And no one has been hearing what I’ve been saying: "The ‘problem’ of Adam & Eve and monogenism disappears if one realizes that, biologically, humans should be associated with the Homo sapien genome which appeared some 200,000 yrs. ago; but for theological purposes humans appeared as a Great Leap Forward only about 40,000 yrs ago. In 1996 Pope John Paul II acknowledged that the evidence was overwhelming that all other life on earth appeared through an evolutionary process presently described as ‘Neo-Darwinism’; but humankind was an exception. This fits the postulate that the the GLF was evidence that, through some as-yet-unknown biological mechanism, the brain(s) of perhaps only a few (or even just a couple) were transformed into Mind, endowing the recipient(s) with a conscience, the ability and desire to seek out their Creator, and the ability to pass this on, non-genetically, to the other Homo sapiens living at that time.
This scenario implies (but offers no proof) that the term, Original Sin, should be replaced by Original Blessing, even though this idea is presently an anathema to most Christian leaders, as it was when Teilard de Chardin first proposed it.
Perhaps this was God’s attitude towards life on earth–“surprise me”–until, inevitably, consciousness appeared, at which point He willed to covenant with a newly created intelligence.
Al Leo
Al,
I agree with you, conscience can rather late in evolution. But perhaps farther back than 40,000 years ago. Neanderthals seem bright people now. Homo Naledi POSSIBLY (in capital letters for Eddie) placing the dead on the side, might push some kind of consciousness to 2.8 million years old.
Lets say this is true just for the sake of argument, then whole species of homo lived and went extinct before any Biblical referenced events or revelations. Doesn’t that make the image of God argument broader to include much more of nature than just us?
On the side, I have heard rumour that religious folk are contemplating now on how to evangelize to AI (artificial intelligence) when it becomes sapient and sentient.
Amazing. The insanity of religion is ceaseless it seems. OMG (Oh Man God)… how funny is that. In the series Caprica it is the evangelicals yacking about one God that are depicted as influencing the early cylones to rebel and seek their creator whilst wiping out humans… Great job there on Caprica fundies.
I was tongue in cheek responding to that since some Xians want to evangelize AI, just like the fundamentalist religulous folks in the series Caprica evangelized the cylons and thus started the rebellion that would nearly destroy all humans in the planetary system that Caprica was a part of as the cylons sought their creator.
Sorry, but the modern world seems to be passing me by. I am totally ignorant of the ‘Caprica series’ and the rebelling cyclones. What wisdom must I be missing!
Al Leo
