Might make us a little jealous to not be the only apple in Daddy’s eye but other than that, God’s love should overcome our pettiness. The narrative changes a bit but either we are made in God’s image or we aren’t. If that is affirmed I don’t think anything else matters. Genesis 1-2 could care less about the issue.
I wondered about this especially after watching that “life after people” show. It wouldn’t take long at all for traces of us to disappear. Against this speculation we would probably have to look at the fossil record, brain evolution, genetics and phylogeny. While there is a complete lack of evidence for it, is the record complete enough in these areas to rule it out? Absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence but I am guessing the more science you know the less likely this hypothesis becomes.
You come off as rude. The question is serious to the author as stated and other’s have certainly thought about it from time to time. Dare I say the majority of the population will also not have the requisite scientific knowledge to answer the question. From your comments I have noticed a dismissive tone, presumption and sloppy writing the last few days. If English is a second language the writing can be excused (“if it what -ifs the impossible” and many others) but given word plays like “suture” I doubt it and you don’t get to presume things about people you can’t know or decide what is and isn’t a serious question for them.
You also completely deflected from the entire point of the question about what this would mean for Christianity only to nitpick at something irrelvent. The author clearly is aware this question is not popular consensus. That is why the caveat was added. Sometimes its best to keep your fingers off the keyboard.
I think it would simply mean … that sapient creatures existed before our time. Why should that pose any problem for general (deep-time acknowledging) Christianity?
If I can be forgiven for tacking on another somewhat related question of my own into this thread:
We often have heard Christians asked “So how would the discovery of other intelligent life - or any life at all - elsewhere in the universe affect your faith?” - with the (mostly erroneous) presumption often having been that the Christian ought to be at least a little (if not a lot) rattled by this if it turned out to be the case.
But what about this question turned the other way: Would it really rattle non-believers if it were somehow definitively discovered that earth and earth alone harbors life in the entire universe? Would such a flagrant exception to the law of mediocrity disturb any of you as non-theists?
For me it would mean the same thing other hominids mean to me at present. That is to say, it doesn’t matter to me what God’s relationship with Neanderthals or Denisovans was. Or put another way, if he had a particular relationship with them or not in the same way as modern homo sapiens, that doesn’t change the fact that I’m made in his image and called to follow him.
Or put still yet another way,
Jesus answered, “If I had a special relationship with Silurians, what is that to you? You must follow me.”
The original post doesn’t seem to be accessible, but the discussion is still there. I found the post very disturbing and so did several others. The poster claimed there were "non-personal Homo sapiens animal” around at one time alongside “real” humans, as well as other racist ideas.
interesting question! Thank you. If neanderthal are outside of the Salvation story, and I have one to 3% Neanderthal genes, does part of my body stay behind at the resurrection? It seems God can work that out
I totally agree. That’s a difficult question. I just know that some people feel that our bodies will be resurrected, so although that doesn’t bother me, it’s more of an interesting question
I don’t think resurrection involves our original bodies, which as you point out are constantly replacing cells. Or Will people be fighting over donated organs? If so, it could get messy…
They already have. We have hominids more than a million years old. It affects the Christian not at all if they acknowledge the fossil record while also taking the counsel of scripture which states that Adam was the first of the line of hominids endowed, through the ruach (breath) of God, a neshama ( 5397. נְשָׁמָה nešāmāh) – a soul, that had awareness of God.
