Thoughts on the Pre-Adamic Period

1/10/2005 | Self

[katieanna]

Good morning Freepers!

I have been chewing on a message I heard from a minister last night that briefly made mention of the pre-Adamic period (that period between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2). Verse 2 in the NIV calls the earth "formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep and the Sprit of God was hovering over the waters".

Many theologians believe that a flood occured wherein God destroyed all living creatures and that he began again with Adam. Some say Adam was not the first man because God ordered him and Eve to "be fruitful and multiply and REplenish the earth". This minister said that God would have said "plenish" if no other man had existed before.

I had previously dismissed all thought of Adam NOT being the first man. Upon hearing this message, I've been stirred.

Please share your thoughts with me and have a blessed day!

[weenie]

Very thought provoking post...thx.

[gobucks]

"I had previously dismissed all thought of Adam NOT being the first man. Upon hearing this message, I've been stirred."

Upon reading this message, the mods are moving this to chat. News/Activism - at least attempt to have the vanity be relevant.

[odoso]

"I had previously dismissed all thought of Adam NOT being the first man. Upon hearing this message, I've been stirred."

The Bible is God's word to ALL of us... My question to you is: What does the Bible say about Adam?

[rave123]

I would wonder what the original text said. Sometimes the words are translated incorrectly and multiply and replenish the earth could have been different in the original text.
Good post

[Raycpa]

Transliteration:
male' {maw-lay'} or mala' (Esth. 7:5) {maw-law'}
Word Origin:
a primitive root
TDNT:
1195
Part of Speech:
verb
Usage in the KJV:
fill 107, full 48, fulfil 28, consecrate 15, accomplish 7, replenish 7, wholly 6, set 6, expired 3, fully 2, gather 2, overflow 2, satisfy 2, misc 14

Total: 249
Definition:
to fill, be full
(Qal)
to be full
fulness, abundance (participle)
to be full, be accomplished, be ended
to consecrate, fill the hand
(Niphal)
to be filled, be armed, be satisfied
to be accomplished, be ended
(Piel)
to fill
to satisfy
to fulfil, accomplish, complete
to confirm
(Pual) to be filled
(Hithpael) to mass themselves against
TDNT - Theological Dictionary of the New Testament
TWOT - Theological Word Book of the Old Testament

[KStorm]

One entry found for replenish. Main Entry: re·plen·ish Pronunciation: ri-'ple-nish Function: verb Etymology: Middle English replenisshen, from Middle French repleniss-, stem of replenir to fill, from Old French, from re- + plein full, from Latin plenus -- more at FULL transitive senses 1 a : to fill with persons or animals : STOCK b archaic : to supply fully : PERFECT c : to fill with inspiration or power : NOURISH 2 a : to fill or build up again b : to make good : REPLACE intransitive senses : to become full : fill up again - re·plen·ish·able /-ni-sh&-b&l/ adjective - re·plen·ish·er noun - re·plen·ish·ment /-nish-m&nt/ noun

[frgoff]

The gap theory is simply an attempt to make the Bible fit current scientific theory.

The problem I have with it is that it assumes the the science and understanding of man is the yardstick by which all things must be measured. If the Bible doesn't fit the yardstick of man's understanding, then the Bible must be re-interpreted and massaged until it does so.

[mikeus_maximus]

One would have to insert things into the text in order to support such speculations. That approach and attitude toward scripture pretty much eviscerates it, causes conflicting interpretations of what Christ said was "truth", and justifies almost anything one wants it to. At bottom , it suggests God gave His only begotten Son to suffer and die horribly so that He could bring a critical message that is muddled, unclear, incomplete, and open to private interpretation.

And that's the exact opposite of what the scriptures claim to be. Read the Bible honestly, prayerfully, and openly for yourself, and don't be fooled by men with titles.

[Tax-chick]

Upon hearing this message, I've been stirred.

Stirred to what, exactly, other than posting a religion vanity in the News forum?

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

If one uses the KJV, the scripture goes like this: "the earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep..."

Look at Strong's or Young's Hebrew/Greek translation of the word void. The translation is chaos/confusion.

A verse in the New Testament says: "God is not the author of confusion."

Obviously something happened to bring chaos/confusion upon the earth. God didn't do it. Most likely Lucifer's fall did it.

[wedwo]

The correct translation of the word mil'u (pronounced meel oo)means fill in the plural, from the source "maleh" which means to fill (in the singular present tense) as in:

22. And G-d blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply upon the earth."

The problem many a times is in the translation from the original hebrew text. In fact the Torah (Bible of the jews) is in the absolute original form, brought down hand to hand from one generation to the next. The translational error of replenish could have occured at anytime in history, and carried through for generations.

If you really want the most accurate translation, I recommend 2 publications.

1. Artscroll: The Stone Chumash. Original hebrew text with translations and comments.

2. Living Torah - by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan. Also original hebrew text wit english translations.

Hope this is helpful to you in your quest for truth.

[WorkingClassFilth]

Speculative theology ping.

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Look up the word form.

"The earth was without form..."

There, the word form is translated chaos.

God is not the author of chaos.

[wedwo]

This is a sample of a correct translation by orthodox jews from the original text.

1. In the beginning of God's creation of the heavens and the earth. 2. Now the earth was astonishingly empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the water. 3. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4. And God saw the light that it was good, and God separated between the light and between the darkness. 5. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night, and it was evening and it was morning, one day. 6. And God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the water, and let it be a separation between water and water." 7. And God made the expanse and it separated between the water that was below the expanse and the water that was above the expanse, and it was so. 8. And God called the expanse Heaven, and it was evening, and it was morning, a second day. 9. And God said, "Let the water that is beneath the heavens gather into one place, and let the dry land appear," and it was so. 10. And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas, and God saw that it was good. 11. And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, seed yielding herbs and fruit trees producing fruit according to its kind in which its seed is found, on the earth," and it was so. 12. And the earth gave forth vegetation, seed yielding herbs according to its kind, and trees producing fruit, in which its seed is found, according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. 13. And it was evening, and it was morning, a third day. 14. And God said, "Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens, to separate between the day and between the night, and they shall be for signs and for appointed seasons and for days and years. 15. And they shall be for luminaries in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth." And it was so. 16. And God made the two great luminaries: the great luminary to rule the day and the lesser luminary to rule the night, and the stars. 17. And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to shed light upon the earth. 18. And to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate between the light and between the darkness, and God saw that it was good. 19. And it was evening, and it was morning, a fourth day. 20. And God said, "Let the waters swarm a swarming of living creatures, and let fowl fly over the earth, across the expanse of the heavens." 21. And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that crawls, with which the waters swarmed, according to their kind, and every winged fowl, according to its kind, and God saw that it was good. 22. And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters of the seas, and let the fowl multiply upon the earth." 23. And it was evening, and it was morning, a fifth day. 24. And God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kind, cattle and creeping things and the beasts of the earth according to their kind," and it was so. 25. And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kind and the cattle according to their kind, and all the creeping things of the ground according to their kind, and God saw that it was good. 26. And God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness, and they shall rule over the fish of the sea and over the fowl of the heaven and over the animals and over all the earth and over all the creeping things that creep upon the earth." 27. And God created man in His image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28. And 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 fowl of the sky and over all the beasts that tread upon the earth. " 29. And God said, "Behold, I have given you every seed bearing herb, which is upon the surface of the entire earth, and every tree that has seed bearing fruit; it will be yours for food. 30. And to all the beasts of the earth and to all the fowl of the heavens, and to everything that moves upon the earth, in which there is a living spirit, every green herb to eat," and it was so. 31. And God saw all that He had made, and behold it was very good, and it was evening and it was morning, the sixth day.

[katieanna]

MY APOLOGIES FREEPERS! I erred in not posting to vanity-Religion. Sorry to place this thread on news/activism.
Kate

[Laissez-faire capitalist]

Actually, the gap theory is a theory stating that God supposedly created the earth and the pre-adamites long before he restored the earth from the chaos that it was in when the Spirit of God hovered over the waters in Genesis 1:1-2.

This theory states that earth is billions of years old, but the present race of humans came around 10,000 years ago.

[Quix]

THANKS.

[katieanna]

That's what I thought too. Clearly Lucifer fell from Heaven before Adam.

[WorkingClassFilth]

At your service, Sir!

Regards,

WCF