Ancient Cosmology
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Psalm 68:32-33
“Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.”
One recent supposed evangelical commentator on Genesis begins his work by saying: "If we accept Genesis 1 as ancient cosmology, then we need to interpret it as ancient cosmology rather than translate it into modern cosmology. If we try to turn it into modern cosmology, we are making the text say something that it never said." Thus, he lays the foundation for claiming, irrationally, that those of us who take the text seriously are, in fact, not taking the text seriously!
So what do they mean by an ancient cosmology? They mean a cosmology developed by people from an ancient time.
Their presupposition is that Genesis was developed by people who lived in the Ancient Near East, whose experience was ancient. The commentator explains: "They did not know that stars were suns; they did not know that the earth was spherical and moving through space; they did not know that the sun was much further away than the moon… And God did not think it important to revise their thinking."
So, in a sense, it is God's fault that our views on Genesis are so confused! However, this mention of God shows how false their presuppositions are. Their starting point is that Genesis is not scientific and was written by people. Our starting point is that Genesis was inspired by God, who has given us the only eye-witness account there is of how the universe began. And He decided the best words to use to explain this to us. p. f. t.
Thank You, Lord God, Ancient of Days, that You have made Your word plain. Help us to see through the wiles of men who would hide Your words. Amen.
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Psalm 68:32-33
“Sing unto God, ye kingdoms of the earth; O sing praises unto the Lord; Selah: To him that rideth upon the heavens of heavens, which were of old; lo, he doth send out his voice, and that a mighty voice.”
One recent supposed evangelical commentator on Genesis begins his work by saying: "If we accept Genesis 1 as ancient cosmology, then we need to interpret it as ancient cosmology rather than translate it into modern cosmology. If we try to turn it into modern cosmology, we are making the text say something that it never said." Thus, he lays the foundation for claiming, irrationally, that those of us who take the text seriously are, in fact, not taking the text seriously!
So what do they mean by an ancient cosmology? They mean a cosmology developed by people from an ancient time.
Their presupposition is that Genesis was developed by people who lived in the Ancient Near East, whose experience was ancient. The commentator explains: "They did not know that stars were suns; they did not know that the earth was spherical and moving through space; they did not know that the sun was much further away than the moon… And God did not think it important to revise their thinking."
So, in a sense, it is God's fault that our views on Genesis are so confused! However, this mention of God shows how false their presuppositions are. Their starting point is that Genesis is not scientific and was written by people. Our starting point is that Genesis was inspired by God, who has given us the only eye-witness account there is of how the universe began. And He decided the best words to use to explain this to us. p. f. t.
Thank You, Lord God, Ancient of Days, that You have made Your word plain. Help us to see through the wiles of men who would hide Your words. Amen.
Ancient
Understanding
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Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?” One of the reasons given by theistic evolutionists for why they cannot accept that Genesis 1 teaches a 6 x 24-hour creation is that they do not believe God could have communicated how He had made everything to an ancient people. Their understanding would not have been sufficient for modern scientific concepts. One commentator says, We gain nothing by bringing God's revelation into accordance with today's science. In contrast, it makes perfect sense that God communicated his revelation to his immediate audience in terms they understood.The idea is that God actually made life by evolution, but ancient people would not have been able to understand these concepts, so God explained to them the six days scenario instead.
Creation science historian Dr. Terry Mortenson has shown that this presupposition is not correct. He showed that words, concepts and categories were available in ancient Hebrew thought to explain an evolutionary process. Since God is truth, He would have used such language if that indeed were what had happened. Mortenson suggests that an evolutionary Genesis could have read like this:
When God began to create the heavens and the earth, he expanded a small grain of dust and said, Let there be light.And it eventually became so. From this grain of dust, over many great ages he formed the stars and then the sun and finally, after a long age, the earth and the moon.God tells the truth, and we can trust what He says.
Thank You, Lord, that You have not kept us in the dark. You gave us Your truthful account of how You made the world and everything in it. Amen.
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Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?” One of the reasons given by theistic evolutionists for why they cannot accept that Genesis 1 teaches a 6 x 24-hour creation is that they do not believe God could have communicated how He had made everything to an ancient people. Their understanding would not have been sufficient for modern scientific concepts. One commentator says, We gain nothing by bringing God's revelation into accordance with today's science. In contrast, it makes perfect sense that God communicated his revelation to his immediate audience in terms they understood.The idea is that God actually made life by evolution, but ancient people would not have been able to understand these concepts, so God explained to them the six days scenario instead.
Creation science historian Dr. Terry Mortenson has shown that this presupposition is not correct. He showed that words, concepts and categories were available in ancient Hebrew thought to explain an evolutionary process. Since God is truth, He would have used such language if that indeed were what had happened. Mortenson suggests that an evolutionary Genesis could have read like this:
When God began to create the heavens and the earth, he expanded a small grain of dust and said, Let there be light.And it eventually became so. From this grain of dust, over many great ages he formed the stars and then the sun and finally, after a long age, the earth and the moon.God tells the truth, and we can trust what He says.
Thank You, Lord, that You have not kept us in the dark. You gave us Your truthful account of how You made the world and everything in it. Amen.
Ancient
Words
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But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
What is meant by the word ancient? There are some who would suggest that a belief that the Earth was created about 4,000 years before the birth of Christ is contrary to Scripture because the Bible calls God the Ancient of Days. If the Earth were less than 7,000 years old, then it would not be ancient.
However, this is not so. The word ancient – like many other words dealing with inexact time periods – is interpreted relative to a fixed point. The error made by theistic evolutionists is that they think that an evolutionary timescale is the fixed point. If the Earth is really 4.5 billion years old, then those who believe it is only 6,000 years old do not believe it is ancient. Their error is that they pick the wrong fixed point.
A better fixed point is one that is rooted in our experience because the word ancient is a relative term. Compared to our own lifespan, 6,000 years is, indeed, very ancient.
Christians who wish to believe in evolution date the writing of Genesis to the Babylonian Exile. We make it even more ancient, maintaining that the words were given by God Himself to Moses, probably through even more ancient patriarchs. That is one reason why we accept the Bible as completely trustworthy.
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But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
What is meant by the word ancient? There are some who would suggest that a belief that the Earth was created about 4,000 years before the birth of Christ is contrary to Scripture because the Bible calls God the Ancient of Days. If the Earth were less than 7,000 years old, then it would not be ancient.
However, this is not so. The word ancient – like many other words dealing with inexact time periods – is interpreted relative to a fixed point. The error made by theistic evolutionists is that they think that an evolutionary timescale is the fixed point. If the Earth is really 4.5 billion years old, then those who believe it is only 6,000 years old do not believe it is ancient. Their error is that they pick the wrong fixed point.
A better fixed point is one that is rooted in our experience because the word ancient is a relative term. Compared to our own lifespan, 6,000 years is, indeed, very ancient.
Christians who wish to believe in evolution date the writing of Genesis to the Babylonian Exile. We make it even more ancient, maintaining that the words were given by God Himself to Moses, probably through even more ancient patriarchs. That is one reason why we accept the Bible as completely trustworthy.
Bacteria that Dissolve
Steel
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They work silently and in the dark. While most of earth’s inhabitants need oxygen for life, they merely tolerate it. They prefer to build their own environments where there’s no oxygen. Then they go to work. And they love metal. Using complex chemistry, they begin dissolving metal. They can make a sixteenth-of-an-inch hole through an inch-thick pipe in six months. Stainless steel isn’t so tough—it doesn’t slow them down a bit. Even modern space age metals like titanium can’t stand up to them.
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They work silently and in the dark. While most of earth’s inhabitants need oxygen for life, they merely tolerate it. They prefer to build their own environments where there’s no oxygen. Then they go to work. And they love metal. Using complex chemistry, they begin dissolving metal. They can make a sixteenth-of-an-inch hole through an inch-thick pipe in six months. Stainless steel isn’t so tough—it doesn’t slow them down a bit. Even modern space age metals like titanium can’t stand up to them.
No, we’re not talking about some hideous creatures from outer space. These
strange-sounding creatures are called sulfate-reducing bacteria. Each year metal
corrosion causes about $167 billion dollars in damage. And a large part of that
damage is caused by bacteria destroying metal pipes.
Sulfate-reducing bacteria begin by sealing off their colony from liquid in a pipe or tank. Once sealed off, bacteria begin forming hydrogen gas. Sealed under the biosphere, the hydrogen accumulates and is absorbed by the metal. The absorbed hydrogen begins to corrode and make the metal brittle. Researchers using pipes coated with epoxy couldn’t stop the bugs. It appears that the bugs thought the pigment in epoxy made a great change of diet.
Despite our modern scientific sophistication, moth and rust continue to afflict our efforts. This is God’s way of reminding us that we, along with the creation, are afflicted with sin and are in need of the forgiveness of sins that is ours only through Jesus Christ.
I pray, Lord, that You would keep me mindful of the vanity of placing my trust in my own or others efforts. I know that ultimately You are my only hope for meaning here and in eternity. Forgive me for those times I have trusted in my own wisdom and efforts and grant me Your peace. Amen.</
Sulfate-reducing bacteria begin by sealing off their colony from liquid in a pipe or tank. Once sealed off, bacteria begin forming hydrogen gas. Sealed under the biosphere, the hydrogen accumulates and is absorbed by the metal. The absorbed hydrogen begins to corrode and make the metal brittle. Researchers using pipes coated with epoxy couldn’t stop the bugs. It appears that the bugs thought the pigment in epoxy made a great change of diet.
Despite our modern scientific sophistication, moth and rust continue to afflict our efforts. This is God’s way of reminding us that we, along with the creation, are afflicted with sin and are in need of the forgiveness of sins that is ours only through Jesus Christ.
I pray, Lord, that You would keep me mindful of the vanity of placing my trust in my own or others efforts. I know that ultimately You are my only hope for meaning here and in eternity. Forgive me for those times I have trusted in my own wisdom and efforts and grant me Your peace. Amen.</
Bee
Cologne
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Isaiah 53:5
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Isaiah 53:5
But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our
iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we
are healed.
Imagine being in a party that’s all packed into one room and everyone is talking. Under these conditions it's often difficult to hear, or at least, understand what others around you are saying. Now imagine that all of these people look nearly identical. None has any noticeable distinguishing features that make him different from anyone else in the room. Now, to make matters worse, you have been informed that you are to find the person in the room who was not invited to the party.
is the impossible situation that honeybees constantly face. However, the noisy room I have just described is noisy in two ways. Bees not only communicate through sound. They also use scents to communicate. And the hive is full of scents. Yet honeybees are constantly alert to bees who are not members of the hive. Invaders are killed. How can bees so successfully protect the hive?
Entomologists have discovered that members of a hive all carry the same chemical password. The scent must be very distinctive because the hive is filled with smells. It also seems that all honeybees may use a specific combination and subtle variations of only two chemicals. Yet each hive can instantly tell whether another bee carries the specific chemical password.
The complexity of this avenue of beehive defense shows not only a wise and powerful Creator. It also shows us that He cares for what He has created. He cares for You, too. Learn more about the specific details of His love for You in the Bible.
Imagine being in a party that’s all packed into one room and everyone is talking. Under these conditions it's often difficult to hear, or at least, understand what others around you are saying. Now imagine that all of these people look nearly identical. None has any noticeable distinguishing features that make him different from anyone else in the room. Now, to make matters worse, you have been informed that you are to find the person in the room who was not invited to the party.
is the impossible situation that honeybees constantly face. However, the noisy room I have just described is noisy in two ways. Bees not only communicate through sound. They also use scents to communicate. And the hive is full of scents. Yet honeybees are constantly alert to bees who are not members of the hive. Invaders are killed. How can bees so successfully protect the hive?
Entomologists have discovered that members of a hive all carry the same chemical password. The scent must be very distinctive because the hive is filled with smells. It also seems that all honeybees may use a specific combination and subtle variations of only two chemicals. Yet each hive can instantly tell whether another bee carries the specific chemical password.
The complexity of this avenue of beehive defense shows not only a wise and powerful Creator. It also shows us that He cares for what He has created. He cares for You, too. Learn more about the specific details of His love for You in the Bible.
Bird Barks and Lizard
Growls
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So the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?’ And he said,
Have you ever noticed that we can usually sense whether an animal is hostile or friendly, simply by its sound? Did you ever wonder about the universal features that allow for important basic information to be shared between animals and humans?
None of us ever had to be taught that a dog, growling deeply and showing its teeth, was trying to threaten us. We’re all familiar with the high-pitched yips that same dog makes to welcome its owner home. Research shows that the motivations expressed by high-pitched and low-pitched sounds are universal among most creatures.
Researchers say that almost all animals bark (the high-pitched sounds) or growl (the low-pitched sounds). They were surprised to learn that animals don’t simply make arbitrary noises. Sound has meaning. Even the higher-pitched voice of birds has a barking mode that can be seen on a graph and heard when a slowed-down recording is played. Animals make lower, harsher sounds when they’re being aggressive. This is the growl. When friendly, an animal makes higher-pitched sounds. The bark seems to mean that an animal is neither hostile nor friendly, simply curious. Human speech follows the same general pattern.
These universal features of communication reflect the work of our Creator who intended for many different kinds of creatures to coexist. He gave us all a universal method for understanding important basic messages like fear, aggression and joy.
I thank You, Lord, for the joy that animals add to our lives. I also thank You that You have made us able to share some basic but important features of communication. However, help me to value, most highly, Your communication to me in Your Holy Word. Amen.
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So the donkey said to Balaam, ‘Am I not your donkey on which you have ridden, ever since I became yours, to this day? Was I ever disposed to do this to you?’ And he said,
Have you ever noticed that we can usually sense whether an animal is hostile or friendly, simply by its sound? Did you ever wonder about the universal features that allow for important basic information to be shared between animals and humans?
None of us ever had to be taught that a dog, growling deeply and showing its teeth, was trying to threaten us. We’re all familiar with the high-pitched yips that same dog makes to welcome its owner home. Research shows that the motivations expressed by high-pitched and low-pitched sounds are universal among most creatures.
Researchers say that almost all animals bark (the high-pitched sounds) or growl (the low-pitched sounds). They were surprised to learn that animals don’t simply make arbitrary noises. Sound has meaning. Even the higher-pitched voice of birds has a barking mode that can be seen on a graph and heard when a slowed-down recording is played. Animals make lower, harsher sounds when they’re being aggressive. This is the growl. When friendly, an animal makes higher-pitched sounds. The bark seems to mean that an animal is neither hostile nor friendly, simply curious. Human speech follows the same general pattern.
These universal features of communication reflect the work of our Creator who intended for many different kinds of creatures to coexist. He gave us all a universal method for understanding important basic messages like fear, aggression and joy.
I thank You, Lord, for the joy that animals add to our lives. I also thank You that You have made us able to share some basic but important features of communication. However, help me to value, most highly, Your communication to me in Your Holy Word. Amen.
When morning gilds the skies,
My heart awaking cries,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
I remember driving along the magnificent Columbia River Gorge in the early morning hours. The light was breaking gloriously through the clouds with rays from the sun in a brilliance of color and formation all over the vast horizon, and I was just wonderfully impressed as I viewed this new “painting” from the Lord! What a blessing! I was on a business trip with a salesman co-worker, and he commented that this was the majesty and glory of God. We began talking about spiritual matters while basking in the marvel and magnificence of it all.
The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). It says that the invisible attributes of God can be understood from the creation (Romans 1:20). The evidence is all around us. We just need to look and listen.
And when we do that, we receive revelation and illumination. When we quiet our souls and let faith be kindled in hearing Him speak through what has been made, spiritual light bulbs come on inside us. This is God’s provision to mankind, His special creation. We can share in His glory, His radiance and His beauty in relationship with Him.
They looked unto Him and were lightened (radiant) ….
"O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."
- Psalm 34:5,8
My heart awaking cries,
May Jesus Christ be praised!
I remember driving along the magnificent Columbia River Gorge in the early morning hours. The light was breaking gloriously through the clouds with rays from the sun in a brilliance of color and formation all over the vast horizon, and I was just wonderfully impressed as I viewed this new “painting” from the Lord! What a blessing! I was on a business trip with a salesman co-worker, and he commented that this was the majesty and glory of God. We began talking about spiritual matters while basking in the marvel and magnificence of it all.
The Bible says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament showeth His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). It says that the invisible attributes of God can be understood from the creation (Romans 1:20). The evidence is all around us. We just need to look and listen.
And when we do that, we receive revelation and illumination. When we quiet our souls and let faith be kindled in hearing Him speak through what has been made, spiritual light bulbs come on inside us. This is God’s provision to mankind, His special creation. We can share in His glory, His radiance and His beauty in relationship with Him.
They looked unto Him and were lightened (radiant) ….
"O taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man that trusteth in Him."
- Psalm 34:5,8
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