Stephen E. Jones

Projects: Book (Outline): "Progressive Creation: A Scientific General Theory of Creation":
Chapter 12, Creation of man

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This is Chapter 12, Creation of man, of the outline of a book that I plan to write on Progressive Creation.

"Progressive Creation" (Outline): Chapter 12. Creation of man
Copyright (c) 2004-2005, Stephen E. Jones

  1. Man in the Bible
    1. Adam
  2. Uniqueness of man
    1. Brain
    2. Language
    3. Mathematics
    4. Longevity

  1. Man in the Bible
    1. Adam

      2. A possible solution to the antiquity of man revealed by science and the recency of Adam as revealed in the Bible (Erickson, 1983, p.486; Pearce, 1969, pp.15, 22, 47ff, 92; Pun, 1982, p.267), is the drawing a distinction between the "man" (Heb. 'adam, without an article) of Genesis 1, referring to mankind as a whole and "Adam" of Genesis 2 (Heb. 'adam, with an article) referring to an individual with the proper name "Adam" (Pearce., 1969, p.21; Erickson, 1983, p.486). [top]

  2. Uniqueness of man
    1. Brain

      2. The rate of increase in size of human brain was the most rapid recorded in the history of life and it was not due to the demands of a larger body (Gould, 1978, pp.183-185). However, the role of natural selection in this rapid increase in brain size in Homo sapiens is unclear (Wesson, 1991, p.194). The human brain is "monstrous", "giant", for the size of its body (Asimov, 1963, p.309). [top]

    2. Language

      3. As Noam Chomsky, the world's foremost linguist has demonstrated, humans (Homo sapiens) uniquely are born with a built-in "universal grammar" that enables them as children to effortlessly learn the local language they hear (Diamond, 1991, p.145; Pinker, 1994, pp.9ff; Gould, 1993, p.321). Humans have two distinct vocal communication systems: a system of grunts, which they share with animals and completely separate system of language which is uniquely to humans (Pinker, 1994, pp.364-366,383-385). Animals don't even have a simple language (Deacon, 1998, pp.11-12). Attempts to teach American Sign Language to apes have all failed (Pinker, 1994, pp.369-370). [top]

    3. Mathematics

      4. As with language, humans have two distinct systems for doing maths, one shared with animals and the other uniquely human (Derbyshire & Highfield, 2003). [top]

    4. Longevity
      The longevity of man far exceeds that of any other mammal (Asimov, 1963, pp.305-306, 309). [top]

Copyright © 2003-2005, Stephen E. Jones. All rights reserved. This page and its contents may be used for non-commercial purposes only.
If used on the Internet, a link back to my home page at http://members.iinet.net.au/~sejones would be appreciated.
Created: 8 August, 2003. Updated: 10 February, 2005.