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NL888 Posted 14 years ago
Grammar
Does "what it means to be human" mean "the meaning of (human's) life"?
Context:
Context:
At this point, godless materialists might be cheering. If humans evolved strictly by mutation and natural selection, who needs God to explain us? To this, I reply: I do. The comparison of chimp and human sequences, interesting as it is, does not tell us what it means to be human.
In my view, DNA sequence alone, even if accompanied by a vast trove of data on biological function, will never explain certain special human attributes, such as the knowledge of the Moral Law and the universal search for God. Freeing God from the burden of special acts of creation does not remove Him as the source of the things that make humanity special, and of the universe itself. It merely shows us something of how He operates.
Context:
At this point, godless materialists might be cheering. If humans evolved strictly by mutation and natural selection, who needs God to explain us? To this, I reply: I do. The comparison of chimp and human sequences, interesting as it is, does not tell us what it means to be human.
In my view, DNA sequence alone, even if accompanied by a vast trove of data on biological function, will never explain certain special human attributes, such as the knowledge of the Moral Law and the universal search for God. Freeing God from the burden of special acts of creation does not remove Him as the source of the things that make humanity special, and of the universe itself. It merely shows us something of how He operates.
Top answer
NL888 Does "what it means to be human" mean "the meaning of (human's) life"? No. It's more like "what the unique characteristics of humans are" (in contrast to the characteristics of animals).
- NL888 Does "what it means to be human" mean "the meaning of (human's) life"?
- No.
- It's more like "what the unique characteristics of humans are" (in contrast to the characteristics of animals).
- In other words, the author is saying that the comparison of the DNA sequences of animals and humans does not tell us what the characteristics of humans are — particularly the characteristics of our inner mental and emotional lives — nor what the characteristics of animals are, for that matter.
- CJ
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3 Answers
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NL888Does "what it means to be human" mean "the meaning of (human's) life"?No. It's more like "what the unique characteristics of humans are" (in contrast to the characteristics of animals). In other words, the author is saying that the comparison of the DNA sequences of animals and humans does not tell us what the characteristics of humans are — particular
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Thank you.
Does "It merely shows us something of how He operates" refer to "DNA sequence merely shows us something of how He operates" in that context?
Does "It merely shows us something of how He operates" refer to "DNA sequence merely shows us something of how He operates" in that context?
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NL888Does "It merely shows us something of how He operates" refer to "DNA sequence merely shows us something of how He operates" in that context?No.
'it' = Freeing *** from the burden of special acts of creation
CJ
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