Through the Shadowlands . . . and back again

Thoughts on Genesis

Okay, I confess, my post a while back about creation/evolution wasn't entirely a random musing. I just started this year's local Bible Study Fellowship (http://www.bsfinternational.org) course. The topic this year (they have a rotating 7-year study) is "Genesis."

Some thoughts from "the very beginning, a very good place to start." Genesis 1:1 states: "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth." Two key thoughts - first, God pre-existed the beginning; second, God created all that exists. If I don't believe this verse, there's no reason to continue reading.

I am not a scientists, sometimes I wish I were (little known fact, my "back up" career choice was to study quantum physics at MIT) in order to better understand the universe. The question is not do we start with faith or do we start with science. If God truly created the world, then nothing in it can counter who He is. Christians have no reason to "fear" science. Scientists dedicated to materialism have a lot more to lose by acknowledging room for faith.

The problem must be in our ability to understand the world around us. The old adage "the more you know, the less you know" is true: we continue to learn more about the universe, and as we do, we realize how many things about it are (at this point at least) inexplicable. But we keep searching for answers and explanations, which lead to more questions.

So the search is good. Never demean someone for positing answers, even if they counter some pre-existing notion that you have. But not "demeaning" someone does not mean we cannot engage in debate and discussion, and challenge certain "answers" and hypotheses against other observable facts and unobservable potential solutions.

Last point, which I had not heard before. Regarding the "controversy" of whether Genesis 1 refers to literal 24-hour days or "days" to represent a period of time of unknown duration - St. Augustine posited the question thus: is a day a "sun-divided day" or a "God-divided day"? I like that phrasing. And while I have researched the issue and come up with my "best answer," I think that Augustine's terminology is helpful in analyzing both sides of the debate.

posted by shadowlands7 @ 3:49:00 PM