The problem we have is that the questions we want answered are not the questions that the Bible is trying to answer. Genesis is not written as a science text book just like the Twilight books are not written to tell us about what American high schools are like (they focus on vampires whilst showing us a bit about American high schools). We need to ask what is Genesis trying to tell us. The answer Genesis tells us more about the why of creation than the how.
Secondly we need to see that Genesis 1-11 is more poetic than the rest of Genesis. We don't see it so much in English but in the Hebrew (the language Genesis was written in) there is quite a lot of poetry. It is talking about snakes that talk and some very confusing stuff. This doesn't mean that we don't take what Genesis says seriously. But it does mean we have to read it carefully so we understand it properly. Jesus told parables to show what would accurately happen to him in history. Couldn't Genesis be telling history in a poetic way? For example we read in Genesis 1-2 about the 6 days of creation and the 7th day of rest. But Hebrews 4 talks about Christians being able to enter that 7th day of rest now. Does that mean the "days" of creation are poetic and figurative of a period of time? I don't know but it well could be the case. As far as I can see (and others may disagree) the Bible doesn't give an exact period of time for how old the earth is. This means the earth and animals could be millions of years old. The dinosaurs may well have existed earlier than humanity and believing this doesn't mean you are contradicting the Bible. In fact the animals were created before humans (water animals and birds before humans and other animals on the same day as humans). Some things do contradict the Bible but it is only as we read the Bible carefully and closely that we can work out what things it considers important and non negotiable.
It is also worth noting that many godly Christians hold different views on what Genesis 1-11 is about. You can be a Christian and believe in evolution or a literal 6 creation or something in the middle. What is important is that you believe God made the world (how or when is not so important), that you realise we have ignored God's good rule and that you see that Jesus is the saviour we need and the ruler we follow. It is important that we think about creation and dinosaurs but it is also important that we don't let issues like this distract us from the reality that Jesus is the Ruler and Rescuer of all people. Thanks for the question, hope this helps and keep those questions coming.
At school in physics class we have been studying the universe and how it came to be. apparenty the universe is a result of an explosion that occured 13 billion years ago and there is scietific evidence to prove it. (the Big Bang theory) Now im stuck on what to believe but i guess for the exam i just have to accept the big bang, makes things difficult though.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment.
ReplyDeleteI think it is important we remember two things:
Firstly it is the big bang, theory. The nature of science is that people make discoveries which are taken as fact. Yet the next generation comes along and will possibly prove it to be different. My Grandad when he was at school was told that there was nothing smaller than the Atom, that is until they split the atom. Science is constantly evolving, and that is not a bad thing. It just means we need to be careful what we consider fact. Can we know what happened at the start of the universe? We certainly can take really good educated guesses. But we need to keep in mind that someday, someone might come along and redefine what science used to say.
Secondly what is to say that the God wasn't the one behind the big bang. For an ordered universe to come into existence after a random explosion seems a bit odd. I am not much of a cook (my wife is though) yet I have been able to determine that if you throw a bunch of ingredients into the oven without measuring or ordering them usually you get a big mess, rather than a big masterpiece. God could have used the big bang to create the universe, it is hard to think how it could have happened without some sort of intelligence behind the ordered masterpiece that our universe is!
So yeah, if it were me I wouldn't worry about putting the big bang down in your exam, just make sure that you don't forget the God who is behind all things.
You can also check this out if you want something good but which will get you thinking:
ReplyDeletehttp://phillipjensen.com/video/creationism-and-accidentalism/
so if there could have been dinosaurs then how do you think they went extinct!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteGreat question would love to hear what others think. It could be anything really, it is one of those big scientific debates
ReplyDeleteWe may be meant tpo listen to what the bible tells us, but what about what other people say? When I was asked 'Does that mean you don't believe in dinosaurs? Because they're millions of years old and the earth is only 10 000 according to the bible.' I didn't have an answer to this person. I have great belief that the science is just wrong- like they can be about most things. But my answer cannot be limited to simply 'well, the bible doesn't address the matter, so i'm not questioning it.'
ReplyDeleteThat also wasn't meant to sound mean, sorry :l
Hi TJ
ReplyDeleteThanks for the comment.
I totally agree we should be careful to question the science. Science doesn't get everything right. But we also need to be careful in how we read the Bible. Does the Bible really say the earth is only 10,000 years old. Many people who read the Bible (a lot smarter than me) in the last 2000 years thought that the Bible wasn't saying the earth was 10,000 years old. So what I am trying to do is to get us to read the BIble carefully and challenge our presuppositions. This is regardless of science, this is more about good and careful Bible reading.
Secondly as I said we should question science and many things in our world. But we also need to remember that there are a lot of things the Bible doesn't address. If your mum's car breaks down will the Bible give you the answer to fix the engine? I have never found anywhere that could. That is because the Bible doesn't cover every little part of life. Does that mean we shouldn't read car manuals? What the Bible speaks focuses on are the things that God considers important. God has not promised to give us answers to everything, then we would be God but he has given us everything we need for salvation in his Word (2 Timothy 3:14-17). Science is a useful tool but like all such tools we need to use it carefully knowing it can both be right and wrong.
Feel free to comment back if I have misunderstood what you said or if you disagree