Beyond the Firmament: Understanding Science and the Theology of CreationAs debates within the Church over the scientific details of creation become more frequent, the experts seem to grow more entrenched while the rest of us only become more confused. Somewhere between the endless arguments over distant starlight and Carbon-14 dating, calculating the mathematical improbabilities of things that already exist, and parsing ancient Hebrew and Greek, somebody needs to ask the simple question, If 3,500 years of scientific progress can't help modern Christians figure out Genesis, then how could the ancient Israelities possibly have understood it so well? What secret did this newly liberated gaggle of Hebrew nomads take with them out of Egypt that holds the key to understanding God's telling of His own creation story? Beyond the Firmament challenges all creationist camps --whether Young-Earth, Old-Earth, or Theistic Evolutionist -- to step outside of traditional paradigms and recognize how our modern, Western, post-Enlightenment scientific worldview actually blinds us from seeing the simple truth of Creation as it was originally intended, and how our failure to grasp the theological significance of the Biblical creation model puts science and faith on a collision course. |
From inside the book
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Page 2
That all seems fair enough, but this same line of reasoning is often used by the secular world to dismiss any claims the Bible does make about the material realm. It is not uncommon to read or hear statements like, ...if you believe ...
That all seems fair enough, but this same line of reasoning is often used by the secular world to dismiss any claims the Bible does make about the material realm. It is not uncommon to read or hear statements like, ...if you believe ...
Page 3
In other words, you can have your religion—as long as it doesn't make any objective claims that compromise the known laws of nature. The unfortunate result is that anything miraculous is immediately struck down by the courts of science ...
In other words, you can have your religion—as long as it doesn't make any objective claims that compromise the known laws of nature. The unfortunate result is that anything miraculous is immediately struck down by the courts of science ...
Page 4
... material cause and effect necessarily precludes God's creative action, most Christians challenged the claims of science on the material level, insisting that only the Scriptures can provide us accurate technical details of creation.
... material cause and effect necessarily precludes God's creative action, most Christians challenged the claims of science on the material level, insisting that only the Scriptures can provide us accurate technical details of creation.
Page 5
I believe that there is, but it has nothing to do with new scientific discoveries that can debunk evolutionary claims or fancy interpretations of Scripture that somehow accommodate them. Those things only sink us deeper into the holes ...
I believe that there is, but it has nothing to do with new scientific discoveries that can debunk evolutionary claims or fancy interpretations of Scripture that somehow accommodate them. Those things only sink us deeper into the holes ...
Page 7
We mistakenly think that such all-or-nothing claims are necessary to defend the Scriptures against scientific challenges. The sad irony is that these statements only undermine the transcendent status of biblical truth.
We mistakenly think that such all-or-nothing claims are necessary to defend the Scriptures against scientific challenges. The sad irony is that these statements only undermine the transcendent status of biblical truth.
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Contents
Natural Revelation | 17 |
Special Revelation | 35 |
What Can the Bible Tell Us about Nature? | 50 |
The Context of Creation | 51 |
Missing the Point of Genesis | 75 |
Learning from Our Mistakes | 93 |
What Can Nature Tell Us about Itself? | 110 |
The Apparent Age of the Universe | 111 |
The Challenges of Cosmic History | 131 |
The Challenge of Geologic History | 151 |
What about Evolution? | 172 |
A Record of Creation | 173 |
The Universe Tree of Life | 193 |
Common terms and phrases
actually amino acids ancient Near-Eastern arguments astronomers believe Bible biblical Big Bang theory billion biology can’t challenge Christians church claims CMBR common descent cosmology cosmos created creation science Creationists creatures culture decay divine earth entific evidence evolutionary example explain fact faith firmament fossil record framework galaxies Genesis genetic geocentric model give God’s gravity happened heavens Hebrew human idea Influx interpretation isochron dating isotopes John Calvin laws of nature literal look material mechanism miracles modern moon Moses mythology natural history observed ocean via rivers original pattern planets probably providence question radioactive decay redshift samples scientific theories scientists Scriptures secular snow solar system special creation species speed of light spherical earth stars supernatural tell Theistic Evolution theological theology of creation tion transcendent truth understand uniformity of nature verses whole rock Ar-Ar YECs Young-Earth