by jimwalton » Fri Nov 18, 2022 9:10 pm
> So, God didn’t create all the animals and creatures that exist today?
It depends what you mean by "create." If you mean by fiat *ex nihilo*, no. If you mean that he was guiding the process, yes. If you mean constant interference and deterministic force, no. If you mean designing certain developmental strategies and allowing them to perform their designed function, yes.
> He just created the unicellular organisms that evolved into the species that exist now?
Possibly, but I don't like your word "just." There is nothing simple about this process, for one. Secondly, we are not to understand this strategy as deism, a position that I not only reject but I deem impossible.
> Are Adam and Eve just a metaphor?
No. Adam and Eve were real, historical beings in space and time, but they weren't the first hominids, the first homo sapiens, or the first humans. When humanity evolved to the point where they were spiritually capable and morally culpable, God revealed Himself to them to establish a relationship with them. That's where the story of the Bible begins. I happen to think it was in about 6000 BC or so, give or take.
> So, God didn’t create all the animals and creatures that exist today?
It depends what you mean by "create." If you mean by fiat *ex nihilo*, no. If you mean that he was guiding the process, yes. If you mean constant interference and deterministic force, no. If you mean designing certain developmental strategies and allowing them to perform their designed function, yes.
> He just created the unicellular organisms that evolved into the species that exist now?
Possibly, but I don't like your word "just." There is nothing simple about this process, for one. Secondly, we are not to understand this strategy as deism, a position that I not only reject but I deem impossible.
> Are Adam and Eve just a metaphor?
No. Adam and Eve were real, historical beings in space and time, but they weren't the first hominids, the first homo sapiens, or the first humans. When humanity evolved to the point where they were spiritually capable and morally culpable, God revealed Himself to them to establish a relationship with them. That's where the story of the Bible begins. I happen to think it was in about 6000 BC or so, give or take.