Comment on Mrs. White: “Don’t send your children to…” by Sean Pitman.
@Erik:
In this statement it is clear that “amalgamation†caused new “confused†species to exist, but these species were not preserved in the ark. Following the flood, she says, more amalgamating occurred, and this even among men. The statement clearly establishes that certain races of men came about by “amalgamation†which would not have otherwise existed.
Now who is being “racist”?
It seems far more consistent from the writings of Mrs. White that she viewed all ethnic groups of humans as one blood and as brothers and sisters before God. She simply did not buy into the racism of her day thinking the caucasian race inherently superior in mental capability or moral worth.
The passages in question do not really refer to the mixing of man with beast, but some sort of unauthorized mixing of man and of beast (at least that is implied by her other writings on this topic). She does not buy into the idea in any of her other writings that there were any successful attempts to mix man with beast – though this is certainly happening today with the formation of chimeras between man and beast in the lab.
Now granted, the word “amalgamation” is largely ambiguous as she uses it. Again though, it does not necessarily mean the same thing for animals as it does for humans in her understanding. She may actually have used this term to refer to the amalgamation of religious ideas or cultures which deface the image of God in the lives of his people within certain cultures and “races of men” – before and after the flood. She clearly refers to such intermarriages and close relationships over and over again as a grave mistake – even evil. This was the basis of the success of Balaam against God’s people when he was not allowed to curse the people of God. Oh no, Mrs. did not consider the intermarriage of God’s people with unbelievers the “trifling” matter that you suggest. Quite the contrary…
Beyond this you can speculate all you want, but the issue of what Mrs. White was really trying to say with the use of this word will not be definitively settled until the end of time…
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
Sean Pitman Also Commented
Mrs. White: “Don’t send your children to…”
For further clarification:
I’m not saying that David Read is wrong. I’m just saying that his theories aren’t based on very solid evidence as far as I am able to tell. As such, they don’t seem to me to be all that much more reliable that just-so stories or conjecture (similar to the just-so story telling used to back up popular evolutionary theories). However interesting, they simply don’t have all that much predictive value. While certainly within the realm of possibility, the likelihood that these stories are true cannot be determined with any significant degree of accuracy nor can they be clearly tested in a falsifiable manner.
Even the SoP statements he uses aren’t very clear as to what, exactly, Mrs. White was actually saying with regard to what she meant in different contexts by the word “amalgamation”. We can surmise all day long, but even David admits that his conclusions are dependent upon a great deal of conjecture. For me, this isn’t very useful as anything to base much on beyond whimsical stories about what might have happened on the level of a novel or some other such fanciful story that is very loosely based on real life.
In short, I think there is far better scientific evidence upon which to base our faith than these just-so stories and large leaps of imagination…
Hope this helps.
Sean Pitman
www.DetectingDesign.com
Mrs. White: “Don’t send your children to…”
@David Read:
There are degrees of “class-bending†I suppose. Simply giving a creature with features usually associated with different groups of animals the name “monotreme†does not change this. Looking only at fossils makes this job all the much more difficult and subjective. I may be “obtuse†in my reticence to declare an obvious blurring of boundaries between most animals in the fossil record vs. living animals, but so be it. I think it contrary to the cause I stand for to be too overzealous with theories that you yourself describe as being “highly speculative.â€
Sean Pitman
http://www.DetectingDesign.com
Mrs. White: “Don’t send your children to…”
@pauluc:
A faithful reading of the text requires that one read in context – something you are not doing. The Bible is its own interpreter. You are placing an interpretation onto the text which is contrary to the clear context in which it was written and contrary to how the biblical writers themselves interpreted all mankind as being of “one bloodâ€.
You may believe that this is preposterous because you are seeing the world from a modern naturalistic perspective but the issue is was it preposterous to the mind of the person writing this passage? If you think it was you have not been paying attention to much ancient or indeed more recent literature. What precisely were the centaurs and medusa in greek mythology? What of the animal human hybrids that we have captured in stone from the egyptian empire that were likely part of Moses heritage? Have you not read Miltons Paradise Lost a book with many parallels to the great controversy; what was the provenance of the guardian of the pit into which the Devil was cast after the war in Heaven? How did the devil look upon the first woman?
What are you talking about? The notion of human-animal hybrids and even hybrids between humans and “the gods†is certainly part of mythology, but it is clearly not part of the thinking of the Biblical authors. Also, Milton’s Paradise Lost, while certainly having many parallels, is not supported in many details by the writings of Mrs. White who very clearly explained the whole concept of “sons of God vs. daughters of menâ€. Did you not read the above-listed commentary in this regard?
Sean Pitman
http://www.DetectingDesign.com
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