God Created. Beats Me How.

I honestly don't know what I think regarding evolution and how God created the earth. I've never voiced that, partly because conservative evangelicals enthralled with this subject are quick to hurl charges of "He doesn't believe the Bible." Such charges make me want to, uh, hurl. However, much to my delight (and possibly to my detriment), this doesn't threaten me anymore, which is why I'm outing myself from the evolutionary cave. So feel free to hurl away.

The honest truth is that none of the creation explanations work for me. In all intellectual honesty, I cannot ignore the fossil and geological and glacier record, continental drift, carbon dating, the new findings in genome research, and so many other things that point to a very old earth. So all of the "young earth" explanations don't click with me, though people do make some incredibly acrobatic jumps through chaotically twirling hoops. This is very entertaining to watch and well worth the cost of admission.

The literal seven-day creation approach doesn't satisfy me. Creation science doesn't cut it, either. Theistic evolution actually strikes some positive cords with me, but it also strikes some resoundingly dissonant cords which I cannot reconcile with scripture. I like a lot of stuff in the Intelligent Design field, though those arguments don't necessarily rely on a particular understanding of Genesis--just the realization that the complexity of the universe and of earth's ecosystem required some god-sized thought. But how and when God did it--beats me.

So, accuse me of being a person who doesn't "believe the Bible." But I don't think any of the explanations advanced so far have got it right. This will probably be one of those things that will have to wait for heaven, just as Job never received an explanation for why he underwent his trials. Or consider Jesus. The Jews knew all the Scripture about the Messiah, but never dreamed the Messiah would look and act anything like Jesus did--and yet, in retrospect, those very same verses fit Jesus, and the Bible's integrity is reaffirmed. You just have to put the puzzle together in a whole different way.

In heaven, when someone asks God how he created the heavens and earth, he'll probably say, "None of you were even close to getting it right." Then he'll explain it, and it'll all make sense and be perfectly consistent with Scripture. That's what I think.

Posted on July 18, 2006 12:54 PM|

Comments

Sorry Steve but u lost me on this one. Maybe u cant understand or be satisfied with the Biblical explanation of creation because ur trying to understand it from a mental approach instead of a faith approach. I remember one scripture "Is anything too difficult for Me." If u cant buy the scriptural description of creation u probably have a similar problem with how God will destroy this world because He spoke its existence and He will speak His destructive voice to end it.

Posted by: devon | July 18, 2006 07:08 PM

Thanks for chiming in Devon. On the contrary, I admire Steve's comments. To make a distinction between the "faith approach" and the "mental approach" is to assume that we shouldn't have to think about theological issues. Isn't it a cop-out to just play the "faith card" when we're perplexed instead of trying to make sense of something? Is God angry with us for trying to understand Him? God gave us a spirit and a mind, and He expects us to use both. If certain aspects of our faith don't make sense to us, that should bother us. I'm not saying that everything we believe has to jive with common sense, but overall it does have to be sensible. The truth is that every ism out there has a lot of explaining to do - we're not the only ones trying to explain ourselves. I believe biblical faith makes the most sense. As far as the "biblical description of creation" is concerned, all Christians think their interpretation is the biblical description of creation.

Posted by: Dave Datema | July 19, 2006 01:54 AM

I'm with you, Steve. Well articulated.

Posted by: Erinn | July 19, 2006 11:48 AM

Dave, i guess the problem i have with what u r saying and what i thought Steve was saying is i dont have to understand how or why God does something I can trust in Him if He says it i be;lieve it even if i cant understand it. I was in a car accident over 3 yrs ago and i have wrestled with daily migraines ever since. I dont know why God allowed the accident to happen and i dont understand why i had to have the migraines that long. It sure has caused me a lot of grief professionally and personally, but i know He had a reason for it all. If i remember right Job and his friends got a pretty strong rebuke from God. He asked them if they were there when he created heaven and earth and everything in it. I take that whole discussion God had with Job to mean u dont have to understand me totally, just know that I am here and I know what Im doing.
Steve i apoligize i was not being antagonistic, i was simply trying to understand ur point of view and wrestle with it in my mind to see if maybe ive got some things screwed up in my thinking. I will go back into the bullrushes and just read for now on. Its safer for me there.

Posted by: devon | July 19, 2006 12:44 PM

Devon,
No need to go back to the bullrushes. I think you make an important point. Part of the problem with blog discussions is that we can usually only get to one part of an issue. I think both our emphases can coexist. I want to make the faith as clear as possible for myself and others to understand. On the other end, you remind me that there is a limit to the clarity we have in this life.

Posted by: Dave Datema | July 20, 2006 12:54 AM

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