Was Adam really the first man created on earth?

But I found it interesting that when I asked for no judgment, people assumed that I said the Chinese, Greeks etc were without souls. Talking about putting words and opinions onto others.

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_history

The span of recorded history is 5000 years. That just means that we have evidence of records written by other cultures which we can understand as far back as 5000 years. Not that people before that 5000 year cutoff were incapable of doing it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prehistory

The systematic burial of the dead, the music, early art, and the use of increasingly sophisticated multi-part tools are highlights of the Middle Paleolithic.

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Humans as Homo Sapiens have existed for roughly 200,000 years. Prior to that however, the oldest stone tools found are roughly 2.5 million years old. Tool creation at its most basic requires forethought, imagination, the ability to look at an item and imagine a 3D shape within it, working out how to create that shape, sharing the knowledge with others of your own kind and sharing the uses of it with them as well. That sounds pretty advanced and soul-worthy, to me.

The problem is we cannot interpret intelligence and sentience as a black/white issue. There is no line in the sand behind which we are just animals and beyond which we are people with souls and minds. Such things fall on a spectrum. Just look at corvids, for example.

http://www.pbs.org/lifeofbirds/brain/index.html

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=cr...u&sa=X&ei=-HKLTYj-HZCLhQeG8_mmDg&ved=0CC0QqwQ

The crow finds a nut and places it on a busy road. The crow waits for a car to run over the nut and break the shell. The crow then hops down by the crossing and waits for a human to press the button. Once the light changes and the cars stop moving, the crow hops into the road and collects the exposed nut flesh. An act that tales imagination, creativity, intelligence, forethought, obdervation and planning. And which the corvids have been able to communicate to each other enough that this has becoem a regular behaviour for them - a way for them to access protein that would normally be impossible for them to manage.

*EDIT* This is also awesome (same link)

[FONT=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]The woodpecker finch, a bird of the Galapagos, is another consummate toolmaker. It will snap off a twig, trim it to size and use it to pry insects out of bark. In captivity, a cactus finch learnt how to do this by watching the woodpecker finch from its cage. The teacher helped the pupil by passing a ready-made spine across for the cactus finch to use. [/SIZE][/FONT]

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I do not believe that we are uniquely sentient or intelligent. I believe that this is more wondrous and awe-inspiring than thinking we're the only ones. Especially when I read stuff like that.

The whole Adam being the first man thing reminds me of the what came first, the chicken or the egg?

And I think the answer to the Adam question is whether or not you're a creationist or a evolutionist.

Was his last name Sandler?

No - I'm pretty sure his name was Larry.

I think perhaps Adam was the first person that God created, then he created Eve. But I also think that perhaps God created other people after them.

No, I don't think that man like the Biblical Adam ever existed, I think that is just a analogy to first humans on Earth(whatever their names were, if they had any).

I'll hop in here and stir the cauldron.

My problem with Bibilical inerrancy is that God dictated the Bible and Man wrote it down. (Except maybe for the tablets with the 10 commandments. Interesting that they were in a language Moses could read.)

But God made the world. Scientists test their ideas against the world.

So which is a more accurate translation of God's ideas and God's world?

And yes, I loaded the dice, but this is kind of how I see it. The world is God's creation and a reflection of God (or prime mover, or whatever).

And there is no arguing with the real world. Billiard ball science (Newtonian physics) is eminently testable by average folks. If one doesn't complete the electrical circuit, the lights don't work. No amount of yelling and cursing at the blasted lights will make them go on.

What the Bible says, however, depends on which passages one focuses on.

So when biologists tell me that evolution is the story of life, I tend to believe them. And, yes, I evolved from some kind of proto great ape.

Sorry, didn't realize how old this thread was.

I think Genesis is a particularly wonderful creation myth.

onuilmar - it's fine! It reminded me of this thread.

Mr. Groove and I have been reading through the bible together and we were wondering things like - Did God flood the whole earth or just the earth Noah knew. But this thread reminded me - it doesn't matter. It's an allegory. What matters is that it is a story about God starting over- just like Adam and Eve are an allegory about creation.

sassandgroove said:

onuilmar - it's fine! It reminded me of this thread.

Mr. Groove and I have been reading through the bible together and we were wondering things like - Did God flood the whole earth or just the earth Noah knew. But this thread reminded me - it doesn't matter. It's an allegory. What matters is that it is a story about God starting over- just like Adam and Eve are an allegory about creation.

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And yes, i like the Bible as allegory, history and a collection of viewpoints from eons ago.

Interestingly with regard to Noah and the flood, my husband mused that maybe that's an ancient memory of when the Ice Age melted, about 10,000 years ago. I think on some thread I read that recorded civilization (writing and other advanced artifacts) trace back 5,000 years.

Also, in Michener's Hawaii he tells how the Hawaiian aboriginal origin myth tells of sailing from Polynesia to Hawaii. When the myth was checked out (sailing directions, etc.), it was found that was exactly how one would have sailed. From that point on, that myth started being taken seriously as oral history.

onuilmar said:

Interestingly with regard to Noah and the flood, my husband mused that maybe that's an ancient memory of when the Ice Age melted, about 10,000 years ago.

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There are something like 500 flood myths, making it present in around 80% of world cultures. Which flood "Noah" actually described is obviously not known, but there are competing theories. I've heard the Ice Age one as well as one that explains it as a particularly large Euphrates river flood (they also point out that הָאָרֶץ means "land" or "country" and not planet Earth).

I think on some thread I read that recorded civilization (writing and other advanced artifacts) trace back 5,000 years.

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They have some Egyptian writings dating back 5,500 years to around 3400-3200 BCE, when writing evolved out of token counting systems from Mesopotamia.

Also, in Michener's Hawaii he tells how the Hawaiian aboriginal origin myth tells of sailing from Polynesia to Hawaii. When the myth was checked out (sailing directions, etc.), it was found that was exactly how one would have sailed. From that point on, that myth started being taken seriously as oral history.

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I've heard that before. Interesting story.

Floods? Where's Bill Cosby when you need him?!

Personally, after all the hard scientific evidence that has been unveiled over the past century, I find it rather incredible that some who interpret the Bible literally (i.e. God created the world in six days and on the seventh he took a break) still believe this. I have absolutely no problem with any religion believing as they do but seriously, some people need to get a grip on what science really is and not dismiss it as some kind of hoax or conspiracy theory.

And for the record, it was Larry Sandler and not Adam.

Yes.