The Neandertal-Human hybrid question

[Tao_Equus]

This does raise many questions on the argument of the 'made in Gods image' debate. Neanderthal was not man but had art and thus culture, reason and most likely some system of belief. They lived in the pre-creationist era etc.

Even with our eyelids stapled open and enquiring with absolute purity we are only ever going to see a fraction of a fraction of the big picture......but its fun looking

Regards

TE

[juantoo3]

Kindest Regards, Tao Equus!

Thank you for the response.

This does raise many questions on the argument of the 'made in Gods image' debate. Neanderthal was not man but had art and thus culture, reason and most likely some system of belief. They lived in the pre-creationist era etc.

I suppose a lot hinges on how inclusive we view ourselves as being. If we absolutely must draw a line, then I suppose Neandertal would not be considered human. But then, that very same line would also be used to draw distinctions between all races.

The flip side is in being inclusive, we ultimately see connection between ourselves and eventually all life. Neandertal may not be "human," yet they were certainly no more animal than humans are.

I don't see "pre-creation" in this. Neandertal, in my view, were just as likely created as humans, indeed all life. Pre-Edenic, is a possibility.

Even with our eyelids stapled open and enquiring with absolute purity we are only ever going to see a fraction of a fraction of the big picture......but its fun looking

Absolutely. And as ever with big questions, we may never have a complete and factual grasp of the whole. At least in this existance.

In looking to ancient pre-history we find that humanity, Cro-Magnon and Neandertal, had an elemental religion. It was not Christianity, it was not Monotheistic. Neither was it Pagan in any modern sense of the term. It was Shamanic, in the loose meaning of the term. It was naturalistic. But it was there! Some of the cave art I have looked into suggested religion, an intuition of something larger than the individual, something larger than the society, something "out there" as much as 30 thousand or even more years ago. Whether invoking sympathetic magic, or training for a successful hunt, or honoring the spirit of the animals who gave themselves for food, the cave art seems to have a spiritual connection, an invocation to connect man to God.

If there were no God or spirit, why were these ancient peoples so preoccupied with invoking this sympathetic magic? Surely, if God does not exist, He would not have existed then. And peoples then would have no need to invoke Him. Indeed, the prominent place of God in pre-historic peoples lives would be a large, empty hole if He did not exist. These peoples would have filled that hole with something else. Their time and effort were far too precious to waste on fantasy and imaginings. (Unlike us today! )

In short, I do not see Neandertal, in any interpretation, as refutation of God. Quite the contrary, I see Neandertal as a complementary confirmation, a "second witness" if you will, that confirms the presence of God, in my view.

Come to think of it, I suppose the real question is why we grew out of our original view of God and developed the various religious institutions and the power structures that followed?