Thanks so much for responding, I really enjoy this kind of discussion.
In reference to your Alpha Centuri question.
The way I see it, God created things in one of two ways:
1. Everything was put in place as we know the universe to be today.
(The implication in your example)
If this were Gods way, it is not out of the realm of possibility
that He would have the light from a star a million
light years away striking the earth a second after both bodies
were created. This would be in harmony with the fact that Adam
(the first man) was created as a mature adult not as a growing
embryo but as a fully developed man.
2. God created things through a Big Bang.
This theory can coexist with Genesis. If God created everything
from a Big Bang, the answer to your Alpha Centuri light problem
is obvious.
I do not know how God created all things although I am leaning toward a Big Bang. I do not believe in the theory that man evolved from anything. A look at the world today bears testimony that man is not evolving.
In reference to the movement of the sun as depicted in the Bible. The example does not imply the sun orbits the earth by any means, this passage is not a literary device but an actual and easy event for the Creator to perpetrate. If God created the sun and the earth why is it difficult to believe He can control their movements against the laws of physics to illustrate a point. Again this passage and the rest of the Bible are in harmony, it is simply out of our realm of understanding of HOW God could do such a thing.
I completely agree with you that if any portion of the Bible can be proven inaccurate, the entire Book must be dismissed. Many people much smarter than I have attempted to do so and failed. Oddly enough, over the centuries science has been chasing Biblical truth.
The hydrological cycle is depicted in the Bible over a thousand
years before it was 'discovered'.
The shape of the earth was discussed in the Bible well before any
explorers proved it wasn't flat.
Archealogists apologized to the Bible when ancient cities depicted
in the Bible that they dismissed as fictional were discovered.
From Einstein to current, physics agrees that extra dimensions
that we cannot perceive exist. The current String Theory that
works in harmony with the Big Bang depicts 10 dimensions of
reality. The four that we are familiar (height, width, length and
time) as well as six others that we cannot perceive. The Bible
clearly depicts that God exists outside of our dimensions and now
physics is confirming that these dimensions exist. Interesting
isn't it.
Sciences' limited knowledge will never be able to prove or disprove the Bible. For me personally, I am satisfied that the Bible is true. It is clear in the Bible that God dwells outside of time by the fact that future events were clearly depicted hundreds to thousands of years before they actually occurred. Christ's crucifixion itself is graphically described 500 years before crucifixion was invented as a means of execution. There are simply too many examples of Bible prophecies that have come true to be coincidental.
Outside the arena of science I am satisfied by the truth of the Bible from my own existence. I fully recognize the fact that I am a flawed being that is separated from God by my transgressions. I also recognize that a flawed being cannot possibly reconcile himself to a Holy God. Enter Jesus Christ as the answer for a fallen people.
I hope to hear from you soon!
Bob |
