Is there any biological evidence of special creation?

[McCulloch]

Is there any biological evidence of special creation?

God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind, livestock, creeping things, and animals of the earth after their kind;” and it was so. God made the animals of the earth after their kind, and the livestock after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind. God saw that it was good.
God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the birds of the sky, and over the livestock, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in his own image. In God’s image he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them. God said to them, “Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food. To every animal of the earth, and to every bird of the sky, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food;” and it was so.

This seems to indicate, whether you are a literalist or not, that god created humans distinctly and separately from the other animals. However, the fact remains that genetically we are little more than bald chimps - chimpanzees are more closely related to us than they are to gorillas. If taxonomists could get around the political resistance,

there are not one but three species of genus Homo on Earth today: the common chimpanzee, Homo troglodytes; the pygmy chimpanzee, Homo paniscus; and the third chimpanzee or human chimpanzee, Homo sapiens." (p.21)

The biological evidence points to our common evolution (or creation, if you will) with the chimpanzees, separate from the gorillas, gabons and monkeys. Is there any biological evidence of special creation for homo sapiens?

[israeltour]

Can you tell which living things have a spirit?

Yes. All living people. No animals or plants.

Because you say so?

Of course not silly. The BIBLE tells me so.

Does it now? The Bible talks abotu souls, not spirits (Other than the spirit of God.) So are you sure of your claim here?

1 Corinthians 2:11, "Who knows the thoughts of a man, but the spirit of the man that is in Him?"

So you are basing all this on one single verse? That's a rater significant extrapolation. You are not one of those who base all of your "christian" beliefs on single verses, are you? I has expected something like an explanation of how this was pervasive throughout the Bible and used in multiple contexts etc. Instead you give me only one verse with no explanation or anything? Essentially, that's a one-liner, isn't it?

I was just showing that the Bible indicates people have spirits. This verse does that.

[israeltour]

Neanderthals? God did what He did, and the scriptures are silent on what that was here. My personal opinion is they didn't have souls or spirits, because God's focus seems to have been on the redemption of the human soul, as opposed to Neanderthals. That leads me to conclude that Neanderthals had no souls to redeem. Should it turn out they had souls however, then Jesus died for their sins as well ours.

But what is a soul? Neither Biologists or surgeons have ever encountered or interfered with one to my knowledge. And all this talk of redemption is a language that you speak that makes no sense to me. The sin that you think of as original is simply our evolutionary heritage in my native tongue.

My prayer is that you will understand it one day.

[israeltour]

Neanderthals? God did what He did, and the scriptures are silent on what that was here. My personal opinion is they didn't have souls or spirits, because God's focus seems to have been on the redemption of the human soul, as opposed to Neanderthals. That leads me to conclude that Neanderthals had no souls to redeem. Should it turn out they had souls however, then Jesus died for their sins as well ours.

Biblical scripture states that every living creature is in possession of a soul. Read Genesis.

Can you give me a verse please?

[The Happy Humanist]

Finally, if you are really trying to dialog with me, and I state something seems outrageous, please try asking if such-and-such is what I mean. Don't characterize me, because you've been wrong on every count so far... yet you persist.

Israel:

What you say resonates greatly with me. I am here to dialog, just as you are, and I certainly don't want to shove my worldview down anyone's throat, or insult anyone's faith. I realize that you yourself are just sharing your worldview and not trying to force anyone else to see it that way.

But the big picture is this: Many Christians are not satisfied at merely "dialoging" <sp?>. They want their worldview legislated. I don't know if you agree with this, I doubt you do. But if we non-theists appear to get a little hot under the collar, or start using strong language to characterize your worldview, please understand that we are alarmed at the progress the Christian Right is making in this effort, and aside from exerting whatever political power we have to stem the tide, we feel that perhaps engaging Christians in dialog to dissuade them from this effort may be in order. Our frustration is further exacerbated by the "set-in-cement" mindset we encounter here. The Christian religion iis teflon-coated: Every conceivable attempt to pierce it has a corresponding parry. If we attempt to show the Bible to be contradictory, there are mind-bending "apologetics" to account for this. If we show the logical absurdity of a God that creates the potential for sin, then bears no responsibility for its realization, we are told about Free Will, as if that absolves God of responsibility (why would a deity need to be loved, or glorified, or whatever?) And if all else fails and we seem to make a point, we are told that you either "know" God exists through faith (for which we have no real effective counter), or that "earthly wisdom is foolishness in the eyes of God" - the ultimate Teflon coating!

So if our language begins to betray some degree of exasperation, please understand, it's nothing personal.

[Curious]

Biblical scripture states that every living creature is in possession of a soul. Read Genesis.

Can you give me a verse please?

Genesis 1:20-22

[Jose]

Biblical scripture states that every living creature is in possession of a soul. Read Genesis.

Can you give me a verse please?

Genesis 1:20-22

[20] And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
[21] And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
[22] And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.

I can't find the souls. Maybe that's because I'm a guy, and we can't find things in refrigerators either.

Still, the presence or absence of "souls" or "spirits" tells little about evidence for creation. We're dealing with textual interpretation, which means everyone is free to form their own opinion. Where's the evidence?

[Curious]

Genesis 1:20-22

[20] And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
[21] And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
[22] And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.I can't find the souls. Maybe that's because I'm a guy, and we can't find things in refrigerators either.

Sorry about that I forgot you might be reading KJV translation. Makes it hard to explain when most bibles have been translated incorrectly. Ok I figure even KJV cant get this next translation wrong:
Genesis 9:4-6

BTW I don't believe in the Genesis account of creation so I'm probably not the best person to ask for evidence to support it.

[israeltour]

Genesis 1:20-22

[20] And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
[21] And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
[22] And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.I can't find the souls. Maybe that's because I'm a guy, and we can't find things in refrigerators either.

Sorry about that I forgot you might be reading KJV translation. Makes it hard to explain when most bibles have been translated incorrectly. Ok I figure even KJV cant get this next translation wrong:
Genesis 9:4-6

BTW I don't believe in the Genesis account of creation so I'm probably not the best person to ask for evidence to support it.

But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man."

If you are referring to the animal's life force (I'm coining a phrase here) as its soul, the word soul was not used in this translation, and I am not surprised, as I am not referring to a being's life source. The life force ceases go exist when the animal, plant, or person, dies. The life force, as I am defining it here, is really just the physical manifestation of the complex chemical reactions that makes something "alive". When something dies, the "life force" has ceased to exist. When I talke of one's spirit or soul, I am referring to the being that is the real us, the being that inhabiting our body. When our body dies, our spirit, being not of this world, lives on. I am explaining for the sake of clarity, not debate, so that I can try getting us onto common ground regarding biblical interpretation of the sould and the spirit.

I have found that in every day life, people do not distinguish between "soul" and "spirit". In fact, you will find that I do not generally distinguish between to two. However, I occasionally encounter one who will say the "soul" and the "spirit" are not the same, and will refer to the "soul" as being the life force that ceases to exist upon death.

You will find that I am particularly tied to my vocabulary. I try to use words to be clear, and will embrace your own definition for the sake of clarity when my own does not communicate my meaning to you. So, if you are interpreting "soul" to be "life force", then I will agree that animals have a "soul". However, in everyday conversation with Christians, "soul" generally means "spirit", and since animals do not have spirits, there can be an apparent disagreement when really the issue is vocabulary.

Finally, to relate this back to the thread, monkeys may have souls (depending on your definition), but do not have spirits. You will not find any physical manifestation of the spirit, and so by ruling out scientific or repeatable physical evidence, I will have to concede that there is no evidence of the spirit. Personally, I believe there is a distinct quality to the human being that goes beyond our mere physical differences. It is something I see even in mentally handicapped people... though I often stop seeing it in elderly who reach a chronic vegetative state from causes such as dementia and alzheimers disease. I have in fact wondered whether the spirit doesn't leave a body when the body is still alive, but useless. I only think these things however, because I truly believe, and think I perceive, God and the spiritual. Were I an atheist however, with no perception of God or the spiritual, then I would conclude that the distinctness in humanity is simply a result of our evolution. Therefore?

Therefore, I see how alike human DNA and chimp DNA are, and I find it interesting that the small difference is enough to make our bodies suitable for God's purpose. No evidence of the non-spiritual nature, and this thread is seeking non-spiritual evidence. Sorry, I have none to give. However, I can attempt to provide clarity on what someone on my side of the aisle believes. I have nothing to debate you with, but I can discuss.

[steen]

Well, this is getting beyond the scope the thread, but the answer is Satan.

Ah, so Satan's "creative powers" are as great as God's? That's how you justify this?

Oh please. I'm not justifying disease.

No, you are justifying that Satan created diseases.

Wow. You think I've justified it? That's scary. I wasn't even trying.

So why did you claim that Satan could create diseases?

So I am wondering if this mean that Satan has all this power to create that the Bible never mentions.

I wonder, too. Let me know what you find out.

but it was your claim regarding Satan that is the cause for these speculations.

Are you perhaps saying that your initial claim was wrong? Because you sure sound like you said that Satan has creative powers. Are you retracting that claim?

[Curious]

But you shall not eat flesh with its life, that is, its blood. Surely for your lifeblood I will demand a reckoning; from the hand of every beast I will require it, and from the hand of man. From the hand of every man's brother I will require the life of man. "Whoever sheds man's blood, by man his blood shall be shed; for in the image of God He made man."

Oh dear, I think you had better look for the verses from direct translation from the Torah. It is pointless trying to give verses from different translations and the Torah is the best option in this case. Do a web search for "english Torah" or something similar. Look for Bereishit 9:4-6 (equivalent to Genesis). You may need to look at several of these and note that even these have differences in translation.