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ChristMyLife
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In Genesis chapter 4 we read about Cain and Abel.
In the first 16 verses of this chapter, it seems on the surface to indicate that there are only 4 human beings on the entire planet - Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel.
However, when we look a little deeper, we see a problem. It is STRONGLY implied that there are MANY other “people” around. Now, as a believer in Thomistic Evolution, I would say these are highly advanced, anatomically modern hominids who have an animal soul, not a human soul. Since their bodies are fully developed, they are able to embody all of the highest capabilities of the sensitive/animal soul - they have a crude language, they can use crude tools, they have a very basic community, a crude understanding of social norms and right/wrong, etc. But they lack the ability to grasp abstract concepts like eternity, God, advanced language, sin, etc.
In this community of Hominids, God creates Adam and Eve. The first true homosapiens given a new, special soul. A soul created in the Image of God, a rational, immortal soul. Thus they are capable of grasping death and eternity, sin and evil, advanced linguistic concepts, etc.
Anyway, in Genesis 4:8-10, we read of Cain asking his brother Abel to go out into a field with him. The only logical reason why we can assume Cain wants to bring Abel to a secluded field, is so he can get away from the rest of the community and murder his brother in secret, without upsetting all the other members of their community.
In a footnote on Gen 4:8 in the NABRE, we read “Let us go out in the field: to avoid detection. The verse presumes a sizeable population which Genesis does not otherwise explain.”
Next we have Cain saying in verse 14 that he’s scared anybody who sees him will kill him… Well, if Genesis is interpreted in a certain way, it doesn’t make any sense since there are only 3 people alive on earth - Cain and his parents Adam and Eve. However, interpreting it in light of Thomistic Evolution, it makes perfect sense. Cain has been given the mark of a murderer, so when he encounters other tribespeople, they may get angry and attack him.
Lastly, in Gen 4:17 we have the issue of Cain’s wife. This is absolute, indisputable evidence that there are other people alive walking Earth besides those explicitly mentioned in Genesis. Before this verse, a certain reading of Genesis would have us believe that Adam, Eve, and Cain are the ONLY people on earth. But then this verse shows Cain had a wife! So either Adam and Eve had an unmentioned daughter who Cain is married to, or he took a wife from a near-human tribe he lived near and mated with her, and God created that person also with a fully rational human soul, and on and on down to our day.
Now I know my theology on this is rather crude in and of itself, but I think this line of exegesis can be expanded upon greatly, and we can have a solid understanding as to how our theology can complement instead of contradict modern science.
In the first 16 verses of this chapter, it seems on the surface to indicate that there are only 4 human beings on the entire planet - Adam, Eve, Cain, and Abel.
However, when we look a little deeper, we see a problem. It is STRONGLY implied that there are MANY other “people” around. Now, as a believer in Thomistic Evolution, I would say these are highly advanced, anatomically modern hominids who have an animal soul, not a human soul. Since their bodies are fully developed, they are able to embody all of the highest capabilities of the sensitive/animal soul - they have a crude language, they can use crude tools, they have a very basic community, a crude understanding of social norms and right/wrong, etc. But they lack the ability to grasp abstract concepts like eternity, God, advanced language, sin, etc.
In this community of Hominids, God creates Adam and Eve. The first true homosapiens given a new, special soul. A soul created in the Image of God, a rational, immortal soul. Thus they are capable of grasping death and eternity, sin and evil, advanced linguistic concepts, etc.
Anyway, in Genesis 4:8-10, we read of Cain asking his brother Abel to go out into a field with him. The only logical reason why we can assume Cain wants to bring Abel to a secluded field, is so he can get away from the rest of the community and murder his brother in secret, without upsetting all the other members of their community.
In a footnote on Gen 4:8 in the NABRE, we read “Let us go out in the field: to avoid detection. The verse presumes a sizeable population which Genesis does not otherwise explain.”
Next we have Cain saying in verse 14 that he’s scared anybody who sees him will kill him… Well, if Genesis is interpreted in a certain way, it doesn’t make any sense since there are only 3 people alive on earth - Cain and his parents Adam and Eve. However, interpreting it in light of Thomistic Evolution, it makes perfect sense. Cain has been given the mark of a murderer, so when he encounters other tribespeople, they may get angry and attack him.
Lastly, in Gen 4:17 we have the issue of Cain’s wife. This is absolute, indisputable evidence that there are other people alive walking Earth besides those explicitly mentioned in Genesis. Before this verse, a certain reading of Genesis would have us believe that Adam, Eve, and Cain are the ONLY people on earth. But then this verse shows Cain had a wife! So either Adam and Eve had an unmentioned daughter who Cain is married to, or he took a wife from a near-human tribe he lived near and mated with her, and God created that person also with a fully rational human soul, and on and on down to our day.
Now I know my theology on this is rather crude in and of itself, but I think this line of exegesis can be expanded upon greatly, and we can have a solid understanding as to how our theology can complement instead of contradict modern science.