Naming the Animals

[Bugmaster]

In one of the creation accounts in Genesis, God creates Adam, and then parades a bunch of animals before him, at which point Adam gives each animal a unique name.

My question is: why does God charge Adam with this task ? Why can't God (being omni-everything) name the animals himself ?

Interestingly enough, other myths and religions assume (sometimes, implicitly) that the power to name things is uniquely a human province. The power to name things is what separates humans from animals, spirits, goblins, etc.; it is this power that is the basis of most magicks.

[harvey1]

]Who do you mean by "J"?

The Yahwist tradition that is typically assigned to the Southern Kingdom of Israel.

[Jester]

My personal opinion is that the God of Genesis is really a localized god, sort of like Coyote or Zeus....
Humans may be mortal, frail creatures, but inside them lurks the power that makes even the gods tremble.

Though the idea is novel, it really can't be drawn out of the Bible. A much more plausible intrepretation is that God choses to have people work for the purposes of educating/growing them. Regardless of whether or not all agree with this concept, I think it's much more consistent with what is written in the Bible. One would really have to go to another religion to find a concept of God/gods fearing human beings.

[AB]

My personal opinion is that the God of Genesis is really a localized god, sort of like Coyote or Zeus....
Humans may be mortal, frail creatures, but inside them lurks the power that makes even the gods tremble.

Though the idea is novel, it really can't be drawn out of the Bible. A much more plausible intrepretation is that God choses to have people work for the purposes of educating/growing them. Regardless of whether or not all agree with this concept, I think it's much more consistent with what is written in the Bible. One would really have to go to another religion to find a concept of God/gods fearing human beings.

I also feel it has to do with how God wants to have a relationship with us. By naming the animals, Adam was a working partner with God in that scene.

[McCulloch]

I also feel it has to do with how God wants to have a relationship with us. By naming the animals, Adam was a working partner with God in that scene.

How about since God had no need of language and that language is necessary for humans, the task of providing names (language labels) for the other animals must have gone to humans.

[Cathar1950]

How about since God had no need of language and that language is necessary for humans, the task of providing names (language labels) for the other animals must have gone to humans.

That sounds to reasonable Mack, so it must not be very biblical.
How about Eve the mother of all living except Adam of course?

[McCulloch]

How about since God had no need of language and that language is necessary for humans, the task of providing names (language labels) for the other animals must have gone to humans.

That sounds to reasonable Mack, so it must not be very biblical.
How about Eve the mother of all living except Adam of course?

Yes, but she was on the outs for causing The Fall, or was the The Fall after the naming? Anyway, he was the head of the household, so he got to do the naming.

[AB]

I also feel it has to do with how God wants to have a relationship with us. By naming the animals, Adam was a working partner with God in that scene.

How about since God had no need of language and that language is necessary for humans, the task of providing names (language labels) for the other animals must have gone to humans.

Naw. It wasn't a default necessity that the human had to provide the names(I assume that is what you are saying). God could of named the animals for Adam instead.

Likewise, God had no need to have the ten commandments written on tablets. This was a necessity for His people. God didn't put Moses in charge of deciding the ten commandments. God determined them and relayed them to Moses. He very well could of have done the same for the names of the animals.

[AB]

How about since God had no need of language and that language is necessary for humans, the task of providing names (language labels) for the other animals must have gone to humans.

That sounds to reasonable Mack, so it must not be very biblical.
How about Eve the mother of all living except Adam of course?

So, you say the bible is not reasonable? Interesting. I disagree.

[AB]

How about since God had no need of language and that language is necessary for humans, the task of providing names (language labels) for the other animals must have gone to humans.

That sounds to reasonable Mack, so it must not be very biblical.
How about Eve the mother of all living except Adam of course?

Yes, but she was on the outs for causing The Fall, or was the The Fall after the naming? Anyway, he was the head of the household, so he got to do the naming.

As info, the naming of the animals Adam did was before Eve came on on the scene...so your "head of the household" parody is quite irrelevant. By the way, naming of the animals was not the first task Adam had.. before that God put him in charge of taking care of the land. Again, a working relationship with God. You should really get a Bible and check out what happend. It's good stuff.

[Cathar1950]

So, you say the bible is not reasonable? Interesting. I disagree.

What did Adam name T-rex?
www.cnn.com/.../11/03/dinosaurs.oxygen.reut/