Thought I'd share something I wrote out for the '
Beginnings Perspective' Creation Science class I'm teaching this semester.
Over the last few weeks in the class we've been talking about having a correct perspective on the environmental debate based on a Biblical worldview. And about how your view of the environment, whether or not it's correct, will drastically effect how you view Man and Animals and their relation to each other.
So here's one page of some of the things we talked about.
:)
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(
Text copyrighted to me. Pictures belong to their original owners)
--Comparison of Man and Animals--
What makes Mankind different from
the other creatures on the earth?
All flesh is not the same flesh: But there is one kind of flesh of men, another flesh of
beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds.
1 Corinthians15:39
It is often claimed by the world at large that Mankind and Animals should, in every aspect of life, have equal rights and equal value — but that idea is based purely in Evolutionary thought; the idea that Man is really just an evolved, “higher form” of animal life. If that were true and Man really was only an “advanced animal”, then people who make this claim for equality would have a valid point.
In contrast, according to the word of God’, all living things have value, but not all living things have equal value.
God has placed Mankind as a steward, a caretaker, over all the rest of creation. Man is placed just a little lower than the angels, but as ruler over all the earth, to tend and care for it as for another’s prized possession.
“You have made them a little lower than the angels; You have crowned them with glory and honor,
subjecting all things under their feet." (quoting from Psalm 8) Now in subjecting all things to them,
God left nothing outside their control.
Hebrews 2:7-8
What makes Mankind different from the other parts of creation?
Plants — Have a body only;
The body can respond to its surroundings and to changes in its surroundings, and can itself
change little bits (by loss of genetic information—no new information is gained) at a time to
continue to survive in its environment.
The body is one of two aspects (along with the spirit - see below) that were directly affected by
the Fall and the Curse when sin entered the world; now the body is subject to defect,
decay, and death until the world is made right again at the return of Jesus.
Animals — Have a body, and a soul;
The soul can feel emotion, care for other creatures and things, make decisions, etc. It is
mostly governed by instinct, fight-or- flight reactions, and so on, and controls how the
body responds in animal kind.
Mankind — Has a body, a soul, and also a spirit;
The spirit is what gives man the ability to discern right and wrong; ability to wonder and
ask difficult questions about purpose and meaning; to want to discover, and to create
from what we find; and it is made for relationship — especially relationship with God.
In mankind, the spirit is what controls both the body and the soul.
Along with the body (and to some extent, the soul as well), the spirit was directly effected
by the Fall and the Curse of sin on the world. The spirit is eternal, and was made for
eternal things, but it is now subject to confusion because of dwelling in a broken
creation. Our spirit is what will always feel empty when we try to fill it with anything
besides a relationship with the everlasting God who created it; the One who wrote
its ‘instruction manual’ and knows exactly how it was made and what it longs for and
truly needs.
The LORD Most High is the One who gives life to every heart, who gives life to the spirit!
Isaiah 38:16
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