Trying to reconcile Genesis 1:27 with Genesis 2

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hornetguy

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2016
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#41
God created Adam directly, so it is correct (scriptural) to refer to Adam as a son of God. This is also why he is juxtaposed with Jesus - the first Adam, a son of God and the Last Adam, only begotten Son of God (note that Jesus is not created, but rather begotten - God become flesh).
Yes..... that is a very good point.
But that is also completely compatible with the "mankind" vs "son of God" hypothesis.
 

Moses_Young

Well-known member
Sep 15, 2019
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#42
Remember.... everyone NOT descended from Adam died in the flood. The only ones that Jesus could have come to earth for WERE descendants of Adam..
Mankind, created on the 6th day were not a "sub-class" of humans.... God made them and blessed them, and told them to populate the earth.... Adam was like God's "special" project... he was intended to live in the garden forever, until he/they broke God's command...
Mankind was still out there, taking care of the earth.

note: I'm answering this as if my hypothesis is true.... I'm not saying it IS true, it is, after all, just a hypothesis. I'm just using my hypothesis to respond to your rebuttals....
If your hypothesis were true, there is no origin of sin for all the other of mankind not descended from Adam. Therefore, how could they have become so wicked that God judged and destroyed them via the flood?
 

hornetguy

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2016
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#43
If your hypothesis were true, there is no origin of sin for all the other of mankind not descended from Adam. Therefore, how could they have become so wicked that God judged and destroyed them via the flood?
Why would you think that? I think mankind is basically flawed.... the only thing that keeps us from being evil is the knowledge and acceptance of God.
 

Moses_Young

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Sep 15, 2019
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#44
Why would you think that? I think mankind is basically flawed.... the only thing that keeps us from being evil is the knowledge and acceptance of God.
Did God create mankind very good? Scripture says yes. If so, when did mankind become bad? Scripture says it was when Adam sinned. If there were other independent men, it doesn't make sense for them to become bad via Adam's sin.
 

hornetguy

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2016
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#45
Did God create mankind very good? Scripture says yes. If so, when did mankind become bad? Scripture says it was when Adam sinned. If there were other independent men, it doesn't make sense for them to become bad via Adam's sin.
Was Satan only present in the garden? I wouldn't think so.... he was cast out of heaven to earth.... not to the garden... again, just my opinion.
God created man, and He saw that the creation was good. That doesn't mean that man would never sin..... Adam did...
Man has free will, and I think that man's basic nature is not "good"....
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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#46
Perhaps that they (Adam and subsequently Eve) were made 'in the garden' simply alludes to being "within the garden (an enclosure; from the root "to grasp; enclose, palace grounds next to an estate) and this is how 'Satan' was "cast out of heaven and fell to the earth (returned to dust and hence knows 'he' has but a short time?)" in the first place. This is my own hypothesis, see " a double minded man is unstable in all his ways..." and "let your eye be single' which speaks to willing the "one thing," I believe.
To me, this clears up all of 'the fallen' controversy, whether spiritual, emotional, or physical.
 
Mar 4, 2020
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#47
This is one of those things I think I have always been puzzled by when I read Genesis... and I've always felt weird speaking up about it in Sunday school or in front of church friends, so I figured I would ask it here to get people's thoughts. As a woman I have read the first few chapters of Genesis 1000 times to try to fully understand the nature of how God created us and what it's really trying to say.

Gen 1:27 says "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." But then Gen 2:7 says "And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being." Obviously, here man (Adam) is alone... and there is no concept of male and female (except I guess among animals since God seems to have created both sexes at the same time). Then later after creating everything else and after Adam didn't find a helper "fit" for him, God creates woman from man (Gen 2:21-23).

Usually I manage to convince myself that maybe Gen 1 is just an introduction and that Gen 2 just has more detail about the order of creation. But then I get hung up on the wording "male and female" in Gen 1:27. Every translation seems to use that wording. It's just strange to me that it doesn't say "So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; man and woman He created them." So it makes me wonder if "male and female" is more general... as in "God created man" (as in created all mankind or humankind) and he also created male and female versions of things (animals, people, other concepts like masculine, feminine, etc.)... as in "woman" is just grouped into that general category.

I would love to hear anyone else's opinion or other resources. It's just one of those things that really irks me because I can't "get it."
The way it has always read to me is that both men and women were created in the image of God. Of course men and women are different from each other, but the differences are mostly biological. The male and female aspect of people is just a body function used mostly for reproduction.

Each part of our bodies such as our lungs, hands, brains, reproductive parts, etc just serve a purpose. I try not to get hung up on the reference to reproductive organs. That's just pointing out that when God made people and animals that He made them male and female, (so they could multiply) but humankind in general were made in His image.

You may look at James 3:9 where James demonstrates that the school of thought was that all people, not just men, though sinners, were still considered to be in God's image or likeness:

James 3
9With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness.
 

hornetguy

Senior Member
Jan 18, 2016
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#48
Perhaps that they (Adam and subsequently Eve) were made 'in the garden' simply alludes to being "within the garden (an enclosure; from the root "to grasp; enclose, palace grounds next to an estate) and this is how 'Satan' was "cast out of heaven and fell to the earth (returned to dust and hence knows 'he' has but a short time?)" in the first place. This is my own hypothesis, see " a double minded man is unstable in all his ways..." and "let your eye be single' which speaks to willing the "one thing," I believe.
To me, this clears up all of 'the fallen' controversy, whether spiritual, emotional, or physical.
I'm sorry.... maybe I'm just tired.... I have no clue what you are talking about.... can you clarify?
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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#49
I'm sorry.... maybe I'm just tired.... I have no clue what you are talking about.... can you clarify?
I'm sure it's no problem attributed to your comprehension. I understand where this might come to you from left field but, I'm currently entertaining the idea that 'angel' is speaking to the spirit of humans, and I haven't been able to dismiss the possibility to date. For example, doesn't the designation of 'the son of the morning" sound like it could be a reference to Adam, who is God's "first creation'? If so, then "the morning stars" may be among the "first' humans. In other words, I have a time believing in actual winged creatures playing harps on the clouds, or with goat horns and hoofs.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
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#50
I'm sure it's no problem attributed to your comprehension. I understand where this might come to you from left field but, I'm currently entertaining the idea that 'angel' is speaking to the spirit of humans, and I haven't been able to dismiss the possibility to date. For example, doesn't the designation of 'the son of the morning" sound like it could be a reference to Adam, who is God's "first creation'? If so, then "the morning stars" may be among the "first' humans. In other words, I have a time believing in actual winged creatures playing harps on the clouds, or with goat horns and hoofs.
There is a description of some angels in Isaiah 6
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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#51
There is a description of some angels in Isaiah 6
Noting that this is Isaiah's vision of the Lord in His Glory
these seraphim call out to one another
"holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory" 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke."
Isaiah is receiving an illustration translating to him God's glory, and the root "saraph" is "to burn," so these are made of fire, as another verse says of God's angels, he makes his angels a fiery flame. How do we know for sure this isn't "explaining in earthly terms" the Spirit(s) of God (such as like the lamb has seven eyes, which are the spirits of God that go into all the earth)?
Just saying, heavenly matter is difficult to grasp, by nature.
 

Cameron143

Well-known member
Mar 1, 2022
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#52
Noting that this is Isaiah's vision of the Lord in His Glory
these seraphim call out to one another
"holy, holy, holy is the LORD of Hosts; all the earth is full of His glory" 4 At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook, and the temple was filled with smoke."
Isaiah is receiving an illustration translating to him God's glory, and the root "saraph" is "to burn," so these are made of fire, as another verse says of God's angels, he makes his angels a fiery flame. How do we know for sure this isn't "explaining in earthly terms" the Spirit(s) of God (such as like the lamb has seven eyes, which are the spirits of God that go into all the earth)?
Just saying, heavenly matter is difficult to grasp, by nature.
There's more description given. They have 6 wings for various uses.
I do agree that visions aren't always written in easily interpreted language, but this vision seems pretty straightforward to me.
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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#53
There's more description given. They have 6 wings for various uses.
I do agree that visions aren't always written in easily interpreted language, but this vision seems pretty straightforward to me.
Most do take that position and I can't begrudge them. However, is there an actual throne which God literally has to go to sit on?
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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#54
Was Cain Adam and Eve's firstborn, or merely the firstborn after the pain of labor is introduce and the prophecy of the seed is given? There is a thought that Eve likely thought that Cain was that promised seed going by the Hebrew rendering of the passage, 'she named him Cain because "I have gotten (the?) man, namely, the LORD," rather than "I have gotten a man (by) the LORD"
 

Mem

Senior Member
Sep 23, 2014
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#55
Was Cain Adam and Eve's firstborn, or merely the firstborn after the pain of labor is introduce and the prophecy of the seed is given? There is a thought that Eve likely thought that Cain was that promised seed going by the Hebrew rendering of the passage, 'she named him Cain because "I have gotten (the?) man, namely, the LORD," rather than "I have gotten a man (by) the LORD"
So, if that claim is more accurate in saying, "I have gotten (The) Son, the Lord" even though she was mistaken, then Adam's subsequently calling her "mother of all living" would make a lot more sense, as he would've expected the fulfillment of the seed to come to pass as well.
 

Moses_Young

Well-known member
Sep 15, 2019
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#56
So, if that claim is more accurate in saying, "I have gotten (The) Son, the Lord" even though she was mistaken, then Adam's subsequently calling her "mother of all living" would make a lot more sense, as he would've expected the fulfillment of the seed to come to pass as well.
I read a good (Messianic Jewish) commentary on this. It's true - in the original text, it's literally - "I have gotten a man - the Lord", as if Eve thought she had given birth to the Messiah.