
brief encounter with Adapa who could be Adam. Gilgamesh gets no
biblical mention, but also had an interesting life touching on one of
our biblical characters, Noah. No one looks for ways to drive Dumuzi
and Gilgamesh into antiquity because no one cares. We don't have any
preconceptions about them. They aren't wrapped up in Bible doctrine.
But because Adam has been reputed to be the ultimate ancestor, Hugh Ross
and others conjure up ways to get him back to within a believable time
frame.
 
In Egypt, the pyramids of kings Mer-ne-Re and Nefer-ka-Re were inscribed
with a dedication dating to about 2400 BC, centuries before Abraham, and
many centuries before Moses. The text speaks of a first creation and a
deified "Atum" who was on a primeval hill arising "out of the waters of
chaos." Among those "whom Atum begot," according to the inscription, is
one named "Seth."
 
Either this is an extra-biblical confirmation of their ancestry
inscribed by Semitic stonecutters on Egyptian pyramids, or else it is an
incredible coincidence. How many "created" individuals can you think of
named Atum or Adam who had sons named Seth? If it appears more likely
these were individuals of some importance, then any arguments that God
inspired the part about Adam to be included in Genesis goes out the
window unless He inspired these ancient stonecutters too.
 
Plus, what can you do with this verse to avoid a strictly father-son
relationship between Adam and Seth? Genesis 4:25: "And Adam knew his
wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said
she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew."
 
All the principle characters are tied together in one verse. I could
pile on the legend of Adapa who has been suggested by writers other than
me to be Adam, but if Adam and Eve had Cain who built "Enoch," Sumerian
"Unug," game over.
 
Happy Easter!
 
Dick Fischer
Dick Fischer, Genesis Proclaimed Association
Finding Harmony in Bible, Science, and History
 <http://www.genesisproclaimed.org> www.genesisproclaimed.org
Received on Sat, 15 Apr 2006 17:38:48 -0400