The evolution of Adam - flesh and blood and flesh and bone.
Last week we looked at how all are considered to be made of and originate from the dust.
Being formed of the the dust of the ground does not make Adam and his wife Eve a special creation, since this forming of the dust is applied to everything.
What renders Adam, Eve and all of us special, is the spirit or breath of life, that was breathed in at that time.
This has an intriguing effect only subtly hinted at.
It has to do with the difference between the phrases "flesh and blood" and "flesh and bone"
We find these phrases used in a number of places:
For instance Jesus uses the phrase in response to Peter's reply to His question regarding his identity and mission.
Matthew 16:17 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for
flesh and bloodhath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.
Paul likes the phrase too:
from Galatians
Galatians 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with
flesh and blood:
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
from Ephesians
Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
12 For we wrestle not against
flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
from Corinthians
Corinthians 15:50 Now this I say, brethren, that
flesh and bloodcannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption.
In vs 50 we see that flesh and blood is tied to 'corruption' and mortality in the context of the resurrection and the transition from corruption to incorruption and mortality to immortality.
51 Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but
we shall all be changed,
52 In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and
the dead shall be raised incorruptible, andwe shall be changed.
53 For this
corruptiblemust put onincorruption, and thismortalmust put onimmortality.
54 So when this
corruptible shall have put on incorruption, andthis mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
from Hebrews
Hebrews 2:14 Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of
flesh and blood, he also himself likewisetook part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;
Again flesh and blood is tied to mortality of all mankind (via inheritance) and also that Christ took on the same.
So prior to Jesus Christ's crucifixion and resurrection He and all mortals are referred to as having a body of flesh and blood
Post resurrection this changes.
Luke 24:39 Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not
flesh and bones, as ye see me have.
we also find a body of flesh and bone prior to the fall in Eden.
Genesis 2:23 And Adam said, This is now
bone of my bones, andflesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.
So Adam's body prior to the fall, is a body of flesh and bone and not flesh and blood, similariy Christ's body is one of flesh and blood and later becomes one of flesh and bone
It is from this context that we begin to understand the command to the Israelite's not to eat blood.
Leviticus 17:11 For
the life of the flesh is in the blood: and I have given it to you upon the altar to make an atonement for your souls: forit is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul.
12 Therefore I said unto the children of Israel, No soul of you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger that sojourneth among you eat blood.
13 And whatsoever man there be of the children of Israel, or of the strangers that sojourn among you, which hunteth and catcheth any beast or fowl that may be eaten; he shall even pour out the blood thereof, and cover it with dust.
14 For it is the life of all flesh;
the blood of it is for the life thereof: therefore I said unto the children of Israel, Ye shall eat the blood of no manner of flesh: forthe life of all flesh is the blood thereof: whosoever eateth it shall be cut off.
Next time we'll look at the implications of this subtlety.
Previous parts of this Series.
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Delving a little deeper
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Into the detail
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some conclusions
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - Some more conclusions
Were the seven days of creation in Genesis seven twenty four hour periods? - The implications.
The evolution of Adam - a conundrum
The evolution of Adam - Who is Adam
The evolution of Adam - Two trees and choice
The evolution of Adam - Partaking of the fruit and feeling naked
The evolution of Adam - Was there death before Adam
The evolution of Adam - The biological purpose of death.
The evolution of Adam - The need for a Redeemer
Wow, this is such an amazing post! What an in-depth look into the scriptures and into the creation of man and our ultimate evolution back into spiritual beings.
These passages really stuck out to me:
As a member of the LDS church, those particular verses are some of the most important ones that we are familiar with. Out on the mission we go over those verses with our investigators and describe how the ultimate goal is to change from our corrupted state into an incorruptible state which will be worthy of returning to God's presence.
That's why repentance is such a huge cornerstone of our church. We stress that it's ok to make those mistakes that we make as human beings, because we are human. But the important thing is to recognize when we do fall short of the glory of God, and adjust our actions accordingly in order to try to truly follow the example that Christ set for us and make ourselves worthy of the blessings that come from living on that spiritual level and constantly trying to better ourselves, to keep ourselves worthy of entering the Temple.
Thank you for posting this, I look forward to further additions to the series!
what about islamic view in this sitution.. In Islam we believe that God created Adam from Dust and Satan from fire.. and then God created eva from adam's Chest rib, god created her when Adam was asleep to for not feel pain taking his rib. otherwise Adam will hate eva because its pain for him. but God is most Mercful. in this creation there is wisdom. eva was created from something painful to make her strong enough to resist pain more than man three times. because when she suffer from pain she loves more the oppiset of man when he feels pain he Hates. so when woman born her baby that is painful opration but she bear tat with love.; to gives love to her baby. God bless of us.. hope you read my article and reply to me. and don't find my article weird because of Islamophobia lol. God bless you and grant you the best.
what about islamic view in this sitution.. In Islam we believe that God created Adam from Dust and Satan from fire.. and then God created eva from adam's Chest rib, god created her when Adam was asleep to for not feel pain taking his rib. otherwise Adam will hate eva because its pain for him. but God is most Mercful. in this creation there is wisdom. eva was created from something painful to make her strong enough to resist pain more than man three times. because when she suffer from pain she loves more the oppiset of man when he feels pain he Hates. so when woman born her baby that is painful opration but she bear tat with love.; to gives love to her baby. God bless of us.. hope you read my article and reply to me. and don't find my article weird because of Islamophobia lol. God bless you and grant you the best.
We could see in the future what happened when Christ died on the cross. The holy people went back to life (which were killed again by people). That is what will happenn shortly before Christ will come back from heaven.
The blood is the life, innit? If I understand the above correctly, flesh and bone is somehow purer, raised direct from the dust with the spirit of life breathed straight in. The blood makes it mortal life, throbbing and hot and oh-so-corruptible by the wiles of the world.
So we do not eat the blood because ... we add the corruption of others on to our own?
No matter what people believe; but this is written perfect ! Thanks for this quality post.
All of The evolution of Adam series has been very interesting to read. @cleverbot some religions does not find it acceptable to introduce other people blood or intake blood into the body.
I don't think about it.
thanks sharing this post.
So these are from the Bible right?
I will also be sharing some from Islamic point of view.
Go ahead no knowledge is lost, at some point bible and koran have its own similarities.
Bone and flesh or blood and flesh, , I can understand a all the creatures must have it ...
Thankyou for sharing
Fascinating post @gavvet. It does not matter how you spin it, the creation of man is still incredible and surely something that cannot simply happen out of random circumstances! Keep up the good work!
Adama in Hebrew means Earth. Is the Genesis story actually describing how God infused the Earth with life? And a big unanswered question, who was Lilith?