Stu,
It is sad that now you accuse me of drifting away from Christianity and falling over to the Satan's side because of my openness to God guided evolution. I can assure you that I have already accepted the Spirit so I am in no danger of falling into the hands of Satan as you suggest and should know better. It seems to me that since you struggle to defend your position and I have taken an opposing position on anti-evolution that is more aligned with Christianity Today article, you have decided to write offensive unjustifiable claims on my character. I didn't realize that I was trying to debate someone that couldn't handle the stress of defending their position, that they would stoop to this level of behavior. If this is how you plan to continue debating these topic, you should abdicate your traditional view and depart the debate. You are getting very emotional about this issue and it is affecting your ability to reason, treat other Christians respectfully, and rationally present your views.
All along the way I have been trying to get your Biblical reasoning for your anti-evolution position and explanation from you on your interpretation of some verses as symbolic and others as not symbolic in Genesis 2 and 3. I was also trying to get you to rationalize the issues that I surfaced between Ge 1 and Ge 2&3. You continue to avoid addressing these issues that I surfaced in the Biblical verses long ago. There is one excuse after another. From my perspective, I can only view this as an entrenched flawed understanding of the scriptures which you refuse to address since you clearly haven't made an attempt to defend these conflicting accounts and enumerated in previous posts several times. Your answer only seems to be: a clear reading of scripture says God popped the species into existence. Unfortunately for your case, the scripture never says that. Scripture states that God created the plants and animals (but doesn't describe how). It says that the earth or water brought them forth and the earth and water being natural objects don't pop anything into existance from nothing. It states that God made man from dust, but doesn't say how or long it takes. It says that God made man in His image, but it doesn't say whether it was a material or spiritual image. I'm betting on the spiritual image as many other people do since God appeared to man in several material forms but He is a spiritual being. God can make Adam (a new spiritual being) therefore out of any other form of matter from apes, burning bushes to dust, the source of matter is not important nor the rate at which the humans are made. The bottom line is that there are multiple ways of interpreting these verses. Your understanding is but one way of several. It is only your assumptions, interpretations, and your resistance of symbology used in the Bible that forces your narrow interpretation of Ge 2:7 and Ge 2:14 to mean popping out of thin air.
Throughout this debate I have strongly fought for a biblically consistent God guided process and one that reflects the reality that God has made. Contrary to your insinuations, this does not imply that the Spirit has abandoned me. This is emotional or irrational thinking on your part. I have described my views in detail for you, yet you provide very little detail on your views on how you have interpreted Ge 2 & 3 or rational on the conflicts between Ge 1 and Ge 2&3. You keep saying that you will address symbolic verses but never get around to it. Yet, you continue to make false accusations toward me and my views which you have clearly misunderstood based on your responses. This has been very evasive.
Fight me and my views all you want, but I have the truth on my side, thoughtful hermeneutics, natures laws that God made, and God as well since God loves the truth. So we will see how far you get opposing me, scripture, the scientific community and truth. The flawed views on evolution held by you and others will only cause the deterioration of Christian credibility in more arenas of public debate and result in more lost souls as they condemn your view as irrational Christian thinking and out of touch with the reality that God made. It is clear to me, many other Christians, and the secular world that your anti-evolution view (all new species or kinds popped into existence from nothing), will be right up there with a flat earth and an earth centered universe. These previous views were taught by men of your persuasion that ignored factual real evidence from nature. A man of God would reject a flawed interpretation of scripture based on the evidence, admit their error, and seek a better understanding. Instead you try to denigrate and persecute me falsely.
It would have been so pleasant if you would have just presented your traditional case in a rational way and address the issues that I have already surfaced. Sadly, you seem to be so entrenched in anti-evolution and ignoring issues between different verses so extensively, that we can't have an direct honest and rational dialogue. When I provide a God honoring concept on how God works His miracles, you don't even pay enough attention to it to try and understand it. You appear to be blinded from the truth or any interpretation different than your own. This reminds me so much of our debate with the YEs on ancestry and chronology when everyone learned to not take the words so rigidly (as Hebrew has multiple definitions). You are now doing the same thing in this discussion that the YEs did earlier. Interpreting these verses rigidly from a narrow viewpoint that is inconsistent with other verses. When someone disagrees with your rigid interpretation of these verses, you prefer to attack them personally and to muddle the debate with character assassination. You are working Satan's will as you drive a deceptive wedge between us. You are making this debate very personal again and it should not be so from a fellow Christian. You need to accept that many others, as well as me, have a perfectly acceptable understanding of Ge 2 & 3 as primarily symbolic verses, that we are just as Spiritually indwelt Christians as you, and these views have only a positive impact on Christianity and its acceptance around the world. I will pray that you can accept this truth and God will open your hardened mind to a full understanding of scripture that includes the symbolism intended by the authors and God.
Since you enjoy quoting scripture, I leave you with two Proverbs to carefully consider:
2:19 By wisdom the LORD laid the earth’s foundations,
by understanding he set the heavens in place;
2:20 by his knowledge the watery depths were divided,
and the clouds let drop the dew.
2:28 Do not say to your neighbor,
“Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”—
when you already have it with you.
2:29 Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
2:30 Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
when they have done you no harm.
Lee