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'Special Creation'?
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 'Special Creation'?Many years later, a few Homo Heidelbergensis were crafting some tools from flint. "How clever are we!" he said to his friends, because language was now part of the human culture. "We can talk about things that don't exist yet, while animals can only react to what they see or hear or smell in the present! But we can plan what will happen in the future! And even better, we can make today the tools we know we will need in the future. We can make flint hammers that can crush the thighbone of a woolly rhinoceros! We can make spear points as sharp as a cave lion's claw, at the end of a stick twice as long as the lion's reach! We can make axes that can bring down a tree that not even a mammoth could knock over! "And even more, if a hammer or spear or axe is broken, we can make another. What cave lion can grow a new claw if the old one is damaged? What mammoth can grow a new tusk if the old one is snapped off? "Surely we are a special Creation!" A fair while after that there were a few Homo Neanderthalensis sitting around a fire at night, cooking the meat from a hunt. "Just look around us!" proclaims one. "We have fire to keep us warm and cook our food; weapons to hunt with so we can do it without having to use our own teeth to bring down a mammoth, we have fur clothing to keep us warm; we have the finest artwork on the walls of our caves to ensure the Spirits are with us as we hunt. What animal ever controlled fire? What animal ever cooked its food? What animal ever produced a painting? Surely we are a special creation, the peak of everything there ever was or ever will be!" Many years later two men are chatting over a fence between their properties. "These fences were an excellent idea! Not only to keep my cows from eating your crops, but also to stop them from straying away completely." "Yep," said the other. "Just think how those savages up in the mountains are living! Having to hunt every day, following animals wherever they go. Those guys can't build a proper shelter to keep out the cold or the rain, because by the time they complete it the animals would have moved on. They can't be sure if there will be berries or wild corn to collect, because grazing animals might have cleaned it all out just a day earlier..." "Yep, another good thing that these fences do. They keep the grazers away from our crops as well as each other's cows!" "And those savages in the hills have no confidence in anything. We can store grain from a good year to cover a bad year, and we can kill off much of our herds in poor times so long as we keep the best to breed up another herd next year; but those guys are no different from the wandering animals they hunt!" "Yep. I reckon we farmers and herders are masters of our own fate. No other animals can do that! We must be a special creation." A few centuries after that, two men are drinking a beer as they shelter under the porch of an inn. "Beer was a great invention," says one, raising his cup in salute. "Yes. Something magical happens in those tubs. Brewers must control the spirits in some way." Yes, just like those smithies that can use fire to produce bronze out of rocks. That's another magic trick!" "I hear that there are some up north, in the mountains, who can make something even better than bronze. They call it 'iron'." "Better than bronze? That really would be magic!" He shook his head in wonder. "So many people can work so many different types of magic! It just makes my head spin! We can do so many things that animals can't even hope to understand, much less copy. Surely we must be a special creation!" QUESTIONS 1. Are humans at ANY stage a 'special Creation'? 2. If so, what was the specific step that demonstrated that they were a 'special creation'? 3. If not, how do you explain these amazing achievements? |
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2. When God created them. You appear to still be stuck in the faulty belief that the theory of molecules-to-man evolution is credible. 3. Humans are a special creation made in the image of God and given dominion over the animals by God. Needless to say, I didn’t read your entire post when it was clear (very early on) you were mocking and trolling. |
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Bob and Vic Science implies (if not outright teaches) Humans aren't special. The Bible explicitly states that humans are a special creation of God. Genesis 1:27 declares, "So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them". This unique status is further emphasized in Genesis 1:26, where God says, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness". This unique status is further emphasized in Genesis 1:26, where God says, "Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness". The concept of humans being distinct from other creations is reinforced by passages like Psalm 8:5-6, which says God made humans "a little lower than the angels" and crowned them "with glory and honor". Additionally, Genesis 2:7 describes God personally forming Adam from dust and breathing life into him, highlighting the intimate nature of human creation. Theological interpretations expand on this, noting that being made in God's image endows humans with unique qualities like moral consciousness, rationality, and the capacity for relationship with God. This special status is why humans are described as the "crowning work" of God's creation. @ Vic, I didn't take what Bob wrote as mocking and trolling. However I absolutely understand why you feel that way. You are in the thick of this discussion. So it is very understandable. However I don't think that was/is Bob's intent. Bob is an author and he regularly goes into story telling mode to paint an overall picture of what he is trying to convey. To a numbers person, who is mainly analytical and methodical. That storytelling will come across as mockery. I could be wrong about my interpretation and I apologize if I am. |
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I could be wrong about my interpretation and I apologize if I am.>> I think you’re right. I should have read it in full before concluding it was trolling. |
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Bob 1. Are humans at ANY stage a 'special Creation'? Ans: I doubt it, but who am I to question God's ways? 2. If so, what was the specific step that demonstrated that they were a 'special creation'? Ans: The Big Bang might have been a "special creation". 3. If not, how do you explain these amazing achievements? Ans: It was done by God's Evolution, and Man could have looked like anything --- Not that Man, as we call us, couldn't have looked like any of God's infinite images, huh? See: www.istockphoto.com |
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G'day all! And thanks for that apology (09:11), which is accepted with full sincerity. 1. I agree. 2. "It happened when it happened" is a non-answer. And where did my post require acceptance of evolution? You are imputing what isn't there! 3. Your answer is about status, not achievements. And in that regard I think you are on the right track. There are many people in this world who can't understand electronics, much less build the Internet; or who don't have a clue about the Rocket Equation and orbital mathematics, etc. But they are no less 'human' than people with doctorates in these fields. Patz' post:- First, thanks for explaining my purpose in that intro post. I intended to say that even without going to the Moon or inventing computers or whatever else, even the earliest humans could justifiably make a credible case for them being a special creation. We don't need to wait until the last 200 years. So as you rightly point out, being a special creation is NOT about all these technological marvels, because Adam and Eve did none of them. The 'special creation' is about being in the Image of God. Many people interpret this to mean that we are smarter (i.e., more intelligent) than animals, but that is them reading their own prejudices into the text. The text itself tells us that this 'Image of God' status is shown in 'Be fruitful' (i.e., creative), 'Fill the Earth' (i.e., take possession), 'Have dominion' (i.e., take control), all of these being characteristics that only God has inherently, but which he delegates to us. HOW this is to be done is explained in chapter 2, verse 15, where English translations vary but the Hebrew verbs basically mean 'to serve and protect' the Garden. Your specifics ("moral consciousness, rationality, and the capacity for relationship with God") are (I think) linked to these immediate qualities and duties as enabling skills. Mo's post:- Thanks for pointing out that 'special creation' can mean whatever a person wants it to mean. That's why I ask for definitions so often, to ensure we are not talking at cross purposes. Bob's musings:- I think all of Creation is full of 'special creations'. Even the Genesis account separates six separate days on which different things are created rather than one instantaneous zap to do the lot. And not only planets and animals and different 'kinds', but each individual human is a 'special creation', uniquely fashioned by God. Then there are 'special creations' on other levels, like Russian dolls nested inside each other. God's Creation is so rich and multi-dimensional! Humanity as a race is also a 'special creation', in its ability to form communities where individuals help each other, love each other, share with each other, again a miniature model of the Triune God. I think it is the influence of the Enlightenment and the scientific, empirical mindset that drives so many people to look to technological 'achievements' as a measure of our 'human-ness'. Achievements like heavier-than-air flight, space exploration, our ability to murder a million people with one bomb and our ability to slaughter six million civilian prisoners in gas chambers. What great achievements, eh? And we lose sight of what our greatest achievements really are; the ability to have compassion on others and to help them even at cost and inconvenience to ourselves. Jesus, the Perfect Man and therefore the Perfect Image of God, showed us what being a Real Human looks like! Yet we see evidence of this same 'human' trait in Neanderthals, who cared for their sick and injured, with many Neanderthal fossils showing mending of broken bones that would have caused death by starvation or predation had they not been fed and protected by others while recovering; but they lived to recover and heal. Each individual who shows this characteristic of compassion, of whatever species, is a 'special creation' in the Image of God. Thus sayeth the Bob! Now, guys; pull it apart! |
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apatzer 26-Mar-25, 16:39 |
Deleted by apatzer on 26-Mar-25, 16:43.
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apatzer 26-Mar-25, 16:41 |
Deleted by apatzer on 26-Mar-25, 16:43.
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Reposted and corrected All life is intelligent, in fact nature and it's processes are so far above human ability It's scary. Just look how a leaf uses the power of the sun to gain energy. And plants/trees even communicate!! And all without a brain that we recognize as such. There is also a super highway of fungus beneath the soil that connects plants and trees. All life is intelligent and have found their niche! A gorilla is perfectly content in it's environment. Humans are rarely content, we have to be taught how to be content. I think it is about purpose. Part of that purpose is to tend the garden and take care of the things God has allowed us to rule over. We are supposed to be good Stewards of this earth and to be just and kind in ruling over it. Just as God has been just and kind with us. So you could also extend that to investigating the Universe. Being created in the image and likeness of God. God gave us the gift of imagination, that has driven the gift of exploration. Finding meaning and purpose in the Universe. To look at creation and understand it. Figure out how it works, how it will work and how it was started. So it is a matter of purpose, not ability or intelligence. The the Theological mind would say... The Bible states that God created humanity in His image and likeness primarily for two interconnected purposes: To Glorify God: Humanity's ultimate purpose is to glorify God (Isaiah 43:7; 1 Corinthians 10:31). This involves worship, obedience, and reflecting His character in love, holiness, and righteousness. To Express and Contain God: By creating man in His image (Genesis 1:26–27), God intended for humanity to receive His divine life, be united with Him, and express His attributes on earth. This includes ruling creation as stewards (Genesis 1:28) and fulfilling God’s "economy"—His plan to dwell in and be manifested through mankind. We are a special creation, but we are not acting like it! Collectively we are doing the exact opposite. And in doing so we are threatening the very animals we were given power (the ability to act) over. When we learn to create from our love more so from our cruelty. Then maybe we can get back on the right track. It's about purpose, our purpose is different than that of the animals. That is why when we feel we don't have purpose, bad things happen. When we are in line with purpose, we are most fullfilled. |
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Patz 16:47 I would suggest that the chief end of all Creation is exactly the same. All parts of Creation have their own role in that overall purpose, and all parts are specially created for their roles. |
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