Welcome to Defenders, the teaching class of Dr. William Lane Craig.

Today, the creation of life and biological diversity, part 21.

For more information and resources from Dr. Craig, go to reasonable faith.org.

In our last session together, we saw that there are many elements in Genesis 1 to 3, which if taken literally,

seem to be palpably false, thereby recommending to us a figurative interpretation. And chief

among these certainly are the anthropomorphic descriptions of God, which are incompatible with the

transcendent God described in chapter 1. Now I want to say a word more about Ben's question last

week, whether we couldn't take Genesis 2 and 3, to be a theophony akin to the appearance of God

to Abraham at the Oaks of Mamra in Genesis 18. There are examples in the Old Testament, like

Genesis 18, where God appears to a person in human form. And you have that

in the appearance of the Lord to Abraham in Genesis 18. Let me suggest two reasons, however,

why I think that Genesis 2 and 3 are not as plausibly interpreted as a theophanie than as figurative

language. First of all, the Lord's anthropomorphic qualities in Genesis 2 and 3 are not

presented as a theophony is. Look at how the language of theophanie reads in Genesis 18

verses 1 and 2. The author says, and the Lord appeared to him by the Oaks of Mamra as he sat in

the door of his tent in the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked

and behold, three men stood in front of him. Now, by contrast, in Genesis 2 and 3, you don't have anything

of language of theophony like this, of God's appearing to Adam and Eve, looking up and seeing him in the garden.

Secondly, I think decisively, in Genesis 2 and 3,

God is described anthropomorphically even when he is not appearing to Adam.

This is the preeminent case in God's creation of Adam. In creating Adam, he forms him out of the

dust of the ground, and then he blows into his nose the breath of life, and Adam comes to life.

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