The last two posts came from reading specific stories. Today's post had its genesis in the reaction to the "debate" between Ken Ham and Bill Nye. I did not watch the debate, but I saw enough cringe-worthy things that I wanted to write something, and I have been here before.
My first qualm is with the terms "Creationist" and "Creationism". I do believe that God created the Earth, but that is a part of my faith in God. Using "Creationism" as an identifier feels like it is elevating that belief above the others, like that is the most important thing, which seems like a strange way to go.
We don't have a lot of information on Earth's creation in the scriptures, and we have them in the Old Testament. The Old Testament has been passed down and patched together. There can be errors of transcription, and translation, and parts missing where in the New Testament Jesus references things that are written, but we don't know where. Also parts of it are clearly metaphorical and symbolic.
I'm going to write more about that next week, but my point now is that it is not necessarily the best source for exact chronologies or scientific detail.
This is fine, because we are not currently responsible for creating worlds. We are responsible for loving our neighbors, and repenting, and having faith, hope, and charity - there are a lot of things that we can and should do, and know more about - but there is no need for us to divide the waters under the firmament. If we were doing so, we might find out that the way you do various things involves big bangs and gravity and natural behaviors that people observed as they described the laws of physics. As it is, we might observe those things and be very impressed by these things, and find that they actually made us respect God and his creations more, not less.
Let's look at Genesis 1 & 2. One of the first things that I notice is that "Day" and "Night" are separated in verse 5, but this is before we get the lights in the firmament (in verse 14) so that we would know days and seasons and years. So, for people who insist that each of the days of creation was a 24 hour day, that just sounds silly. I think of a day as the time period for that phase of creation, and that it can take as long as it needs, including millions of years.
I have read that Mary Baker Eddy regarded Genesis 2 as a corruption, and it does seem like it contradicts some things in Genesis 1. In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, we say that refers to the spiritual creation that happened before. Some things that I take from that is that souls are not just for humans, and that all life is eternal.
If you believe in the Bible but are not Mormon, there can still be lessons there. I see that there is an order in which things are done, and a logical progression. I see that we should be good stewards of the earth. I see that we matter, and that there is a plan that encompasses all things. I do not pick up much in the way of scientific details, and that's okay.
I admit, I do not know how everything falls into place, and I'm okay with that. I know that God exists, and that He is my father and loves me, and many more things, but I know those things in spiritual ways. I know because of things I have felt, and confirmations that have come. It is a different type of knowledge than scientific inquiry.
They can be related. I may get some ideas and wonder and experiment and observe, and that can happen either scientifically or spiritually, but they are both important and I would never turn my back on either. Both of them make me appreciate life and all that it contains more.
The problem with creationists is that they seem to be afraid that knowledge can diminish God, or that if they let in any information that does not automatically correlate with what they believe, that belief will shrivel up. Faith should not be so fearful.
There is a phrase that has stuck with me about how people will be in the last days:
"...Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof:" (2nd Timothy 3:5)
In the past I have thought of this as covering those who believe in the Bible, but not in modern prophets, or maybe those who believe in doing good but not in a God that cares about us. I think this is another option - believing in God but being afraid that belief will not stand up to knowledge. The more I learn now, the more it glorifies Him.
You miss out on so much, and actually you miss out on Him. That is something I know.
"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power and of love, and of a sound mind." (2nd Timothy 1:7
I don't know how it all works out, but I know that it does.
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