How to Build a Model of Origins
A lot of people try to interpret the Bible based upon the conclusions of modern scientists. Not me! And this is because most of them operate within a restricted worldview that believes nature is all there is. This limits them as to possible interpretations involving a Creator.
True, He isn’t available for laboratory experiments (which scientists say is critical for “doing science”), but according to polls, most Americans believe that they have had answers to prayers from Somebody they think is the Biblical God. I have, too! This is evidence of God’s existence. And because of this widespread experience with God, many people are inclined to doubt science’s natural explanations for everything.
I had the privilege back in 1993 of taking part in an evangelistic series in southern Russia, just after “Glasnost” and “Perestroika,” the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of the country to the West. We were the first Americans many of them had ever seen. But what we found after 70 years (and more than two generations) of constant state-promoted atheism, most Russians believed in God! They were able to compartmentalize their personal experience by understanding what their government was about (communism and evolutionism). In the same way millions of Americans do as the Russians did, understanding that science (as it operates today) is atheistic, but their personal experience proves something else.
So I start my origins model with an understanding about a Creator God: that He is big (look at the universe), that He is caring (it’s illogical to think a creature could “out-care” a Creator) and that He is competent. He
would likely be interested in connecting somehow with His creation (otherwise, why make it?). Here’s where I think He would provide a something like a Bible, a written and reasonably objective source of information including how things are the way they are. We are introduced therein to a God Who speaks, Who communicates. It’s also logical to observe there’s something wrong in this world if the Creator is indeed caring and competent. The Bible explains this! And that there is a rebellion going on, started by a fallen angel named Lucifer, that nature itself is broken, that man has joined in somehow in the rebellion…and this all jives with observation.
Man is broken, I am broken. But we were made to be much more,… even royalty. Why do those Disney prince and princess stories resonate so much with us? Because we are the “king’s missing kids,” whose crowns are being guarded for them in the hopes they will be found soon (see “Tangled!”). But we are so broken that we cannot in ourselves know how to even read reality properly: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12. Man doesn’t even know how to read nature; that’s why so many scientists with high iq’s and well-earned Ph. D.’s disagree with one another. They are broken, too. This is heresy to science when I say that fallen man cannot accurately discover truth. It must be revealed to him.
Further, it’s to the advantage of Lucifer to increase people’s doubts about God, so in order to break the most fundamental of all relationships (Creator-creature), he has successfully developed a theory that sounds plausible to some that nature is all there is and all that is needed to see
everything we see (“materialism=” material begets material!). No need for a Creator! We were just really lucky. And he promotes that idea very successfully among those most prone to pride; after all, many of us want to be our own gods in our own little universe. We don’t want to share power.
So, there it is. Build an understanding on origins with an openness to the existence of a competent and caring God, that we are broken though meant for more and that competing theories of existence might be suspect due to our own limitations and the presence of Lucifer. In other words, START with the Bible and most objective scientific observations will likewise help us get the full picture. And it’s a very cool picture!
All around us we see evidences of a loving Creator. There are gifts everywhere, including under the ocean. The above picture of my favorite tropical fish) is of a yellowtail coris. All colors on this fish are electric, like little neon lights: blue, yellow, red and green. Evolution cannot explain either the color combinations or why this is so appealing to us (and that we pause at beauty). Flowers (like these fragrant Hawaiian plumeria) were clearly made to be enjoyed. Were we truly evolved from apes, why would we stop to look at flowers and to smell their fragrance? We don’t need them for basic survival and besides, slowing down for anything would put us at survival risk (a lion might be sneaking up on us!).
And that was the purpose of Sabbath. We were meant to slow down and look at and enjoy all these created gifts. They would tell us of a loving Giver. I like where this model of origins goes.
True, He isn’t available for laboratory experiments (which scientists say is critical), but according to polls, most Americans believe that they have had answers to prayers from Somebody they think is the Biblical God. I have! This is evidence of God’s existence. And because of this widespread experience with God, many people are inclined to doubt science’s natural explanations for everything.
I had the privilege back in 1993 of taking part in an evangelistic series in southern Russia, just after “Glasnost” and “Perestroika,” the fall of the Soviet Union and the opening of the country to the West. We were the first Americans many of them had ever seen. But what we found after 70 years (and more than two generations) of constant state-promoted atheism, most Russians believed in God! They were able to compartmentalize their personal experience by understanding what their government was about (communism and evolutionism). In the same way millions of Americans do the same, understanding that science (as it operates today) is atheistic, but their personal experience proves something else.
So I start my origins model with an understanding about a Creator God: that He is big (look at the universe), that He is caring (it’s illogical to think a creature could “out-care” a Creator) and that He is competent. He
would likely be interested in connecting somehow with His creation (otherwise, why make it?). Here’s where I think He would provide a Bible, a written and reasonably objective source of information including how things are the way they are. We are introduced therein to a God Who speaks, Who communicates. It’s also logical to observe there’s something wrong in this world if the Creator is indeed caring and competent. The Bible explains this! And that there is a rebellion going on, started by a fallen
angel named Lucifer, that nature itself is broken, that man has joined in somehow in the rebellion…this all jives with observation.
Man is broken, I am broken. But we were made to be much more,… even royalty. Why do those Disney prince and princess stories resonate so much with us? Because we are the “king’s missing kids,” whose crowns are being guarded for them in the hopes they will be found soon (see “Tangled!”). But we are so broken that we cannot in ourselves know how to even read reality properly: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” Proverbs 14:12. So we don’t even know how to read nature; that’s why so many scientists with high iq’s and well-earned Ph. D.’s disagree with one another. They are broken, too. This is heresy to science when I say that fallen man cannot accurately discover truth. It must be revealed to him.
Further, it’s to the advantage of Lucifer to increase people’s doubts about God, so in order to break the most fundamental of all relationships (Creator-creature), he has successfully developed a theory that sounds plausible to some that nature is all there is and all that is needed to see
everything we see (“materialism=” material begets material!). No need for a Creator! We were just really lucky. And he promotes that idea very successfully among those most prone to pride; after all, many of us want to be our own gods in our own little universe.
So, there it is. Build an understanding on origins with an openness to the existence of a competent and caring God, that we are broken though meant for more and that competing theories of existence might be suspect due to our own limitations and the presence of Lucifer. In other words, START with the Bible and most objective scientific observations will likewise help us get the full picture. And it’s a very cool picture!
All around us we see evidences of a loving Creator. There are gifts everywhere, including under the ocean. The above picture of my favorite tropical fish) is of a yellowtail coris. All colors on this fish are electric, like little neon lights: blue, yellow, red and green. Evolution cannot explain either the color combinations or why this is so appealing to us (and that we pause at beauty). Flowers (like these fragrant Hawaiian plumeria) were clearly made to be enjoyed. Were we truly evolved from apes, why would we stop to look at flowers and to smell their fragrance? We don’t need them for basic survival and besides, slowing down for anything would put us at survival risk (a lion might be sneaking up on us!).