Randy Green's Blog - Posts Tagged "genesis-1"

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].

When I was a wee little lad, I had this issue that needed to be resolved. If I did something wrong and got caught, I hemmed and hawed, shuffled the feet, and attempted to muddy the waters of truth by mincing words. It was convenient, you see, to leave off essential details, so as to make the case against me not so bad as at first blush might appear. Guess what? It never worked! Adults know what’s what. They see right through such shenanigans.

In this self-styled modern scientific age, there are those adults who mimic my childish shenanigans. They only believe what they can see with their own eyes and touch with their own hands—aka doubting Thomases! Many suchlike rascals bombastically look down the nose at the Bible as a collection of old wives’ tales. Others, though, hold the Bible in reverence—sometimes superstitiously—even while all along clinging to the anti-spiritual asseverations of science falsely so-called.

This presents them with a conundrum. On the one hand they cling to the findings of contemporary geology textbooks, while on the other hand they profess belief in the Bible. The two historically being irreconcilable, they find it necessary to attempt a reconciliation. Truth be told, the Bible and true science are not at odds. The Bible and historical studies by atheists are.

I make reference to the findings of evolution and uniformitarianism, dear friends. These fields of contemporary science don’t begin with a tabula rasa and let the evidence take them where it will. They enter the fray with preconceived predilections.

To them the Bible is wrong, and that long before the investigation even begins. They assert, “There is no such thing as God! The spirit world, life after death, eternity—all such things stem from the fear of half-wit cave men who couldn’t understand the facts like modern scientists can. So these cave men imagined such concepts to explain the world and life and death.”

Do you see how this is circular reasoning, how it begs the question? They assume the truth of what they are supposed to prove, and then they look for corroborating evidence to prove them right. Any evidence which doesn’t fit into this mold, well, let’s just ignore it!

Such an approach is no different than faith, though it is quite different than Biblical faith. Biblical faith is belief in the words of the Bible. The man-made faith of these scientists is belief in their preconceived predilections! They don’t believe in the existence of God, so God doesn’t exist. How’s that for logic, huh? Boy, these guys are good!

We will take up this issue further in our next post. Until then why not spend some time alone with the Lord Jesus. He can teach us quite a bit about this matter.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].

Many of our contemporary scientists of geology function on the basis that God doesn’t exist. Ergo, they must needs discover how their god, Mother Nature, created the earth and all the universe. But then again, there are some geologists who do believe in God, even the God of the Bible. They are sincere and, as far as we can know, truly born again.

These Christian scientists are experts in a field which operates under the assumption that God doesn’t exist. Hence they are outnumbered, isolated, and ridiculed if they mention the Bible. In order to function in such an environment, they find it necessary to acclimate to their environment. So they attempt to adjust the Bible to fit with contemporary geology.

Dear friends, Rule #2 for Bible study exposes this approach as erroneous: the Bible is our sole and final authority in all matters of faith and practice. We aren’t to adjust the Bible to fit man’s understanding. Quite the opposite! We are to adjust man’s understanding to fit the Bible. Listen to the Apostle Paul express it:

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [Romans 12:2].

See! If we adjust the Bible to fit modern science’s beliefs, we make modern science to be god. This is what Paul meant by being conformed to this world. When we elevate the Word of God to its rightful place as per Rule #2 for Bible study, then we adjust man’s beliefs and ideas to fit the Word of God. Paul calls this being transformed by the renewing of your mind.

On that note let’s cease with our study today and betake ourselves to the Word of God. Only by means of His Word can we have our minds renewed so that we are transformed into the image of Jesus. And believe me, that is a good thing. We will continue this study in our next post.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].

Now let’s get to the point of Genesis 1:1-2 and the quandary faced by our Christian geologists. In order to save face with the unbelieving geologists, their Christian counterparts need to figure out how the creation account of Genesis 1 can contain millions upon millions of years. That’s a toughie. Just read Genesis 1 and you’ll realize there ain’t no such critter there (pardon my French)!

Nonetheless they need to discover a new find so as to fit in with modern geology. So they sniff and snort all over, under every word and between the lines, leaving no stone unturned. These are determined fellows, let me tell you! They aren’t about to give up until they find such a critter. They want to fine it so badly, you see, that they can’t help but see it even where it’s not.

Suddenly out of the dark comes a blinding light! “Hark! I see the lost multi-million years! I did it! Now I must write a book about my grandiose discovery. I’ll get rich and all my atheistic counterparts will have to bow down to me. Ain’t I a dandy one?”
So our Mr. Dandy writes his book. In it he points to Genesis 1:1 and declares, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Then he pauses for effect before continuing, “God doesn’t make any junk, my good man, but according to verse 2 He did.” Then he recites verse 2. “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.” He continues spouting his genius, “Something’s amiss here. But don’t be nonplussed because I’ve discovered the answer!”

He then goes into a gnarled and meandering extrapolation to explain his answer. He sees Genesis 1:1 as stating that, way back millions upon millions of years in the past, God created everything. Then something happened to throw the world into chaos, leaving it “formless and void”, with “darkness…over the surface of the deep” (v.2).

Well, alas for the poor earth, but the good Lord left it in a mess for millions upon millions of years, before He finally decided to fix it. Who knows why He would dilly dally for all those multi-million years? Perhaps He was busy with some other world doing who knows what. In any case God finally decided to fix up this old world, like you or me buying a dilapidated dump as a fixer-upper.
“And that is where Genesis 1:2 comes in,” he asserts with aplomb. “The earth fell into chaos and multi-millions of years later the Spirit of God hovered over the chaotic mass to fix it.” Then he adds while taking his bows, “I am a great one!”

This is known in today’s parlance as the Gap Theory. The surmise deduces that a gap of millions upon millions of years occurred between v.1 and v.2 of Genesis 1. Who woulda thunk it! Not me…and not you…nor anyone else who wasn’t determined to find such a critter. The text doesn’t read that way. We have to take that preconceived notion with us into the text, if we will find it there.

That approach, dear friends, wears the appellation eisegesis. It means that we read into the Bible what we want to find there. The proper approach carries the title exegesis. It means that we read what is in the Bible and pull it out of the text. Eisegesis adjusts the Bible to fit man’s thinking. Exegesis adjusts man’s thinking to fit the Bible. This is what the Apostle Paul taught in Romans 12:2, which was quoted earlier in this post.

We need to know about the Gap Theory because it is out there today and we will stumble upon it sooner or later in our studies. If we aren’t aware of its origins and pitfalls, when we stumble upon it we will wind up stumbling over it!

Let’s visit with the Lord Jesus now and allow His Word to transform us by the renewing of our minds. We will be the better for it.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].

As one last evidence in our remonstrance against DAT, let’s practice what true science preaches and test the feasibility of DAT that way. True science teaches that we are to form a hypothesis, and then take it to the lab to test it in a controlled environment. This means we are to test the hypothesis in an environment where we can account for all the variables. Once the hypothesis has passed the test in the controlled environment, then and only then do we put it into practice in the real world to see how it fares out there.

I hope you caught my reference to “true science”. This is important. History, of which geology perforce belongs, cannot be tested in the lab. How can we take the past into a lab? Uh, that would be a “we can’t”. History and geology are not true science. They are fields of speculation, of surmises, especially when dealing with pre-history where we cannot even read the words of men who were contemporaries during those times. We can state nothing in our studies of those times but surmises.

Here’s how it works in reality, dear friends. Some musty-smelling old geology gent makes a visit to the Grand Canyon. He looks at how deep it is, watches how fast the river waters are moving through it, checks the density of the rock, and pulls out his abacus to do some calculating. “Ah ha!” he blurts out. “I’ve figured out how long it would take for this here river, running at its present rate across the rock we now have showing, to cut through the rock to form the Grand Canyon.

Listen to 2 Peter 3:3-4:

Know this first of all, that in the last days mockers will come with their mocking following after their own lusts, and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

That is the definition of uniformitarianism, my friends. Uniformitarianism teaches that all things have occurred, still occur, and will continue to occur, at the same rate they now occur. Hence our musty-smelling geologist gent did his figuring on the basis of the rate which the river now flows and figured the rock was the same as it is now. This is because the central premise of uniformitarianism is that all continues just as it was from the beginning of creation.

Oh, there is so much more we could share on this subject, but we mustn’t unduly lengthen this post. Read my book Genesis: Volume 1 for a more in-depth investigation. Before we close I said we would practice what true science preaches and test DAT by the Word of God. Yea, 2 Peter 3:3-4 exposes uniformitarianism. But we still haven’t applied DAT to any actual Scripture. So let’s do so now, and then we’ll close on that note and spend time alone with the Lord Jesus a while.

Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day and made it holy [Exodus 20:8-11].

Now let’s apply DAT’s teaching about the word “day” to this text.

Remember the sabbath multi-millions of years, to keep it holy. Six multi-millions of years you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh multi-millions of years is a sabbath of the Lord your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six multi-millions of years the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh multi-millions of years; therefore the Lord blessed the sabbath multi-millions of years and made it holy.

If you think that makes sense, methinks you must’ve been sniffing something illegal! Tada.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].

Yes, it is perfectly true that the sun and moon were not created until Day 4. If the only way there could be a literal 24-hour period of time was for there to be a sun and moon first, then our Bible-believing geologists’ presumptions would have a logical foundation. But light was created at the very start of creation (Gen.1:3). The opposite of light, viz., darkness, existed already (Gen.1:2). Hence part of the earth had light and part had darkness. Is that not “day” and “night”?

When God speaks, He only tells truth. He said there was an evening and then a morning, the first day. Whatever way He determined to use in measuring a literal 24-hour period of time, we don’t know because He didn’t explain it to us. But that He had a literal 24-hour period of time He did tell us. He employed the sun and moon to measure time for man’s benefit.

But they weren’t needed by Him to measure time. He already knows how long a literal 24-hour period of time lasts, even without the sun and moon. We mustn’t limit God to our finite understanding, dear people, or we make His Word to mean what we think. In that case we are conformed to the world, when we are supposed to be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

As for the Hebrew word for day, when it is used in the Bible in a generalized way, then it doesn’t per se mean a literal 24-hour day. But it does mean a relatively brief period of time on the measuring stick of history. Often the prophets used words of time to express periods of time. Still, when they did so, a “year” expressed a considerably longer period of time than a “week” expressed. And a “week” expressed a noticeably longer period of time than a “day” expressed. In that context we must have been born last night to believe we can stretch a generalized usage of the word day to mean multi-millions of years! No! even if we were born at night, it wasn’t last night!

We’ve not finished with vetting their surmises just yet, so don’t go away! The prior paragraph referred to a GENERALIZED usage of the word day. An example of this would be the phrase “the day of the Lord”. No one in their right mind reads that, giving it some thought, and concludes it HAS to be a literal 24-hour period. No! But it has to be a relatively short period on the measuring stick of history. What’s more, it refers to a GENERAL period of time, not necessarily a literal 24-hour period of time.

Now read the quote from Genesis 1 with which we began this post. Do you see a GENERALIZED usage for each “day”? I certainly hope not. Each “day” was a specific period of time: one day, a second day, a third day, etc. Every single time—NO exceptions!—but every other time in the Bible when the word “day” is used with a number, it refers to a literal 24-hour period of time.

Don’t take my word for it. Do a search of the word “day” and cull the times it occurs with a number. Every time without exception a specific usage of the word “day” occurs, it unmistakably refers to a literal 24-hour period of time. Would someone please hand the Kleenex box to our Bible-believing “Who’s DAT?” supporters. They need to wipe their eyes.

Let’s stop here for today and allow them time to have a good cry. They’ll need it before we zap them again with some more Bible. Praise the Lord Jesus! That sounds like a plan. Let’s go do it.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

There was evening and there was morning, one day…there was evening and there was morning, a second day…There was evening and there was morning, a third day…There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day…There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day…there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day [Genesis 1:5, 8, 13, 19, 23, 31].

We’ve spent the past three posts studying the Gap Theory. We won’t repeat any of our findings here. The reader may reread the prior three posts if he/she so desires. I mention the Gap Theory because of the topic of our current post. Whereas the Gap Theory attempted to fit the Bible into the theories of contemporary geology—viz., by finding multi-millions of years between verse 1 and verse 2 of Genesis 1—there is another clever method to account for multi-millions of years in Genesis 1.

It is the subject of today’s study, dear friends. It is known as the Day-Age Theory, or DAT for short (aka “Who dat?”). This theory of contemporary Bible-believing geologists is a close cousin to the Gap Theory. The two have even been rumored to kiss on occasion.

Anyway let’s not digress. The Day-Age Theory means just what its name states. Each “day” in the creation account of Genesis 1 was not a literal 24-hour period of time. No! Each “day” was and age, a period of millions of years. On each “day”, each period of millions of years, God created only the embryonic form of what was created that “day”.

Then God went off somewhere over yonder someplace to do who knows what, while He allowed Mother Nature to take over. So evolution and uniformitarianism did their thing, and things evolved at a snail’s pace. Hence the need to read into each “day” a period of millions of years.

The proponents of DAT claim Biblical support for their hypothesis by noting that the Hebrew word for “day” in the Bible does not always mean a literal 24-hour period of time. “Just look at the phrase ‘the day of the Lord’,” asseverates our learned scientist. “That doesn’t refer to a literal 24-hour period of time. Besides, the sun and moon weren’t created until Day 4. So how could there have been literal 24-hour periods of time before Day 4?” Feeling his oats he nominates himself for a Pulitzer, before taking his bows followed by taking his seat.

Wow! I am floored, good friends. The wit and wisdom oozing from those audacious remarks are quite intimidating. Methinks we had best tuck our tails between our legs and make a mad dash for the hills. No sense in staying here and taking up the gauntlet. No logic in playing David against the big, bad wolf, er, I mean against Goliath. Contemporary science with the aid of our Bible-believing geologists are much too formidable to quarrel with, aren’t they?

Stuff and nonsense! They can chant “Who DAT?” back and forth at each other and give high 5s all around if they are so inclined. I prefer to let God do the talking. He does that in His Word, by the way. So let’s stop looking directly into the face of science falsely so-called, and turn our eyes to the Bible. Come along with me as we do so. You won’t want to miss what God has to say.

Oh, but wait a sec. We are out of time and will have to wait for our next post to continue this conversation. See you then. Don’t forget to pay a visit to Jesus in the interim.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being [John 1:1-3].

It is eye-opening to discover in the original Greek that the writings of John are the simplest grammar in the New Testament. John’s Gospel account and his three letters to the churches wax eloquent in content. They are the most philosophical of all the four Gospel accounts, and they teach recondite concepts. In fine, they are not simple narrative.

The reason why it surprises those who learn to read the Greek New Testament is because the content soars above the heavens, while the grammar is that of a child. Only the Holy Spirit could accomplish such a feat! Anyone who is adroit enough to present such deep content has a vocabulary arsenal well beyond John’s.

The first three verses of John’s Gospel account are quoted at the start of this study. Folks, it doesn’t get more arcane than that! The Holy Spirit just last week shared an insight with me about these verses, a nuance which I trust you will enjoy.

First read the three verses of John again. We’ll pause a moment to give you time. Okay, now read this:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light [Genesis 1:1-3].

In Genesis the word “beginning” refers to the beginning of time, space, and matter. It references the beginning of creation as we know it. In John’s account the word refers to eternity. Long before the Genesis “beginning” God existed…because God always is. At the same time “the Word” always is too: He always is with God.

Both God and the Word are eternal, and that is a characteristic which only God has. Hence John tells us, the Word was with God, and the Word was God. Those two clauses form a paradox, don’t you think? How can God be with God? Makes no sense to me! I mean, I can’t be with me. Duh! How can something identified as “the Word” be with God, while simultaneously being God? Go figure, why don’cha.

The only logical solution is to realize that God is a Trinity. He is three Persons in one God. O! but that makes even less sense, huh? Are you confused enough yet? Well, we’re just getting started, so get ready to implode!

Truthfully, the reason we cannot understand the Trinity is because nothing in time can be compared to this concept. If we view the Trinity as multiple personalities in one person, well, the Trinity is not one Person. The word Trinity comes from “tri” + “unity”. Tri means “three” and unity means “one”: three Persons in one God.

I do apologize, but time has escaped us. We will have to continue this study tomorrow.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being [John 1:1-3].

We concluded our last study with a look into the concept of the Trinity. We will continue with that point now. If we use the analogy of H2O, there are three forms it can take:

1. water (a liquid)
2. ice (a solid)
3. steam (a gas)

The trouble with this analogy is that H2O can only be one of those forms at a time. Because this is true in time, the Pentecostals insist it applies to God in eternity. Ergo, God is only one Person at a time, not three, not a Trinity. At one time He is the Father, at another the Son, and still another the Holy Spirit.

Instead of trying to rewrite Scripture, methinks they would be wise to agree with the Word of God. The Word was with God, and the Word was God. He is God while simultaneously being with God. Sorry, my Pentecostal brothers and sisters, but we must stick with the Word of God. He alone knows Who He is and can explain Himself. You and I are not qualified to perform such a feat.

If I wanted a cockroach to understand who and what I am, how could I go about it, hypothetically speaking, of course? I couldn’t write the roach a letter explaining the facts concerning my existence because it can’t read! I couldn’t just sit on the park bench and talk to it. I couldn’t hang out with it in the gym and rub shoulders to get acquainted. It’s a toughie. How to explain myself to a cockroach?

God faced the same dilemma in trying to reveal Himself to man. He is not one of us. He is incalculably superior to man. He created man so He understands us, but we are not up to the task of comprehending Him. Time cannot measure eternity, nor can time define eternity. Vice versa is the reality, dear friends.

God being God, He wasn’t stumped. He knew how to explain His Person and behaviors to man. He became a man like us, so that we could experience God within the context of time, space, and matter. God really took on our true humanity, sin excepted, and became one of us (cf., John 1:14).

When we study Jesus in the New Testament, we are seeing Father God, the Person, in action.

Jesus said to him, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” [John 14:9]

This is how God revealed His Person and explained His character and purposes to man. I am getting all giddy! This is exciting stuff! I can’t get enough! More! More! More!

Oh, shucks. I’ll have to wait for my third heaping helping. Time’s a gone again. See you tomorrow.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being [John 1:1-3].

Today we will start with Genesis 1:1-3. In the beginning God: there is the Father. And the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters: there is the Holy Spirit. And God said: there is the Word, the Son of God.

We can now understand John 1:1-3 with better insight about how almighty God reveals Himself to puny man.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life [John 3:16].

Note in those words that God gave His Son. This means God in this verse is God the Father, else how can He have a Son? So we have God the Father and God the Son together simultaneously.

The Father sent the Son into the world to take upon true humanity, sin excepted. He did this in order to reveal His true Person and character to man. He had to reveal Himself to man again because, back in the garden in the beginning, man sinned and marred his ability to know God. In consequence man made up his own versions of God, which we now know as idolatry and man-made religions.

God is One, not two or twenty or ten thousand. This one God gave His Son, so now we know that there are two Persons as the one God. In other Scriptures, including Genesis 1:2, God teaches us that there is also the Person of the Holy Spirit.

In the creation account of Genesis God speaks. Since we cannot comprehend eternity, God uses man’s speech as an illustration of His Son, the Word. For the same reason He employs an earthly illustration to denote the Holy Spirit hovering like a helicopter over the waters covering the earth, generating transforming energy to create the present heavens and earth.

Look at it like this. A man wants to do something, so he thinks to himself, “I’m going to do such and so, in order to accomplish this goal.” After figuring out what he wants and how he will go about accomplishing it, he then puts his shoulder to the work and gets it done.

The man represents the Father, his thoughts and words represent the Son, and his actions represent the Holy Spirit. An earthly analogy, to be sure, making it very limited and demanding that we understand it relatively. But it is how God reveals Himself to us in Genesis 1 and John 1. That is all we can comprehend, but it is not all there is to know about the Person and Ministry of God.

If you don’t yet have enough to spend hours alone with Jesus, then you must be God! Let’s spend some quality time with Him now.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/-/e/B005PJ761C
https://sites.google.com/site/heavenl...

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters [Genesis 1:1-2].

When I was a wee little lad, I had this issue that needed to be resolved. If I did something wrong and got caught, I hemmed and hawed, shuffled the feet, and attempted to muddy the waters of truth by mincing words. It was convenient, you see, to leave off essential details, so as to make the case against me not so bad as at first blush might appear. Guess what? It never worked! Adults know what’s what. They see right through such shenanigans.

In this self-styled modern scientific age, there are those adults who mimic my childish shenanigans. They only believe what they can see with their own eyes and touch with their own hands—aka doubting Thomases! Many suchlike rascals bombastically look down the nose at the Bible as a collection of old wives’ tales. Others, though, hold the Bible in reverence—sometimes superstitiously—even while all along clinging to the anti-spiritual asseverations of science falsely so-called.

This presents them with a conundrum. On the one hand they cling to the findings of contemporary geology textbooks, while on the other hand they profess belief in the Bible. The two historically being irreconcilable, they find it necessary to attempt a reconciliation. Truth be told, the Bible and true science are not at odds. The Bible and historical studies by atheists are.

I make reference to the findings of evolution and uniformitarianism, dear friends. These fields of contemporary science don’t begin with a tabula rasa and let the evidence take them where it will. They enter the fray with preconceived predilections.

To them the Bible is wrong, and that long before the investigation even begins. They assert, “There is no such thing as God! The spirit world, life after death, eternity—all such things stem from the fear of half-wit cave men who couldn’t understand the facts like modern scientists can. So these cave men imagined such concepts to explain the world and life and death.”

Do you see how this is circular reasoning, how it begs the question? They assume the truth of what they are supposed to prove, and then they look for corroborating evidence to prove them right. Any evidence which doesn’t fit into this mold, well, let’s just ignore it!

Such an approach is no different than faith, though it is quite different than Biblical faith. Biblical faith is belief in the words of the Bible. The man-made faith of these scientists is belief in their preconceived predilections! They don’t believe in the existence of God, so God doesn’t exist. How’s that for logic, huh? Boy, these guys are good!

We will take up this issue further in our next post. Until then why not spend some time alone with the Lord Jesus. He can teach us quite a bit about this matter.

To further research this issue, I direct you to my book Genesis: Volume 1 of Heavenly Citizens in Earthly Shoes. To purchase my books please go to:
http://www.amazon.com/Randy-Green/e/B...