Expert: Pastor Don Carpenter - 10/26/2011

Question
QUESTION: Thank you for reading my first take on Genesis 1. Here is my take on Genesis 2. I don't believe that anyone else has come up with this interpretation as of yet. Please let me know what you think.

Having examined Genesis Chapter 1 we can see that the entire creation story is meant figuratively and symbolically. The truths that it teaches are inerrant, but the story itself is not literal.

Moving on the Genesis chapter 2 we move to a story which is partly figurative and partly true in the literal sense. This is sometimes referred to as the second story of creation because it appears to differ so much from the first in Genesis 1. Here God creates Adam from the earth. And it is true, God created mankind from the elements found on the earth. A human’s flesh is made up of things found on the planet earth. Mankind is not a foreign being to the earth. He comes from its elements, and when he dies his body decomposes and returns to the earth form which it came.

Before we begin, let us first note that there is the natural and the supernatural. God works in both realms. For example, Jesus resurrection was a supernatural event. But the birth of a child is a natural event.

So what is my new interpretation of Genesis 2? Well in Genesis 1 God creates mankind by means of divinely directed evolution. But science tells us that homo sapiens first walked in Africa, not in Mesopotamia. What of that? Well I believe that man did first walk in Africa. God created man in His image. But that does not mean that the first homo sapiens had eternal souls. It is believed even that homo sapiens interbred with Neaderthals, because they were so genetically similar that they were able to do so.

So what of Adam and the Garden of Eden? Was there such a place. Well I believe that the answer is yes. God took one of these homo sapiens and breathed into him the breath of life. Or in other words, gave him and eternal soul. He might have done this at the moment of conception. I also believe that God genetically improved upon mankind when He created Adam. I believe Adam was able to live longer and be more resistant to disease than other homo sapiens. Also I believe God rid Adam of all genetic defects, making him genetically perfect. But he was a homo sapien nonetheless.

God created a garden in Eden, which is now in modern day Iraq. I believe this garden was a gnotobiotic (a germ free environment). There He placed the man and had fellowship with him. God brought to him many different kinds of animals that had been previously created out of the elements of the earth, just as he and his ancestors had been. Adam named them and played with them, but Adam really needed a woman. So God gave him a woman. Did God take out Adam’s rib and create a woman for him. I don’t think so. That is the figurative part of the story. But what the meaning of that part is that the woman was just like Adam. She was the flesh of his flesh.

When we look at this story one reason we know that is it partially allegorical is that the serpent is literally a serpent. It is not the devil. In Genesis 3 it says: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made.” This is talking about a real serpent. It doesn’t say that it is the devil. It refers to the serpent as a beast of the field, not as a fallen angel. Also when God punishes the serpent He says to it: “Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life.” God is telling the serpent that he is cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field…God did not tell the serpent that he is cursed above all angels.

Yet even though this is a literal serpent in the story, the serpent represents evil in the story. He represents evil figuratively. He represents the devil figuratively, even though in the story he is not presented as the devil. Why is this the case? Because some of the neighboring pagan religions had serpents as their gods. These gods are evil, so the serpent represents evil. It represents the devil and the work he does on earth.

Adam and Eve disobey God and are kicked out of the Garden. But because God has blessed these people He still allows them to miraculously lived to over 900 years. This is not something natural, but miraculous. How do we know this? Because in Genesis 6 it says: “And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.” So we know that the fact that the descendants of Adam were able to live to over 900 years happened because God’s Spirit made sure it happened. Once God removed His protecting hand, mankind lost that ability. But most men are able to live only about 70 or 80 years or so…why does God give man 120 in Genesis 6? In Psalm 90:10 it says: “The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.” Well the homo sapiens that God first created could live up to 70 or 80 years, give or take, but Adam and his descendents could live to 120, that’s why I said that God created Adam with the ability to live a bit longer than other homo sapiens. But not all that much longer…only about 40 years longer.

And you may ask where in scripture does it say that there were other homo sapiens around? Well again we must look at Genesis 6. It says: “And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, that the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose.” The Sons of God are the descendents of Adam, and the daughters of men are the other homo sapiens. Adam is referred to as the “Son of God” in Luke 3: 38. The human soul was passed onto other homo sapiens by means of interbreeding. The idea of “seminal headship” proves this. Adam’s sin and the eternal soul is passed down by the male seed. How do we know this. Man’s soul, and also Adam’s sin, is passed down by the male seed. We know this because Jesus had no human father, and that is why Jesus was sinless. His spirit came from the heavens, while his flesh came from Mary.

So God put Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. They sinned and were kicked out. For a long time they only interbred with their own kind, but eventually they interbred with the other homo sapiens on the earth. Because of this God took His spirit from them and only allowed them to live 120 years, as was the natural lifespan for the descendents of Adam. Cain must have interbred with the other homo sapiens because the life spans of his descendents are not mentioned. Eventually Noah and the flood came. The flood main purpose was to destroy the descendents of Adam and it did. The flood was not a world wide flood, but a flood that encompassed the known world of the time. How do I know this? In Luke 2:1 it says: “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed.” The passage says that all the world should be taxed. But every Fundamentalist preacher will agree with me that this means the known world. Or basically the Roman Empire. Because August Caesar had power only over the Roman Empire, and the Americas were yet to be discovered. If this is the case here, then there is not reason to doubt that it is also the case when it comes to the flood of Noah. So when it says that the whole world was flooded it might mean that the whole known world of the time was flooded, which would mean a regional flood. This flood left only 8 people who had children which interbred with the other homo sapiens on the earth. These 8 people were the ones who passed down the eternal soul into their descendents. Their descendents interbred with other homo sapiens on the earth, and that’s how the human soul passed on to homo sapiens who were only able to live about 70 or 80 years.

One reason I came to believe in evolution is that I learned from an evolutionary biologist that the human genome is too diverse to allow that human came from only 8 people only 5,000 years ago. If these 8 people interbred with other homo sapiens, then this could make sense.

Also if we take the Bible too literally we see that the earth is only about 6,000 years old. How is this number acquired? The Bible doesn’t say that the earth is 6,000 years old. What Bible scholars do is add up the life spans of people in the Bible and that’s how they come up with the number. But if the human race that came from Adam is really hundreds of thousands of years old, then to list the descendents of Adam would take of gigantic book. So what do I think happened? The author of Genesis mentioned Adam, but when it came to his descendents he only listed the highlights. When it says that X was father of X, it means that X was father of the ancestor of X, who was special enough to mention. Between the people listed there could be thousands of years. Jesus is called the Son of David, but David live hundreds of years before Jesus. Sonship is not what one might thing it is in the modern day. If we look at the geneology of Jesus as spelled out in Matthew we noticed that some people are skipped, because there were not worthy of being in the list. And so only in the same fashion, only those worthy enough to be mentioned in Adam’s descendents was mentioned. For example in Matthew’s Gospel Jekoiakim is not mentioned, because he was thought to be unworthy of being mentioned.

And so to sum up my theory. God created the universe over billions of years. The first chapter of Genesis spells out God’s creation figuratively. The second story of creation tells of the fall of man, but in a half figurative and half literal way, just as Jesus’ parable of Lazarus and the rich man was partly literal and partly literal. The Bible starts with a figurative story of creation. Moves on to a partly literal and partly figurative story of the fall of man. And then moves on to more literal stories of how God interacted with His creations and with mankind. God created the things in this world by means of divinely directed evolution. He created mankind in His image. But when it came to creating the eternal human soul He did that in Eden when he took apart one man and one woman away from the multitudes of humanity (homo sapiens). God expelled them out of Eden when they sinned. They lived separated from the rest of mankind till about the time of Noah, when they were only left with the 120 years they were given naturally when God modified Adam and Eve genetically. After the flood Noah and his descendents intermarried with the rest of humanity and by means of this intermarriage they eternal soul was passed down to all men. Adam was the first man God created. But that means that Adam was the first man with an eternal soul that God created. Adam lived hundreds of thousands of years ago, not only 6,000 years ago, since the Biblical genealogies only list the most prominent figures when it comes to Adam’s descendents. Noah’s flood was only regional…and the rest of the Bible is mostly literal…with occasion instances of Biblical metaphors and Biblical poetry.

Thanks!!

ANSWER: Hi Chris,

Thank you for taking the time to write a commentary on Genesis 2.  My input is simple and similar to what I have told you.  I do find that your hermenutic (science of Bible interpretation) is consistant with what you did with Genesis 1.  You hold to some as literal then others as figurative.   I believe that you have the general concept of the truths taught here, but as you know, I do not hold to your same hermenutic.

In Christ
Pastor Don

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks for your responses. They were rather short. I was hoping for a bit more input. I was actually told by a Messianic Rabbi that Genesis 1 is Hebrew poetry. Even if it is not poetry, the things contained in it show us not to take it literally. I think that's basically what the rabbi was saying. The main reason I think that taking Genesis 2 in a figurative manner, at least partly, is correct is because the serpent is literally a serpent in the story, and not the devil. He might represent the devil, but then you have to take it metaphorically/figuratively. That says a lot.

The Sons of God are not angels who have materialized bodies, like the Jehovah's Witnesses believe. They are real men. By why is it the Sons of God who marry the daughters of men, and not the Sons of men who marry the daughters of God? Seminal headship. The daughters of men are the members of the homo sapien race that do not come from Adam, but instead evolved. They have no eternal souls. The Sons of God come from Adam's race, and therefore have eternal souls. The eternal soul and the sin of Adam is passed down by the male seed.

That's all. Thanks!

Answer
Hi Chris,

Thank you for more interesting views.  This time around I can agree with you quite a bit.  You are absolutely right that the Sons of God are humans.  I do not believe that they are fallen angels.  Just so you know many conservative scholars hold this view.  I do not.  God's word tells us what it means.

The seed of Seth started to become believers in the One true God.

Genesis 4:26 (AV#
26 And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD.


The Bible tells us that to call upon the Lord in faith is to access salvation.

Romans 10:13 #AV#
13 For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.


The Bible tells us that those who have believed are called the Sons of God.

John 1:12 #AV#
12 But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name:


The Daughters of men were by contrast those who have not believed.  The result was offspring that had enough truth to be vaccinated from really believing in the One True God... therefore the world turned very evil.  We are told in the New Testament that it is a very bad thing to unite a believer with an unbeliever.

2 Corinthians 6:14–17 #AV)
14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,


I do not agree that there were humans with no souls.  There are some who would embrace that view that some humans evolved and did not come from Adam, therefore have no soul and are not really human.  People who hold to that allege that it is the black race that evolved from apes and have no soul.  You can see how dangerous and evil this conclusion can be.  

So we can find a place we agree!  The Sons of God were humans not demons intermarrying.  This is a good day  :)  I am sorry for the brevity of some of my replies... it is just that often I have 4 or 5 questions to answer and I cannot give a point by point review of a long and detailed commentary of a passage.  I generally do not have that kind of time.  

I hope that this helps you Chris.

In Christ
Pastor Don