Tuesday 2 June 2009

Can you really believe in Divine Creation

My rejection of the whole Christian package was largely based on my understanding of the Creation versus Big Bang debate. I could not see how to reconcile a seven day divine creation with scientific knowledge of the formation and development of the earth and universe. If the Bible was incorrect on this point, then it undermines its whole credibility. In order to become a Christian, confident in my faith, I have had to genuinely overcome this obstacle. This is my personal understanding, far simpler than academics on both sides of the debate, but how I have come to resolve the question.

The Bible is not a concise history of the universe and our world, nor is it a science book. It does not seek to tell us everything that has happened and how from the beginning of the universe onwards. What the Bible does contain is Gods message to humanity, teaching about our place in the vast universe, why we are here, the purpose and meaning of life, our responsibilities on earth, how we should conduct ourselves and the future that can be ours.

Genesis, the first book in the Bible, seems to have been written approximately 3000 years ago. It is amazing that something written so long ago can still cause such passionate discussion. Despite its age the Genesis creation story carries a timeless message for all, which is obviously the point.

I understand this to be essentially a simple message that is surrounded by much confusion. In context, the creation of the universe naturally is the first story of the Bible, but it is told in a single page before the narrative moves on to the Garden of Eden.

The simple message of the Genesis creation account is that God created everything.

There is no need to dwell on the seven days of creation or the particular order of the creation. The Bible often uses stories to help us understand its message. I am convinced this is a story to present the main point that God created everything. The universe is here because God created it, there is light and dark, day and night, land and water, animals and people because God wanted this to be so and made it happen.

Scientists are trying to answer the questions surrounding the what, when and how of the creation of the universe and human life. There is an excellent book by Bill Bryson, “A short history of nearly everything”, which succeeds in explaining science to non-scientists. I took from this book just how precarious life is and how perfect creation is. If the equations and balances at play were only just slightly different, then there would be no life. It seems implausible that all these perfect arrangements exist through random chance.

The science as yet is incomplete. Assuming at some point in the future scientists develop complete coherent theories describing and explaining life and the universe, we will still be left with the question, why? And why we are here? This is what the Bible is telling us. We are here because God made it so.

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