I haven't seen anyone call Scripture garbage...just the garbage view of ALL life beginning at breath.
If you don't know already, Adam and Eve coming to life came under different circumstances.
A fetus is not an inaimate object. It moves, it takes in nourishment, it eliminates waste.
From www.dictionary.com inanimate, that which doesn't live or move.
That is why I said I never met a rock that was filled with the spirit.
I would never presume to be so arrogant as to tell the Holy Spirit what he can and cannot do. Neither your nor I have any idea of all that God the Father, God the Son, or God the Holy Spirit is capable of. The question is foolish because none of us know all there is to know about God.
It is rather like asking, "Can God create a stone so big he can't pick it up?"
Actually, your answer is very foolish. The Holy Spirit would never reside somewhere it wasn't invited. You have to become saved, first. Are you going to try and squirm out of that ? Am I, by treasuring a fetus as a full human, somehow putting God in a box ?
By the definition it is alive.
But according to scripture it does not yet have life. There is a difference ... one being that a full term baby can live independently, that is outside the mother's body. A fetus cannot live independently.
I have never said a fetus is not alive ... I have said that according to scripture there is no life until the first breath.
According to scripture, salvation can occur inside the womb. So your argument has to be scripture says the Holy Spirit can dwell in a fire, in a truck, anything that moves, and consumes, and eliminates waste.
Note the conditions of growth, metabolism reporduction and power of adaptation are not in the definition of "alive." To have life those conditions must be met. While a fetus mees the conditions of growh and metabolism it does not meet the conditions of reproduction and adaptation.
You could argue that here reproduction means growth in that cells are replaced. But even if we accept that definition the fetus does not meet the criteria of adaptation. A babe meets all these criteria.
Thus to be alive and to have life is not exactly the same ... and scripture stands that life begins with the first breath of life.
I have to strongly dissagree with you here and say that your definition of life at first breath is flawed.
When God breathed life into Adam and Eve, it wasnt just those two specific bodies that He Breathed life into.
He breathed life into the beginning of the whole human race.
This breath of life is still alive today, and passed from mother to child, it is not recreated every time a birth occurs, it is continuous.
And this act by God is in no way symbolic of every individual person that comes to be born.
To pervert the meaning of this one act of God to justify abortion is a stretch to say the least.
God creates all life, and we should protect it when we can, not destroy it when we feel like it.
Ive said this before, abortion is the most selfish thing a person can do...to kill a child because it may cause an inconvenience in one's life.
A baby doesn't meet those until years outside of the womb. This thory has the kid with no life until around the age of 11. And adaptation ? I gotta be honest, I don't get it. Fetus has to adapt to an ever shrinking place to live, and is pretty hardy, considering how strong they are when they come out.
Hogwash. You are telling me a baby can't reproduce cells ? Please, stay away from the medical profession. Please. On second read, maybe you are conceding reproduction, and sticking with adaptation ?
So then, the Holy Spirit can reside inside anything, alive or not ?
Anyway, I am content that scripture says children in the womb are indeed, fully made in the image of God, fully alive, and in the case of John the Baptist, able to see themselves as sinners. I will engage you no more in this thread.
That was the exception I was making for the meaning of reproduction. Of course the fetus reproduces cells within its own development. Biology 101.
As I said, I am not arrogant enough to tell the Holy Spirit what the Holy Spirit can and cannot do.
You will have to forgive me this week ... in fact until January ... as I will not have access to the computer as readily as I do now. This coming week I have a deadline on a book for which I am creating the index. The title of the book is: SWALLOWING ANATOMY AND PHYSIOLOGY. Also I have to finish getting ready to fly to Prague for more volunteer work in the seminary library, IBTS, [International Baptist Theological Seminary]. You might like to visit their web site. www.ibts.eu
Also, my wife and I keep a travelblog. I'd be glad to send you that link if you are interested.
So, as I said, forgive me if I respond infrequently in the next few months.
As I pointed out to Bro. there is a difference between life and alive.
And as I told him, I will not be able to respond often in the coming months while I am away from home.
Pray for the students there. There are from all over the former Communist Bloc, the mid-east, some from Western Europe, a few from America, and occasionally from Africa. Some of them and their families are suffering hardships by following God in their lives. Pray expecially for a student from India. To follow God's lead he sold his house and possessions, has to be away from his wife and daughter for long periods. His faith is an inspires all who meet him. "God is good," is his most frequently spoken greeting.