Jamsie, thank you for your reply.
But before we go too far, I will ask you to notice that I have not said anything about heresy. You do not find in me any strong opposition to what you think happened. Further, I have listened and have studied many sources and I believe this of you as well. My preference, while reading the word of God is simple. Rather than proposing some rather controversial (and dogmatic) solution, it is my firm position that I, like Job, was not there when God created the heavens and the earth. To me (and notice, I am speaking of me now) a day is a day. I've studied the word in Hebrew and there is support for the 24 hour period. To deny this and insist that a day may mean anything other than a 24 hour period (I'll speak more of that in a moment) isn't "heresy". It's just another thought, one contrary to mine. What humble minded person may insist that he or she knows without any doubt what God has declared without any consideration of the thoughts of others? The declaration of God actually forms matter; I too am formed by the declaration, not the other way around.
Those who claim that any who disagree are heretic also claim their own infallibility, which is not something that I have been given. When the Lord spoke to Job, he asked several very pointed questions about nature. The point that God made to that man applies to all men, to all of us, to me, perhaps especially.
The first query to Job, which is relevant still to God’s critics is, “ Who are you to question my wisdom with such ignorance?” God thundered on, “Who defined the boundaries of the sea as it burst from the womb?…Have you explored the springs from which the sea comes?…Do you know where the depths of death are located? Can you hold back the movements of the stars? Are you able to restrain the Pleiades or Orion? Can you shout to the clouds and make it rain?…Who provides food for the ravens when their young cry out to God as they wander about in hunger?…Where does the light come from, and where does the darkness go, Can you take it to it’s home?… Have you visited the treasury of the snow, have you seen where the hail is made and stored?…Where is the home of the east wind?”
Nature proves the awesome power of the creator. Nature directs humans to understand we are not God’s equal and insists those who believe such things are ignorant. I could speak on and on about the number of such things that I am exposed to during my pursuit of my education (so called). Don't even get me started on the branch of Psychology called "Ethics". But my only point is that we are not as smart as we sometimes think ourselves to be and it doesn't matter how much data we've collected to prove that we are.
Regarding my point earlier about the period of time in a day, I've been taught about something called "The Big-Bang". We are told that we may still hear the "echo" of that event in the form of CMB (
Background Microwave Cosmic Radiation). This cosmic background microwave radiation is
assumed to be left over from the bang-big. Some scientists are dismissive of earlier events. We hear, for instance that "since events before the Big Bang have no observational consequences, one may as well cut them out of the theory, and say that time began at the Big Bang. Events before the Big Bang, are simply not defined, because there's no way one could measure what happened at them,"
(The Beginning of Time by Stephen Hawkin.)
This summation agrees with my belief as well. There are no observational consequences. Scientists have "cut them out of the theory" and have in essence then suggested that God can not be measured by Man. I agree but I don't think that is what he meant to say. Scientists have now theorized what happened during the first fragment of a second after the Big-Bang. We are told of the "Plank Era", the "Grand Unification Era", the "ElectroWeak Era", and within the space of 20 minutes, the cooling and formation of protons, neutrons and electrons of hydrogen and helium atoms (see Timeline of the universe, by Robert Matthews published by The Guardian in the Science/Astronomy section for more). Such grand theories, are they not? If all the events and "eras" of time happened in a fragment of a second (according to the theory) -- and if we can conceive of
that?? Eras within the space of less than a second of time? Well, it should not be too much of a stretch to consider what God declared as well as the time-frame provided in Genesis. But those who promote such things balk at the thought that God knew what a "day" was before the forth period of creation when the sun was made.
It's like they are saying, "
Ah-ha! There can be no "day" before the sun." But in the same breath they say, "there are
eras of time that happened during the first 1/1,000,000th of a second."
Admittedly, I have a strong preference for the 'eye witness' account over the speculations (oft times disputed as much as the religious accounts) simply because they were written in a way that a child can understand.
Little children, be not confused. Those who do good are good. --John, the Beloved.
That is my conclusion: God is good. If you examine my writings you will see this theme repeated again and again. Rarely will you hear me speak of heresy simply because it's not my place to say such things, and certainly not about stuff I wasn't there to see. I've witnessed His goodness in my life and have been given great joy in so doing. I assume this to be true for all He calls. Even you, sir. Barbarian too.
~Sparrow
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