Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of
things not seen. …. By faith we understand that the worlds were
prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things
which are visible. …. And
without faith it is impossible to please him, for he who comes to God must believe that he is and that he is a rewarder of those who seek
Him.[1]
It is not weakness for a Christian to say “I don’t know”. In
fact if you can’t say “I don’t know”, that might indicate a weakness of faith.
Atheists and others who do not believe in God or Jesus assume an air of superiority
due to their knowledge. It is unkind to point out to Atheists that their
knowledge is phony, or that their knowledge is built on a foundation of assumed
reality. Neither a Christian or Atheist witnessed the beginning of the world
and universe; therefore, neither can say with absolute certainty what happened.
Atheists deny belief plays any part in their conclusions. In order not to
shatter their world, Christians should not point out the fallacy in their
reasoning. John Powell in his book “Why Am I Afraid to Tell You Who I Am”,
spoke of the importance of saving face. It is vital to understand that people
cope with life by building façades behind which they function. The Christian
must recognize that Atheists cannot cope without the façade of non-belief. It
is impossible for an Atheist to see that factual support for their knowledge is
non-existent. Most of what Atheists hold as true, is based on what they want to
be true, which is delusional. Christians speak from a faith based perspective,
and should not be drawn into the Atheist’s field of non-belief and fictional
reality. The Bible is not a scientific text book, it’s not even a history text.
The numerous books that make up the Bible reflect God’s dealing with people
from the beginning. There is harmony around God’s revelation to people. From
beginning to end, God unfolds his plan to reconcile people to himself. There is
bound to be confusion as people endeavour to comprehend the infinite in finite
terms. The existence of God, the creation, or the resurrection of Jesus, cannot
be verified or disproved by observation or experiment. There is a wealth of
evidence for the existence of God, the creation, and Jesus resurrection. However,
the Christian’s belief in God is not based on evidence, but on faith.
Did the entire world population come from two people?
Scientist:
Population geneticists, whose
discipline involves the use of mathematical tools to reconstruct the history of
populations of animals, plants, or bacteria, look at these facts about the
human genome and conclude that they point to all members of our species having
descended from a common set of founders, approximately 10,000 in number, who
lived about 100,000 to 150,000 years ago. This information fits well with the
fossil record, which in turn places the location of those founding ancestors
most likely in East Africa.[2]
Scientist:
The genetic evidence is consistent
with human DNA being “young” and the human race beginning with a very small
starting population (the Bible tells us the starting population was two
people!).
The International HapMap project endeavors to study a select group of
DNA similarities and differences between humans known as single nucleotide
polymorphisms (SNPs).5 The SNPs are believed to be representative of the genome
(total human DNA) such that what is true for them would be true for the whole
genome. These studies and others have shown that the difference in DNA between
any two humans is amazingly low . . . only 0.1 percent.
Reflecting on this very low percentage, some scientists posited, “This
proportion is low compared with those of many other species, from fruit flies
to chimpanzees, reflecting the recent origins of our species from a small
founding population” (emphases mine).7 They also stated, “[Certain genetic
estimates] tell us that humans vary only slightly at the DNA level and that
only a small proportion of this variation separates continental populations.”8
These findings are consistent with the Bible’s history that humans were
created several thousands years ago; in other words, a short amount of time has
passed, so there is little genetic variation.[3]
Scientists do not agree on the world’s beginning. Evolution
is said to have occurred over billions of years. During that time, “nothing”,
through accident, mutation, and aberration, successfully evolved into life
forms that exist today. That is a cynical explanation of how the world
population originated. The non-existence of God, or evolution cannot be
verified or disproved by observation or experiment.
Then God said, "Let Us make man in our image, according to our likeness;" …. God created man in His own image, in the image
of God He created him; male and female He created them.[4]
I believe that God created the first man and woman. After
being ousted from the garden Adam “called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all the
living.”[5]
The word translated “living” included all life. It is used of animals and all
creatures. The word doesn’t denote only the future, but included everything
that was living at that time. It appears to me that “Eve” was a title of honour
rather than a description.
We don’t know how much time elapsed between when the
statement, “the man and his
wife were both naked and were not ashamed”[6] was made, and “the serpent ….
said to the woman, "Indeed, has God said, 'You shall not eat from any tree
of the garden'?"[7] We have a tendency to think in terms of days because the
creation narrative talked about the days of creation. The paradise or garden,
in which man lived was intended to be endless. There was no corruption, no
decay, and no death. The best we can say is that after some time, who knows how
long… the serpent spoke to the woman… and the
woman spoke to the snake. That seems very strange to us, but apparently not to
the woman. If it had been unexpected or unusual, we could expect surprise or an
exclamation, but reading the account the woman conversed with the snake as
though it were an everyday occurrence. Eve’s conversation with the snake
changed everything, and I mean everything!
The man and woman were driven from the garden which was then
guarded by “cherubim and the
flaming sword which turned every direction to guard the way to the tree of
life.”[8] God cursed the snake saying, “On your belly you will go…”[9] If snakes at that time crawled on
their bellies as they do today, how would God’s curse have been a punishment. Would
we be correct in thinking that up to that point, snakes possibly walked like
other animals? There are many things connected to the creation and the time
immediately following which are beyond our comprehension.
“Now the
man had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived and gave birth to Cain,
and she said, "I have gotten a manchild with the help of the LORD."
Again, she gave birth to his brother Abel. And Abel was a keeper of flocks, but
Cain was a tiller of the ground.”[10] Cain killed his brother and as a
result was banished. “Then
Cain went out from the presence of the LORD, and settled in the land of Nod,
east of Eden. Cain had relations with his wife and she conceived, and gave
birth to Enoch; and he built a city,”[11]
The idea of banishment worried Cain and he told God that he would likely be
killed be others in the land. Cain settled in the land of Nod; or the land of
exile. The Hebrew and Greek translated “settled” both have a connotation of
being married. The big questions are, who were the people Cain feared would
kill him, and where did they, and his wife come from? The only answer I can
give is, “I don’t know!” Some biblical scholars insist that Christians must
defend the authenticity of scripture by providing answers for the question of
Cain’s wife’s heritage. The response generally given is, “The only possible
answer is that Cain's wife was his sister or niece or great-niece, etc.”[12]
It worries me when someone says, “The only possible answer
is…” There is no more proof of the heritage of Cain’s wife, than saying she
evolved from a single cell creature. It is dangerous to make categorical
statements on subjects for which there is no biblical evidence. State an
opinion, speak of possibilities, but don’t say there is only one answer. Again,
a Christian does not have to resort to scientific reasoning to substantiate
faith. I don’t know where Cain’s wife came from! In fact we are not told
anything of her origin. All we know is that following his exile, Cain settled
in the land of his wandering, and raised a family. He also built a city. I
notice that Cain’s genealogy is separate from Adam’s.
Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son,
and named him Seth, for, she said, "God has appointed me another offspring
in place of Abel, for Cain killed him."[13]
Eve’s expression was that she had been given an offspring,
she did not use the word for son. Eve’s exclamation suggests that the child she
had given birth to was the first since the death of Abel. “Then the days of Adam after he became the
father of Seth were eight hundred years, and he had other sons and daughters.”[14] The language as I read it precludes
the possibility of daughters before the birth of Seth.
Genesis 4 provides Cain’s lineage with no mention of Adam or
Eve. The genealogy of Cain includes seven male descendants. Adam’s genealogy
has twelve male offspring in the Genesis account. Luke’s genealogy of Jesus
includes all of Adam’s descendants. Cain was not included in Adam’s genealogy. Between
Genesis 4:25 and 4:26 there is 105 years. “To Seth, to him also a son was born; and he called his name Enosh. Then
men began to call upon the name of the LORD.”[15] The second phrase of the verse could
be translated, “men began to proclaim the name of the Lord.” The words have
different meanings, allowing as one commentator wrote as an option, “Then began men profanely to call
upon the name of God,
referring to the institution of idolatry.”[16]
Now it came about, when men began to multiply on the face of the land,
and daughters were born to them, that the sons of God saw that the daughters of
men were beautiful; and they took wives for themselves, whomever they chose.
Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not strive with man forever, because
he also is flesh; nevertheless his days shall be one hundred and twenty
years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward,
when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to
them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.[17]
“…the
sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful…” who were the
sons of God and who were the daughters of men? My answer is again, “I don’t
know.” In reading commentaries on the question regarding “the sons of God” I
found a range of answers, from angels to the descendants of Seth. The latter
seems more probable considering the statement “…began to call upon the name of the Lord.”[18]
If the translation reflects a positive inclination toward God by Seth’s family,
then his descendants might well have been called the “sons of God”. The
daughters of men could have been the offspring of Cain and the people of the
land east of Eden. Whatever solution people come up with is speculation. We are
not told, and we do not know.
God sent a flood upon the earth; a flood that covered mountains.
“Thus He blotted out every living thing that was upon the face of the
land, from man to animals to creeping things and to birds of the sky, and they
were blotted out from the earth; and only Noah was left, together with those
that were with him in the ark.”[19]
Can I prove that there was a universal flood? No, but I know
that diluvian silt deposits are found in many areas of the world, which suggests
a global flood at some point in antiquity. How could Noah’s three sons and
their wives repopulate the world? And, how did all the animals in the world
today come from those taken into the ark? I don’t know!” Was it a matter of mathematics
or did God assist in the process? Again I don’t know.
By faith Noah, being warned by God about things not yet seen, in
reverence prepared an ark for the salvation of his household, by which he
condemned the world, and became an heir of the righteousness which is according
to faith.[20]
For Christ also died for sins once for all, the just for the unjust, so
that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made
alive in the spirit; in which also He went and made proclamation to the spirits
now in prison, who once were disobedient, when the patience of God kept waiting
in the days of Noah, during the construction of the ark, in which a few, that
is, eight persons, were brought safely through the water. Corresponding to
that, baptism now saves you--not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an
appeal to God for a good conscience--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,[21]
Who were “the
spirits in prison?” I don’t know, but I believe that God sent his son
into the world so that people would have the opportunity of being saved. Peter
connected the flood with baptism. Water was the agent of Noah’s salvation from
destruction, Peter said the water of baptism saved believers. God is the real
agent in salvation. I believe that Jesus died and was raised from the dead. Why
would I doubt the work of God’s love, when he gave his own son be crucified so
that I can live. Creation, population, the flood, none of these are more
important than Jesus sacrifice.
The account of David and Goliath has been trivialized by well-meaning
Sunday school teachers. David is portrayed as a little boy in order to embellish
the story. In the biblical account there is a message that Christians need to learn.
Do not engage in battle on the opponent’s terms. Goliath taunted Israel with an
invitation to fight him. The war would be won by the victor of one to one fight.
The soldiers of Israel were paralyzed by fear, because it bought into the terms
given by the enemy. David agreed to fight Goliath. When offered Saul’s armour he
declined to use it because he was not accustomed to it. “David said, ‘The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the
lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this
Philistine.’"[22] David
was no match physically for Goliath, he was young, and unseasoned in armed combat.
Atheists use the same tactics as Goliath, they claim intellectual superiority,
they claim to have public opinion on their side, and they have evolutionary science
backing them. The Christian may think that have to answer questions raised by
Atheists, but that is not the turf on which our battle with them has to be
fought. There are Christians who have advanced education and can engage Atheists
in debate on their own ground, but for most of us we have to depend on our
faith and the understanding that in reality Atheists do not have any proof
supporting their position.
Stand therefore, and fasten the belt of truth around your waist, and
put on the breastplate of righteousness. As shoes for your feet put on whatever
will make you ready to proclaim the gospel of peace. With all of these, take
the shield of faith, with which you will be able to quench all the flaming
arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the
Spirit, which is the word of God.[23]
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