The Bible says God formed a living man from dust and Breath, which is not very detailed.
For the last several centuries, believers have insisted on a scientific understanding of our origins that match the biblical version—plus a long list of added stipulations. Without the unbiblical constraints of perfectionism, science aligns surprisingly well with the Bible.
Genesis 1 is a wide-angle overview of everything. God created all the animals, and then he did “something” to make human-kind into his image. Genesis 2 contains a closer view. It gives a few more details. However, both chapters imply that God started with the same process to make animals (dirt) that he used for people (dust). The Bible does not separate humans from nature as lofty entities. We are part of this world. Only God’s choice makes us different from any other animal. Even Adam had to realize that he was different.
The words dust and dirt are not the word clay. Genesis does not say God sculpted animals and people from clay, then magically turn it into flesh and blood. Scientifically, humans come from a long lineage of almost-humans. Before that, our ancestors were not-humans and long before that not-even-mammals. Our lineage reaches back to the first living thing. It formed from the same molecules that make up Earth and the rest of the universe. “Dust and dirt” describes the science very well. The Bible leaves out all the details science describes, but the two begin at the same place.
The molecules that construct RNA and DNA are easy to come by, even in space. God made everything from the same building blocks. However, no one knows why or how such standard components became cellular with the capability to eat and multiply. The biblical description simplifies the transformation. God made creation so that it would. Scientifically, we have a lot to learn, yet even among atheists, the consensus is, life is very likely to form anywhere the right conditions occur. If God exists, then he designed life to arise and evolve from dust.
Genesis 1 says a new creation would be God’s “image.” Genesis 2 and 3 do not use that term. However, verse 3:22 says that the people became like God after they received the knowledge of good and evil. Being like God in this chapter is the “image of God” from chapter 1. God made us become his image, yet we were not the “image,” until we were able to think like God.
To be continued:
One Response
Love that last line, "God made us to become His image, yet we were not the “image,” until we were able to think like God."