Introduction
I believe that God created the universe - all of it. In the words of John,
a. The two books
(1) I believe that God gave us two inerrant books in which to discover Him. The first is, of course, the Bible
(2) The second book, equally inerrant, is nature.
b. The proper attitude – humility before both and an attempt to reconcile them.
Nature, being both mindless and yet governed by strict laws, is inextricably bound to the truth. Nature cannot lie. As a Christian I believe that the Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant in the original and thus is equally incapable of lying. Therefore if there seems to be a contradiction between the two, it is not that one or the other is incorrect but simply that I am not yet wise enough to reconcile the difference.
c. The relativism of time – time is relative to the observer
It is interesting to note that in physics time is always measured from the point of view of the observer. Tell me – who was present at creation? Certainly not man! In fact, the planet itself was not formed until “day” three. So how do we understand “evening and morning day…” when there was no planet, no horizon over which the sun could set or rise? Time (up until “day” three at least) must be measured by the observer and that observer was God.
The style of writing and presentation in the first two chapters of Genesis are utterly different than all the other styles in the entire Bible. Once we reach chapter three, “biblical time” and “historical time” coincide quite nicely. But those first two chapters are notoriously controversial. My contention is that if we understand the relativism of time as it is measured by the observer then the entire issue goes away.
- “He created everything there is. Nothing exists that he didn’t make.” (John 1:3).
a. The two books
(1) I believe that God gave us two inerrant books in which to discover Him. The first is, of course, the Bible
- “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophets themselves or because they wanted to prophesy. It was the Holy Spirit who moved the prophets to speak from God.” (2 Peter 1:21-22).
- “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It straightens us out and teaches us to do what is right. 17It is God’s way of preparing us in every way, fully equipped for every good thing God wants us to do.” (2 Timothy 3:16-17).
(2) The second book, equally inerrant, is nature.
- “The heavens tell of the glory of God. The skies display his marvelous craftsmanship. 2 Day after day they continue to speak; night after night they make him known. 3 They speak without a sound or a word; their voice is silent in the skies; 4 yet their message has gone out to all the earth, and their words to all the world.” (Psalm 19:1-4)
- “But God shows his anger from heaven against all sinful, wicked people who push the truth away from themselves. 19For the truth about God is known to them instinctively. God has put this knowledge in their hearts. 20From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God.” (Romans 1:18-20)
b. The proper attitude – humility before both and an attempt to reconcile them.
Nature, being both mindless and yet governed by strict laws, is inextricably bound to the truth. Nature cannot lie. As a Christian I believe that the Bible is divinely inspired and inerrant in the original and thus is equally incapable of lying. Therefore if there seems to be a contradiction between the two, it is not that one or the other is incorrect but simply that I am not yet wise enough to reconcile the difference.
c. The relativism of time – time is relative to the observer
It is interesting to note that in physics time is always measured from the point of view of the observer. Tell me – who was present at creation? Certainly not man! In fact, the planet itself was not formed until “day” three. So how do we understand “evening and morning day…” when there was no planet, no horizon over which the sun could set or rise? Time (up until “day” three at least) must be measured by the observer and that observer was God.
The style of writing and presentation in the first two chapters of Genesis are utterly different than all the other styles in the entire Bible. Once we reach chapter three, “biblical time” and “historical time” coincide quite nicely. But those first two chapters are notoriously controversial. My contention is that if we understand the relativism of time as it is measured by the observer then the entire issue goes away.
Day One
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness. And the Spirit of God was hovering over its surface. 3Then God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 4And God saw that it was good. Then he separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light “day” and the darkness “night.” Together these made up one day. (Genesis 1:1-5)
a. Black hole - I further enjoy the fact that the phases of creation the Bible describes and those we see in the fossil record match perfectly. For example the Bible says that before creation “The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness.” The terms used here are “tohu” and “bohu”. They literally mean “without form” and “void”. What an apt description of a singularity. Everything – even clouds have a shape. It may be amorphous but it’s outline can be traced. A black hole however, with its infinite negative curvature is truly without form and void.
b. Fluctuation – The Bible further describes the initial condition of the universe as being characterized by the Spirit of God “hovering”. This word in Hebrew literally means “to vibrate”. How interesting that modern physics describes the initial impetus of the Big Bang as being a “quantum fluctuation.”
c. Sonic wave – The Scriptures say that the universe was begun with a sound – the sound of God’s voice. Just recently they have determined that the Big Bang was characterized by acoustic waves approximately 50 octaves below the threshold of human hearing. When brought up the requisite number of octaves so that we can perceive it, it sounds rather like a hissing roar. Go through the Bible and see how many times God’s voice is described as the sound of many waters or as a roar and then think about how far ahead of its time the Word actually is!
a. Black hole - I further enjoy the fact that the phases of creation the Bible describes and those we see in the fossil record match perfectly. For example the Bible says that before creation “The earth was empty, a formless mass cloaked in darkness.” The terms used here are “tohu” and “bohu”. They literally mean “without form” and “void”. What an apt description of a singularity. Everything – even clouds have a shape. It may be amorphous but it’s outline can be traced. A black hole however, with its infinite negative curvature is truly without form and void.
b. Fluctuation – The Bible further describes the initial condition of the universe as being characterized by the Spirit of God “hovering”. This word in Hebrew literally means “to vibrate”. How interesting that modern physics describes the initial impetus of the Big Bang as being a “quantum fluctuation.”
c. Sonic wave – The Scriptures say that the universe was begun with a sound – the sound of God’s voice. Just recently they have determined that the Big Bang was characterized by acoustic waves approximately 50 octaves below the threshold of human hearing. When brought up the requisite number of octaves so that we can perceive it, it sounds rather like a hissing roar. Go through the Bible and see how many times God’s voice is described as the sound of many waters or as a roar and then think about how far ahead of its time the Word actually is!
Day Two
And God said, “Let there be space between the waters, to separate water from water.” 7And so it was. God made this space to separate the waters above from the waters below. 8And God called the space “sky.” This happened on the second day. (Genesis 1:6-8)
a. Energy spike - Everything began suddenly with a great spike of energy that it refers to as light. Ancient Jewish commentators like Maimonides and Nahamihud taught that the word for light there was not to be understood as that which falls within the human visible spectrum but that it was understood to be energy.
b. Cool down - Then, as the energy cooled down, it began to coalesce and become translucent in places. The Bible describes this as light and dark being divided.
c. Accretion of matter - Then chapter one describes the energy as being in a liquid state and coalescing in space creating semi solid areas divided by spaces. Sounds like matter beginning to accrete to me!
a. Energy spike - Everything began suddenly with a great spike of energy that it refers to as light. Ancient Jewish commentators like Maimonides and Nahamihud taught that the word for light there was not to be understood as that which falls within the human visible spectrum but that it was understood to be energy.
b. Cool down - Then, as the energy cooled down, it began to coalesce and become translucent in places. The Bible describes this as light and dark being divided.
c. Accretion of matter - Then chapter one describes the energy as being in a liquid state and coalescing in space creating semi solid areas divided by spaces. Sounds like matter beginning to accrete to me!
Day Three
And God said, “Let the waters beneath the sky be gathered into one place so dry ground may appear.” And so it was. 10God named the dry ground “land” and the water “seas.” And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:9-10)
a. Pooling of liquid water - After that the point of view zooms down to one individual planet. As it began to cool, the liquid water pooled in the low spots
Then God said, “Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And so it was. 12The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind. And God saw that it was good. 13This all happened on the third day. (Genesis 1:11-13)
b. Vegetative life – The Scriptures then describe life as first being vegetative, grasses coming before plants and trees.
a. Pooling of liquid water - After that the point of view zooms down to one individual planet. As it began to cool, the liquid water pooled in the low spots
Then God said, “Let the land burst forth with every sort of grass and seed-bearing plant. And let there be trees that grow seed-bearing fruit. The seeds will then produce the kinds of plants and trees from which they came.” And so it was. 12The land was filled with seed-bearing plants and trees, and their seeds produced plants and trees of like kind. And God saw that it was good. 13This all happened on the third day. (Genesis 1:11-13)
b. Vegetative life – The Scriptures then describe life as first being vegetative, grasses coming before plants and trees.
Day Four
And God said, “Let bright lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. They will be signs to mark off the seasons, the days, and the years. 15Let their light shine down upon the earth.” And so it was. 16For God made two great lights, the sun and the moon, to shine down upon the earth. The greater one, the sun, presides during the day; the lesser one, the moon, presides through the night. He also made the stars. 17God set these lights in the heavens to light the earth, 18to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19This all happened on the fourth day. (Genesis 1:14-19)
Atmosphere becomes translucent – As the planet continued to cool down and the geological processes calmed, the atmosphere would have become more translucent and the sun, stars and moon would have appeared.
Atmosphere becomes translucent – As the planet continued to cool down and the geological processes calmed, the atmosphere would have become more translucent and the sun, stars and moon would have appeared.
Day Five
And God said, “Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind.” 21So God created great sea creatures and every sort of fish and every kind of bird. And God saw that it was good. 22Then God blessed them, saying, “Let the fish multiply and fill the oceans. Let the birds increase and fill the earth.” 23This all happened on the fifth day. (Genesis 1:20-23)
Oceanic life preceded that of birds – The Bible agrees with the fossil record that life began in the oceans. The next thing we see after that is birds in the air. Again, the findings of the paleontologist and the theologian can agree.
Oceanic life preceded that of birds – The Bible agrees with the fossil record that life began in the oceans. The next thing we see after that is birds in the air. Again, the findings of the paleontologist and the theologian can agree.
Day Six
Creation of Man by Edwin Lester
And God said, “Let the earth bring forth every kind of animal—livestock, small animals, and wildlife.” And so it was. 25God made all sorts of wild animals, livestock, and small animals, each able to reproduce more of its own kind. And God saw that it was good. (Genesis 1:24-25)
a. Land animals soon followed – It is fascinating to watch this continual progression, this vast panoply of life as it passes before our eyes. We now get to see (through the eyes of the inspired prophet) that land animals came after the fish and the birds. We must note, however, one subtle difference. All of these forms of life reproduce “after their own kind.” This is a serious difference between the biblical view and the current evolutionary view. As a Christian I must believe that all life was created to reproduce after its own kind. I believe in great evolutionary changes, both natural and artificial. After all, look at the continual mutations of viruses. Observe the resistance insects develop to our poisons. Consider the man-made difference in dogs: they range from the teacup Chihuahua to the Mastiff! However, a dog is a dog is a dog. We’ve not been able to make an animal so different that it no longer was able to breed with others of its own species. Every time we reach that barrier and try to cross it, they become sterile. Again – the Bible and science agree.
Then God said, “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals.” 27So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
b. Human life finally arrives – The Bible recounts that humans came last and that there is a unique difference between humans and animals. God tells us more about it in the complementary account in Genesis two. He breathes the breath of life – the “nephesh” – into us. We are uniquely different from the animals. Not in our ability to think for many animals do; not in our ability to emote for again many animals experience fear, joy, sadness etc; not in our ability to be self-aware nor in our ability to lie or deceive because many animals are very cunning and will both escape from and lay traps. No – the unique difference is in our spirituality. Our ability to sense and communicate with God. Therein lies the great difference. And when we deny that capability, when we say like the fool in Psalms “there is no God” we descend to the state of animals.
a. Land animals soon followed – It is fascinating to watch this continual progression, this vast panoply of life as it passes before our eyes. We now get to see (through the eyes of the inspired prophet) that land animals came after the fish and the birds. We must note, however, one subtle difference. All of these forms of life reproduce “after their own kind.” This is a serious difference between the biblical view and the current evolutionary view. As a Christian I must believe that all life was created to reproduce after its own kind. I believe in great evolutionary changes, both natural and artificial. After all, look at the continual mutations of viruses. Observe the resistance insects develop to our poisons. Consider the man-made difference in dogs: they range from the teacup Chihuahua to the Mastiff! However, a dog is a dog is a dog. We’ve not been able to make an animal so different that it no longer was able to breed with others of its own species. Every time we reach that barrier and try to cross it, they become sterile. Again – the Bible and science agree.
Then God said, “Let us make people in our image, to be like ourselves. They will be masters over all life—the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the livestock, wild animals, and small animals.” 27So God created people in his own image; God patterned them after himself; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)
b. Human life finally arrives – The Bible recounts that humans came last and that there is a unique difference between humans and animals. God tells us more about it in the complementary account in Genesis two. He breathes the breath of life – the “nephesh” – into us. We are uniquely different from the animals. Not in our ability to think for many animals do; not in our ability to emote for again many animals experience fear, joy, sadness etc; not in our ability to be self-aware nor in our ability to lie or deceive because many animals are very cunning and will both escape from and lay traps. No – the unique difference is in our spirituality. Our ability to sense and communicate with God. Therein lies the great difference. And when we deny that capability, when we say like the fool in Psalms “there is no God” we descend to the state of animals.
Conclusion
Creation Window - Chester Cathedral Refectory
Do I believe in six literal days of creation? Yes. But literal days as measured on Mars are different from literal days as measured on Earth. Days as measured by the universe are yet another thing entirely! Do I believe in an evolutionary process? Yes. But I believe that the evolutionary process does not allow the crossing of species boundaries. I believe in a meddling, tweaking, fiddling God who created - not just once, but continuously. I believe in an Artist who designed His work to be constantly changing and growing – not just humans but all of creation.
Whether you believe in fiat creationism ex nihilo or in theistic evolution or progressive creationism or simple evolutionary processes, the fact remains that behind it all is God. The question of how He chose to create is simply not as important as the question of why He created. Answer the first and you simply have an interesting theory. Answer the second and you have a life-changing metaphysical outlook!
Whether you believe in fiat creationism ex nihilo or in theistic evolution or progressive creationism or simple evolutionary processes, the fact remains that behind it all is God. The question of how He chose to create is simply not as important as the question of why He created. Answer the first and you simply have an interesting theory. Answer the second and you have a life-changing metaphysical outlook!
