Isaiah 40:6-8 (NASB)

Isaiah 40:6-8 (NASB)

6) A voice says, “Call out.”
Then he answered, “What shall I call out?”
All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field.

7) The grass withers, the flower fades,
When the breath of the LORD blows upon it;
Surely the people are grass.

8) The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

Saturday, February 20, 2016

Adam&Eve--In light of present-day facts

We have no ability to interrogate a first-hand witness. So, the next alternative must be examination of present-day facts. How believable is the Genesis account of Adam and Eve in view of "modern" knowledge?

Some facts/customs/widespread beliefs compared to Scripture:
  • Basis for clothing only worn by mankind
    • This fact is readily known. Animals may have fur and/or feathers, but they do not go to the trouble to make clothing for themselves.
    • Genesis 3:6-7, "When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate. Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loin coverings."
  • Basis for observance of the week
    • The week is not only clearly present in the US calendar, but is also recognized by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO).
    • Genesis 2:1-3, "Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made."--How would billions of years of evolution yield this observance?
  • Basis for long, painful labor in childbirth only seen in mankind
    • This is recognized by even scientists.
    • Genesis 3:11-16, "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' . . . "To the woman He said,
                  'I will greatly multiply
                  Your pain in childbirth,
                  In pain you will bring forth children;
                  Yet your desire will be for your husband,
                  And he will rule over you.'"
  • Basis for human agriculture/toiling over the ground to raise crops
    • Setting aside the cases of certain termites, ants, and ambrosia beetles, this practice is not seen among the claimed close evolutionary ancestors of man.
    • Genesis 3:17-19, "Then to Adam He said, 'Because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree about which I commanded you, saying, "You shall not eat from it";
                  Cursed is the ground because of you;
                  In toil you will eat of it
                  All the days of your life.

            Both thorns and thistles it shall grow for you;
                  And you will eat the plants of the field;

            By the sweat of your face
                  You will eat bread,
                  Till you return to the ground,
                  Because from it you were taken;
                  For you are dust,
                  And to dust you shall return.'"
  • Basis for man's unique moral awareness
    •  Recognized by Darwin and now within modern psychology
    •  Genesis 3:5-6, "'For God knows that in the day you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.' When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took from its fruit and ate; and she gave also to her husband with her, and he ate."
  • Basis for man's unique intelligence
    • Globally apparent from mankind's unrivaled achievements: space exploration as Earth dwellers, deep-sea exploration as land-dwellers, nanotechnology, computers, cars, sky-scrapers, instant long-distance communication, etc.
    • Genesis 1:26, "Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.'"
  • Basis for belief in a Supernatural Being
    • There is a significant percentage of people worldwide who believe in God.
    • Genesis 3:8, "They heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden."
  • Basis for discipline/punishment
    • The practice of discipline or punishment is clear through worldwide child discipline, police, governmental courts, and prisons or correctional facilities.
    • Genesis 3:22-23, "Then the LORD God said, 'Behold, the man has become like one of Us, knowing good and evil; and now, he might stretch out his hand, and take also from the tree of life, and eat, and live forever'— therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden, to cultivate the ground from which he was taken."
  • Basis for mankind's dominion over the Earth
    • Clear from the existence of zoos, agriculture, industrialization, rapid transportation, etc.
    • Genesis 1:27-28, "God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. God blessed them; and God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"
  • Basis for family household of a man and woman, providing care for any young children.
    • Shown in research by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
    • Genesis 2:22-24, "The LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man, and brought her to the man. The man said,
                  'This is now bone of my bones,
                  And flesh of my flesh;
                  She shall be called Woman,
                  Because she was taken out of Man.'

      For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh."
  • Beginning of marital conflict/heartache/divorce
    • A widely enough known problem to stimulate much research. Some 2010 research.
    • Genesis 3:11-13, "And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?' The man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate.' Then the LORD God said to the woman, 'What is this you have done?' And the woman said, 'The serpent deceived me, and I ate.'"
  • Basis for lifelong marriage
    • Recognized by US census (see page 4).
    • Genesis 2:22-24, seen above under family household
  • Basis for racial equality
    • What the American Civil War/War between the States was fought over.
    • Genesis 3:20, "Now the man called his wife’s name Eve, because she was the mother of all the living."
  • Basis for value of women/a two-gender humanity rather than a single-gender
    • Recognized so strongly today that this is a political pitfall for those who don't choose their words carefully.
    • Genesis 2:18, "Then the LORD God said, “It is not good [emphasis added] for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him.”
 

No comments:

Post a Comment