Post by JEM on Oct 1, 2012 1:19:30 GMT
WE SOMETIMES FIND IT HARD TO BELIEVE GOD
because something worries us, or the Bible seems to contradict itself
Thomas one of the first friends of Jesus who was absent when the Risen Lord Jesus appeared in Jerusalem to his disciples, said that he would not believe it had happened unless he saw the nail print marks and the spear wound on the body of Jesus.
A week later he saw them and believed
Jesus reminded him “Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed”
This article seeks to give considered answers to a friend who finds it hard to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour because of various questions and doubts he has.
SIX DAY CREATION.
How could the world, leave alone the universe by created in 6 days?
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The Bible account tells us right at the beginning “The Spirit of God hovered over the waters” and that was before the 6 day creation began
So there was already water, which means there was already matter, rocks in which the water could to be held. So the whole universe was not formed in 6 calendar days because some of it already existed. Probably most of it. Scientists reckon's the Universe is 3 – 4 times older than Earth is.
One wonders how Moses centuries later knew the world had been created in 6 days with a day off?
He edited Genesis in 10 sections or 10 Accounts beginning with the account of Adam and then the account of Noah. So the account of Adam must have been handed down the generations to Noah and became the folk lore of successive nationalities, dynasties, and religions
Moses may well have got some of these stories from the priests of Egypt from older religions Egyptian and Babylonian since for his first 40 years he lived as a prince but also on the Hebrew side of his family these stories would have been handed on by word of mouth and later by writing and some facts may have been muddled over time
If Adam and Eve had been the first humans and they began with only 2 sons, one of which was killed that left only Cain who was exiled to wander as a nomad how did he find a wife so quick?. But the pronouns Adam, Eve and God [ Elohim] in Hebrew are all plural nouns meaning not 1 man, 1 woman,1 god but men, women, gods. Which fits in with ancient Hindus, Balaam, Egyptian and Babylonian cultures
It is clear that the purpose of GENESIS was to preface the story Moses wanted to tell of how Israel began and that included the 6 day week with a rest day which became particularly significant in the 10 Commandments and their effect on the people of God.
Also there is an order of progression not so unlike that of the Theory of Evolution with humans at the end at the top.
Many Jews for many years as well as Christians have interpreted these “days” as longer “periods of time”. The Hebrew words do not suggest a 24 hour day but a “period of indefinite consecutive duration.” David in one of the Psalms. Psalm 90 verse 4wrote “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by” and the 2nd letter of Peter states in chapter 3 verse 8 “With the Lord a Day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day”
It maybe that this idea is reflecting that when all things began first God prepared a day, and then 6 days and an extra sacred day. And that was the first week, the first of many weeks in which all the other things happened.
Genesis also tells us that the first humans were on friendly relations with God and despite their disobedience his care for them continued after they left Paradise to make a life for themselves in the wider world. They had matured. Their rebellion and disobedience introduced sin into the world. For sin is basically ignoring what God wants in favour of what we want. Putting ourselves at the centre of our lives rather than God. Apostle John writing to Christians declared” If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sin he is willing to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness,”
We all need a personal relationship with God as we are each unique and to achieve that we need to admit that we are not perfect which should not be too difficult
We need to realise that man's inhumanity to man and our own attitudes to some other people hurt people and if we would not like done to us what is done to them, or how we treat them we would not like to be treated ourselves, we see examples of wrong doing which God through the Bible calls sin.
If we write an e above sin and a w under it we see a logo of the world on it side, North, East, South, West with - I – me- in the middle
and what sin is, is our basic selfishness, and rebellion towards God, as he ought to be at the centre of our lives. To the extent that He is not is the measure of our individual sin and it is true of everyone on the planet. We all share that in common.
I am a Christian because after 10 years being taught in Sunday School and listening to preachers I became convicted of the awesome wickedness of my sin at the age of 15 and that unless I heeded God I would join the Devil in Hell when my soul leaves my body at death and my only hope of avoiding that was to forsake my sins, and trust Jesus Christ as my Saviour and with His help live for Him rather than for me.
That I could do that with his help but not on my own. If I have achieved any good in this world since it is because he has empowered me and the credit is His.
This salvation begins the moment we surrender to Him and is renewed constantly because we are always making mistakes and falling short of what God wants of us.
I have studied much of the Bible, and studied much history and a lot of science. But the more I have discovered, the more questions it raises which is the problem facing most of our scientists.
If we can accept the principle that we are not just animals but people formed by God, by what ever means and over what ever long a period, with a living God-given soul living in our brains until our body wears out and stops replicating the cells we need to survive, and that at death that soul has to go somewhere, we should be able to accept that God has put in place the means to deal with this situation to deal with the souls of every human being from first to last.
To accommodate them he would have to have lot of dwelling places as the Greek puts it in English from that AV description of Jesus to his friends
“ don't be afraid in my Father's house [ Space ] there are many dwelling places [ planets ] if it had not been so I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will come again and receive you. He went – his body on Earth died, he left it - and 3 days later he returned to them as he had promised and was seen by upwards of 500 until 40 days later he returned to Heaven by ascending into the clouds
And this took place in historical time for which there is not only Biblical testimony but Greek and Roman too
because something worries us, or the Bible seems to contradict itself
Thomas one of the first friends of Jesus who was absent when the Risen Lord Jesus appeared in Jerusalem to his disciples, said that he would not believe it had happened unless he saw the nail print marks and the spear wound on the body of Jesus.
A week later he saw them and believed
Jesus reminded him “Blessed are those who have not seen but have believed”
This article seeks to give considered answers to a friend who finds it hard to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord and Saviour because of various questions and doubts he has.
SIX DAY CREATION.
How could the world, leave alone the universe by created in 6 days?
////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
The Bible account tells us right at the beginning “The Spirit of God hovered over the waters” and that was before the 6 day creation began
So there was already water, which means there was already matter, rocks in which the water could to be held. So the whole universe was not formed in 6 calendar days because some of it already existed. Probably most of it. Scientists reckon's the Universe is 3 – 4 times older than Earth is.
One wonders how Moses centuries later knew the world had been created in 6 days with a day off?
He edited Genesis in 10 sections or 10 Accounts beginning with the account of Adam and then the account of Noah. So the account of Adam must have been handed down the generations to Noah and became the folk lore of successive nationalities, dynasties, and religions
Moses may well have got some of these stories from the priests of Egypt from older religions Egyptian and Babylonian since for his first 40 years he lived as a prince but also on the Hebrew side of his family these stories would have been handed on by word of mouth and later by writing and some facts may have been muddled over time
If Adam and Eve had been the first humans and they began with only 2 sons, one of which was killed that left only Cain who was exiled to wander as a nomad how did he find a wife so quick?. But the pronouns Adam, Eve and God [ Elohim] in Hebrew are all plural nouns meaning not 1 man, 1 woman,1 god but men, women, gods. Which fits in with ancient Hindus, Balaam, Egyptian and Babylonian cultures
It is clear that the purpose of GENESIS was to preface the story Moses wanted to tell of how Israel began and that included the 6 day week with a rest day which became particularly significant in the 10 Commandments and their effect on the people of God.
Also there is an order of progression not so unlike that of the Theory of Evolution with humans at the end at the top.
Many Jews for many years as well as Christians have interpreted these “days” as longer “periods of time”. The Hebrew words do not suggest a 24 hour day but a “period of indefinite consecutive duration.” David in one of the Psalms. Psalm 90 verse 4wrote “For a thousand years in your sight are like a day that has just gone by” and the 2nd letter of Peter states in chapter 3 verse 8 “With the Lord a Day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like a day”
It maybe that this idea is reflecting that when all things began first God prepared a day, and then 6 days and an extra sacred day. And that was the first week, the first of many weeks in which all the other things happened.
Genesis also tells us that the first humans were on friendly relations with God and despite their disobedience his care for them continued after they left Paradise to make a life for themselves in the wider world. They had matured. Their rebellion and disobedience introduced sin into the world. For sin is basically ignoring what God wants in favour of what we want. Putting ourselves at the centre of our lives rather than God. Apostle John writing to Christians declared” If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us, but if we confess our sin he is willing to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness,”
We all need a personal relationship with God as we are each unique and to achieve that we need to admit that we are not perfect which should not be too difficult
We need to realise that man's inhumanity to man and our own attitudes to some other people hurt people and if we would not like done to us what is done to them, or how we treat them we would not like to be treated ourselves, we see examples of wrong doing which God through the Bible calls sin.
If we write an e above sin and a w under it we see a logo of the world on it side, North, East, South, West with - I – me- in the middle
and what sin is, is our basic selfishness, and rebellion towards God, as he ought to be at the centre of our lives. To the extent that He is not is the measure of our individual sin and it is true of everyone on the planet. We all share that in common.
I am a Christian because after 10 years being taught in Sunday School and listening to preachers I became convicted of the awesome wickedness of my sin at the age of 15 and that unless I heeded God I would join the Devil in Hell when my soul leaves my body at death and my only hope of avoiding that was to forsake my sins, and trust Jesus Christ as my Saviour and with His help live for Him rather than for me.
That I could do that with his help but not on my own. If I have achieved any good in this world since it is because he has empowered me and the credit is His.
This salvation begins the moment we surrender to Him and is renewed constantly because we are always making mistakes and falling short of what God wants of us.
I have studied much of the Bible, and studied much history and a lot of science. But the more I have discovered, the more questions it raises which is the problem facing most of our scientists.
If we can accept the principle that we are not just animals but people formed by God, by what ever means and over what ever long a period, with a living God-given soul living in our brains until our body wears out and stops replicating the cells we need to survive, and that at death that soul has to go somewhere, we should be able to accept that God has put in place the means to deal with this situation to deal with the souls of every human being from first to last.
To accommodate them he would have to have lot of dwelling places as the Greek puts it in English from that AV description of Jesus to his friends
“ don't be afraid in my Father's house [ Space ] there are many dwelling places [ planets ] if it had not been so I would have told you, I go to prepare a place for you, and if I go I will come again and receive you. He went – his body on Earth died, he left it - and 3 days later he returned to them as he had promised and was seen by upwards of 500 until 40 days later he returned to Heaven by ascending into the clouds
And this took place in historical time for which there is not only Biblical testimony but Greek and Roman too