Genesis 1 Completely Changed My Life
I don't read my bible all the time.
I read it once.
People tell me that if I keep reading the same scripture over and over then eventually it will say something else to me.
I think that if you keep reading the same scripture over and over then you will make the text say whatever YOU want.
Now, that's not to say that I'm not engaged in the Bible.
I thirst for knowledge.
I love reading commentaries.
I love listening to opinions.
I love it when I hear an idea that changes my perception, which by definition changes my reality.
Genesis 1 completely changed me.
It changed me, because I was told to check my brain at the door.
Read exactly what the Bible tells me and not deviate.
Get caught up in semantics and argue that this Bible translates with this word and that Bible translates with another word.
Genesis 1 told me...
bring your brain, and this is how it was done.
Genesis 1 is the story of creation.
It basically said this is how the world was formed.
It lists the heavens and earth.
It talks about dividing land from water.
It talks about creating animals and humans.
It also, at the end, tells you that it was all done in 6 days.
The basic argument over how to read the Bible is literal vs.
figurative.
If you take everything literal then you leave no room for logic.
If you take everything figurative then you leave no room for truth.
The way to read the Bible is to believe it is both.
Now, most people agree with this to an extent.
Psalms is a poetry book they say.
Genesis is a history book.
Genesis, you believe every word is literal.
Psalms, you believe every word is figurative.
Well to do that means that I don't use logic when reading Genesis and when I read Psalms it's just poetry, so when the writer writes 1/3 of them as laments, basically cries that God doesn't care, I don't take the pain of the writer as truth.
Genesis 1 tells me that God created everything.
Science tells me that the Earth is 4.
5 billion years old.
If I read the Bible as a historical text then the Earth is 6000 years old.
Quite the discrepancy.
If I can observe how the world operates today, then if I believe the Earth is 6000 years old, I have to say that history is complete chaos.
Any scientific data will tell you that the Earth is at least older than 6000 years, and the problem is that if you say it's 9000 years old you might as well say it's 4.
5 billion years old because once you've said it's not history there's no point in stopping.
Now, could God have created a world that looks 4.
5 billion years old and is really only 6000 year old? Sure, but why? The only solution is to believe complete chaos turned into a well-oiled machine.
The biggest issue I have with this point is that they say days are 24 hour cycles.
Well that's great, but the sun and moon weren't created until the 4th day...
which measures a 24 hour cycle.
The ironic thing about taking Genesis 1 literally is that you have to believe complete chaos and randomness turned into intelligent design.
It's ironic because this is what atheists believe.
Nothing existed and turned into something, Something so precise that the Earth is located just the right distance from the sun and moon.
So precise that the Earth's axis is tilted just enough so that we get the right amount of heat.
Chaos and randomness banged together to produce a world that has so many clues about the perfection of it's existence.
Then comes the ultimate question, if something bangs together, where did the particles come from to spontaneously combust? Everything you read in science would lead you to believe in intelligent design because of how it works.
So, now we have the creationist believing in chaos, and the atheist believing in intelligent design.
Genesis 1 changed my life because I no longer look at Genesis as history and Psalms as poetry.
I look at the Bible as a story.
I'm more concerned with the principles than one scripture that tells me a tattoo is a bad thing.
Do I have to argue that Noah's ark was real? Do I have to argue with you that Jonah was not really eaten by a fish, and it was an allegory about Israel dealing with its neighbors? Are you the person who watched Back to the Future with me and told me, "That could never happen.
"? Am I too busy arguing about what happened, and not concerned it enough with why it happened? So, if I bring my brain.
I read Genesis 1 and know that dinosaurs and man never existed together.
Cool.
I can actually see that animals were created before man ever existed.
And, if I don't believe they were created 24 hours apart it makes sense.
Also, if you believe God can create things instantly, why would he need 24 hours? Couldn't he create animals in 24 seconds? Why get hung up on, 'What is a day?'? The truth is if I said, I can read Genesis 1 and it speaks of intelligent design, then I can then use science to see how this creator built everything.
Science is the blueprint of the architect.
It explains to me the preciseness of Earth and why it has life and the other planets in our solar system don't.
It's much more important than Genesis though for me.
I used to measure my spiritual growth by literally checking off the 10 commandments.
Literally God said, "Do not do these things.
" I haven't changed that I believe those are good rules.
As I read the story though, I realized that it didn't stop there.
The story led me to believe that my life was not a list of what not to do.
It was a desire to pursue love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self control.
I read it once.
People tell me that if I keep reading the same scripture over and over then eventually it will say something else to me.
I think that if you keep reading the same scripture over and over then you will make the text say whatever YOU want.
Now, that's not to say that I'm not engaged in the Bible.
I thirst for knowledge.
I love reading commentaries.
I love listening to opinions.
I love it when I hear an idea that changes my perception, which by definition changes my reality.
Genesis 1 completely changed me.
It changed me, because I was told to check my brain at the door.
Read exactly what the Bible tells me and not deviate.
Get caught up in semantics and argue that this Bible translates with this word and that Bible translates with another word.
Genesis 1 told me...
bring your brain, and this is how it was done.
Genesis 1 is the story of creation.
It basically said this is how the world was formed.
It lists the heavens and earth.
It talks about dividing land from water.
It talks about creating animals and humans.
It also, at the end, tells you that it was all done in 6 days.
The basic argument over how to read the Bible is literal vs.
figurative.
If you take everything literal then you leave no room for logic.
If you take everything figurative then you leave no room for truth.
The way to read the Bible is to believe it is both.
Now, most people agree with this to an extent.
Psalms is a poetry book they say.
Genesis is a history book.
Genesis, you believe every word is literal.
Psalms, you believe every word is figurative.
Well to do that means that I don't use logic when reading Genesis and when I read Psalms it's just poetry, so when the writer writes 1/3 of them as laments, basically cries that God doesn't care, I don't take the pain of the writer as truth.
Genesis 1 tells me that God created everything.
Science tells me that the Earth is 4.
5 billion years old.
If I read the Bible as a historical text then the Earth is 6000 years old.
Quite the discrepancy.
If I can observe how the world operates today, then if I believe the Earth is 6000 years old, I have to say that history is complete chaos.
Any scientific data will tell you that the Earth is at least older than 6000 years, and the problem is that if you say it's 9000 years old you might as well say it's 4.
5 billion years old because once you've said it's not history there's no point in stopping.
Now, could God have created a world that looks 4.
5 billion years old and is really only 6000 year old? Sure, but why? The only solution is to believe complete chaos turned into a well-oiled machine.
The biggest issue I have with this point is that they say days are 24 hour cycles.
Well that's great, but the sun and moon weren't created until the 4th day...
which measures a 24 hour cycle.
The ironic thing about taking Genesis 1 literally is that you have to believe complete chaos and randomness turned into intelligent design.
It's ironic because this is what atheists believe.
Nothing existed and turned into something, Something so precise that the Earth is located just the right distance from the sun and moon.
So precise that the Earth's axis is tilted just enough so that we get the right amount of heat.
Chaos and randomness banged together to produce a world that has so many clues about the perfection of it's existence.
Then comes the ultimate question, if something bangs together, where did the particles come from to spontaneously combust? Everything you read in science would lead you to believe in intelligent design because of how it works.
So, now we have the creationist believing in chaos, and the atheist believing in intelligent design.
Genesis 1 changed my life because I no longer look at Genesis as history and Psalms as poetry.
I look at the Bible as a story.
I'm more concerned with the principles than one scripture that tells me a tattoo is a bad thing.
Do I have to argue that Noah's ark was real? Do I have to argue with you that Jonah was not really eaten by a fish, and it was an allegory about Israel dealing with its neighbors? Are you the person who watched Back to the Future with me and told me, "That could never happen.
"? Am I too busy arguing about what happened, and not concerned it enough with why it happened? So, if I bring my brain.
I read Genesis 1 and know that dinosaurs and man never existed together.
Cool.
I can actually see that animals were created before man ever existed.
And, if I don't believe they were created 24 hours apart it makes sense.
Also, if you believe God can create things instantly, why would he need 24 hours? Couldn't he create animals in 24 seconds? Why get hung up on, 'What is a day?'? The truth is if I said, I can read Genesis 1 and it speaks of intelligent design, then I can then use science to see how this creator built everything.
Science is the blueprint of the architect.
It explains to me the preciseness of Earth and why it has life and the other planets in our solar system don't.
It's much more important than Genesis though for me.
I used to measure my spiritual growth by literally checking off the 10 commandments.
Literally God said, "Do not do these things.
" I haven't changed that I believe those are good rules.
As I read the story though, I realized that it didn't stop there.
The story led me to believe that my life was not a list of what not to do.
It was a desire to pursue love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, and self control.