A gold star if you can answer this without saying something like "we can't know god's purpose"

Question

According to theists, god has a purpose for every persons life, even if we don't always know what it is. So what then, is the purpose of the following...

A man and woman decide to retreat from civilization and live in the remote jungle. They have a baby, which no other human knows about. One day, the adults are killed by wild animals, but by incredible chance, the baby is adopted by chimpanzees, and survives to adulthood. The baby, now a man, lives to a ripe old age, and dies of natural causes. He never once encounters civilization or any other human being. For all intensive purposes, no one ever knew he existed.

Of course, the man had no understanding of religion or god. For all intensive purposes, he was no different from the other chimps in the jungle.

This scenario may sound implausible, but feral children have been discovered, so something like this could have happened.

What was god's reason for this life? Why did god create this soul which could never be saved?

Answer 1

Maybe God loved this little boy very much and decided to spare him the hardships that he might have faced in life. Maybe He developed a very personal relationship with this boy, the way He did with Adam before there were other humans. Besides, this boy couldn't have sinned because he wasn't around it. His education level couldn't be past a child's, and God would never send a little child to Hell. He would be saved.

Besides...God still gave this boy a good life. Not by our standards, but he had fun eating bananas and playing with the other monkeys.
Also, his parents were the ones who made the choice to go into the wilderness, so if anyone is to blame for this happening, it's them. Everyone knows you don't live far away from everyone if you have a child.

Answer 2

Being an atheist, I'll take a shot at this question.

People who never had communication with the outside world or civilization are the people who can literally show that humans can, in fact, survive off of instinct, and not need religion to mess up what they know to be true. They can't possibly have ever known what religion is, much less speak a language, so why would religion even concern them at all? And, if they were to become civilized, they would get lazy and fat and give Jenny Craig money to lose it all.

It is civilization and domestication of humans that have ruined this world. Religion is just as guilty for it, because it gives people the belief that being instinctive 100% is bad an wrong. If this feral human was to be introduced even to a Zippo lighter, they would be astounded and interested, and to teach them a language would be even better. But to tell them about an invisible entity created them when civilized people were invisible to them to begin with, he would think someone's lying to him, which would cause animosity and anger.

Civilized life and religion have messed this world up beyond all recognition.

Answer 3

OK. I say that is not God's purpose to begin with. A man and woman making the desicion to retreat out of civilization is most likely not God's will for their lives. I don't think I can say much more about this because I find it impossible for God to create a human life just for kicks.

Answer 4

There is no sin where there is no knowledge of the law. Based on your implausible story, a correct understanding of Scripture and some experience of the nature of God you should know that such a soul would not be lost.

Those who are lost now are those who have turned down, with a full understanding, their own pardon, freely given. Something your "feral" children were never exposed to.

Answer 5

The purpose of this soul was simply to live.

One might say the same of someone with the brain of an infant stuck in the body of an adult. What is the purpose of such a life? What is the value of it?

I once heard this story when a woman had a near death experience and she was allowed to see how souls prepare for coming to earth in order to fulfill their destinies, how they co-operated in God's plan, even though during their time on earth they did not remember doing such a thing. One man's life had been to die infront of a careening vehicle driven by a drunk driver. By his death, he in turn, assisted his friend the alcoholic to grow in love and take a more loving path.

Another soul, who in heaven, was sparkling with intelligence chose as his sojourn on earth to be mentally handicapped, and in this way, his soul was learning a lesson he never knew before.

I thought I'd share this with you. Although I don't know if these stories are true, perhaps a little of them is like a drink of water to your thirsty soul.

Perhaps, however, you wish to known the purpose of your own life. Love those around you. Love doesn't mean having to say it all the time. Sometimes love is hard to do.

Answer 6

God can save whomsoever he chooses, for whatever reason he chooses, whether or not a person ever knows God in this life.

The only caveat is that anyone he chooses to save will be saved by the application of that grace that which Jesus obtained for us by his propitiatory death on the cross.

Other than original sin, that "feral" child would have had virually no opportunity to commit any other types of sins, either due to his own ignorance, or to the lack of a suitable opportunity.

One living in that type of situation might actually be able to live a life that is relatively sinless and pleasing to God.

Answer 7

Even asking this question means that you obviously assume that animals like chimps have no purpose for being born as no animal really has religion so the purpose of this mans life was to live it like the purpose of every human should be.to live life the way you see fit and have your own purpose not one of someone who created all.After all why hang on to something that puts humans above all else like we are the supreme beings or something yet some religions say cows are sacred yet others eat them it doesnt make sense anyway.I believe he had a purpose and he fulfilled it.

Answer 8

1) Because He liked that boy's personality, and He wanted to give that boy a chance to live.

2) That jungle was a beautiful place, and other humans didn't want to live there, so God gave it all to him and his animal friends.

3) God could very well have communicated with this boy without there being any missionaries involved. Dreams, visions, lots of ways. Jesus Himself might have even walked among the trees, playing games with the boy.

4) If a man and a woman have sex, a baby will eventually come out of it. It would have been mean of God to make the woman barren out of spite.
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Answer 9

Who says his soul isn't saved? I cannot imagine what it is like to live like that, but God would never condemn a person for what isn't their fault. If he has the brain of a human perhaps he would understand things the animals don't. Perhaps he would help the animals more than they would help him. If he never encountered a human, he could never be judge by how he treated his fellow man. If he would have died a baby, he would have died innocent, so perhaps he stayed that way.

Answer 10

First of all, you are incorrect in your assumption that all "theists" believe that we each have a purpose predetermined by God for our lives. In a sense I suppose we do, but not in the context you use. Our purpose is to endure this life, to teach salvation for the next, and to do our utmost to follow and obey the commandments of Christ. Neither the bad nor the good on this planet is by direct interference of God just now. He isn't a magician, that is not His purpose, which is far greater than stirring the lives of individuals on earth, and the Bible tells us that this is not who He is.