The NT established the Deity of Christ, which is why the Trinity has been and is central tenet in Christian teaching.With that out of the way....the trolls know who they are....I was not referring to you.
That is entirely your prerogative. But Jesus and the apostles spoke of them as real human beings so I have no reason to doubt them. (Matthew 19:4-6)
I'd like to know who your teachers are ashkat. You seem pretty confident that they are right, but none of what you say is backed up by anything solid. Without backup it is just another opinion.
Genesis one and two are not incompatible at all. One is a step by step account in order of events and the other is a summation of the history, filling in the blanks so to speak but not necessarily keeping the same order.
Again, I have to ask...who said?
So you believe that God is the Creator but he used evolution to do the job? Where is your proof of this assertion? I have studied evolution but realized that there was too much guesswork and not enough hard evidence. I don't view adaptation within a species as proof of organic evolution.
I am amazed at these deductions ashkat....are they yours? Or did somebody else come to these conclusions and you just actually agree with them?
Romans 5:12:
"Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—" (ESV)
I am not sure what "through and through" means in your estimations.....but no one escapes death so its pretty certain that sin producing death is all through the human race.
Defeatist? Are you serious? The Bible holds out the most wonderful future for those who are not defeated by the evil of this world and its perpetrators. We have to look past all that to what is promised.
Revelation 21:1-5:
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and the sea was no more. 2 And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. 4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (ESV)
5 And he who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things new.” Also he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
This is the future for those who do not lose their faith or defect to baseless opinions. There is a heavenly government with earthly subjects.
There is no teaching in the NT that supports Jesus being anything but "the son of God". This has all been hashed and rehashed many times before.
You asked about my teachers. The ones I had were excellent. I initially thought of doing my doctorate in biblical studies, because I am good with languages, but then decided on theology. So, I have a strong graduate-level background in biblical studies to draw upon. I said Genesis provides. two conflicting accounts, because, as I pointed out, their chronologies seriously conflict. You cannot read Gen. 2 as an extension of 1, as nothing in Gen. 2 refers back to Gen. 1. Some have attempted to bludgeon it into so doing, by reading certain passages in 2 in the pluperfect, but Hebrew has no pluperfect tense. Also, the literacy styles are very different. P, author of Gen. 1, is liturgical, likes lists. J, author of 2, is narrative. Hence, 2 was written before Gen. 1, as narrative form predates the liturgical.
The reason why evolution is the centerpiece in modern science is that it is one of the best-supported theories in science. If you think there isn't any hard evidence, then I suggest you do some more homework on the subject. We have moved from seeing reality as essentially static realm of independent facts to appreciating reality as dynamic and interrelated. Some believers have had trouble with this switch and then has desperately tried to attack evolution. The reason is that the classical picture of God as he is in his own nature was based largely on Hellenic substance philosophy, which necessitated seeing God as wholly immutable. God does not change and does neither does the universe. This classical model, however, is now viewed as lopsided and a neo-classical model of God is available, which enables one to appreciate God as a synthesis of both consistency and change. Consider that about 100 passages in Scripture speak of God as changing, e.g., Gen. 6:6, Hosea 11:8.
If you object to something I have to say, then you need to provide a solid rebuttal. Asking me who taught me that or who my teachers were is not a solid way to go in a discussion.