1 Peter 3:8 "Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy..."
Leah, Thank you so much for your blog! I have enjoyed reading it for some time now. I am touched by the devotion you show to your family, especially your children. You have devoted yourself to their spiritual training and to their education and health. What a wonderful example!!
I am a 30 something mom that grew up in the conservative church of Christ. I was raised to believe in a young earth and was taught to mistrust science. As I have begun to study issues of science and faith, I have been incredibly encouraged by how well they fit together. I love learning about the intricate fine-tuning that God used when He created the universe. As I have studied, it has become apparent to me that in the church the age of the earth is not a scientific question. We have multiple, independent ways of determining the age of the universe, and they all agree -- it is 13.8 billion years old. In the church, the age of the universe is a theological question. We disagree on how to interpret days such as "yom" in Genesis, because we are afraid of what an old earth implies about God. (If there was animal death before the fall, does that make God evil?)
I write this not to challenge your beliefs and especially not to challenge your faith. I just know that, for me, there were many questions that I had to shove under the proverbial rug to allow my mind to accept a young earth view. If you also have questions, I would encourage you to visit the website of Reasons to Believe (www dot reasons dot org). There I found an interpretation of Genesis (and the many other creation accounts in the Bible) that was literal, did not include macro-evolution, and fit beautifully with what we observe in nature. It has been very faith-affirming for me.
Either way, you are a sister in Christ, and I wish you all joy in Him.
Thank you so much for your very gracious comment. I agree that sincere Christians hold various interpretations about the age of the earth. Your comment reminds me that this is not a subject to be taken lightly, for as God asked in Job, "Where you there when I laid the foundations of the earth?"
I do believe in a literal interpretation of days as given in Genesis 1. As stated in Genesis and later reiterated in Romans 5:12, death entered the world when Adam sinned. But as it states later in Romans 5:17, "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ." How great is our redemption from sin and death, and the promise of eternal life in Christ!!
It seems reasonable that a natural disaster on the scale of a worldwide flood would have left much evidence, and that the fossil record points to such an event. In 2 Peter 3:5-6 it states, "They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed." It is an uncomfortable but real truth that one day every person will be brought under God's judgment for the deeds they have done. But again, Christ is our hope for salvation.
However, I am not afraid to look at both sides of this issue. Thank you for bringing another perspective to the discussion.
3 comments:
Leah,
Thank you so much for your blog! I have enjoyed reading it for some time now. I am touched by the devotion you show to your family, especially your children. You have devoted yourself to their spiritual training and to their education and health. What a wonderful example!!
I am a 30 something mom that grew up in the conservative church of Christ. I was raised to believe in a young earth and was taught to mistrust science. As I have begun to study issues of science and faith, I have been incredibly encouraged by how well they fit together. I love learning about the intricate fine-tuning that God used when He created the universe. As I have studied, it has become apparent to me that in the church the age of the earth is not a scientific question. We have multiple, independent ways of determining the age of the universe, and they all agree -- it is 13.8 billion years old. In the church, the age of the universe is a theological question. We disagree on how to interpret days such as "yom" in Genesis, because we are afraid of what an old earth implies about God. (If there was animal death before the fall, does that make God evil?)
I write this not to challenge your beliefs and especially not to challenge your faith. I just know that, for me, there were many questions that I had to shove under the proverbial rug to allow my mind to accept a young earth view. If you also have questions, I would encourage you to visit the website of Reasons to Believe (www dot reasons dot org). There I found an interpretation of Genesis (and the many other creation accounts in the Bible) that was literal, did not include macro-evolution, and fit beautifully with what we observe in nature. It has been very faith-affirming for me.
Either way, you are a sister in Christ, and I wish you all joy in Him.
Thank you so much for your very gracious comment. I agree that sincere Christians hold various interpretations about the age of the earth. Your comment reminds me that this is not a subject to be taken lightly, for as God asked in Job, "Where you there when I laid the foundations of the earth?"
I do believe in a literal interpretation of days as given in Genesis 1. As stated in Genesis and later reiterated in Romans 5:12, death entered the world when Adam sinned. But as it states later in Romans 5:17, "For the sin of this one man, Adam, caused death to rule over many. But even greater is God's wonderful grace and his gift of righteousness, for all who receive it will live in triumph over sin and death through this one man, Jesus Christ." How great is our redemption from sin and death, and the promise of eternal life in Christ!!
It seems reasonable that a natural disaster on the scale of a worldwide flood would have left much evidence, and that the fossil record points to such an event. In 2 Peter 3:5-6 it states, "They deliberately forget that God made the heavens by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed." It is an uncomfortable but real truth that one day every person will be brought under God's judgment for the deeds they have done. But again, Christ is our hope for salvation.
However, I am not afraid to look at both sides of this issue. Thank you for bringing another perspective to the discussion.
Thanks for your thoughts! :)
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