The First Spoken Language

[Jerry]

At his curse, God lowered him to lower than other beasts of the field on earth, separating forever the ability to bear off-spring with human beings and taking away his original created abilities and similarity with humanity.

What are you talking about? God never created ANY animal to be able to bear offspring with humans.

[Madeline]

Just testing the waters...

[Jerry]

And...? Did your test pass or fail?

[Bakershalfdozen]

My opinion is that if man was able to understand animals before the Fall, it was not because of greater brain capacity of the animals but rather a greater ability and brain capacity on the part of humans. We have lost much of what was originally given in the Garden of Eden.

[John81]

My opinion is that if man was able to understand animals before the Fall' date=' it was not because of greater brain capacity of the animals but rather a greater ability and brain capacity on the part of humans. We have lost much of what was originally given in the Garden of Eden.[/quote']

I've wondered about this possibility as well. Rather than animals being able to speak like Adam and Even, perhaps Adam and Eve had the ability to understand the communications animals use.

[Colin Stolzer]

Animals still seem to understand humans just fine, I think the loss is all on the humans side not on the animals part. I've never seen an animal that couldn't be trained to respond. And some can be trained in multiple languages to perform complex tasks. Just my :2cents worth

C

[Alimantado]

My opinion is that if man was able to understand animals before the Fall' date=' it was not because of greater brain capacity of the animals but rather a greater ability and brain capacity on the part of humans. We have lost much of what was originally given in the Garden of Eden.[/quote']

So does that mean that the animals have the same brain capacity now as they did then? Because that snake was displaying a level of intelligence more or less on a par with humans, in terms of reasoning and conciousness etc.

[Psalms18_28]

I think man could understand how an animal is feeling. Sometimes I wonder what my dog is thinking or what he is barking about. Animals seem like they have no knowledge of Good and Evil.... I mean not really understanding it the way humans do. but yet, they are corrupted as well.

[Jerry]

The Bible makes it clear in various places that it was Satan speaking through the serpent. I take that to mean that the serpent was speaking and acting in a way that it wouldn't normally do.

[Bakershalfdozen]

I think the snake was a special circumstance, much like the donkey that talked to Balaam. Those creatures were being controlled by an outside source. They spoke on a human intelligence level. That still doesn't detract from the possibility of Adam and Eve being able to understand animal languages to some degree. They were the caretakers, after all. This is, of course, pure speculation and nothing to build a doctrine on. :smile

[John81]

I think the snake was a special circumstance, much like the donkey that talked to Balaam. Those creatures were being controlled by an outside source. They spoke on a human intelligence level. That still doesn't detract from the possibility of Adam and Eve being able to understand animal languages to some degree. They were the caretakers, after all. This is, of course, pure speculation and nothing to build a doctrine on. :smile

Do you remember a year or two ago when that guy in Japan climbed into the lions area at a zoo to preach to the lions?

Your comment, "nothing to build a doctrine on" made me think of this for some reason.

[Bakershalfdozen]

No, I don't remember that. What a weird thing to do! Did he make it out alive?

[Pastorj]

I heard a preacher say that since the KJV is in English, the original language must have been English. He also said that his proof is that English is derived from many of the languages of the world. When God changed the languages, he changed everyone and we have migrated back to the original language.

I almost puked up my breakfast when I heard this.

[John81]

Yes, he made it out alive but he was badly mauled. I never heard anything about it after that.

I remember witnesses said he started preaching to the lions and then he climbed inside their area and approached the big male lion preaching as he went and the lion finally attacked him.

[Jerry]

Guess his audience didn't like his preaching!