|
1
|
- Dr. Heinz Lycklama
- heinz@osta.com
- www.osta.com
|
|
2
|
- Evidence of creation in nature
- God as creator/maker/designer
- The works of creation
- The creation account
- Principles of creation
- References to creation in the OT
- References to creation in the NT
- Genesis 1-11 – Allegory or True History?
- Perceived difficulties with Genesis 1-11
|
|
3
|
- Job12:7 "But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds
of the air, and they will tell you;
- 8 or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish of the
sea inform you.
- 9 Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done
this?
- 10 In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all
mankind.
|
|
4
|
- Romans 1:20 “For the
invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen,
being understood by the things that are made, [even] his eternal power
and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.”
|
|
5
|
- Romans 1:21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified [him] not
as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations,
and their foolish heart was darkened.
- 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools.
|
|
6
|
- 1Cor 13:12 “For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to
face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am
known.”
|
|
7
|
- Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence
of things not seen.
|
|
8
|
- John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God.
- 2 The same was in the beginning with God.
- 3 All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made
that was made.
- “All things”, says physics, includes (empty) space, time, matter, energy
and all the rules they obey.
Before creation, there was nothing.
- “… all physical theories … break down at the beginning of the
universe.” Stephen Hawking
|
|
9
|
- Absence of matter (a vacuum)
- Absence of matter and energy
- Absence of matter and energy and the space-time dimension
- Nothing = Absence of everything
|
|
10
|
- 1 Corinthians 2:7 No, we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has
been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began.
- 2 Timothy 1:9b This grace was given us in Christ Jesus before the
beginning of time,
- Titus 1:2 a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life,
which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time,
|
|
11
|
- If God existed before time, then God can exist outside the framework of
time.
- Movie Analogy
- Writing Analogy
- Consequences
- God can have personal relationships with all
- From God’s perspective, there is no conflict between free will and predestination. Both are temporal concepts.
|
|
12
|
- Cosmologists think they know about the big bang from 10-43
seconds. What about before? No one knows!
- “… all physical theories … break down at the beginning of the
universe.” Stephen Hawking
- Hebrews 11
- 3 (NIV) By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God's
command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
|
|
13
|
- Does the Bible say that God designed life?
- Does life look designed?
- How do we decide if something is designed?
- Can nature design the kind of things seen in living systems?
|
|
14
|
- Is there a difference between being Creator, Maker, or Designer?
- Perhaps - To make something does not mean that you planned in advance
- An engineer may design a spectacular bridge but not be the craftsman
that builds it
- A scriptwriter may create a character, but that character will be played
by an actor and may be perpetuated by other scriptwriters
|
|
15
|
- Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth,
while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt
say, I have no pleasure in them.
- Isaiah 40:28 Hast thou not known: has thou not heard, that the
everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth,
fainteth not, neither is weary?
There is no searching his understanding.
- Romans 1:25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and
served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever.
Amen.
- 1 Peter 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God
commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a
faithful Creator.
|
|
16
|
- Isaiah 45:5-12
- 5 I am the Lord, and there is none else, there is no God beside me: I girded thee, though thou hast not
known me:
- 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that
there is none beside me. I am the
Lord, and there is none else.
- 7 I form the light, and create darkness:
I make peace, and create calamity; I the Lord do all these things.
- 8 Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and
let the skies pour down righteousness; let the earth open, and let them bring
forth salvation, and let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it.
- 12 I have made the earth, and created man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out
the heavens, and all their host have I commanded.
|
|
17
|
- The word translated “Creator” in the New Testament is always ktizo
(ktizo ktid’-zo) meaning to
fabricate
- This word comes from the root ktaomai (ktaomai ktah’-om-ahee) a verb
meaning to acquire or purchase
- God both fabricated us and purchased us
- We are owned by God
|
|
18
|
- Psalms 119:73 Thy hands have made me and fashioned me; give me
understanding, that I may learn thy commandments.
- Psalms 139:14 I will praise thee, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.
- I Corinthians 12:18 But now hath God set the members every one of them
in the body, as it hath pleased him.
|
|
19
|
- Genesis 1:26 – “And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our
likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and
over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.”
- The Bible claims that God planned in advance to make beings using
Himself as the model.
|
|
20
|
- Genesis 2:7 And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living
soul.
- This text clearly outlines the order of events in creation of man: First
a model was made and then life was given to it.
- In the creation of man there was planning and forethought - Design then
fabrication.
|
|
21
|
|
|
22
|
|
|
23
|
- Three major worldwide events have produced the world as we know it
today:
- Six days of special creation and formation of all things, the
completion and permanence of which are now manifest in the Law of
Conservation of Energy (the First Law of Thermodynamics)
- The rebellion of man and resultant curse of God on all man’s dominion,
formalized in the Law of Increasing Entropy [disorder] (the Second Law
of Thermodynamics)
- Worldwide flood in the days of Noah, leaving the world largely under
the domain of natural uniformity
|
|
24
|
- Gen. 2:3 “... He had rested from all His work which God created and
made.”
- Create (bara)
- Make (asah)
- Form (yatsar)
- To create is to call into existence out of nothing
- Heb. 4:3 “... His works were finished from the foundation of the world.”
|
|
25
|
- Basic elements of the physical cosmos (space, mass, time) in Gen. 1:1
- Consciousness (soul, breath of life) in Gen. 1:21
- Man in “the image of God” in Gen. 1:27
- The basic elements of the universe were created out of nothing on the
first day. The “life/soul”
principle was created on the fifth day for every living creature, not
only of sea and air creatures.
The word life (nephesh) is used for the first time in verse
21. It refers to the soul of man
and the life of animals. Plants
do not have any consciousness.
Man was both made and created in the image of God.
|
|
26
|
- Many acts of formation in between acts of creation
- Man’s body was also formed out of the dust of the ground
- Energizing of physical elements of the cosmos
- Formation of atmosphere and hydrosphere
- Formation of lithosphere and biosphere
- Formation of astrosphere
- Formation of life in atmosphere and hydrosphere
- Formation of life in lithosphere and biosphere
- Rest from completed work of creation and making
|
|
27
|
- Gen. 1:1 -> Gen. 2:3. Written
entirely by God
- Gen. 2:4 -> Gen. 5:1. Written
by Adam
- These two accounts appear to contradict each other in the order of
certain creation events
- Gen. 2:19 “And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the
field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them to Adam to see what
he would call them ...”
- This seems to conflict with Gen. 1:24-27 where God clearly created
animals before He created man
- However, the proper translation of Gen. 2:19 states that “God had
formed” since there is no distinction in Hebrew between the past tense
and the past perfect, since the context provides the real meaning
|
|
28
|
- Gen. 1: 11(1), 12(2), 21(2), 24(2), 25(3)
- Ten major categories of organic life created “after its kind”
- Plant kingdom - grass, herbs, fruit trees
- Animal kingdom - sea monsters, other marine animals, birds, beasts,
cattle, crawling animals
- Man “kind”
- One kind cannot transform itself into another kind
- Definite and distinct categories
- There is variation within a kind
- These “kinds” are still recognized today
|
|
29
|
- 1 Cor. 15:38-39, “But God gives it a body just as He wished, and to each
of the seeds a body of its own. All flesh is not the same flesh, but
there is one flesh of men, and another flesh of beasts, and another
flesh of birds, and another of fish.”
- 1 Cor. 15:40, celestial and terrestrial bodies:
- Celestial: Gen. 1:14-19
- Terrestrial: Gen. 1:1-5
|
|
30
|
- 1 Cor. 15:41 - different glories of sun, moon, stars, ...
- 1 Cor. 15:42-44, “So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is
raised an imperishable body. It
is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it
is raised in power. It is sown a natural
body, it is raised a spiritual body.
If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.”
|
|
31
|
- Purposive progress in creation
- No “trial and error” ala evolution
- Ultimate purpose - suitable home for man (Ps. 8:3-8; Is. 45:18)
|
|
32
|
- Appearance of age/history
- Mature from its birth, including Adam and Eve
- Full grown, no development necessary from simple beginnings
- Gen 2:1, “Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all …”
- Man, sun, moon, stars (Gen 1:17)
- No fossils, no death
|
|
33
|
- The “very good” creation
- God pronounced his work to be good, Gen. 1:4, 10, 18, 21, 25, 31
- Fossils appeared after the curse
|
|
34
|
- The world that then was (2 Pet. 3:6)
- Different from now
- Waters above the firmaments (Gen. 1:7)
- Firmament, stretched-out thinness, heaven (Gen. 1:8)
- Vast blanket of invisible water vapor
- Translucent to light from the stars
|
|
35
|
- The world that then was (2 Pet.
3:6)
- Greenhouse effect, mild temperature, north pole to south pole
- Prevents air mass circulation
- Prevents resultant rain (Gen. 2: 5)
- Filter out harmful radiations from space
- Reduce rate of somatic mutations in living cells
- Decrease rate of aging and death
|
|
36
|
- The world that then was (2 Pet. 3:6)
- Edenic river system (Gen. 2:10-14)
- Does not exist now
- Artesian nature of source of the four rivers
- Reference to breaking up of the fountains of the deep (Gen. 7:11)
- Great reservoirs of water under pressure below the earth’s crust
|
|
37
|
- The world that then was (2 Pet. 3:6)
- Death came with sin (Rom. 5:12; 8:22)
- Eating of fruits and herbs was not “death”
- Decay and death came with the curse (Gen. 3:17-19; Rom. 8:20-22)
|
|
38
|
- The Laws of Thermodynamics
- Universal scientific laws
- Formally recognized ~ 100 years ago
- Scientists are unable to explain why they work
- First Law of Thermodynamics
- Conservation of mass and energy
- Second Law of Thermodynamics
- Increasing entropy (disorder)
- These two laws are implicitly explained/revealed in the Bible
|
|
39
|
- Neh. 9:6, “.. You have made heaven, The heaven of heavens, with all
their host, … And You preserve them all. …”
- Col. 1:16,17, “For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and
that are on the earth … All things were created through Him and for Him.
And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist.”
- Heb. 1:2,3 “… by His Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things,
through whom also He made the worlds; who being the brightness of His
glory and the express image of His person and upholding all things by
the word of His power, when He had by Himself …”
|
|
40
|
- Ps. 102:25-27, “Of old You laid the foundation of the earth, And the
heavens are the work of Your hands. They will perish, but You will
endure; Yes, they will all grow old like a garment; Like a cloak You
will change them, And they will be changed.”
- Is. 51:6, “Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth
beneath. For the heavens will vanish away like smoke, the earth will
grow old like a garment, …”
- 1 Pet. 1:24-25 “”All flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the
flower of the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away, but
the word of the Lord endures forever.”
|
|
41
|
- Ex. 31:17 (Moses) “It is a sign between Me and the children of Israel
forever, for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth …” -
six-day literal creation
- Josh. 24:2-4 (Joshua) “ … your fathers, including Terah, the father of
Abraham and the father of Nahor, …” - accepts Gen. 11 account of
Abraham’s ancestors
- II Kings 19:15 (Hezekiah) “You have made heaven and earth.” - speaks of
creation
- 1 Chron. 1:1-28 “Adam, Seth, Enoch, …” - repeats genealogies of Gen. 5,
10, 11
- Neh. 9:6 (Nehemiah) “You have made heaven, … the earth and everything on
it, the seas and all that is in them, …” - refers to creation
|
|
42
|
- Job 9:5-9; 12:15; 26:7-13; 31:33; 38:4-7 (Job) refers to Creation &
Flood
- Ps. 8:3-8 - God giving dominion over the earth to man
- Ps. 33:6-9 - instant creative acts of God in the beginning
- Ps. 90:2-3 - creation and fall of man
- Ps. 29 & 104 - describe events during and following the great Flood
- Prov. 8:22-31 - refers to the creation
- Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Micah, Zechariah
|
|
43
|
- Rom. 5:12-19, “ … through one man sin entered into the world, and death
…”
- Rom. 8:18-25 - effects of great curse on the earth
- 1 Cor. 11:7-12 - relationship between man, woman, creation and God
- Jude 11 - refers to Cain
- Jude 14 - refers to Enoch (7th generation after Adam)
|
|
44
|
- Matt. 19:4-5 “Have you not read
that He who made them at the beginning made them male and female, and
said ‘for this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be
joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh.” - doctrine of
marriage refers to first two chapters of Genesis, Gen. 1:27 and Gen.
2:24
- Matt. 24:37-42 “But as the days of Noah were, so also will the coming of
the Son of Man be. For as in the
days before the flood, …” compared days of Noah (prior to Flood) to days
before His own return (just before the judgment)
- Matt. 23:35 - refers to Abel as first martyr and first prophet
- Mark 13:19 - refers to beginning of creation which God created
|
|
45
|
- Jesus believed Moses: John 5:46-47
- Jesus confirmed Abel: Matt 23:35
- Jesus confirmed the Flood: Matt 24:37-39
- …from the beginning… Mark 10:6
- Jesus is the Creator
- John 1:1-3, Col 1:16, Heb 1:1-3, Eph 3:9
|
|
46
|
- Rev. 3:14 “... the beginning of the creation of God”
- Rev. 4:11; 10:6; 14:7 - God as the creator of all things
- Rev. 17&18 compared to first Babylon in Gen. 10&11
- Rev. 21&22 describe creation of new heavens and new earth, just as Gen.
1&2 describe the creation of the first heaven and earth
- References to the curse, end of death, removal of the curse, end of
darkness, restoration of the tree of life
|
|
47
|
- Every NT writer refers to the early chapters of Genesis
- Jesus Christ referred to each of the first seven chapters of Genesis
- Almost all NT books have references to Genesis 1-11
- Every chapter of Genesis 1-11 except chapter 8 is referred to somewhere
in NT
- Every NT writer accepted these early chapters as historically accurate
|
|
48
|
- Removes true history
- Removes the foundation from all future history
- Rejects the teachings of Peter, Paul, other Biblical writers, Christ
Himself
- Eventually leads to apostasy
|
|
49
|
- Science confirms scientific statements made in Holy Scriptures
- Writing occurred long before the time of Moses (even before Abraham)
- Archaeology confirms the geography, peoples, culture, etymology, history
of Genesis
- The writers of the OT and the NT (and Jesus Himself) accepted the
historical accuracy of the early chapters of Genesis
|
|
50
|
- The divisions of Genesis are clearly marked, confirming that Moses
compiled and edited the book of Genesis
- No quotes of the book of Genesis in the NT are attributed to Moses
- Quotations from the other four books of the Pentateuch are often
ascribed to Moses
- The Jews regarded all five books as the books of Moses
|
|
51
|
- Creation is an essential truth spoken of in the Bible
|
|
52
|
- Positions: 1) Genesis is an allegorical story containing spiritual
truths. 2) Genesis is true; our knowledge of science is limited 3)
Genesis is true; science is true and they can be reconciled upon review
4) It’s a little bit of allegory and truth.
- Creation in Seven Days - “Yom” - only word for day and long epochs in
Hebrew. Many other places in
Bible refer to Yom as long period of time. Biblical Hebrew 3k words -
Disputed by many Young Earth Creationists.
- Contradictions with order of creation between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2-
Genesis 1 is How, What, When while Genesis 2 is Why.
|
|
53
|
- Seeming Contradiction with known science: Universe and Earth created
before Light?
- 1) In the beginning God (Elohim) created the heavens and the earth.
(Heavens contains Universe including sun, stars)
- 2) Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface
of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (note
context shift)
- 3) And God said ,”Let there be light”, and there was light.
- Scientific evidence shows that when planets first form they are
surrounded by extensive shell of gas & debris. Light was created in v.1 but became
visible in v.3 from context of earth’s surface.
- Many other such ways to resolve apparent contradictions.
|
|
54
|
- Creation of Life - My bible says in Genesis 1:11 “Let the land produce
vegetation : seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit
with seed in it, according to their various kinds”
- In English words such as “seed”, “trees”, and “fruit” have specific
meaning than Hebrew words “zera”, “es” and “peri” which mean the
“embryos of any plant species”, “any large plant containing woody
fiber”, “the food and/or embryos produced by any living thing”. “Zera” and “peri” could refer to any
plant species that has ever lived.
|
|
55
|
- Bible: consistent message – God created life
- Gen 2:7 Isa 45:12 Eph 3:9
- Gen 5:2 Isa 57:16 Col 1:16-17
- Deut 4:32 Matt 19:4 2Pet 1:3
- Ps 89:47 1Cor 12:18 Rev 4:11
- Neh 9:6 Mark 10:6 John 1:1-3
- Acts 4:24 1 Cor 8:6 Heb 11:3
|
|
56
|
- Worldwide or Local?
- Worldwide: created fossil record, coal beds, and geological structures
such as Grand Canyon
- Local: From perspective of people it was ‘global’. Meant to destroy people and people
only lived around Mesopotamia.
- All the land dwelling animals? Or just the ones necessary for survival
and sacrifice?
- Flood Myths: Over 300 myth stories.
Many had people in a boat being saved from flood, a bird flying
from boat to check for land and the boat landing in Mountain Range.
- Mount Ararat - Ark landed on Range of Mountains; not Mountain in
particular. Olive Tree does not
grow in high elevations (Dove)
|
|
57
|
- People lived to be hundred of years old then God shorted life spans to
120 years old.
- Apoptosis - biochemical “programmed” cell death
- Vela Supernova (20-30k BC) - could be cause of harmful rays that
increase mutations that cause things like cancer.
- People were vegetarians.
- Genealogies dating to creation of man to 4004 BC. Hard to pin down because flexible use
of Hebrew words ‘ab and ‘ben. ‘Ab
can refer to grandfather, great-grandfather, great-great grandfather and
so on. Likewise ‘ben can refer to
grandson, great-grandson, etc.
(Accounts for discrepancies between parallel genealogies in Mark
and Luke)
|
|
58
|
|
|
59
|
- Evolution demands long ages
- Bible: literal days
- Meaning of ‘Yom’
- Yom with a number
- Evening and morning
- Genesis 1:14
- Exodus 20:11
- Words used to indicate time
- Narrative versus poetry (VSO v. SVO)
- In the beginning created God the heavens… = VSO
- Genealogies (Gen 5, 1Chron 1, Luke 3)
|
|
60
|
- “Probably so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old
Testament at any world-class university who dares not believe that the
writer(s) of Gen. 1-11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas
that creation took place in a series of six days which are the same as
the days of 24 hours we now experience…”
|
|
61
|
- “There is nothing in the Bible to obviate the idea that the days in
Genesis were 24 hour type days.”
|
|
62
|
- “In the hundreds of other cases in the Old Testament where yom stands in
conjunction with an ordinal number (first, second, third, etc.), e.g.
Exodus 12:15; 24:16; Leviticus 12:3, it never means anything other than
a normal, literal day.”
|
|
63
|
- “To summarize, liberal scholars of both 19th and 20th
centuries admit that the text of Genesis is clearly meant to be taken in
a literal, historical sense, although they deny its claims to speak
accurately to our space/time cosmos.”
|
|
64
|
- Einstein said “Science without religion is lame; religion without
science is blind.”
- Romans 1:20 “For since the creation of the world God’s invisible
qualities - his eternal power and divine nature- have been clearly seen,
being understood from what has been made, so that men are without
excuse.”(NIV)
- Psalm 139:13-16 “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together
in my mother’s womb. I praise
you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are
wonderful, I know that full well.” (NIV)
- John 3:16 “ For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only
Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal
life.”(NIV)
|
Notes
