(March 2, 2015 at 5:06 pm)Lek Wrote: You are discussing the natural evolution of the human species. That's not what I'm discussing here. I'm saying that at some point in time, maybe 6,000 or so years ago, God chose one man and one woman and gave them souls. They were then spiritual beings and held accountable for their actions. They sinned and failed the test. I don't know if God, after that event, gave souls to all humans living at that time or just gave souls to all humans born after that event. It really doesn't matter to me.
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If Adam and Eve were the first two humans to possess a soul, and thus be able to experience God's eternal life, then all humans who have a soul, which is everyone now, are descended spiritually from them. If those two had children, then Jesus could have been physically descended from them. But, Jesus wasn't discussing genetics, of which they had no knowledge at the time. Jesus was discussing our salvation, on which our natural evolution has no bearing.
Okay, so you believe the stuff in the Bible about god making Adam out of dirt and Eve out of his rib is made up. But you believe that god gave two special humans the first souls because why? You might reasonably argue that the story is metaphorical. But you can't get to two humans chosen to have the first two souls that way. It's just plain making up your own new story. Did you have a personal revelation? Or did you just like the idea?
(March 2, 2015 at 5:06 pm)Lek Wrote: The mechanism God used was by special creation of our souls. As for all those humans living before that time, they were simply just the mostly highly evolved of the creatures on earth. They did things that we would consider "bad", but would not be held accountable by God any more than apes or lions. This is because they were no more spiritual beings than those were. They were not able to experience eternal life with God, as we are. Keep in mind that I'm not spouting doctrine here, but expressing some of my own thoughts about how things may have come about. In my mind, what makes humans different than all other animals, besides being the most highly naturally developed, is the possession of a spiritual nature.
Okay, in your mind, humans are the only spiritual beings. What do you mean by spiritual? I think ritual, meditation, inner reflection, wonder, awe. You appear to think a sense of morality, i.e. knowing right from wrong.
In either case I think you are wrong about people being set apart from nature. Primates and other animals that interact socially do seem to have some sense of right and wrong, mercy, and justice. It's not as developed as ours, but the beginnings are there.
The same can be said of ritual. Anyone with a dog knows dogs love rituals.
Inner reflection is harder to assess but I'd guess that brighter animals may have the beginnings of that too.
It's evolution all over again.
If there is a god, I want to believe that there is a god. If there is not a god, I want to believe that there is no god.
