Two cripples entered a church one day;
Crippled, but each in a different way.
One had a body, strong and whole,
But it sheltered a warped and twisted soul.
The other walked with a halting gate
But his soul was tall and fair and straight!
They shared a pew. They shared a book.
But on each face was a different look.
One was light with hope and joy
And faith that nothing could destroy.
The other joined not in prayer and hymn,
No smile relaxed his features grim.
His neighbor had harmed him, his heart was sore.
He thought of himself and nothing more.
The words that were read from the Holy Book
Struck deafened ears and a forlorn look.
To one came comfort – his soul was fed.
The other gained nothing from what was said.
Two cripples left the church that day,
Crippled – but in a different way.
A twisted foot did one body mar,
But the twisted soul was sadder by far!
Creation: Science AND Religion.
According to the Bible, the creation account is as follows: “…Earth was formless and empty…darkness was over the surface…[then] there was light…God called the vault, “Sky”…water under the sky…gathered to one place…dry ground appear[ed]…the land produce[s] vegetation…great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind…the land produce[s] living creatures according to their kinds…created mankind in his own image…male and female….[they] fill the earth and subdue it.” Gen. 1:1-27
As per the currently accepted interpretation of Earth’s rock record the creation account is as follows: Shapeless accumulation of gases pulled closer by ever increasing gravity…A molten proto-planet devoid of sunlight due to impenetrable clouds of hot ash miles in density…Asteroid bombardment brings water trapped in frozen rock to a superheated planet, producing steam, and the onset for many millions of years of acidic rain. This eventually cooled the planet, and cleared the skies, allowing the light to shine on an Earth covered mostly by water.…Stromatolites flourish asexually in shallow waters on shore, consuming: water, carbon dioxide, and sunlight as food, and producing oxygen as a byproduct of photosynthesis, creating a hospitable atmosphere bound by Earth’s gravity…. The Cambrian explosion marks the largest known diversity of species at a given time, complex and simple in form…Organisms of air and land multiply around the world, though the diversity of species declines to its current state…Dinosaurs and the like become extinct after a meteor 6 miles in diameter makes contact with Earth at the Yucatan peninsula…Sapiens walk the Earth, subduing it.
The Hebrew word translated as, “Day” in the Old Testament creation account is Yom. It is more accurately, and elsewhere, translated as: age; time; year; division of time; extended period; or passing of time. Biblical scholars agree it does not always imply a 24 hour solar day, even when paired with numerical adjectives. Consider the Hebrew God’s perspective, “A thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by, or like a watch in the night.” Psalms 90: 3-5. Likewise, in the New Testament of the Greek, “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” 2 Peter 3:7-9. To answer, “What is truth?” consider “…every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.” Matt. 18:16 & Deut. 19:15. In the aforementioned verse selections, the witnessing is attributed firstly to Moses, of whom it is written, “[Yahweh] would speak to Moses personally, as a man speaks to his friend.” Exod. 33: 11. The latter selection is a quote from Saint Simon Peter, one of the Messiah’s self-appointed disciples, and the first bishop & pope to the Roman Catholic Church.
The rift between science’s interpretation of creation and the biblical account isn’t between the order of events, merely the cause for their effect, and often the time frame in which they occurred; though, some will concede to the Earth’s deep timeline. If the creation account is read with all instances of, “Day” replaced by, “Passing of time” the reader is presented with a much different interpretation and timescale. If God’s perspective of time is considered irrelevant, the order of creation events, and their extended time frame not only coincide, but confirm one another as well. To say that God was the catalyst by which a natural process began, is as great a leap of faith as the theory of the Big Bang; however, the theories are not mutually exclusive. If the Big Bang is said to have created all we now experience from nothing, in an instant, this is identical to the Biblical account with the exception of calling God a Big Bang. As neither of these titles is the Biblical name of Eloah, it is of no consequence what label is ascribed to Him.
Cogitation 