Not another Bible-blog!

Like I wrote above, the "earth creature" became a man once the woman was "taken out of him". To go from "creature" to "man", it took another agent.

I remember a Philosophy class: "Man is not like the animals because he has a conscience". This conscience is the knowledge that he exists. Existing means to see oneself from the outside, being able to see what one does, who one is and where one wants to go.

That teacher also said that we see ourselves and have an opinion of ourselves, only because there are other people around us who gives us some input that limits or pushes us forward. If we were to live with no other human, we would become animals.

That teacher was an Atheist, but the creation account is such a perfect illustration of her teachings! Once again, I am so amazed at the riches of the Book that many people hold to be worthless old tales!

Animals have drives and instincts, but no conscience. Their actions and reactions are caused by some stimulus. The present is where their mind is focused on. Man make choices. Man is able to dream and to decide what road to follow in order to achieve goals in the distant future.

A manifestation of our conscience is our ability to create. Yes, birds build nests, and spider webs or bees' and ants' dwellings are amazing. But, as in mountains and flowers, I see in these God's artistic hand, not a deliberate act from the creature. As we are in the image of God, unlike animals, we can emulate God and create for our own pleasure. Our novels, songs, dramas, our reaching out our communities, our building friendships are human, if not divine, prerogatives.

Humans can do what pleases them. In short, Man is the only creature to be free!

Unlike animals, humans have a special destiny. This is why God gave us a soul. The soul manifests itself in our having a conscience, being creative and being free. Like Patience, one of this blog's readers, pointed out, "I think the difference is truly that Man is not like the animals because he has a soul!"

God gave life to the animals, but only into humans did he breathe the spirit of life, that soul which gives us free-will. Because only humans have free agency, only they can sin. Because animals cannot sin, they cannot be rewarded in the world to come. Because they have no free-will, they could not fall. If they did not fall, they don't need a redeemer. If they don't need God's grace, there is no plan for them.

I go back to the idea that the Fall might have been the necessary stumbling stone that woke us up. The Fall seems to be the only way we could learn and understand our noble destiny. Our soul is that divine spark inside and the eternal element we need to cherish and keep intact, if not improve.

One last thing... Is it not strange how humans, unlike animals, can not get by on their own? They need to be clothed, they need to be taught. Unlike animals, humans need to rely on someone, or something else...

Some questions remain... I wonder just how can animals have emotions, as I think they do. Don't they have a spirit? And if so, where does that spirit go when they die?