phylmor

PaulS, Your reply is your truth, and I appreciate you sharing it with me!

Irreverence, thanks so much for the suggestion! Basically, I had to create a blog on a topic covered in class. I chose origins of humanity... more specifically, the origins of Adam and Eve. I am now tasked with sharing my post on a public online message board and inviting readers to comment and respond with their thoughts, feelings and opinions. I will then write a summary of the responses as a final submission. Any and all comments and responses are greatly appreciated.

Hello Everyone! My name is Phyllis, and I am new to this community board. I am a seminary student, and am looking forward to learning and sharing with you all!

Good evening! Your response to this post would be GREATLY welcomed as this is an assignment for my seminary Cosmogony class. Thank you in advance for sharing your viewpoints! The Genesis 1:26-27 account of human creation informs that, “Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” So, God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 2:7 goes on to say, "The Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." The science of evolution, however, would have us consider a different scenario regarding the formation of humankind. According to Fazale Rana in his video lecture, “The Quest for the Historical Adam and Eve”, Charles Darwin’s book, Origins of Species, touts that “natural selection could explain the origins of new species, including the totality of biological diversity. Basically, everything in biology can be explained through evolutionary mechanisms.” Years later, in another book, Descent of Man, Rana shares how Darwin further argues that “humans, just like all life, are products of an evolutionary history. Everything that makes us special, or the ‘image of God’ are simply products of the evolutionary process. There is nothing ultimately unique or distinct about human beings.” If evolution is to account for the presence of everything biotic, why does David, in Psalm 8, lead us back to a divine creator? When considering the myriad of Scriptural events that science can so plainly explain, Psalm 8:3-4ESV still ponders, “When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?” David knew God to be a great God - the almighty God – the Creator of the universe, the earth, and every living thing. So, when pondering the vastness of this world and our place in it, David’s question seems valid. Who are we, and why does God even care about us? If humans simply evolved – morphed over time – into what we know humans to be, why would the almighty God take interest in such insignificant beings? The answer, historically, for many Christians, is so clearly stated in Genesis 1 and 2. Simply put, God is our creator. Why does He care about us? He cares about everything he created. However, His love, care and concern for humankind runs deeper because we are created in His image. Rana exclaims that “We have status with God because we are made to resemble God. We have status with God because He gives us abilities. And because we bear His image, we are created to be in a relationship with Him, made possible through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.” What do you think? Then let me know in which direction you lean: evolution or divine creation - and why?