This post is to provide further information in response to comments made about my previous post, “Controversial Conundrum.” It is important to note that the conundrum I wrote about only applies to Bible believing Christians. It is also important to note that although I have picked scripture references to support the beliefs stated here, that true understanding does not come from a scripture here and there, but a thorough reading of the Bible and the interpreting ability provided by the Holy Spirit (John 14:17, Corinthians 2:11-14).
So, with that stated, here we go.
In reference to my observation from the Bible that God created the world and all life on it, that Adam and Eve brought sin into the world, that death is the result of sin, and therefore there was no death on earth before the first sin.
The comment, summarized:
Maybe the Bible was not meant to be interpreted literally, maybe it is full of metaphors.
My response:
The Bible does contain metaphors, however the beliefs that God created the world, Adam and Eve sinned, and sin brought death to the world are fundamental to the Christian Faith. These are literal Bible truths, not metaphors. The relation between sin and death, and the original sin, are the reasons that Jesus Christ had to die for payment of our sins. Here are the references related to these beliefs:
God created the world and everything in it: Genesis 1:1, Job 38:4-11, John 1:1-3, Exodus 20:11
Adam and Eve were real, literal people: Genesis 4:1-2, 1 Timothy 2:13-14
The first sin came through Adam and Eve: Genesis 3:1-20, Romans 5:12,1 Corinthians 15:21-22
Sin brought death to the world, and Jesus’ death was required to pay for it: Romans 5:12-15, James 1:15, Genesis 2:17, 1 Corinthians 15:21-22
In reference to my following two observations:
1) If one believes that God created the world and all things in it, then any science that does not support that is not revealing truth-so it is flawed science.
2) If one believes that sin and death entered through the first man, then it is not possible to also believe that many years of death led up to the development of man (as held by the general theory of evolution ).
The comment, verbatim:“And maybe God would not appreciate us focusing in on the Bible so exclusively that we discount logical conclusions about the world around us.”
My response:
God gave us brains, and there is nothing in the Bible that indicates we should not use them. The Bible does state we should seek wisdom, but that we have to be careful and not depend entirely on our own understanding. The Bible makes it clear that observation of nature should point to God as its creator, and that people that deny existence of God are not demonstrating wisdom. Here are the references related to these beliefs:
We should seek wisdom: Proverbs 3
We should not depend entirely on our own understanding: Proverbs 3:5
Observation of nature reveals God: Romans 1:18-20, Job 12:7-10
To deny existence of God is not wise: Psalm 14:1
The photo is of an interesting combination of footprints. From my very brief research it appears legitimate, but I want to dig into (pun intended) these types of findings more before finalizing any conclusions.
1 comment:
So do you also believe that there was no such thing as 'death' on earth before the creation of man? If so, do you also believe that man was the first creature on the earth? So do you discount fossil records and carbon dating that suggests if not proves otherwise, or do you assume that the oldest fossil records of man have just not been located so far?
To believe that man was/is the center of all the universe and that there was nothing before man seems quite self-centered and arrogant. But if that is what you believe because that is how you interpret the Bible, then I guess you can believe as you wish.
I don't really think we have any sort of disagreement on the theory of evolution - that is just a theory after all because we really can't PROVE it because of our space and time limitations. Just so long as Christians (even Bible-reading ones) will acknowledge and accept learning about the concepts of evolutionary processes, like those of vertebrate ecology, I'm fine with that. We don't have to agree on exactly how everything started because none of us here really knows. And in the end, it is really necessary that we argue about something we can't prove anyway? Thanks for the responses, we can learn from each other. (But I still think Bro Bob is off-base)
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