George Sayour (Genesis 1:1, 31) "In the beginning God created - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

George Sayour

(Genesis 1:1, 31)

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth... God saw all that he had made, and it was very good."

But… There’s a Debate About this

God’s Providence

• Primary & Secondary Causes’
• “In Him we live and move and have our being”

Acts 17:28

• “In Him all things hold together” - Col 1:17
• He covers the heavens with clouds;
 he

prepares rain for the earth;
 he makes grass grow on the hills. - Psalm 148

• “You Knit me together…” - Psalm 139

Historic Theistic Scientists

• Nicholas Copernicus
• Sir Francis Bacon
• Johannes Kepler
• Galileo Galilei
• Rene Descartes
• Blaise Pascal
• Sir Isaac Newton
• Robert Boyle
• Michael Faraday
• Gregor Mendel
• William T. Kelvin
• Max Planck

Sir Isaac Newton

• "The most beautiful system of the sun, planets, and

comets, could only proceed from the counsel and dominion of an intelligent and powerful Being.” (Principia, 2nd ed.)

So What Happened?

• Charles Darwin

– No, not Darwin…

• Enlightenment Thinking
• The Rise of Modernity
• Romans 1 – It’s the Human Condition

The Church and Science

• Galileo & the Church: Geocentric vs. Heliocentric
• The Columbus Flat Earth Hoax
• Bible - Literal / Figurative?
• Phenomenological Language
• What Science Questions does the Bible Answer?

Wisdom of the World

• Romans 1:19 - 23
• 1 Cor 1:19 – 30 :: see Is 29:14, Is 19:12, Is 33:18,
• 1 Cor 3: 18-20 – see Job 5:13, Psalm 94:11

Naturalism

• Methodological Naturalism

– Scientific inquiry is limited to the natural realm – The Scientific Method – Not concerned with Metaphysical / what exists outside of nature

• Ontological Naturalism (ie. Naturalism)

– Ontology – Philosophical study of the nature of being/existence – The natural order & physical realm is all there is.

Ontological Naturalism

• It is a Worldview & a Philosophy
• No Transcendental, No MetaPhysical, No SuperNatural
• No God, No Soul, No Miracles, No Afterlife
• Closely related to : Materialism, Reductionism,
• Darwinian Evolution, Big Bang Cosmology
• In Search of a TOE
• Theory of Everything

Ontological Naturalism

• The natural order & physical realm is all there is.
• All knowledge in the universe comes through

Scientific Inquiry / Scientific Method

• There are only natural and empirical causes for

everything in the Universe

• Questions that can’t be answered scientific

inquiry are meaningless & irrational

Course Outline

• Intro / The Debate
• Genesis 1 & 2 / Bible
• The Theory of Evolution
• Fossil Record & The

Flood

• Age of Earth & Dating

Methods

• Big Bang Cosmology/

Anthropic Principle

• Genetics, DNA, Design
• Technology & Bioethics
• The Environment &

Global Warming

• Summary Class

Genesis 1

Survey Results: Origin of Life

• “Fiat” Creation of Kinds
• Darwinian Evolution – unguided, random
• Theistic Evolution directed by Personal God
• Theistic Evolution - by Impersonal God

11 2 8 1 ? ? ?

Survey Results: Age of Universe

• Young – 6,000 - 10,000 years old
• Old – Billions of Years
• Don’t know

8 12 1 (Don’t really care)

Origin and Nature of Universe

• Big Bang Theory and all it entails
• Steady State (meant Static)
• Expanding Universe
• Multi-verse
• Other
• Not Sure

6 4 2 2 4 3 ? ? ? ?

God’s Word, God Spoke, God Created

• Micro Evolution
• Macro Evolution
• Natural Selection
• Intelligent Design
• Irreducible Complexity
• I don’t know

5 2 5 12 3 2 ? ? ?

Genesis 1 & 2

• The Accounts are Compatible
• 2 Separate Stories that Conflict
• Genesis 1 is Poetry
• Genesis 1 represents 6 Literal Days
• Genesis 1 : 6 Symbolic / Framework days

– Not mentioned was the “Day- Age” or “Gap”Theories

13 1 6 8 ?

Genesis 1: Pattern & Repetition

• “Then God Said”….“Let there be” (“Fiat”)
• “And it was so”
• “And God Saw….That it was good
• “So the Evening and the morning were the _ day”
• “After their own kind” / “According to its kind”

Genesis 1: Order and Progression

• 7 Days – sets the course of our week

–Exodus 20:8-11

• “ God Said” used 10 times in Chapter 1

–vs: 1,3,6,9,11,14, 20,24,26, 28 , 29 –Brings Natural Order out of Chaos

• “It is ….good” – 10 times in Chapters 1 & 2

Sets of 3s

• Past, Present, Future
• Father, Son, Spirit
• 3 Physical Dimensions
• Solid, Liquid, Gas

Genesis 1

Verse 1

• In the Beginning
• God Created
• The Heavens
• And the Earth

TIME ELOHIM SPACE MATTER

Genesis 1 Literary Structure

• Day 1: Light / Darkness
• Day 2: Waters / Sky
• Day 3: Land /

Vegetation

• Day 4: Sun, Moon, Stars
• Day 5: Fish , Birds
• Day 6: Animals,

MAN

Forming / Separating Filling

Worldviews

Biblical (Gen 1-3) vs. Naturalistic

• God is creator, infinite,

and personal

• Life created according to kinds

Humans in God’s Image given Dominion

• Universe was designed for man,

With purpose and originally GOOD

• Death, Decay, Entropy is

result of the Fall and sin

• Death brings Heaven or Hell
• Only a Redeemer can make

everything right again

• Matter/Cosmos is all there is

and is infinite

• Animals & Humans result of

Random Chance processes & are =

• Universe came into being in

Chaos, is hostile toward man

• There is no sin, No cohesive

view of history

• Death brings end to existence
• Science & Technology can

cure the ills of society

Genesis 1 Chronological Views

• 24 Hour Day View

– Mature Creation & Flood Geology answer Science

• Day – Age Theory

– Chronological but days are actually long ages

• Gap Theory

– Long gap in between vs 1 and 2 ( 24 hour days)

• Intermittent Day Theory

– 24 hour days w/ long periods between them

• Gen. 1: NonChronological Views
• Framework View

– Gen 1 is a literary framework to explain the truths about God in the context of creation

• Analogical View

– Serves as an analogy for 6 days of work 1 day of rest

• Revelatory Day Theory

– God revealed this to Moses in 6 - 24 hr days

• Religion Only View

– Gen 1 is only meant to teach Spiritual truths

Read Genesis 2

• What Does it Teach?
• How does it harmonize with Genesis 1?
• What are the literary difficulties?
• What are the scientific difficulties?
• Other Questions?

Read Genesis 3

• What Does it Teach?
• What are the scientific difficulties?
• What are the Theological difficulties?
• What other questions do you have?

Homework

• Read the Flood Narrative Found in

Genesis Chapters 6 – 9

• What is it teaching?
• Compare to the Creation Account
• What difficulties do you have with it?