Today was our first Fall 2011 Bible study class using the FaitherWeaver curriculum. The plan is for both parents and children study the same topic so they can discuss it later at home. While I don’t have children, I am always interested in how to start small in spreading God’s word.
Our class started with Genesis and how to explain the difference between the Bible’s description of creation and the scientific theory of evolution espoused in all public schools. BTW-I am old enough to remember when God was not a forbidden public school subject and feel we declined as a nation when the Evil one got judges to say it’s not allowed any more.
Gaithersburg Presbyterian Church (GPC) is an amazing church. We have scientists and theologians and a wide diversity in members from Africa to Korea and in-between. So, we had a variety of views.
The overarching conclusion was that the two are not mutually exclusive. God is the who and science is the how. God created the world but we don’t yet know exactly how (i.e., science’s contribution).
My life’s learning brought these items to their attention:
- Time is not linear. The expanse of time that awes scientist is based on time being a straight line so they incorrectly conclude the Bible is wrong.
- A day wasn’t ‘24 hours” until the Earth was fully created and rotating on its axis.
- Humans decided what category ancient skeletal remains fit into. It was not God who said “man starts with Homo Sapiens”.
- Francis Collins, one of the decoders of the Human Genome, says that DNA evidences proves that all humans come from a single ancestor.
When all is said and done, science proves the Bible’s point of man’s origin starting with a single source. Not the opposite. I love it when turn about is fair play! Amen.
PS: Click here to see the description of the course: http://www.gpchurch.org/Adults/AdultEducation/2011AdultEducationFallCourses/tabid/47692/Default.aspx
See also the Internet Monk for a great explanation on how literal or not to take the Christian Bible: http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/my-view-of-scripture
