The Spiritual Status of Pre-Adamic Hominids/Humans Outside the Garden & Their Imago Dei?

[St.Roymond]

@Dale

@St.Roymond

…does that confuse the issue?

What issue?

“…that those on His left seem to think that they are worthy of going to Heaven, while those on His right seem to believe that they are unworthy!”

A scene in the Matrix movies may serve to illustrate: the Oracle told Neo “Don’t worry about the vase” and Neo then, looking around for a vase, knocks it over and breaks it – and the Oracle comments, “What’s really going to bake your noodle later on is ‘Would you still have broken it if I hadn’t said anything?’”

So if you’ve been told ahead of time about something happening, will that change what happens?

[Dale (evolutionary providentialist)]

No, because it is talking about the goats corporately, but you can make every effort to be sure you’re not one of them!

[Jay313 (Jay Johnson)]

@St.Roymond

@Jay313

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

The “him” in that quotation is correct; the word is אֹת֑וֹ and it is third person masculine singular. A plural would be clumsy here because the point is the contrast between this clause and the next, which does have a plural, אֹתָֽם : the first clause emphasizes the unity of humankind, the next the complementary dimorphism.

The translators’ notes in the NET Bible capture the sense succinctly.

Edit: I should add that the NET Bible translation was done in the early '90s mostly by the faculty of Dallas Theological Seminary, which is Dispensational and Complementarian. I don’t endorse the study notes (SN), but the translator’s notes (TN) are golden.

[Jay313 (Jay Johnson)]

For an example of a masculine singular used as a collective, adam is a good example in the preceding v. 26.