Genesis 3:19...

[EveryTongueConfess]

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.

Hi again
I was just reading stuff and found this verse to be interesting

please explain to me how evolution fits into this as
it says
Humans were created from the dust of the Earth and then when we die we will return to dust
that works fine for creation but i believe in Evolution, though im not that strong with it, but how does this work for Evolution...
we can compare the dust to animals, but then when we die we go back to animals?
i dont get this, please again dont argue with me...just explain

Thanks guys!!

 

[laconicstudent]

When we die, our bodies decompose. That is what both Biology and this verse are obviously saying. There isn't the slightest conflict here. The part about being made from the dust of the earth is an allegory.

 

[Assyrian]

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.

Hi again
I was just reading stuff and found this verse to be interesting

please explain to me how evolution fits into this as
it says
Humans were created from the dust of the Earth and then when we die we will return to dust
that works fine for creation but i believe in Evolution, though im not that strong with it, but how does this work for Evolution...
we can compare the dust to animals, but then when we die we go back to animals?
i dont get this, please again dont argue with me...just explain

Thanks guys!!

Being made of dust is a really common biblical metaphor. It speaks about how humble we are before God and it speak of our mortality because when we die that is what we become, at least in a dry desert climate. Gen 18:27 Abraham answered and said, "Behold, I have undertaken to speak to the Lord, I who am but dust and ashes. Psalm 103:14 For he knows our frame; he remembers that we are dust. Eccles 12:7 and the dust returns to the earth as it was, and the spirit returns to God who gave it. Our bodies returning to dust, doesn't mean we didn't have a natural mother and father who had mothers and fathers of their own. There is no contradiction between the biblical imagery of being made of dust and God forming us by natural processes.

What Adam was told, dust you are and to dust you will return, was that he was mortal and cut of from God his mortality would take its natural course. Adam wasn't going to die because God made him mortal for eating the fruit, He was already mortal but when he sinned God threw him out of the Garden cut of from the Tree of Life. In other words mortal man once had a relationship with God and the promise of everlasting life. Sin cut us off from God and the promise of resurrection. Interesting imagery the Tree of Life, we have eternal life because Jesus bore our sins on a tree 1Pet 2:24.

 

[EveryTongueConfess]

Thanks Assyrian

wait so it doesnt have to do with creation, except that we are humble
ahh please explain the second part different

 

[Papias]

Seems to me that it works fine either way.


Literally, we do return to dust. We decompose, and if dry, that separted material is dust. Sure some dust (like the sand in a desert) is largely inorganic, but not all or even most. It's not like all dust is composed of the same material - and lots of dust is organic matter, such as the dust in a house or in rainforest. Remember that science has shown that all our molecules keep recycleing through the biosphere, sometimes making up people, sometimes making up dust, sometimes making up plants, animals, fungus, etc.


Figuratively, it also works fine, as has been discussed with regard to humility.

You're not surprised, are you, that the same text can have useful meaning in both a figurative as well as a literal sense, are you?

Papias

 

[Assyrian]

Thanks Assyrian

wait so it doesnt have to do with creation, except that we are humble
ahh please explain the second part different

Which bit do you mean?

 

[philadiddle]

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.

Hi again
I was just reading stuff and found this verse to be interesting

please explain to me how evolution fits into this as
it says
Humans were created from the dust of the Earth and then when we die we will return to dust
that works fine for creation but i believe in Evolution, though im not that strong with it, but how does this work for Evolution...
we can compare the dust to animals, but then when we die we go back to animals?
i dont get this, please again dont argue with me...just explain

Thanks guys!!

How were you created from the dust of the ground? I mean you specifically, as an individual. If you weren't made from the dust of the ground, but were instead born from your parents, then it must be referring to something else. If it's referring to how God originally made mankind, then we could look at the creation of Adam or the rise of self replicating molecules (abiogenesis) to both fully satisfy the verse. As for the second half, it has been talked about in this thread already. The meaning is basically that we are a part of His creation and we are mortal.

 

[juvenissun]

By the sweat of your brow
you will eat your food
until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken;
for dust you are
and to dust you will return.

Hi again
I was just reading stuff and found this verse to be interesting

please explain to me how evolution fits into this as
it says
Humans were created from the dust of the Earth and then when we die we will return to dust
that works fine for creation but i believe in Evolution, though im not that strong with it, but how does this work for Evolution...
we can compare the dust to animals, but then when we die we go back to animals?
i dont get this, please again dont argue with me...just explain

Thanks guys!!

We are physically made of (elements in) dust. And of course our physical material will be recycled through the dust. This is a good description of life on the earth, and is scientifically true.

But, God gives (creates for) each one of us a brand new soul/spirit, which is not recycled from anything. We are put on the earth and take dust material to be a temporary “tent”. When the tent expired, we have done our work on the earth and are going back to God (for the next activity).

If you think what I said is acceptable, then it simply said that evolution is false. We are not evolved from anything or to anything. We are made (created) by God and are passing through the earth for a purpose. The dust material on the earth is only used by us for a short period of time. Scientist focused only on this material, beat it to death and developed the evolution scheme. It is a serious distraction and it makes one miss the meaning of life completely.

 

[laconicstudent]

We are physically made of (elements in) dust. And of course our physical material will be recycled through the dust. This is a good description of life on the earth, and is scientifically true.

But, God gives (creates for) each one of us a brand new soul/spirit, which is not recycled from anything. We are put on the earth and take dust material to be a temporary “tent”. When the tent expired, we have done our work on the earth and are going back to God (for the next activity).

If you think what I said is acceptable, then it simply said that evolution is false. We are not evolved from anything or to anything. We are made (created) by God and are passing through the earth for a purpose. The dust material on the earth is only used by us for a short period of time. Scientist focused only on this material, beat it to death and developed the evolution scheme. It is a serious distraction and it makes one miss the meaning of life completely.

Science doesn't care about the meaning of life. You are confusing Science and Philosophy again. In universities, they are usually in different buildings entirely.

 

[EveryTongueConfess]

umm i didnt really get your second part, which i believe in similar to what philadiddle is saying
I just don't really see hows its all fitting together, please explain

Well guys what i get from this verse in my stance on evolution is that we came from
animals, which could be used figuratively as dust
but then when we die I don't believe that we return to animals -_-... and so I also think the same type of 'dust' (as in the word) is used the same twice meaning that it is the same
it can't be like, we came from animals (figurative interpretation of the first dust), then when we die we return to dust(literal interpretation of the second dust)

Thanks for replying so far

 

[Mallon]

There's no need to read evolution into the Bible, EveryTongueConfess. Read here:

Untitled Document

 

[philadiddle]

We are physically made of (elements in) dust. And of course our physical material will be recycled through the dust. This is a good description of life on the earth, and is scientifically true.

Do you have a list of all of the elements found in dust and the ones that we have in common?

 

[philadiddle]

umm i didnt really get your second part, which i believe in similar to what philadiddle is saying
I just don't really see hows its all fitting together, please explain

Well guys what i get from this verse in my stance on evolution is that we came from
animals, which could be used figuratively as dust
but then when we die I don't believe that we return to animals -_-... and so I also think the same type of 'dust' (as in the word) is used the same twice meaning that it is the same
it can't be like, we came from animals (figurative interpretation of the first dust), then when we die we return to dust(literal interpretation of the second dust)

Thanks for replying so far

I was referring to all animals coming from elements in the earth, starting with abiogenesis. But as Mallon says, there's no need to try to read evolution into the scripture. The important thing is the theological meaning of the passage, as I tried to explain in my last response to you.

 

[juvenissun]

Science doesn't care about the meaning of life. You are confusing Science and Philosophy again. In universities, they are usually in different buildings entirely.

I majored in science, but I got a "Ph.D.". Tell me why?

 

[juvenissun]

umm i didnt really get your second part, which i believe in similar to what philadiddle is saying
I just don't really see hows its all fitting together, please explain

Well guys what i get from this verse in my stance on evolution is that we came from
animals, which could be used figuratively as dust
but then when we die I don't believe that we return to animals -_-... and so I also think the same type of 'dust' (as in the word) is used the same twice meaning that it is the same
it can't be like, we came from animals (figurative interpretation of the first dust), then when we die we return to dust(literal interpretation of the second dust)

Thanks for replying so far

The dust does not mean animal. It means the earth's material. It does not mean we derived from animal.

Your physical body is not the real you. Just like you look at a dead person in a funeral home. The corpse you see is not that person. Biologist can not study soul/spirit, so they focused on the body. No wonder they get the wrong idea.

 

[juvenissun]

Do you have a list of all of the elements found in dust and the ones that we have in common?

Instead of giving a long list, it is more effective to find an element, which is in our body, but is not found in "dust" (or soil/clay).

There is none. Soil contains more elements than we do.

 

[Willtor]

Instead of giving a long list, it is more effective to find an element, which is in our body, but is not found in "dust" (or soil/clay).

There is none. Soil contains more elements than we do.

Don't worry. Unbelieving "scientists" may tell you that soil contains more elements than we do, but they do that just to prove to themselves that we aren't better than soil (thereby justifying their unbelief in God). I'm sure creation scientists will soon prove that we have more elements than soil. Here's a bit of evidence against the so-called "scientists": the Bible says we were made from the dust of the ground (soil). So we must have all of the elements that soil has. But the so-called "chemists" refuse to accept this evidence. Don't worry, though. I'm sure there are creation scientists who are working on some physical evidence for this (besides the Bible, though, they really shouldn't need any more than that).

 

[juvenissun]

Don't worry. Unbelieving "scientists" may tell you that soil contains more elements than we do, but they do that just to prove to themselves that we aren't better than soil (thereby justifying their unbelief in God). I'm sure creation scientists will soon prove that we have more elements than soil. Here's a bit of evidence against the so-called "scientists": the Bible says we were made from the dust of the ground (soil). So we must have all of the elements that soil has. But the so-called "chemists" refuse to accept this evidence. Don't worry, though. I'm sure there are creation scientists who are working on some physical evidence for this (besides the Bible, though, they really shouldn't need any more than that).

And, don't forget the soil of earth today is different from the soil in the Garden. The soil in the Garden is "perfect".

 

[Dark_Lite]

I think you might have missed his winking smiley. Anyway, dust is a very vague term. It could be composed of all sorts of things. It's usually dirt and etc though.

 

[juvenissun]

I think you might have missed his winking smiley. Anyway, dust is a very vague term. It could be composed of all sorts of things. It's usually dirt and etc though.

No. I did not miss it. In fact, dust is a very well defined material to me. The literal "dust" is part of the soil. And soil is simply altered rock. Human made of dust, and is perfectly synchronized with his living environment. To give a contrast, human would be an environmentally odd object on the moon, because moon dust is entirely different from earth's dust. Gen 3:19 would not be true on the moon.

The word "dirt" implies organic component and does not apply to Gen 3:19.

In fact, this is another good example of creation science. Gen 3:19 is perfectly scientific.