Re: The wrong horse in evolution education

There's a broader theological question that's been nagging me regarding some
of this discussion: how do our views of Adam through Babel relate to
eschatology? By eschatology I don't mean to open up cans of worms
concerning views of the millenium and such -- I mean the very basic concept
that our future in Christ involves a new heaven and new earth, where
"[t]here will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old
order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:4). If we demythologize, so to
speak, Adam through Babel, what does that say about our mythos concerning
the new heaven and new earth? I think this broad question is more critical
at a gut level for many folks than the specifics of how we translate certain
words or understand certain names in Genesis.

On 4/17/06, Philtill@aol.com <Philtill@aol.com> wrote:
>
> In a message dated 4/17/2006 5:08:43 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
> williamehamiltonjr@yahoo.com writes:
>
> Phil wrote
>
> >The momentousness of the occaision makes sense only if there was a long
> period
> of time had elapsed >when men **weren't** calling on the name of the Lord.
>
> This means there must have been a very long >gap between Adam and Enosh,
> perhaps between Adam and Seth.
>
> Suppose by "men" the Scriptures mean pre-Adamites? IOW the covenant
> family's
> mission finally begins to bear fruit.
>
> Hi, Bill!
>
> That's a very interesting idea, and I hadn't thought of it before.
>
> Actually, as I think this through, I feel there is another reasonable
> explanation for this verse, one which doesn't necessarily imply a gap
> (although I still believe there was a gap). I think the statement is part
> of the stream toward fulfillment of God's promises to Eve to bring the Seed
> of the woman, the one who will crush the serpent's head. After A&E were
> kicked out of the garden, at least Abel was calling on Yahweh's name. But
> when Eve sees that Abel is dead and Cain has gone bad, then there seems to
> be no hope of fulfillment. But then God opens her womb and brings another
> child, which represents renewed hope that the promise will be fulfilled. So
> the birth of Seth and Enosh represents the renewal of hope that a savior
> will come through Eve. Hence her statement how God has replace Abel, and
> hence also the comment that then men began [again] to call on the name of
> the Lord. This statement "men began to call on the name of the Lord" would
> thus mean that there was a renewed path of descendency toward the Messiah,
> not just the evil ways of the world represented by the line of Cain.
>
> By the way, it's an interesting study to write down the meanings of the
> names in Seth's line and the parallel names in Cain's line, to see how the
> latter are twisted versions of the former, giving them a sinister meaning.
> The overall picture of the names in Seth's line is that they are waiting on
> God, hoping in God, trusting and praising him. The overall picture of names
> in Cain's line is that they are building cities, fighting among the cities,
> living under judgement. This is brought to fulfillment in the parallel
> statements of Lamech in each line, where Seth's Lamech talks of how Noah
> will bring the promised rest, and Cain's Lamech talks how the effects of the
> curse have become worse and worse, 70 times 7.
>
> So after the Bible goes all through Cain's line with the increasing curse
> as humans build cities and develop civilization, then it tells how Eve bore
> another child and praised God that the hope has been restored. It could be
> that there was no gap and it was just presented in this order to emphasize
> the point, or it could be that there was really a gap and Seth came late
> after men had developed all this civilization. The idea is that Adam came
> before all this civilization development, though.
>
> God bless!
> Phil
>
>
Received on Tue Apr 18 10:47:23 2006