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In The Beginning
The sequence of events believed to have occurred by many of
today's scientists regarding the creation of the Earth corresponds very
closely with the description given in the Bible.
"In the Beginning, God created
the heaven and the earth." Many leading scientists agree
that a single event, often referred to as the "Big Bang," initiated the
steps that led to the formation of the universe we observe today. The
Hebrew word "bara," used here in the original Hebrew, means the same
thing as the English word "create," which means to cause to exist or
bring into being.
"And the earth was without form and
void, and darkness was on the face of the deep." Scientists now
have evidence indicating that the elements composing our planet were
formed during the violent death of stars. Stardust compares favorably to
the Bible's description of the early Earth. It could have been stardust,
drifting through the universe as cosmic dust, without form and void.
Many scientists also believe there was no visible light emitted in the
early universe. The Bible also makes a profound statement about this
very thing at this point when it says, "And darkness was on the face of
the deep." This statement is quite different from simply saying, "It was
dark." Our scientific understanding of how light was trapped agrees very
favorably with that statement. The timing also corresponds favorably.
"And the Spirit of God moved upon the
face of the waters." This Bible verse provides a brief
description of God's supernatural intervention. He identified vastly
scattered sources of water and causing those sources, through gravity,
to collect on planets throughout the cosmos. As spheres formed by
gravity from cosmic dust, all types of materials were trapped within
them. Some of the elements trapped had been created and then scattered
throughout the universe by exploding stars. After the Earth took shape,
some scientists believe the Earth's mass grew larger as enormous showers
of meteors, containing around 5% water, bombarded its surface. They also
think that during this period of the Earth's development, its surface
cooled from around 6000 degrees to 200 degrees, allowing water to
collect on the surface as a liquid. However, there are no good
scientific explanations for why the Earth has significantly more water
than its share compared to other planets. I believe the phrase "Moving
on the face of the waters" was the Bible's way of saying that this was a
supernatural happening outside the normal operating laws God established
to control the natural cosmos. God directed the formation of the Earth's
environment through natural means and some supernatural interventions.
The arrival of water on the planet in the correct proportion was the
result of one of his supernatural actions. First, He identified (the
face of waters) sources of water and then caused (God moved) them to
come together on the planet.
"Then God said, let there be light, and
there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God
divided the light from the darkness. God called the light day, and the
darkness He called night." This event describes the instant that
the density of the cosmos decreased enough, as it expanded outward, to
allow light to shine forth. As the cosmic dust that formed Earth became
more compressed into the shape of a sphere, that dust cloud began to
spin as it entered an orbit around the sun. The Earth became more solid
as it fell closer and closer to its present orbital position around the
sun. Initially, this orbit was very unsteady. The sun was formed much
earlier from a much larger mass of matter. That mass was large enough to
have created sufficient force to set off an atomic chain reaction at its
core. Light from the sun's nuclear reaction grew brighter as the Earth
came closer. Darkness would have been divided from light as the Earth
began to spin. In other words, the Earth's rotation would have created
periods of light and dark on the Planet. However, the Earth would not
have been in the stable orbit that exists today and would not have been
tilted on its axis as it is today. Most scientists believe this trimming
of the Earth's movements around the sun was the ultimate result of the
moon colliding with the Earth. Without that happening in just the
precise way it happened, there would have been no possibility of life
existing on Earth.
"So, the evening and the morning were
the first day." The Bible makes it clear that God's measurement
of time differs from our own. (Psalms 90:4, 2 Peter 3:8) Moses wrote the
book of Genesis. Many also believe that he wrote the 90th Psalm. In
verse 4, he mentions the relativity of time. At this point in the
creation, we must realize that I have mentioned events necessary for the
existence of life, which far exceed the laws of probability. Those laws
state that it would have been impossible for things to occur as they
have occurred by natural means alone. Keep in mind, however, that all
things are possible with God. The man Job came to realize that God can
do anything, and we must come to the same conclusion if we are to grow
in our understanding of even the natural, much less the supernatural.
Since there was no one around to witness the events I am discussing
here, there can only be theories on the length of time it took for the
events described here to occur. Keep in mind, however, that the cosmos
was much denser at the beginning of its expansion outward. We know now
that time slows down as velocity or density increases. Evidence learned
about the relativity of time suggests that one of our days now could
have been billions of years in the past, when the cosmos was much denser
during the first day of creation. It isn't wise for Christians to argue
about the length of those days in Genesis since we have now obtained
very concrete proof for the relativity of time.
"And God said, let there be a firmament
amid the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God
made the firmament and divided the waters which were under the firmament
from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so."
And God called the firmament heaven." I believe these verses briefly
describe the formation of what scientists call a "water world." Here,
water began to condense from a vapor state into a liquid state as the
Earth cooled. The event being described here is also being expressed in
the only way the ancients would have been able to understand. (Remember,
the Bible is a book written for all generations) Scientists believe the
initial temperature of the Earth's surface was approximately 6,000
degrees. At those temperatures, although atmospheric pressure was much
greater at this stage of the Earth's formation, all water would have
been in a vapor state. As the Earth cooled sufficiently, scientists
believe that enormous quantities of water vapor suspended in the
atmosphere rained down for millions of years, producing an ocean that
covered the entire globe. They also think that island land masses formed
by volcanic eruptions were too unstable to form lasting land masses
because they could not withstand the eroding forces of the Earth's
extreme global weather patterns at that time. At this stage of the
Earth's development, there would have been a separation of water vapor
above from the liquid water covering the entire planet below, as
described in the Bible. As I have said, there would not have been any
stable solid land masses.
"Then God said let the waters under the
heavens be gathered together into one place and let the dry land appear,
and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering
together of the waters called He Seas: and God saw that it was good."
Scientists believe that volcanic activity, combined with the liquid sea
of water that covered the planet, formed a much stronger, yet lighter,
rock called granite. This granite rock became the building block of the
continents because it was able to withstand the erosion factors created
by the violent weather on the Earth's surface. As more and more granite
was produced, the continents grew in size. Granite is being formed in
this very same way today, under the ocean, off the coast of Hawaii,
where volcanic activity is ongoing. Granite rock is the building block
that forms continents, and it happened at this very stage in Earth's
formation, just as the Bible says. "And God said, Let the Earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the Earth: and it was so. And the Earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day." Notice that the
writer did not say that God created the grass. Instead, he said, "God
said let the earth bring forth grass." This verse of the Bible is indeed
profound. It is a command that not only causes the Genesis of Life but
also gives life itself the power to regenerate. It is an ordered process
commanded by God, which could appear to be accidental evolution to a
carnal observer, considering only their natural explanation for the
Origin of life through the five senses and rejecting anything that they
cannot see, touch, smell, taste, or hear. However, to an objective
observer, statistically speaking, the only rational hypothesis to be
made is for intelligent design. Science says plants came before animals,
and that is precisely what the Bible is saying here. Plants came before
animals.
"And God said, Let there be lights in
the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let
them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: And let
them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the
Earth: and it was so." And God made two great lights; the greater
light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: [he made]
the stars also. This Bible verse describes the positioning of the sun
and moon and not the creation of those two bodies in space. They had
already been formed because plants had already been created. The green
plants described here could not exist without sunlight. Unfortunately,
many Theologians mistake the word 'made' for the word 'to create' in
this Bible verse. The Hebrew word for "made" is "asah," which means
"effect, use, or prepare." It does not mean "create". The Hebrew word
for "create" is "bara." Genesis makes it very clear that the sun and
moon were positioned correctly on Earth to support life. "And God said,
Let there be lights". This statement is used in the same context as the
earlier statement in verse 3, where God said, "Let there be light." The
particles that create the phenomenon of light already existed. However,
the earlier cosmos was much denser, becoming less dense as it expanded
outward. At some point, the force of gravity decreased enough for light
particles to escape into the broader expanses of the cosmos. Also, the
sun and moon needed to be appropriately positioned for the Earth to
align with them, allowing the light to be distributed as required. These
alignments created the proper time spans and adequate amounts of light
to create the optimum environment for all life. The parameters that
needed to be satisfied were far beyond the limits of probability for
this to happen by accident.
"And God said, Let the waters bring
forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl [that] may
fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven." Notably,
the writer mentions animal life originating in the ocean, which aligns
with the prevailing scientific consensus.
"And God created great whales, and
every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and
God saw that [it was] good. And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful,
and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in
the Earth. And the evening and the morning were the fifth days."
This very short summation of the Genesis of animal life states very
clearly that God brings all life into being. The writer uses the Hebrew
word "bara" for "create." Ordered events, such as the formation of life,
have no known examples that have happened accidentally. The scientific
process cannot prove that the God of the Bible created life, but it has
also not made a documented observation showing life accidentally
creating itself.
"And God said, Let the Earth bring
forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing,
and beast of the Earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the
beast of the Earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and
everything that creeps upon the Earth after his kind: and God saw that
[it was] good." Here, again, the unbiased mind can see the truth
of the Bible as it describes the completion of the sequence of the
creation of plants and animals. Plants came first by God's command, long
before the Earth and moon came to rest in their present positions. Then,
animals in the water were commanded into existence. Finally, God
commanded land animals to come into existence. This sequence of creative
events lines up with what nearly all scientists believe today. What are
the chances that an ancient writer would get this sequence of events
right? It would have been impossible if some power did not dictate these
writings with far greater abilities than ours. Show me another ancient
account, other than the Bible, that describes any ancient event in such
detail, with such accuracy. I am not aware of any such writing myself.
“So God created man in his [own] image,
in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And
God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and
replenish the Earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of
the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that
moved upon the Earth. And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed, which [is] upon the face of all the Earth, and every tree,
in the which [is] the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be
for meat. And to every beast of the Earth, and every fowl of the air,
and to everything that creeps upon the Earth, wherein [there is] life,
[I have given] every green herb for meat: and it was so. And God saw
everything that he had made, and, behold, [it was] very good. And the
evening and the morning were the sixth day." The writer uses the
Hebrew word "bara," here when describing the Genesis of humanity.
It is foolish for believers to argue about the events mentioned
in Genesis because we lack so much knowledge which has yet not been
revealed, for us to have a basis for being able to understanding it with
our natural minds. However, as our knowledge grows, that knowledge does
seem to verify more and more of the statements made in the Bible. |