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To: frgoff
Traditional Christian teaching is that death entered the world because of Adam's transgression. (Gen 2:17, Romans 5:12).

Which death? Death according to Christ, as I remember my teachings, is not the physical death but the death of the soul from a lack of love for God which then translates into damnation.

44 posted on 08/04/2005 10:14:10 AM PDT by jb6 ( Free Haghai Sophia! Crusade!)
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To: jb6

The traditional teaching is that there was both a physical and spiritual death and that is why Christ provides two aspects to His sacrifice: The resurrection, which overcomes physical death, and the atonement, which overcomes spiritual death.

The reality is that in order to reconcile evolution with Christianity, you need to move away from the traditional Christian understanding of the fall as involving both physical and spiritual death. You also need to modify the relationship of man to God. The evolutionary paradigm requires that hominids progress to a certain point where God finally considers them to be in His image. At this point, God then declares them in need of redemption.

Adam and Eve are seen as metaphors for these evolved hominids.

And, of course, this leaves open the door that at some future point, the descendents of chimps will also evolve to the point where God considers them made in His image as well. Will He then send another Christ for them?

As I said in my original post, that is why there is a conflict. You have to take some pretty non-conventional positions on Christian theology in order to make it work with evolution.


99 posted on 08/05/2005 7:08:02 AM PDT by frgoff
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