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GENESIS 1:26-31
LESSON #05
PHYSICAL MAN
v MEMORY VERSE: GEN 1:27
v TO UNDERSTAND THE REST OF GENESIS AND IN FACT, THEREST OF THE BIBLE, WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT GOD CREATED WHEN HE MADE MAN.
v READ GEN 1:26-31
Ø EVOLUTIONARY GENETICS AND BIBLICAL ANSWERS:
§ BIOLOGICAL VARIATIONACCORDING TO EVOLUTION:
· VARIATION RESULTS WHEN SOMEDESCENDENTS ARE SUPERIOR TO THEIR PARENTS THUS DEVELOPING NEW SPECIES. VARIATION ISUNLIMITED. NEW AND BETTER QUALITIES ARE PASSED ON BY HEREDITY TO THE FOLLOWINGDESCENDENTS, AND THESE BETTER QUALITIES ARE GRADUALLY ACCUMULATED.
¨ SCIENTIFIC FACTS:
Ø SCIENTIFICEXPERIMENTS BY MENDEL SHOW THAT LIMITS IN HEIGHT ARE SOON REACHED AND FROM THEN ONVARIATION IS NO LONGER OPERATIVE.
¨ BIBLICAL IMPLICATIONS:
Ø ALL POSSIBLE VARIATION WAS BUILT INTO THESPECIES AT CREATION BY GOD. THEREFORE, VARIATION IS NOT UNLIMITED..
§ MUTATION ACCORDING TOEVOLUTION:
· SUDDEN RANDOM CHANGES IN THEGENETIC SYSTEM ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SOME BIOLOGICAL VARIATION.
¨ SCIENTIFIC FACTS:
Ø PENICILLIN EXPERIMENTS SHOW THAT MUTATIONSARE FREQUENTLY STERILE AND NOT SUPERIOR TO THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PARENTS.
§ A GOOD EXAMPLE IS THEHORSE, THE DONKEY, AND THE MULE.
· IF YOU BREED A FEMALE HORSE WITHA MALE DONKEY, YOU GET A MULE. HOWEVER, THE MULE IS ALWAYS STERILE. ITS CHARACTERISTICSCAN NEVER BE PASSED ON TO A SUCCEEDING GENERATION.
¨ BIBLICAL IMPLICATIONS:
Ø THE MORE COMPLEX THE ORGANISM, THE LESSCHANCE FOR ADVANTAGEOUS OR BENEFICIAL MUTATIONS. THIS IS GOD’S WAY OF PRESERVING HISORIGINAL DESIGN.
§ NATURAL SELECTION (SURVIVALOF THE FITTEST) ACCORDING TO EVOLUCION:
· THOSE VARIATIONS MOST BENEFICIALTO THE INDIVIDUAL ARE NATURALLY SELECTED TO BE PASSED ON TO THE NEXT GENERATION BECAUSE OFTHE SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST.
¨ SCIENTIFIC FACTS:
Ø NATURAL SELECTION NEVER ORIGINATES AVARIATION BUT ONLY ACTS ON CHARACTERISTICS PARENTALLY PRESENT. IN OTHER WORDS, NO NEW GENEIS ORIGINALLY CREATED THAT WAS NOT PRESENT IN AT LEAST ONE OF THE PARENTS.
¨ BIBLICAL IMPLICATIONS:
Ø NATURAL SELECTION IS A CONSERVATIVE PROCESSNOT CROSSABLE FROM ONE SPECIES TO ANOTHER; EACH IN ITS OWN KIND. (GEN 30:32-35)
Ø EVOLUTIONARY PHYSICAL ANTHROPOLOGY ANDBIBLICAL ANSWERS:
§ THE WORD ANTHROPOLOGY MEANS= THE STUDY OF MAN. THIS STUDY OF MAN IS DIVIDED INTO TWO CATEGORIES: THE STUDY OF PHYSICAL MAN AND THE STUDY OFCULTURAL MAN. IN THE STUDY OF PHYSICAL MAN, THEY OBSERVE THE EVIDENCE OF FOSSILS.
· FOSSILS ARE CLASSIFIED ACCORDINGTO DIFFERENT TYPES OF INFORMATION:
¨ (1) THE FORM OF THE SKELETON
¨ (2) THE GEOLOGIC LAYER OF ROCK IN WHICH THEY FIND THEFOSSIL
¨ (3) THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF DATING THE ROCKS THATSURROUND THE FOSSIL OR SKELETON.
¨ (4) THE CULTURAL REMAINS (SUCH AS TOOLS) THAT THEYFIND NEAR THE FOSSIL OR SKELETON.
¨ (5) THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION WHERE THE FOSSIL ORSKELETON WAS FOUND.
§ CREATIONIST RESPONSES TOFOSSIL FINDS:
· (1) THE FORM OF THE SKELETON
¨ COMPLETE SKELETONS ARE VERY RARE ANDOFTEN VERY FRAGMENTARY. FOR EXAMPLE, AN ARTIST WILL DRAW AN ENTIRE CREATURE ALONG WITHBODY HAIR AND A STUPEFIED LOOK BASED ON A FRAGMENT OF A JAW BONE.
¨ SKELETAL REMAINS ARE OFTEN CONFUSED
Ø LIONS AND TIGERS ARE SO SIMILAR THAT THEY AREOFTEN CONFUSED.
Ø DOG SKELETONS ARE OFTEN SO DISSIMILAR THATTHEY ARE OFTEN CONFUSED WITH OTHER ANIMALS.
Ø ADULTS AND CHILDREN ARE OFTEN CLASSIFIEDWRONGLY.
Ø A LARGE HEAD SIZE IS PRESUPPOSED TO MEANADVANCED INTELLIGENCE.
§ THERE IS NOT AN ABSOLUTERELATIONSHIP OF BRAIN SIZE TO INTELLIGENCE.
· AN EVOLUTIONARY SEQUENCE OF SMALLTO LARGE BRAIN DOES NOT FIT THE FOSSIL RECORD.
§ ANY CONCLUSION FROM FOSSILREMAINS AS TO THE POSSESSION OF SPEECH IS SIMPLY A GUESS.
Ø WHAT SOME ANTHROPOLOGISTS THINK ARE HUMANFOSSILS, OTHER ANTHROPOLOGISTS THINK ARE ANIMAL FOSSILS.
§ SINANTHROPUS (PEKING MAN)FOUND IN 1920’S.
· ALL FRAGMENTS HAVE DISAPPEAREDUNDER MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES.
· OBSERVERS SAY THEIR SKULLS WEREPIERCED AND CRUSHED AND MAY HAVE BEEN ANIMALS THAT WERE FOOD FOR HUMANS.
§ PILTDOWN MAN FOUND INENGLAND IN 1912 WAS A DELIBERATE FAKED ANIMAL BONE PASSED OFF AS HUMAN AND EXPOSED AS AFAKE IN 1953.
§ JAVA MAN FOUND IN 1891 BYEUGENE DUBOIS WHO IN 1936 DECIDED THAT THE BONES WERE ACTUALLY A GIANT EXTINCT GIBBON(MONKEY).
Ø DIET AND DISEASE ALTER BONE STRUCTURE
· (2) THE GEOLOGIC LAYER OF ROCK IN WHICH THEY FIND THEFOSSIL
¨ FOSSILS CLASSIFIED AS MODERN IN FORM ARESOMETIMES FOUND IN THE WRONG SEQUENCE IN THE STRATA OF ROCK..
Ø NEANDERTHAL MAN TYPES ARE FOUND SCATTEREDTHROUGHOUT THE FOSSIL RECORD AND SEEM TO HAVE DEGENERATED INTO LESS MODERN TYPES OVERTIME.
· (3) THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD OF DATING THE ROCKS THATSURROUND THE FOSSIL OR SKELETON.
¨ SOMETIMES DATING OF THE FOSSIL DOES NOT AGREEWITH THE DATING OF THE SEDIMENTARY LAYER WHERE THEY FIND THE FOSSIL.
· (4) THE CULTURAL REMAINS (SUCH AS TOOLS) THAT THEYFIND NEAR THE FOSSIL OR SKELETON.
¨ MAN IS THE ONLY CULTURAL BEING ASSOCIATEDWITH TOOLS AND THE USE OF FIRE. THESE CULTURAL REMAINS ARE OFTEN USED TO DISTINGUISH HUMANBONES FROM ANIMAL BONES.
Ø MOST FRAGMENTS OF SKELETONS ARE NOT FOUNDALONG WITH TOOLS OR EVIDENCE OF THE USE OF FIRE.
Ø WHEN THEY DO FIND FRAGMENTS OF BONE NEARTOOLS OR WEAPONS, IT IS SOMETIMES HARD TO TELL WHETHER THE BONE FRAGMENT IS THE MAKER OFTHE TOOL OR THE ANIMAL VICTIM.
· (5) THE GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION WHERE THE FOSSIL ORSKELETON WAS FOUND.
¨ THE BIBLE INDICATES THAT MAN COMES FROM ASINGLE ANCESTOR.
Ø A RECENT SCIENCE ARTICLE INDICATES THATGENETIC STUDIES PROVEALL MEN CAME FROM A SINGLE ANCESTOR.
¨ THE BIBLE INDICATES THAT THE HUMAN RACESPREAD OUT FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AFTER THE FLOOD OF NOAH.
Ø THERE IS MUCH ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE TOSUPPORT THIS BIBLICAL TRUTH.
¨ MOST OF THE “PRIMITIVE” FORMS OFMAN HAVE BEEN FOUND IN REMOTE INACCESSIBLE AREAS OF WESTERN EUROPE, SOUTH AFRICA, ANDSOUTHEAST ASIA.
Ø CREATIONIST CONCLUSIONS:
§ NEANDERTHAL WAS UNDOUBTEDLYTRUE MAN. HE WAS INTELLIGENT, AND POSSESSED A SPIRITUAL NATURE BECAUSE OF THEIR BELIEF INAN AFTER-LIFE. HE WAS A PHYSICALLY DEGENERATING TYPE AND DIED OUT.
· THE EFFECT OF SIN AND THE CURSEWAS IMMEDIATELY DEGENERATIVE AND CUMULATIVE BOTH SPIRITUALLY AND PHYSICALLY (GEN 3,4,6,ROM 8).
· CURSED AND REBELLIOUS PEOPLESSPREAD OUT RAPIDLY IN FORCED MIGRATION AFTER THE FLOOD (GEN 10,11).
· CRUDE LIVING CONDITIONS AND SMALLPOPULATION GROUPS RESULTED IN LIMITED CHOICES OF MATES (A LIMITED GENE POOL) WHERE RAPIDDEGENERATION CULTURALLY AND PHYSICALLY OCCURRED. (NEANDERTHAL MAN)
· FINAL EXTINCTION OCCURRED IN SOMECASES WHILE IN OTHER CASES THEY CONTINUED ANDFINALLY TO PRODUCE MODERN MAN.
v APPLICATION:
Ø WE HAVE DISCUSSED ONLY PHYSICAL MAN. HOWEVER,MAN IS MORE THAN JUST PHYSICAL.
§ GEN 1:26 TELLS US THAT GODMADE MAN IN HIS IMAGE. OUR GOD IS NOT A PHYSICAL GOD, ALTHOUGH JESUS BECAME PHYSICALFLESH.
§ THE BIBLE TELLS US THAT GODIS A SPIRIT. (JOH 4:24) SINCE MAN WAS CREATED IN THE IMAGE OF A GOD, WHO IS SPIRIT, WEMUST ALSO HAVE A SPIRIT. WE WILL CONSIDER THIS ASPECT OF MAN IN OUR NEXT LESSON.
v HOMEWORK
v MEMORY VERSE: GEN 1:27
