…God created man in his own image…
~ ANONYMOUS
~~~
A bit more:
Contrary to tradition, Moses did not write Genesis or the remaining four books of the Pentateuch. And we do not know who did, [Read more…]
iGod, Part 2 – Return to Eden
January 18, 2014 by 22 Comments
When we Christians designate some of our normal people-parts as God-parts, we make a calculated trade. If we talked about our felt truths or our conscience in human terms, we would find ourselves with a festering surplus of uncertainty. And a certain lack of cosmic stature. And stature is no small thing.
Genesis has outlasted its peer creation myths from the Ancient Near East for one reason, and one reason alone. Genesis contains four magic words: “the image of God”.
So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
~ Genesis 1:27
We moderns do not retain Genesis because of what it tells us concerning the origins of the earth, for it is a tale told at the same grade level as any fable. [Read more…]
Visual Comparison: Genesis vs. Other ANE Myths
September 21, 2013 by 5 Comments
John Walton, Christian scholar from Wheaton University, presented side-by-side comparisons of various ancient near eastern (ANE) creation myths with Genesis in his book “Genesis 1 as Ancient Cosmology” (ref. 57). His tables are quite detailed, listing specific documents from Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian texts (tables 2-1 and 2-2). I have created a condensed version of this information in the two tables below for quick visual comparison. The first compares theological and thematic features, while the second compares the metaphysical elements included.
It should be noted that these other cultures were far larger, regionally dominant, and antecedent to the Hebrew culture and creation account. The cosmology and thematic elements of the Genesis account were derivative of this pre-existing cultural context. Though they all differ in narrative and in theology, they are similar in how they see the world – and in what they do not see. There remains no insight in any of these myths regarding such things as:
- Dinosaurs or extinct creatures
- Disease-causing micro-organisms
- A sense of cosmic scale
- Human emergence by evolutionary descent
They are all, as it were, written at the same grade level. In terms of historical representation, they all fall down equally. But there is only one for which moderns simply will not concede this.
Summary of Features Appearing
Summary of Elements Appearing
Quotes from Francis Collins
August 21, 2013 by 13 Comments
I selected a few salient quotes from Francis Collins‘ book on evolutionary development and faith, The Language of God, which I would recommend reading alongside the resources already suggested by Ayala, Venema, and Falk (though Falk is better). Collins is a Christian and was the leader of the legendary Human Genome Project. His book is an apologetic for both evolutionary development and the Christian faith.
On supposed micro/macro evolutionary distinctions:
The distinction between macroevolution and microevolution is therefore seen to be rather arbitrary; larger changes that result in new species are a result of a succession of smaller incremental steps.
On the connection between evolutionary theory and medicine:
Truly it can be said that not only biology but medicine would be impossible to understand without the theory of evolution.
Jericho Brisance 