Biblical Creation and Evangelism

Professing atheists and others who reject the authority of the Bible look for excuses to say it contains errors and contradictions. When given serious attention, charges of contradictions are quickly refuted . It seems that atheists and other scoffers pass along talking points, no matter how vacuous, instead of thinking. At first glance, the first two chapters of Genesis may give someone a reason to pause. An honest reading shows that they are not contradictory. Indeed, they were written to be read one after the other. Fall of Adam and Eve via Hippopx It may seem that the second chapter of Genesis contradicts the first chapter in the order of creation, but take a closer look. Notice that other aspects of creation are not discussed. Indeed, it becomes clear that the sections are complementary , not contradictory. The second chapter spells out details about the creation of man. Also, the original language and grammar give us important clues. Between the creation of Adam and the creation

An interesting expression is that some concept is not a hill to die on . This implies that the speaker does not consider the idea to be all that important, or that it is something a bit interesting but he does not have enough information or motivation to argue it. Similarly, some people say that the age of the earth is a side issue; it is not a hill to die on. While informed creationists say that belief in recent creation or the age of the earth are not requirements for salvation, they are still important  issues. Edinburgh Castle on Castle Rock, Wikimedia Commons / Scglossop1 ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) In settlements and the military, people would want to fortify the higher ground because it was easier to defend. It could be costly for opposing forces to lead a charge up that hill. Conversely, those making the defense should be aware that they are defending the correct hill and not ignoring the importance of another hill nearby. It may be surprising, but defending the hill of the young earth a

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  When using the word nurse , context is very important because of the variety of possible meanings. For many people, it is the noble field dominated by females who provide medical services. Many are usually under the authority of doctors or nurses with higher training and education levels.  My recent surprise hospital admission caused me to think on a number of things, sometimes helping me complete thoughts from those thrilling days of yesteryear. This time it is about personal modesty. Nurses and IV pole, Pexels / Anna Shvets Nurses in hospitals, clinics, and so on have pretty much "seen it all." This is something that I discussed with various nurses. People are often at their most vulnerable and are dependent on medical folks on many levels. Many actually care about patients. I have had my private parts exposed and touched (the Foley catheter hurt me plenty, especially since they couldn't get it right until the fourth attempt .) Worse, it is impo

There are professing Christians that seem somehow compelled to malign biblical creation, finding excuses to deny the plain reading of Genesis — despite the rest of biblical context. Why do they need to insert long ages into the Bible? This was unknown until the nineteenth century. Some of those who compromise with atheistic interpretations of science have denied the history of understanding six-day recent creation, and even make false accusations regarding the Church Fathers. As usual, claiming special insight that has been missed for thousands of years should be a red flag. Creation, Pixabay / Beate Bachmann One can often find an outlier or crackpot that agrees with strange views, which is an appeal to dubious authority. Almost all of the Church Fathers of note believed in recent creation in six days, the Genesis Flood (which is usually rejected or changed to suit the views of old earthers), and so on. They also held to other major Christian doctrines. Some critics of biblical (‘young

A common red flag occurs when someone claims to have special insight or revelation, that everyone else is wrong, should make people suspicious. How about how the Koran was mistranslated, and it is not 72 virgins as a reward, but 72 raisins ? That did not get much traction, did it? Indeed, many cults claim that their founders received a new revelation so they are the One True Church™. People have been "correcting" the Bible about the Genesis Flood and Creation to comport with atheistic views of science. Something similar has been going on regarding the location of Solomon's Temple. Model of Solomon's Temple, WikiComm / Thomas Newberry , Metropolitan Museum of Art ( CC0 1.0 ) While there is nothing wrong with challenging the consensus (biblical creationists have been doing that for decades), such confrontations need to be backed up with evidence (biblical creationists have been doing that for decades as well). People were satisfied with what the Bible said about the Te

Some time ago, I sat up pondering where the sun went after it set, and then it dawned on me. There are many Christians who are unwilling to believe that day  in Genesis 1 is a literal day. They try to scheme ways of obscuring the plain reading of the text. When I was young, I read the creation account and had no reason to think day was anything unusual. That is the way people have treated it for a very long time, with few exceptions. Sun obscured by tree, Unsplash / Cowboy Bob Sorensen With the advent of belief in deep time in the past couple of hundred years, Christians compromised and tried to find ways to force long ages into the Bible. For them, does day still mean day? Allegories, mythologizing, compromising and other shenanigans do violence to the text. Opinions of secular science cannot tell us what Scripture means. Why do those Christians insist on this? Is it to look good to atheists as well as other Christian compromisers? Do they seek the approval of men over that of the Cr

There are several literary terms that apply to the historical events in the Bible, such as foreshadowing. In stories (including movies), people are given hints as to what will happen later. There are also types  involving events and people (e.g., 1 Cor. 10:11, Rom. 5:14). It is interesting that in the Bible, historical events actually happened and people really lived who were paralleling what was to come. (Indeed, there are startling similarities between the sacrifices of Isaac and Jesus .) Strong links between Noah, Moses, and Jesus can be seen. Public domain images of Noah, Moses, and Jesus via Breadsite People who read their Bibles and pay attention to good teaching know that the Scripture has a large number of prophecies. Many have been fulfilled (especially surrounding the birth, death, and Resurrection of Jesus) and others are yet to be filled. Perhaps the parallels between Noah, Moses, and Jesus can be considered somewhat prophetic, since prophecy is not difficult for God. They

With the right combination of water in the air and the angle of light from the sun, a rainbow or double rainbow can be seen. People like to admire the beauty and often quip about gold at its end. Rainbows are popular in artwork and are frequently seen on toys for children. The first mention of a rainbow is in Genesis 9:8-17 where God established it as a covenant sign that the world would never again be completely flooded. God did not do an extra act of creation, but instead assigned special meaning to it. Rainbow at Niagara Falls, Unsplash / Jason Forrest Nowadays, the rainbow has been hijacked. It's bad enough that the word gay  has been changed to mean male homosexual (and those people do not display the original meaning), but the rainbow is a far more serious affront. It has been reworked to have a certain number of stripes that have meanings to the LGBTQ folks. Strange to take unhealthy pride in a sexual preference, and even to seek one's identity in it! This group is happ

When I was a small buckaroo, my father was a pastor in a liberal denomination. (As a general guideline, be wary of denominations with the word "united" in the name. They tend to have poor theology.) Being raised in the United Methodist Church, it was a challenge for me to attend a Christian school that was operated by Fundamentalists. There were so many things that I did not know about the Bible in my mid-teens despite being a pastor's kid. What was this stuff about the Bible being  the Word of God? Bible and pathway, Unsplash / Aaron Burden Churches with liberal theology compromise on many biblical teachings, and that seems to start by rejecting the infallibility of Scripture . It has errors but contains  the Word of God. So how do they know what to believe? Although my father rejected evolution, he seemed to accept deep time. Liberal theologians compromise on those details as well. When the Bible is a flawed guidebook, it can mean all sorts of things whenever convenient