Biblical Creation vs. The Big Bang

Introduction

     “In the beginning there was…” can lead to complete concurrence or dissension depending on what completes that statement.  If the Evolutionary theory is added to complete the statement, then you will have the scientists’ concurrence and the Christians’ dissension.  If Biblical creation completes that statement, then you will have the Christians’ concurrence and the scientists’ dissension.  There are also various positions that find themselves in-between the two sides; some Christians believe in the Evolutionary theory, while some scientists are Christians and believe their Bible.  This paper focuses on the argument between Christians who believe that the Bible is clear about creation, the scientists who believe that science paints a different picture, and the ever-increasing middle ground that sees both sides coinciding rather than contradicting the other.  It also will be written under the assumption that God exists.  Many Christians tend to demonize science because it seems to revoke their traditional values; however, scientists see their work as not revoking traditional values, but progressing onto better values.  A good example of this in another realm would be that slavery was a traditional value and seemed to be Biblical, but it was morally wrong and we progressed onto a better set of ethics, which were better supported by the Bible than slavery was.

Grace / Law

     The “Grace/Law” picture at first glance conveys a message of Jesus the Christ’s grace being sufficient for all religions and beliefs.  It also shows the law dying on the cross, which would remove the notion of sin in the world.  This is very controversial in Christianity today and there is great criticism between the grace and law messages, as well as all of those in between.  The letters of grace each represent a belief system; the beliefs being Evolution, Buddhism, Judaism, Islam, and Gender Equality respectively.  The cross has the Ten Commandments nailed to each arm representing the law being fulfilled through Jesus’ death.  The cross also reinforces this idea with the words, “The Law Fulfilled” engraved on it.

Jesus and the Cross

     Jesus' death on the cross doesn't really make sense as a sacrifice, but His death to fleshly desires does. We are called to be Christ-like and are called to be living sacrifices, so wouldn't it be safe to venture that Jesus' sacrifice was a living sacrifice? Sacrifice for atonement of sins was a specific practice for the ancient Hebrews and was nothing like what Jesus did for us on the cross. Sacrifice for the Hebrews consisted of choosing an animal without blemishes, projecting their sins onto the animal, slaughtering the animal, and laying it before God. Jesus came and was set before God at His baptism, slaughtered His flesh in the desert when He was tempted by Satan, projected His cleanliness onto us, and rose again because He was perfect in the sight of God.

Genesis Chapter 1

     Genesis chapter one is a very controversial chapter and is commonly targeted by atheists in an attempt to disprove the rest of the Bible.  The thought process seems to be that if you can disprove that God created the world, then you can disprove that God exists entirely.  The issue with this is that they have helped the Biblical creation account more than they have hurt it.  I will follow with an in depth study of Genesis chapter one using the New American Standard Bible, which is agreed upon by most scholars as the most accurate word for word translation from Hebrew/Greek to English that we currently have available.

Jonah and the Whale

     In the book of Jonah we read a story about a man named Jonah who was supposed to go to Nineveh in order to warn them of God's wrath and to urge them to change their ways.  Jonah, however, decides that the people of Nineveh did not deserve God's grace and ought to be damned as a result of their disobedience.  Thinking theses things, Jonah ran from God and took a ship in the opposite direction.  A storm ends up raging over the ship that he was on and the crew starts asking why they are in this storm.  Jonah then admits that he has disobeyed God and he is thrown overboard.  When Jonah is thrown overboard, a whale catches him in its mouth, carries him to Nineveh, and spits him on the shore.  While Jonah was in the whale, he recognizes God's sovereignty and realizes that God showed him grace even when he refused to show the people of Nineveh the same grace.  Jonah, then goes to Nineveh and warns them of God's wrath and they change their ways.