The Bible emphasizes the importance of creativity in glorifying God, serving others, and stewarding the gifts He has given us. It teaches that creativity is a gift from God to be used for His purposes and the betterment of society. The Bible begins with the concept of creativity as “God created the heavens and the earth”. This verse introduces the concept of creativity right from the start of the Bible, stating that God is great at making things. Creativity is a reflection of God’s image within us, inspiring us to innovate, imagine, and express ourselves in diverse ways.
Throughout the Bible, we find stories of creativity and craftsmanship that glorify God. Creativity is celebrated and encouraged, whether in the arts, craftsmanship, or the wise management of resources. The first verse of the Bible details an act of creativity and creation, stating that God created the universe out of nothingness. God breathed us into being through His creativity.
The Bible also highlights the importance of creativity in every instance of creativity in the Bible, as it is for, by, through, and from the purposes of God. We are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand for us to do. The Father is creative, as He designed and brought the entire earth to life with all its features and creatures.
The Bible also teaches that people are created in the image of God, reflecting the heart of a creative God. Colossians 3:23 encourages us to do our work heartily, as for the Lord rather than unto men. We can create art, but we don’t have to make it for ourselves. In summary, the Bible encourages us to use our creativity to glorify God, serve others, and steward the gifts He has given us.
📹 The Bible and age of the earth? | John Lennox at SMU
John Lennox explains how the Bible doesn’t make claims about the age of the earth. | SMU, 2016 | View full forum here: …
📹 Can a Christian Believe in Evolution?
For some, evolution is a controversial topic. But is it really? More information about evolution from a scientific perspective: …
“And God spoke all these words, saying, “I AM the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt… You shall have no other gods before me… in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” – Exodus 20 “Jesus said to them, “… from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” – Mark 10
Claiming the Bible says something that it doesn’t actually say? How about Exodus 20:8-11? “Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Sounds pretty clear to me!
The thing old earthers don’t seem to understand is the debate isn’t really about the age of the earth. I agree that is pretty much irrelevant. The debate is about where you turn to for authority on the issue. I know old earthers who are faithful to the rest of scripture, but there are implications old earthers don’t realize. For instance if “day” in this context doesn’t literally mean “24 hour period” then it is easy to see how people can read other passages about homosexuality or the deity of Christ and say it doesn’t mean what it clearly says. Not saying all old earthers do that, but it’s easier to justify it. Secondly, the major problem old earthers have is accounting for death prior to sin. This is really where the issue lies that I don’t think too many old earthers think about. In order to accept the millions of years viewpoint, you would have to account for these millions of years to be occurring prior to the fall of man and introduction of original sin. It would also mean things died and decayed. If this is true, it means that death was originally part of God’s plan for creation, that it was “very good” despite including death, that Bible wrong to say “the wages of sin is death” and it ultimately undermines the Gospel and attacks the character of God. Why? Because if death was around before sin, what did Jesus have to die for? What was the point of him rising again? If death was around before sin, then death is good according to God and death is from God rather than sin and makes God wicked because you’re claiming He said something was “very good” which isn’t.
When the Bible says, “One day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”, I always felt, it was simply saying God’s time, is not the same as our time. To be clear it doesn’t say, one day is equal to 1000 years, but one day is “like” 1000 years. One day to God, who is eternal, is a long time to us.
When I find a difference between scripture and science, I immediately know that I have a lack of understanding, and for me to have a greater understanding would require God’s intent for me to have that greater understanding, and at this point in eternity, I content myself with where God wants me to be and the understanding He wants me to have.
So it sounds like God made the Heavens and the Earth, then did nothing for millions or billions of year before the first day. Is this how we tie it together? Remember that Adam was made a man, not a baby. He was fully grown so it stands to reason that other parts of creation were is different stages of age as well.
Modern Young Earth fanatics (I only mean the small minority who call Old Earth Christians unbelievers in the Bible, not merely those who happen to hold the YE position) are worse in principle than those Catholics who gave Galileo a hard time. Even the leader of the Galileo inquest stated that, if evidence proved Heliocentrism, then he would have to adjust his interpretation of scripture. He simply demanded Galileo produce definitive evidence, which he couldn’t at the time. The YE fanatic has established his unnecessary particularist interpretation as the definition of scriptural belief and condemns anyone who disagrees, regardless of evidence or the ambivalence of scripture on the subject. Beyond this, the only real difference is just that they don’t have the authority that the old bishops and cardinals did to enforce their anathemas. But they will preach unfounded division and animosity amoung the churches, which is no small offense. We should come together as brethren and put this debate aside as not impinging on the Gospel and not worthy of friction, but some, especially on the YE side, define those who would do so as, by definition, not brethren, and unworthy of brotherly affection and forbearance. Thus, the sore continues to fester unnecessarily!
The big guy in the chair needs to brush up on his Bible study, and quit trusting in pseudoscience. In Exodus 20:11 God tells His people: “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy.” He made man; male and female, on day 6. (Genesis 1:27) In Luke 3:23- 38 Jesus’ genealogy that goes back Adam. (That’s not millions of years) You either believe the Word of God or you don’t. Doubting God’s word is the oldest sin in the book.
I was an atheist and got powerfully and wonderfully saved 45 yrs ago. I knew ZERO… but I knew my salvation wasn’t based on my IQ… in fact very little of my salvation is based on me… except my trust in Him. He did it I only need to accept His work on the cross. I love theology, I love to talk and hear about my Lord. I just want to be with others who love Him, not those who agree with me. Those who agree with Him. God bless
I would like to share with you the gospel of our salvation in the dispensation of God’s grace. “Grace can be defined as the undeserved favor of God for people who deserve His condemnation.” God does not hold sins against us because they have already been paid for (every sin for every person.) Christ was made to be everyone’s-every-sin (2 Corinthians 5:21). However, full reconciliation is not achieved until an individual “reconciles himself” to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). This happens upon belief of the gospel of our salvation. All humanity is forgiven but not all believe it. Being forgiven does not equal being saved, salvation comes by faith. Salvation is appropriated by faith, forgiveness of sins is NOT. Your sins were forgiven regardless of your belief. God did not need your faith at Calvary, He only needed His Son. SALVATION is only gained by trusting Christ – via belief in the word of truth (the gospel of our salvation.) Salvation IS by works, just not our own. It is not of ourselves, but through the gift of God’s grace that we are saved. Upon HEARING the gospel, if we BELIEVE the gospel, we are sealed with the holy Spirit of promise unto the day of redemption (Ephesians 1:13-14). A lost soul can only be saved by trusting Christ to have done everything necessary for our salvation though His finished cross-work. Romans thru Philemon are the only books in the bible that explain salvation for today. In those books we find salvation is by faith alone, in Christ alone, without-any-works-of-any-kind-at-anytime.
I see a pattern in Genesis that cannot be dismissed. When God created Adam and Eve and vegetation and animals, He created all of it in a mature state. Much of it needed to be mature in order for it to survive. So it is no stretch to imagine God creating the cosmos in a mature state having the appearance of being old in order for it to function.
I honestly think this is one of the more boring arguments of faith. It’s like arguing whether or not each day of creation was 24 hours or not. It misses the point. A God…THE God who created all things (53 billion light years of universe) took 6 days because he chose to. He could have created it instantaneously or over a gazillion years. He did not REQUIRE the time, he chose to use that time to express his creativity and love. …..and remember….this the same type of dude who in the 80’s said the earth was MILLIONS of years old. Then somewhere in the last 40 years they added an additional 3 zeros to the timeline when they realized they couldn’t fit evolution into millions of years. As a Computer Scientist, I can assure you that adding those zeros was more than a big deal. It was an admission they didn’t know what they were talking about. I mean how could today’s scientists, who can’t figure out if you are a dude or a chick, be wrong about the age of the earth?
Very good reconciliation. The problem with such questions is we often forget God, and therefore his word The Bible, are never wrong. At the same time He never contradicts facts. So, if The Bible says something is thus and so, and the facts seem to contradict that, the issue IS NOT The Bible nor the facts. The issue is OUR choice of interpretation.
Of course, he is absolutely right in that the overwhelming scientific evidence that the earth goes round the sun, and that the earth is billions of years old should be accepted. It is ridiculous not to accept this. If the bible contradicts this then the interpretation of the bible should be modified. He is correct. The big problem is that he should apply the same principle to accepting the overwhelming scientific evidence on evolution. It is ridiculous not to accept this. He should advocate modifying ones interpretation of biblical creation accordingly.
This wonderful brother John Lennox has devoted much of his life to persuade unbelievers of the resurrection of Christ and the power of his word. I’m sure many atheists have gotten serious headaches from John’s powerful logic and faith. Please pray for him and those that listen to his lectures that God will open the ears of the unbelievers and they would be saved. I think this is God’s will that he continue, not many are able to do what he does and are as respected as he is. Thank God for this man and all others who have given their lives in the belief that Christ died to save sinners
I see. So when the Bible says that Adam lived to the age of 930 years, Noah 950, and Methuselah 969, well . . . you don’t HAVE to interpret those ages in the “ordinary” sense. I mean, who knows what a year meant back then, right? Or hey, maybe they actually DID live to those ages! Things were different back then! (Even though no scientist in the world believes humans EVER lived anywhere near that long.) Why not, right? The Bible is inerrant! . . . SMH really, really hard.
No one ever says or believes the new earth and new heavens will take billions of years. Why do many think that of first creation? It was literally days. God spoke it and it was. The Hebrew word “yom” ALWAYS means a literal day when used in conjunction with a number or description like day or evening.
think its best to see things Gods way Not lean on our understanding But see it from Gods perspective 2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 1 Corinthians 14:33 “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints. 2 Peter 1:21 “For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.”
Lennox is a smart guy, but this is foolish. The statement of God creating the heavens and the earth is a continuous thought through verse 5, also mentioning the creation of light, and it concludes by saying all of this occurred in the span of a single day… the first day… and it’s followed by more descriptions of creations and mornings and evenings bookending and indicating six other days, even numbering them consecutively… anyone who twists these words to mean anything other than what they are plainly saying has a serious problem. Why are we doing this? To appeal to atheist scientists who rely on a constantly changing field of thought? The Bible doesn’t change, and the earth does not ever move from its set path and cycle… so, even “moving,” the earth is certainly fixed… don’t be tricked by this bad argument. Just calling out and correcting a brother here in good faith.
The real pain John is your lack of understanding of the state the present day young earth creationism. I doubt you will ever do this, but I highly recommend that you take a few hours and investigate the article series, Is Genesis History? You might actually learn something I would tell you also that the trap you have fallen into was built unwittingly by Copernicus and Galileo. Galileo was so embarrassed by the Catholic response to Heliocentrism that he developed the philosophy, where the Bible speaks it is true, where science speaks it is true, which led to the belief in two books of God, science, aka natural revelation and the Bible supernatural revelation. From that time forward, people have been using the same line you used in mocking helio versus geocentrism. I hear it regularly. Since we were wrong back then, we don’t want to be embarrassed again, so just take whatever science says and believe, and try to fit the bible into the science. Almost 200 years later, Charles Lyell decided that science must get Moses out of the way, meaning Genesis, he proposed that the earth was millions of years old and prophesied that the Church leaders would accept his proposal, which they did, hook line and sinker. the problem is that it was pure speculation on his part, there was no evidence for an old earth, other that it looks old. You may counter; hasn’t science proven that the earth billions of year old, radiometric dating and carbon 14 dating, etc? Again there are many good well educated scientists who see things very differently, and there are many proofs that the earth is actually young.
Very interesting analysis! Above all Let us not “disrepute the gospel”! I would however like to add one note (no controversy here, just food for thought), when thinking about creation. There is a vs. from Exd 20:9-11 “six days you shall labor and do all your work… for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day.” NIV
The Bible does NOT say the Earth is fixed (stationary). That is a gross misinterpretation. Go back and read it again. One can follow the days of Adam and Eve, and backtrack all the people who have lived. I think this will give a close approximation of the age of the Earth…. I don’t know. Reading the Bible and properly interpreting the Bible are different issues. …and troubling ones.
I love God because He is mysterious in all His ways. If we knew everything about God and about the earth, we would not need what God wanted us to have. Faith. I believe it makes God thrilled when a man can humbly say….l cant understand it, but nonetheless, l believe what you have said is the truth. God didn’t want us to understand everything. If we did, he would just be one like us! I am a teacher. If my pupils knew everything l knew, they would not need me!!! You want to understand everything about God? Do you even understand everything about your closest friend??
There is overwhelming scientific evidence that the universe is far older than the six 24 hour periods that many young earthers claim the Bible proposes. but if a modern day scientist had been present at the marriage feast in Cana in Galilee, he would have said that the wine he had just consumed was the finest wine he had ever tasted and it must have been brought out at the peak of its aging process and most certainly could not have been made that same day
How utterly pathetic it is to hear these tortured words trying to convince people the bible is factually relevant. Does Mr Lennox also make these verbally accommodating dodges in explaining ridiculous stories like snakes in the “Garden of Eden” or the childish fantasy of “Noah’s Ark?” Every catholic priest knows if he wants to keep his very comfortable life in the church he has to believe this silly propaganda. This biblically based tripe does far more to dissuade young people from considering the very important question of Gods role in their lives and instead urges them to uncritically swallow all the totally ludicrous fiction found in “scripture.”
What Professor Lennox says about the different tenses all sounds nice and neat, however, it would seem that Yahweh disagrees with him. Take a look at the Ten Commandments listed at Exodus 20:2-17. In the fourth Commandment, Yahweh justifies the reason why people should rest on the seventh day as :- “For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and hallowed it.” Yahweh himself says he made the earth within six days. Lennox is therefore wrong to say that “In the beginning” is not referring to the first day. For anyone who thinks that Yahweh’s days are not standard 24 hours, but can be any time period then again refer to Yahweh’s reason for having a Sabbath day – “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord your God. In it you shall do no work.” Yahweh is referring to the timescale of the human week. It is implicit that the days of Yahweh are the same as the days in a human week. What the Bible states is exactly what people have always thought it meant to say i.e. that Yahweh created everything in six days and rested on the seventh. Again it is stated that Yahweh rested on the seventh day in Genesis 2. Having said all that I believe that the Genesis story is a creation myth like all of the other creation myths in other societies that tried to explain how the earth was formed. Lennox is arguing from a mistaken point of the view about what the Bible says.
Talk about IRONY…John Lennox is involved in the very thing he says Christians shouldn’t argue over – the Age of the Earth! IF God intended readers of Genesis to believe the Earth is NOT circa 6,000 years old He, instead of inspiring Moses to use the term yoms (which in context are 6 days of 24 hours) could have directed Moses to use the terms OLAM and QEDEM which are appropriate for indeterminate long periods of time even up to millions and billions of years. BUT…..He didn’t and instead he inspired Moses to write ‘yoms’ and furthermore the same terms and grammatical constructions are used again in Exodus when Moses again under inspiration wrote that the people of Israel were to work for 6 yoms i.e. days (not Olams and Qedems) and to rest for 1 yom i.e. day. Does Lennox really think the Israelites were to work fo r6 millions of years and to rest for 1 million years?! The ‘giveaway’ in Lennox thinking is in his opening sentences in which he ASSUMES the scientists and astronomers have it right…..and it seems evident that he puts his faith in those secularists and probably hasn’t even considered what other scientists and astronomers such as for example, D Russell Humphreys and Jason Lisle both Bible-believing Christians have to say about this issue. So, marks out of 10 for Lennox? 1/10 for showing up.
Dr Lennox appears to be advocating the Gap Theory, as though God made the earth before the first day of Genesis 1, but ignores Exodus 20:11. Also his language is surprisingly loose when he refers to “astronomy and astrophysics” as pointing to a very old earth, when he urgently need to get up to speed that nothing in the solar system actually looks that old, and that multiple objects in it look much younger – orders of magnitude younger. So his claim of a “conflict with science” is a mirage. Speaking as one mathematician to another (and sure he’s a good deal more advanced than me on that), I’d suggest that in big-picture terms the old earth’s Achilles’ heel and thus the young earth’s secret weapon, time and time again, is the exponential function. Now there’s something to chew on.
If you can’t take a particular Bible verse literally, how do you choose which verses are literal and which are figurative? There are so many verses in the Old Testament that depict God as evil, do you create symbolic meaning to the written word? Tell me how you take 2 Kings 2:23-25 literally (that God isn’t evil)? I have a list of Bible verses long as my arm where God acts evil (ask and I’ll give you more). If these evil acts weren’t in the Bible, you would absolutely ban this book in Southern schools.
The difference was Galileo wasn’t trying to push God out of the picture, but the idea of an old earth and the Darwinian evolution that that idea supported were largely pushed by those who wanted to get God out of the picture. So it is difficult for Christians to have a conversation about the topic, because it’s already very muddled.
So you are a Maths Professor Dr Lennox. Then please give your calculations for an old earth. Because Dr Ussher has clear calculations, using Biblical geneologies, for a young earth starting about 4004 BC. As far as I know the old earth calculations are based on the time atheists believe that everything could have happened by random chance without God, which is why they keep making it older as it seems more and more impossible. Which it is.
I like John Lennox, he is brilliant. But he forgot to mention: god created the sun at the 4. day! And there was evening and morning the 3 days before already! How this? I mean the bible explains that the sun and the moon rule day and night and are there for counting the time, days, months and years! So John believes god created the earth first and the sun on the 4. day of creation? Thats completely absurd, scientifically – and of course – he knows it! But he forgot to mention it 😉
The scriptures were not written to be science or archaeology books. They reveal profound truths beautifully and poetically. If you study ancient literature even a little, you realize that many of the numbers, images and narratives are not meant to be read literally (that’s the shallow approach), but are meant to be prayerfully pondered again and again as multiple levels of truth are uncovered. This is particularly true in the Creation Story, Job and a few others probably. That doesn’t mean that there are not historical components to the Biblical text; there are for sure, but too many take a literal approach when none was intended.
WOW! satan is really happy now…to see Christians and non Christians talk about this junk. Where most think Scientists are correct! And only a few others say “NO”! Now, listen World… Matthew 19:26 Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. 2 Peter 3:8 But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years (on earth) is one day (in Heaven). Thus, that knocks all scientists into “Garbage Cans”. For those 2 verses; were (I believe) God KNEW these debates and arguments; would do this chicanery! So, He inspired the writers; to write those verses. So we would not let Scientists LIE to us! Because they don’t KNOW the truth. Nor do they have a clue; in trying to understand of their Creator! Until… …they become “Born Again” Christians; and the “Holy Spirit”, then tells them, “God created everything in 6 literal days. And that is the END of story! Whether you believe it or not! And ‘good riddance’; to any one that listens to satan vs listening to Jesus. Who is the ONLY true God Almighty, there will ever be”! Praise Jesus’ Holy Name. AMEN!
John Lennox, there is no gap between genesis 1:1 and genesis 1:3 cannot be for then you would put death before the fall into sin and God said it was very good. Death was very good sir? Isn’t it called the last enemy elsewhere in scripture? What you said earlier about the earth being fixed in place and actually moving about the sun I can appreciate, yet to try to apply that logic to the earth age discussion will in short make you deny all of scripture in short order!
So ignore the parts of the bible that are wrong, because thats basically what he is saying without saying it. And still use the parts that are right. He brushes over the fixed earth position and then uses the sequence of events of creation and says well its interpretation etc etc. He didnt say the fixed earth was interpretation, it was wrong. Well, then how do you know the other parts are right? As he said, we all thought it was until it wasnt, how much is going to change in 500 years? If you read a textbook with serious mistakes, is this the one and only textbook you are going to use and trust. No, no logical person would. What if there was no other textbook, and the basis for your whole mode of study and field and even field validity was this one textbook, surely, you would question if what was written, was true as a whole
Can’t have it both ways. Either you believe the Bible in its entirety or you don’t. Thr Bible explicitly says that God created the heaven and earth in six days which would make the earth only thousands of years old. People like this just need to admit they don’t believe it and quit trying to smooth it over. And if the Bible is wrong about that what else is it wrong about?
This point is important and unfortunately Mr. Lennox is wrong. We come at this question from a biblical view. Genesis is clear, God created the earth and heavens in six days not millions or billions of years. The question of the age of earth and the universe should begin with this understanding. Just as “age dating” of rock is flawed because it typically is based on the erroneous evolution view, we shouldn’t fall into the same trap for the galaxy. The bible is right, that’s the foundation we approach observation.
The Bible contains several passages that suggest the earth is stationary and does not move. For example, Psalm 104:5 states that God “set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved” 12. Similarly, Ecclesiastes 1:5 says that “the sun rises and the sun sets, and hurries back to where it rises” 1. However, it is important to note that these passages are poetic and should not be interpreted as scientific statements. In fact, the Bible does not provide any explicit scientific explanation of the earth’s motion or lack thereof. I also believe that the earths foundation could easily be interpreted as its position in the universe it being the 3rd planet from the sun and if it has a solid core with several layers that could make it a foundation. It’s founded on a solid rock or iron whichever. Houses are built on a solid foundation. It’s all interpretation Everything in the bible is not literal. Also, Earth holds a very special place in our universe being that life springs from it this can also be interpreted as a foundation. You can’t move the earth from these positions. SO, IT’S FOUNDATIONS ARE ROCK SOLID.
I love John Lennox, but he’s being a bit disingenuous here. Old Earth vs Young Earth isn’t just about the age but also about how it came to be, including humanity. Fortunately, there’s plenty of science demonstrating we’re dealing not only with a young earth but also a verifiable Adam and Eve (at the very least Noah).
So who actually wrote the Bible & who was there to witness “And then God said let there be…. anything? Knowing what we know that “let there be light happened 13.6 billion years ago, it seems highly unlikely that god would wait till 6000 years ago to put humans on earth, but then the fossil record goes back hundreds of millions of years before that. A Lot of money in interpreting the fairytale of GOD, that’s all I can say.
People see scientists using dating methods (contradict each other) and see the Bible seeming to indicate a younger earth. If u can believe God created a fully mature man and fully mature animals and trees then why is it hard to believe the earth was also created mature so that it had fossil fuels etc that we need?
I don’t think the age of the earth matters greatly, but the meaning we are to glean from the genesis account matters greatly. It gives us an order of events I believe to be significant. It gives us a framework in which to continue living (the week). I think it’s important that we are not the products of evolution, that we are made distinct and separate from the rest of God’s creatures, in His image. I think it’s important that, even if God used evolution to bring about his many creatures, that death came into the world, not just for mankind, but for all creation at Adam and Eve’s sin. If we can agree on those things, then I dont care what the age of the earth is particularly, only that our ultimate basis for truth remain the scriptures, and thta we test science by scripture rather than deny scripture for the sake of science.
John makes an interesting point differentiating time between ‘in the beginning and the completion of day 1″, however he explains nothing about the approx. 4000 year biblical chronology clearly listed from day1 to the time of Christ written so that we as mere mortals can understand it”. Consequently the bible still states that plant, sea, animal and human life made by God’s word on days 3, 5 and 6 till now only accounts for approx. 6000 years in complete contrast to the fiction of evolution.
Lennox is taking a shortcut here, possibly to be presentable to the secular world. He did not do research about those words himself. Broad is the way that leads to destruction. Evolution is a religion that has and will deceive up to billions of people. And just by abortion alone has killed one billion innocent children this far. Shame.
“The morning & the evening was the 1st day” (then there came night) …then …”The morning and the evening was the 2nd day”. Case closed. The bible claims (and that’s all it is: a claim) that God created Earth in 6 days, rested on the 7th. ….THEN …later proclaimed that WE should ALSO REST on the 7th day. But now that science has proven that …well ..no …Earth has been around four right at 4.5 billion years …bible believers are left with having to make these …”apologetics” …excuses why the bible has merely been …misunderstood ..and the like. But, of course, when dealing with other “tenants” of the faith ..the bible suddenly becomes the “One True Word of God!” and must be adhered to …word for word! Here …he wishes to redefine the word ..”day” ..when the bible clearly defines “day” as ..”the morning & the evening”. When the bible says that we too are to rest on the 7th day ….how many thousand years is that?
First, something isn’t true. Then, when it is proved true, it’s not relevant. Then when it’s proved relevant, it’s not important. Religion just keep moving the goal posts. What it comes down to is that people can’t deal with death being final. There’s no salvation, and no punishment either. They can’t bear it. Everything else, like pretending there’s some debate about the age of the earth, stems from the inability to process existential terror.
The EARTH… Eze 1:22 KJV And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above. –“terrible crystal” is the DOME Isiah 40:21-22 KJV Have ye not known? have ye not heard? hath it not been told you from the beginning? have ye not understood from the foundations of the earth? –“hath it not been told you from the beginning?” From the beginning of the Bible — “foundations of the earth?” NO GLOBE It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: — “circle of the earth” is a WALL now and Ice Wall –“as a tent to dwell in”… the DOME Enoch (Priest & Prophet)
What a fantastic point Lennox makes. People read the bible and think it is true and join what they believe to be a group of Christians. They then study sciences based on facts, evidence and reality and this tests their faith in the bible. What a wonderful thing science is that it makes people question blind faith.
Who says that God begins every day with, “And God said…”. The scriptures do not. It’s John’s assumption that the ‘indefinite period’ before God said… is not within the parameters of first day. In fact His assumption goes against the pattern that follows. I don’t mind btw. I’m just pointing out His assumption.
In the Beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth is simply a title or overview statement. It is identically equal in meaning to saying something like, God created everything. After this opening statement, the information that is covered by the opening statement is given. HOW can I be sure of this? EASY, the very next sentence says that the earth did not exist. NULL AND VOID means nonexistent. So since we were told that God made the heavens and the earth, the next statement that says the earth did not exist, is the actual beginning of the creation story, under the title phrase of God creating the heaven and the earth. This is not seeking to protect the Bible, it is, in fact, THE reading of the Bible. Remember, God inspired the Bible for us to know, not for us to figure out. It was written in the common language for the common man to understand, it was not written in an elitist dialect that the majority could not understand.
I’m a Christian that earned a BS in Physics and Chemistry from Whitworth University and then completed my PhD Physics coursework at Purdue University with a 5.9 / 6 GPA. I worked 34 years as a National Laboratory Scientist and invented new technologies in Ionizing radiation detection and invented a new dosimetry system for Hospitals and Medical Facilities that use Ionizing radiation. The dating of the Earth and Universe is correct to within a very tight error percentage. There are dozens of ways to date sediments and many other rock dating technologies that are independently that confirm a very old Earth. I am a committed Christian and I agree with Dr. Lennox that it’s very sad there is a debate about this. Dr. LENNOX is right that this should not be a controversy, but sadly it is, because some refuse to understand the science behind dating.
As an atheist, ( but I tolerate all supernatural beliefs and superstitions ), I’ve been asked by religious folk if a god of some variety didn’t create the earth, how did it come about. Everything must have a beginning they say. I counter that argument with the question ” Who created God – he must have had a beginning also”. Personally, I think man created gods to explain the un-explainable. In some ways, I understand the need for many people to believe in a supreme being who looks like us but unfortunately there is no real evidence. I don’t wish to insult anyone but would encourage folk to think critically and realistically.
Thanks for John Lennox’s comments. While I do not feel at all threatened about the idea of a young earth (if it were true), I have always felt that to believe such idea insults the character of God whle it conflicts with other things we already know about the attributes of God. There are many more reasons for the argument that the earth is old and the universe is old.
How many of the trillions of planets that we know exist and which you believe he created, did God send his son to?. You are a mathematician and familiar with the laws of total probability, monkeys, typewriters and the works of Shakespeare etc.. I would be interested to hear your answer with the proviso that it didn’t contain scripture. Ironic that you come from a country riven with poisonous religious bigotry. I was wondering which foot you kick with, a very important question in that neck of the woods.
My copy of the Douay-Rheims Translation renders Genesis as follows: 1:1. “In the beginning God created heaven, and earth. And the earth was void and empty. 1:2. And the earth was void and empty, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the spirit of God moved over the waters. 1:3. And God said: Be light made. And light was made. 1:4. And God saw the light that it was good; and he divided the light from the darkness. 1:5. And he called the light Day, and the darkness Night; and there was evening and morning one day.” The footnote for Genesis 1:1 reads: A.M. 1; Ante C. 4004. A note of explanation provides a definition for each of the terms in the footnote: “A. M. signifies Anno Mundi, that is, in the year of the world, – A. Christum, year before Christ, – A. D. Anno Domini, in the year of our Lord” As a young-Earth Biblical creationist, the text above substantiates my position (4004 + 2023 = 6023 years for the age of Universe (heaven). The text further establishes the length of a day “…there was evening and morning one day.” (1:5). The same evening/morning sequence is repeated for the remainder of the Hexameron (Six Days of Creation).
Well you “could” interpret the scientific data as though the earth is old, BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO! The BIBLE COMES FIRST! When examined properly, there isn’t any need to assume long periods of time for the days in Genesis. When understood properly, Genesis and science have no problem with a normal 6 day (24-hour day) creation. We always take God at his word the way it is written, and in the normal sense in which it is written, unless there is something that “necessitates” a different understanding. There is nothing about Genesis 1 that “necessitates” any other understanding than the normal understanding when simply read for what it says. There is nothing about science that “necessitates” we take a different meaning from the text of Scripture than what it plainly reads – UNLESS you assume naturalistic non-biblical interpretations of scientific data is authoritative over Scripture. The Scripture is the authority, NOT science!
This is what happens when someone tries to fit a presupposition into scripture. The day age and gap theories become rebundled into a lot of word gymnastics that basically says “I believe the Bible, but it is wrong because a lot of scientist say so”. If the beginning was not really the beginning, what do you do with Jesus saying “have you not read that in the beginning He created them male and female?”? What do you do with Exodus where it says “in 6 days God created the Heaven, the Earth and the seas and all that in them is”? Lennox is not simply casting a shadow on a hand full of verses peppering the early pages of the Bible, He questions Jesus’s claims in the new testament and Moses’ account of later OT books. It amazes me how John appeals to astrophysics and other branches of science to say that you don’t have to believe what the creator of all those subjects of study says about their origin timeline. Simply stated, Jesus references Adam & Eve being created at the beginning. We are then given in the following chapters a comprehensive genealogical list of the patriarchs. Luke follows Jesus’ lineage all the way back to Adam. Blathering on and on about mathematics and physics enlightening us over 1700 years falls flat when considering how many times Bible deniers have been shown wrong thru the centuries. As far as what the lost world thinks of Christians having disagreements, who cares? I’d rather pursue the truth than put on a front for the pagans and compromise fundamental doctrine.
This debate always gravitates to what astrophysicists say and what God can do. Old Earthers and atheists appeal to natural, observable(most times not observable) reasons, while Young Earthers tend to appeal to observable facts and FAITH. You can almost certainly know who believes in an all omniscience (all-knowing), omnipotence (all-powerful), and omnibenevolence (supremely good) God