Next Verse | Next Chapter | Next Book | Viewing NASB and Amplified 2015 | |
NASB | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. [Heb 11:3] |
Subject: Bible and evolution both? |
Bible Note: You write: "But I know a lot of people for whom a literal reading of Genesis 1-2 is a barrier to faith. "When presented with a creation story whose mechanics seem patently false to them, they reject the fact of creation and the rest of the Bible as myth. "Jesus never called us to be witnesses to creation, only to him. "How tragic if we drive away even one non-believer by focusing on such non-essentials." My reply: While I still appreciate you, your participation in the forum, and your interest in this topic, nevertheless, I cannot agree with you. And remember, as I said earlier, my problem is not with you yourself, but with the views you've expressed here. If the Bible is a barrier to one's faith, then one does not have genuine saving faith to begin with. In fact, the Bible is not a barrier to faith, it is the source of our faith. "So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God" (Romans 10:17 NKJV). If any part of the Bible seems patently false to a person, then the problem is in the person, not in the Bible. When one allegorizes the first two chapters of Genesis, one rejects the fact of creation and dismisses the rest of the Bible, including God's plan of salvation, as allegory. "And once you say that something in the Bible is an allegory, that is, it is only a symbol of the reality, you have just made it impossible to know what that reality is because if that reality cannot be discerned through the normal understanding of language, how can it be discerned?" Maybe I'm missing something here. I didn't know the issue was whether we were called to be witnesses to creation or witnesses to Jesus, who is the Creator (Colossians 1:16.) Again you are calling the Genesis account of creation non-essential. "Understanding origins in the book of Genesis is foundational to the rest of the Bible. If Genesis chapter 1 and chapter 2 don't tell us the truth, then why should we believe anything else in the Bible? . . . So what we believe about creation, what we believe about Genesis has implications all the way to the end of Scripture, implications with regard to the veracity and truthfulness of Scripture, implications as to the gospel and implications as to the end of human history all wrapped up in how we understand origins in the book of Genesis." If you still say that the Genesis account of creation is "a non-essential," then I can only suppose that you have also allegorized everything I've written on the subject and ascribed your own meaning to my words. "How tragic if we drive away even one non-believer by focusing on such non-essentials." Are we to hide, dismiss or ignore what the Bible says in order to trick someone into becoming a Christian? If a non-believer is driven away by what the Bible clearly says and means, it is not the Bible that is at fault. It is the very unbelief of the non-believer that prevents him from receiving and believing the truth. It seems that to reject the Genesis account of creation by doubting or disbelieving its truth and accuracy equals rejecting the entire Bible and its truth and accuracy. "Science does not contradict the Bible. Oh, hundreds of times, the Bible has contradicted science – and science has in due turn been found to be wrong.” (Truths That Transform - D. James Kennedy) |