Can it be done? Why yes, why no?
“In the beginning God said, ‘The four-dimensional divergence of an antisymmetric second rank tensor equals zero!’ and there was light, and it was good.”
–Michio Kaku
Reminds me of sixth grade curriculum where we teach volcanoes in science, Mt. Vesuvius in history, and read a story in literature for young teens with Vesuvius as the setting. Rather than being confused, the youngsters have no difficulty separating fact from fiction, and the combination helps them retain facts about volcanoes and history.
What are the facts about creation? What are the stories about creation? There is no need for one to eclipse the other.
1 Like
Who’s origin story?
Notice the word Genesis in the thread title.
Thats kind of a hint.
Because I am i interested in reading people’s responses in that particular subject.
Let there be light - big bang
Let there be a dome - Earth forming an atmosphere
Let there be land - land forming out of the oceans
Let lights appear in the sky to separate night from day - star formations
Let the waters produce life - life forming in the water first
Let the Earth produce all kinds of animal life - land creatures coming after water creatures
Seems like very reasonable metaphors to me, semantics on time aside.
3 Likes
Mod Note
The discussion is the origin story of Genesis and how it pertains to Science.
Nicely put.
1 Like
The problem with Genesis is that it contains two creation stories.
What do you see as the specific problem between the two accounts?
Pretty much yeah.
They are Contrdictory. In the first telling animals are created before man, in the second man is created before animals.
The first is elegant and closely parallels accepted scientific theory, the second comes across as a child’s story.
Jewish mystics would disagree, but then they are reading the original Hebrew, which is much different from modern English. Hebrew speaks in pictures, it is not subjective like our English words. They see the story of the two creations as happening together, yet not together.
The second story tells of man’s spiritual creation, that he came into being before he was created on earth, thus ahead of the animals. In English, the story comes across as two versions of the same story; in Hebrew, as two different stories making different points, both stories true and valid, but for different reasons.
1 Like
And yet they are contradictory. Because of this taking the Bible literally is probably a mistake.
The O.T. at least.
And Revelation in the N.T.
Think about what a creation the ‘creation of light’ was, before the sun and moon were created.
God’s realm is the Spiritual World. Genesis tells us about how God created the physical world and why.
He created the world for a dwelling place for His creation of mankind. God speaks, and His will is done.
Isaiah 55:8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, says the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
10 "For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and return not thither but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater,
11 so shall my word be that goes forth from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and prosper in the thing for which I sent it.
In Genesis: God said…And God said… Let there be…and there was…
God speaks and it is so.
After God miraculously created the earth, the growing things, the animals, fishes, birds and people, he set his laws of nature in motion. He created all things already mature. He created a mature earth, (coal and oil, gold and silver) for man to use.
“The seed within itself.” A mature man, (seed is within the woman) and mature “seed bearing” plants, trees.
The physical world is ruled by nature, except for those times when He has suspended those laws for His miraculous purposes.
Scientists can only study what God has already created. Everything that we have, is from the earth… even down to every dollar we have.
I think true science and the Bible go hand in hand.
Not everything in the Bible was written to be a literal, scientific fact. In the second story of creation, the original language points not to a scientific fact, but to a philosophical or religious truth about mankind’s place in creation.
Example A: Existence of integers, (n,m), such that n! + 1 = m2 other than n = 4, 5, 7
Example B: במעמקי
To find the meaning of the first example, one would naturally consult with a mathematician or a scientist. Likewise, if one found religious scrolls written in Hebrew (second example) then it is logical to consult a Hebrew religious scholar not a mathematician or a scientist.
I think where we both might agree that the average person with only his/her understanding of Modern English should not be the one running to either the scientist or the Hebrew religious scholar to offer instruction.
1 Like
Not sure I follow.
