Genesis 1 ~ The Evolution Confusion
The age old question on the origin of the universe can sometimes be misconstrued to be a conflict between "modern science" and "outdated Genesis". While the book of Genesis is to be read literally, it should not always be read in a literalistic fashion as it utilizes metaphors as well.
God was right there in the beginning (verse 1) and He made this world from chaos to order. The earth was without form and void (verse 2) and lacked structure. It was empty save for darkness. Yet the Spirit of God (verse 2) was there - where you have the breath of God, the word of God is present as well and so God spoke from verse 3 onwards.
Certain phrases are frequently repeated in the first chapter of this first book in the Old Testament, such as "And God said" (10 times), "Let there be" (8 times), "and there was" or "and it was" (7 times), "And God made" (7 times), "God called" (5 times), "God saw that it was good" after each of the creation day as well as "And there was evening, and there was morning, the _____ day" (after each of the 6 days). Such repetitions show a very structured or orderly account of creation itself.
The pattern of creation is of complementary form and filling: day and night (day 1) and sun and moon (day 4), expanse separating waters (day 2) and birds and sea creatures (day 5), and vegetation (day 3) and beasts and man (day 6). A word can be very powerful if it brings things into existence and such is the power of God's Word and His sovereign design, which is all summed up in verse 31 where God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. This is a personal, purposeful God who made everything, fulfilling His plan. Passages like John 1:1-3, John 1:14, Colossians 1:16-17, and Hebrews 1:1-3 demonstrate that God is personally involved with creation throughout all of time. Jesus is the one who sustains the world and He is in sovereign control of all.
The evolution confusion is that science is in conflict with Genesis. The reality, however, is that evolution does not necessarily contradict Genesis. These are two different fields of studies or disciplines in that science provides the mechanistic explanation while Genesis asks the "bigger questions" of "who made it", "what is it made for", and "where are we going". In fact, it is Genesis 1 that gave rise to modern science for the only way you can do science is if you appreciate orderliness (exemplified in Genesis 1 that proposes the clockwork model). The real conflict lies where people argue for accidental evolution (e.g. the Big Bang theory that hypothesizes that creation happened by accident, purely all out of chance) whereas Genesis has explicitly made it clear that creation is of purposeful design.
How did you get here? Are you a purposeful creation of God or a product of atoms that randomly gathered and interacted by chance and accident?
God was right there in the beginning (verse 1) and He made this world from chaos to order. The earth was without form and void (verse 2) and lacked structure. It was empty save for darkness. Yet the Spirit of God (verse 2) was there - where you have the breath of God, the word of God is present as well and so God spoke from verse 3 onwards.
Certain phrases are frequently repeated in the first chapter of this first book in the Old Testament, such as "And God said" (10 times), "Let there be" (8 times), "and there was" or "and it was" (7 times), "And God made" (7 times), "God called" (5 times), "God saw that it was good" after each of the creation day as well as "And there was evening, and there was morning, the _____ day" (after each of the 6 days). Such repetitions show a very structured or orderly account of creation itself.
The pattern of creation is of complementary form and filling: day and night (day 1) and sun and moon (day 4), expanse separating waters (day 2) and birds and sea creatures (day 5), and vegetation (day 3) and beasts and man (day 6). A word can be very powerful if it brings things into existence and such is the power of God's Word and His sovereign design, which is all summed up in verse 31 where God saw everything that He had made, and behold, it was very good. This is a personal, purposeful God who made everything, fulfilling His plan. Passages like John 1:1-3, John 1:14, Colossians 1:16-17, and Hebrews 1:1-3 demonstrate that God is personally involved with creation throughout all of time. Jesus is the one who sustains the world and He is in sovereign control of all.
The evolution confusion is that science is in conflict with Genesis. The reality, however, is that evolution does not necessarily contradict Genesis. These are two different fields of studies or disciplines in that science provides the mechanistic explanation while Genesis asks the "bigger questions" of "who made it", "what is it made for", and "where are we going". In fact, it is Genesis 1 that gave rise to modern science for the only way you can do science is if you appreciate orderliness (exemplified in Genesis 1 that proposes the clockwork model). The real conflict lies where people argue for accidental evolution (e.g. the Big Bang theory that hypothesizes that creation happened by accident, purely all out of chance) whereas Genesis has explicitly made it clear that creation is of purposeful design.
How did you get here? Are you a purposeful creation of God or a product of atoms that randomly gathered and interacted by chance and accident?
Labels: Australia, Christianity, Genesis
posted by Shih Ying GUN (Jane) @ 2:45 AM
2 comments
2 Comments:
Love, there is a purpose and season for everything. God has his own plans and his own ways. Everything is so unpredictable but Trust in the Lord all the time.
no matter what side you support, you have to be skilled to convince your interlocutor, that is why you should visit custom essays to improve your language vocabulary and try youself in writing.
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