This is the beginning of what I hope will be a good and productive conversation with my Christian friend John. We are discussing the book "The Creator and the Cosmos" by Dr. Hugh Ross.
Hi John! I wanted you to know that I have begun reading the book you gave me for Christmas. I appreciate both you and Dr. Ross. However, in the space of reading just six pages, I have written two pages of notes with the issues I have with Dr. Ross's arguments. I would like to share those thoughts. But first, I would like to address the issue of Creationism generally.
Almost all religions have some form of creationism and the assertion that their god or gods are responsible for creating the universe and our world. The world is full of creation myths. The Bible contains two different and contradictory creation myths that contradict what we know from modern science on almost all points. Over the course of thousands of years, mankind has created thousands of gods. The tribal war god of the ancient Israelites, Yahweh, is just one god among many.
This video explains the evolution of Yahweh from a tribal war god into the God of two major world religions (Judaism and Christianity very well.
Before I begin sharing my notes, I would like to share some thoughts about how the Bible presents our universe and our world.
The ancient Israelites held a cosmological viewpoint that was common to the tribes of the ancient Near East. They believed that the universe was small and three-tiered. The Earth was flat and it was covered by a solid dome firmament in which the stars were fixed. God lived above the firmament, as is made clear in verses such as Isaiah 40:22.
https://www.scribd.com/document/690558887/Circle-of-the-Earth-Investigation-pdf
The above PDF file is from a Christian source, and it details the scriptures that teach a flat Earth covered by a solid dome firmament. This is biblical cosmology.
I will now begin sharing my notes.
Page 16 - Life has the meaning that we give it, and morality does not come from religion. The most peaceful societies are generally the least religious. Morality is a product of evolution (evolutionary psychology) and cultural norms.
Page 16 - Dr. Ross criticizes others for looking at the world through naturalistic glasses while ignoring the fact that he looks at the world through religious God/Jesus glasses.
Page 20 - Who created the universe? There are thousands of gods to choose from, not just the Christian God. The universe is a result of a quantum vacuum fluctuation that happened 13.8 billion years ago. The Big Bang is not taught in the Bible. The Bible teaches that God spoke from Heaven and created the universe, our world, and everything in it over the course of six literal 24 hour days. Old Earth creationism does not work because the Bible specifically limits the time to six literal 24 hour days. Consider Exodus 20:11:
Exodus 20:11 ESV
For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
The Bible does not teach that the universe is billions of years old. It teaches a recent creation that took place just thousands of years ago.
Pages 20-21- Interesting that Dr. Ross charges the Enlightenment thinkers with the exact same issues that are present in religious apologetics!
The Genesis creation myths are not scientifically accurate at all.
There are two separate creation myths and they contradict each other on several important points. The Genesis creation accounts teach a creation event that took place just thousands of years ago over the course of six literal 24 hour days. The creation myths teach that light existed before the creation of the sun, that animals were created in their current forms rather than evolving over long periods of time, and that we humans were created in our current form without evolving just thousands of years ago.
Page 21 - Dr. Ross states that after 18 months of study he couldn't find any provable error or contradiction, and yet the biblical creation myths are riddled with errors and contradictions!
I will post the continuation of this conversation soon. 😀
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