<<There are only three logical choices to deal with this type of data: reject
the historicity of the Scriptural account, have Adam and Eve NOT be the
parents of all living humans, or move Adam way back in time as I have often
suggested.
I can think of no other possibilities.
>>
Weren't these the same possibilities that you and Dick Fischer debated last
spring? As I understand it, adam (with a small a) can be moved back in time
with no problems. That scenario is supported by the first chapter of
Genesis--humans made in the image of God, to have dominion over the earth.
Human beings gradually acquired the image of God and gained dominion as
represented by the wonderful list of technological accomplishments of fossil
man that you posted on May 25.
Adam (with a capital A) appears in chapter 2 of Genesis. To move him back in
time presents many difficulties, mostly that any placement must be largely
arbitrary. The new Adam was a recent, historical person, created in a world
*already peopled with adams* as clearly implied in Gen. 4. He was different
in that he had a special relationship with God--a *covenantal*
relationship--which the other adams did not have. He and Eve walked and
talked with God. Their role presumably was to infuse this relationship into
all the other peoples surrounding them so that these people too could possess
and enjoy such a special relationship.
I am aware that this view is not without its difficulties, as found, for
instance, in the first few verses of Genesis 5. I know of no view of human
origins, however, that does not either ignore or bend either Scripture or
science to a greater or lesser extent. Moving Adam back in time, as you do,
ignores the plain scriptural inference, that has been shown by Dick F., that
historical Adam was created into a world already populated with people.
Let me add to these comments a ton of thanks for the service you have done
for us all with your research on how human the fossil humans really were. It
has been like attending an ongoing seminar on the humanity of early humans.
There is no way I could have mustered all the references that you have given
us. Thanks much.
Bob