Creationism question...

cashflyer · 05-02-2006, 01:55 PM

Background:
Okay, so there is a conservative local christian university that has their own radio station... and I listen to it sometimes. The other day they had a speaker who said that there is nothing in the bible to support the theory of life on other planets, and that we are unique among Gods creations.

And then today I was sittin' on the can and thinking about those statements. Now I want to pose a few questions that came to mind, but I want to ask them one at a time for the purpose of developing the discussion.

Please approach these questions from a creationist / biblical view. I'm not interested in evolution, natural selection, or other theories... I'm trying only to dig around in creationism at this time.

Question 1: Did God create EVERYTHING - and I mean EVERYTHING: From dirt and skeeters to planets, space, the universes, etc.

jriera · 05-02-2006, 02:12 PM

If you believe in God ... maybe

TerryH · TerryH's Garage

From the biblical veiw as per the bible. "God created the heavens and Earth." I think that covers it from that angle.

scottmandue · 05-02-2006, 02:23 PM

If you believe in God (I do) the answer is yes.

I will see if I can dig up a bible quote on the Internet.

M.D. Holloway · 05-02-2006, 02:38 PM

Create the preception of reality - yes. Actually build something like you would in monster garage? That is stupid. Anyone who believes that there is a big guy in a white robe, long beard sitting on a throne way up in the 'heavens' should wake up and take a good long look at why they beleive in that and not the Easter Bunny or Santa.

It is like the color blue. Show me blue? You can show me something that is blue or even draw up the electro-magnetic spectrum and indicate at what vibrational state blue occurs but you can not sho me BLUE. We all agree what blue is and that is that. It is agreed upon. God is of the stuff of that. Lets not animate it.

Now, does Santa exist? Yep - every Dec 24 to 25 my Wife and I are 'Santa'. For all intents and purposes Santa lives through us. And why would God be any different? God lives through us if we so choose to accept that.

To think there is a technician of sorts ruins the whole thing and becomes a laughable mess not worthy of consideration.

scottmandue · 02:41 PM

Here ya go:

Genesis 1
1.In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2.And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

3.And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.

4.And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

5.And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

6.And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.

7.And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.

8.And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

9.And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.

10.And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.

scottmandue · 05-02-2006, 02:41 PM

I got $500 that says this turns into 40+ pages if Christian bashing.

M.D. Holloway · 05-02-2006, 02:43 PM

How about $500 for those chuckleheads who take this ***** literal as opposed to the enlightened ones who look at the Bible and the teachings of Christ as poetic instruction?

scottmandue · 05-02-2006, 02:48 PM

Carl Sagan, most astronomers, and physicist believe(d) that everything came out of noting at a single point in time.

M.D. Holloway · 05-02-2006, 02:56 PM

To contemplate nothing is to contemplate infinity then timelessness - pretty difficult, no make that impractical with our linear thinking. It doesn't work very well. You’re trying to solve a non-Euclidian geometry problem with Pythagoras’ theorems. It doesn't work like that.

scottmandue · 05-02-2006, 02:58 PM

Lubemaster is a big stinky poopy pants!

Dantilla · 05-02-2006, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by cashflyer
there is nothing in the bible to support the theory of life on other planets,

There is also nothing in the Bible prohibiting life on other planets.

cashflyer · 05-02-2006, 03:00 PM

I'm not sure if the speaker was taking the Bible as meaning that God was a being or a concept, but the way he made his point leads me to believe that his God is an individual being - a creator.

And I intend none of this as Christian bashing, though maybe a bit skeptical of the speakers statement.

Anyway, on to the next question:
Does God have a purpose for all of his creations?
(Even if it is a purpose that we may not understand or appreciate - like the purpose of skeeters...)

stuartj · 05-02-2006, 03:17 PM

Can God create a rock so heavy He cannot lift it?

Nathans_Dad · Nathans_Dad's Garage

Short answer is yes, God created everything.

I personally don't believe that the Bible has anything to do with life on other planets. Far be it from humans to tell God what he can and cannot do.

masraum · 05-02-2006, 03:35 PM

I went to a huge Christian school from the 5th through the 8th grade, Pensacola Christion School. It's really big, kindergarten through college, they print their own text books that look like any other text book from any other school. It's pretty impressive, anyway. From a Biblical point of view, God created everything.

I also remember that one of the teachers once said that the Bible says that God had other followers somewhere else (implying 'another planet'). Since that one time was the only instance that I've ever heard of anyone presenting that the Bible may allude to aliens, I'm not sure what I think the Bible says. I've never read the whole thing. Personally I believe that there's no reason to assume that there aren't aliens. I don't think the Bible states that there isn't life on other planets, so that shouldn't mean that it's not true. I'd love to see the reference that the teacher was talking about when she made that statement.

masraum · 05-02-2006, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by SoCal911SC

Here is the website, I think you can actually download the Da Vinci Code sermons somehow:

http://podcast.coasthillschurch.org/

http://www.pastors.com/article.asp?ArtID=9293

(This is a plain vanilla, middle of the road church).

Here's a more specific link. I haven't tried to download, so I don't know how big they are.

http://podcast.coasthillschurch.org/index.php?d1=shows&d2=sermons&d3=davinci

IROC · IROC's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by scottmandue
Carl Sagan, most astronomers, and physicist believe(d) that everything came out of noting at a single point in time.

Not exactly. The Big Bang didn't start from "nothing" (that's the biblical view - "ex nihilo"), but from very densely packed material. Everything was there, it was just really close together.

And yes, pretty much everyone (who studies this stuff) accepts this theory these days. The evidence for the Big Bang is pretty good.

Mike

(look ma, no bashing!!!)

Nathans_Dad · Nathans_Dad's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by SoCal911SC
But it would seem odd that the Bible, the definitive and complete word of God, appears only to deal with the planet Earth ("And God called the dry land Earth", etc). If God created life elsewhere, you'd think it would also be referenced somewhere in the definitive work.

I wonder what most Pastors would say on the subject. It seems to me they would say that life on other planets is not consistent with the Bible.

(This stuff - God v. the existence of aliens and UFOs, etc. - has been discussed here before. There was a lot of good discussion, but of course, no real answer at the end of the day).

Well yes it would seem odd, until you realize that the Bible was written by men. Inspired by God yes, but ultimately written by men.

Now if I were God (which I am not...I'd have to be a liberal to think that

), I would probably have to dumb things down to make it make sense to humans. Therefore I personally don't believe the universe was created in seven 24 hour periods. I think that was probably the best way God could put it so we could get our puny minds around it. Plus, who is to say how long one of God's days is?? Maybe a God day is 100 million years...I dunno.

scottmandue · 05-02-2006, 03:45 PM

The Bible is made up of 66 books, some poetical, some literal.
For example Psalms and Proverbs are obviously poetical.

On the other hand other parts are pretty direct as in the books of the law. Although they do need to be taken in the context that they were written thousands of years ago in a society with very different standards.

Be careful what you view as mainstream church, just because they have a large membership doesn't make them right.