It’s the beginning of a new year, so I thought it would be a good time to take another look at the beginning of our faith story. I hope you’ll take a listen to my theory that Genesis 1 is told from the perspective of emerging consciousness and let me know what you think! Continue reading Sunday Sermon Episode 3 Is Up!
Scriptures say that creation testifies to God. Science is simply the study of creation. It is the gathering and studying of the testimony of creation. Which is why I think that it is important for people of faith to be using science to deepen our understanding of God and his ways.
We see Jesus doing this, for example, in his teachings about seeds dying and bearing much fruit. It’s not just that Jesus was using a process which people were familiar with in order to explain something. It’s that this familiar process of creation is actually a living illustration of a much deeper, mysterious spiritual truth. It’s not just a coincidence that a seed works the same way that our spiritual life does. Rather, it’s reflects something purposeful in creation that testifies to God’s creation.
When you learn to see creation this way, all of life becomes imbued with deeper meaning. And it provides a corrective to our erroneous ideas. What we believe about God and his ways must be consistent with this universe he made.
That might seem to be a big claim to make, however, allow me to share something I read recently which illustrates just how deep this rabbit hole goes. I’m going to get all sciency with y’all for a bit. But I’ll make it simple and if you bear with me, I think you’ll see how taking creation’s testimony seriously can be a spiritually fruitful endeavor.
So, what I’m going to be talking about today has to do with the very origins of life. Not necessarily how life began – that’s a mystery we are rapidly closing in on. But the why. Why is there life at all? Continue reading “The Process is Life”
I want to share my personal theory on the story of creation told in Genesis 1 today, but I of course first need to grab everyone’s attention with something interesting or clever so I figured I’d start with this joke:
A minister, a priest and a rabbi went for a hike one day. It was very hot.
They were sweating and exhausted when they came upon a small lake.
Since it was fairly secluded, they took off all their clothes and
jumped in the water.
Feeling refreshed, the trio decided to pick a few berries while enjoying
their “freedom.” As they were crossing an open area, who should come
along but a group of ladies from town. Unable to get to their clothes in
time, the minister and the priest covered their privates and the rabbi
covered his face while they ran for cover.
After the ladies had left and the men got their clothes back on, the
minister and the priest asked the rabbi why he covered his face rather
than his privates. The rabbi replied, “I don’t know about you, but in
MY congregation, it’s my face they would recognize.”
Of course that joke has nothing to do with creation, but it’s funny so in my infinite wisdom, I’ve decided that’s what counts. Now . . . moving on to the story of creation.
One of the oddities of the story of creation in Genesis 1 is that the order in which things were created makes no sense. First there’s day and night and then later, after there was land and plants, but before there were animals, the sun, moon and stars get made. Water was apparently pre-existing and had to be separated from air to make the sky. So on and so forth.
For creationists, none of this matters because somehow that’s just how God did it. For people who run a wee bit deeper and wider than that, both logic and science say that it couldn’t have happened like that. Those who reject religion say the creation story is just something people made up to explain the world and really means nothing. Christians who don’t blasphemously reject the evidence of God’s own creation in favor of man’s understanding of scripture figure the point of the story is that God made everything, he made it with purpose and it is good.
I had a chance to chat this afternoon with Alex Botten on his podcast show Fundamentally Flawed regarding the perils and problems with teaching kids literal creationism. We had fun. And kind of ripped on advocates of literal creationism. I hope you will head over and check it out. If you are unfamiliar with my ideas regarding evolution and Christianity, I have a page on … Continue reading Fundamentally Flawed Podcast With Rebecca
The Creation of Eve 12-13th Century Mosaic Monreale Cathedral, Sicily
So, it’s been light blogging because I’ve been recovering from having my gallbladder removed last weekend. And percocet makes me mean. So I’ve been applying the adage my boys have heard 1 times a day since they learned to speak: “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.”
But I’m off the dope and wanted to get back to our earlier discussion on Adam and Eve. (To understand this discussion, I suggest reading What’s the Deal With Adam and Eve? Part 1 first.) When we left off, Adam had determined that there was no gibbon that tickled his fancy and God put him into a deep sleep. Then God took a rib from Adams side, closed the spot with flesh and fashioned woman.
A few things here. The man is put into a deep sleep. This can certainly mean simply that Adam was unconscious. Under full anesthesia, if you will. However, because we are also reading the story as an allegory, it can be informative to go a little deeper. When we sleep, we are still alive. We are not aware of what is going on in the physical world, but we dream. Our brains are busy doing clean-up work that can not be tended to when we’re busy using it while awake. And often we wake up and remember none of it. If we do, as often as not, we’re left with an impression which is more emotion than anything and hard to put into words. Continue reading “So, What’s the Deal With Adam and Eve? Part 2”
I am fascinated with the creation stories. I have mentioned before that it was the habit of ancient Hebrews to meditate by holding two thoughts which seem opposed together in your head at once. I may have also mentioned that I have both a very high regard for scripture and I value science as a tool for understanding how God’s other testimony – creation – works. Which right there creates a conflict which many people think they can make go away by picking the side that makes sense to them and hanging out there. But I always figured that if God made the world (which I believe he did) and scripture is true (which I believe it is – in all sorts of surprising ways) and science was saying something different, God had an answer. And not like, “well I only made the earth look billions of years old in order to see if you would trust me enough to think it’s really 6000 years old.” A real answer. Two true things cannot contradict one another. If they are in conflict, it doesn’t mean one is right and the other is wrong. It means we don’t understand them well enough yet.
“O lord, thou hast searched me, and known me.” (Psalm 139:1)
Perhaps the most frightening attribute of God is that He knows everything about us. Everything! He has “searched” (literally “penetrated”) us and “known” (“understood”) us. . . Furthermore, He is everywhere around each one of us (vv. 7-10), wherever we are or could be. He fills all space, and there is no escape.
Go ahead, ask me where I found that quote. Or even better, how ’bout I up the fun quotient and give you some options. Was it:
One of the primary purposes of creation is supposed to be to provide a testimony of who God is. It’s a shame that so many religious people fail to get that. But for anyone who cares to look, the details which emerge are amazing. They are amazing in their own right, but they are also amazing because these details are ones that God put in … Continue reading I Love Evolution! (A Christian’s Perspective)
I’m going to start my day by ticking people off! Just let me say at the outset that I am not saying that people who hold a belief in what is called “biblical creationism” do not honor God. They may or may not. But the belief system itself does not honor God. Why? Because it denies the work of God’s own hands. The creation is … Continue reading Why Creationism Does Not Honor God
For people who are interested in these things, there is a fascinating article in the Washington Post about the genetic code of the platypus. Scientists just finished mapping the odd animal’s DNA and not too surprisingly, it’s odd. What is particularly useful about this is that scientists have been able to map segments of the platypus’ genetic code which are similar to those found in … Continue reading The Platypus and Evolution
The Upside Down World 