I posted earlier of how creationists explain the creation account as recorded in Genesis 1. That got me thinking of the first few chapters of the Bible, and I thought it would be good to examine the Creation account in more detail. So here we 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.
OK, so we have God creating heaven and earth on the first day. But apparently the earth was a big formless mass of water because dry land doesn’t appear until day 3. He also created earth in the dark, if we go by the order listed. (And why wouldn’t we, since the Bible is infallible?). And maybe it’s just me, but I don’t quite understand how you can have an evening and a morning without the sun and the moon.
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.
Day 2 has God moving a bunch of water around to create a firmament. But what’s a firmament? It is the most recognized translation of the Hebrew “raqiya`” (pronounced rä·kē’·ah), which means an extended solid surface or flat expanse, considered to be a hemisphere above the ground. The word is derived from the Hebrew word raqa, meaning “to spread out” by stamping, stretching, beating, or making broad, e.g. the process of making a metal bowl by hammering metal flat, or “to make a spreading (of clouds)”.
To visualize this process, imagine you have an aquarium full of water. You then cut a piece of plexiglass to the same width and length of the aquarium, then submerge it horizontally half way down into the water. This separates the water above the plexiglass from the water below it. Basically, it’s talking about the atmosphere. At this point the earth is still a big formless mass of water. But it now has an atmosphere, and God calls it Heaven.
But wait. I thought Heaven was out in space. And I also thought it was at a specific location in space. So if the firmament consists of the atmosphere as well as space, that would mean Heaven is the entire region above the surface of the earth and extending out to an unspecified point. But if Heaven is just the atmosphere then why haven’t we located the mansions and streets of gold?
At any rate, we have a universe full of water, a formless earth full of water, and it’s all separated by an atmosphere. Sounds reasonable to me. This day’s account also implies a flat earth, although it’s not specifically stated. Oh, we also have another evening and morning without the sun and the moon.
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.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
So now on day 3 we finally have an earth with some form, or so it’s implied. God took all the water under the firmament and “gathered it together” in one place, ostensibly forming the earth. At the same time, he created dry land. But he left some water to act as the “Seas.” Then he created plants. And again with the morning and evening.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
We now have a better picture of the firmament. Apparently it extends far enough to encompass the stars, which means that all the water above the firmament is beyond the stars. I guess Hubble has yet to discover it. And I guess God figured out that the plants he created the day before can’t live without the sun. Oops. He almost had an epic fail on that one. (And now the evening and morning mean something!).
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
On day 5 God creates all sea life and birds. There’s nothing particularly noteworthy here except for verse 21, which states that the birds, as well as sea life, originated from the water. This is probably the closest the creation account gets to an accurate representation of the origin of life on earth.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Day 6 wraps everything up and completes the creation process. We now have land animals, insects (I guess all the birds had to eat fish the day before), and humans–in that order. But in Genesis 2, the male human is created first, and all the other animals afterwards. The female human was an afterthought by God because the male was lonely.
So what can we gather from all of this? Well, for one thing it doesn’t make a whole hell of a lot of sense. It’s a Bronze Age account from an ignorant author on the origins of life and the universe. It’s exactly what’s to be expected from an ancient manuscript that’s bereft of scientific knowledge.
Secondly, it demonstrates a mindset that has permeated certain segments of society that want only to believe that the earth and all life therein was not a result of natural forces, but was a conscience decision of an omniscient being that felt a need to be worshiped and adored by a lower lifeform in order to satisfy some narcissistic need.
The origin of life on earth, according to the Bible, is simply bullshit. The evidence for evolutionary processes is overwhelming and can no longer be ignored, no matter how slick and persuasive the creationists arguments are. Even the Vatican has stated that evolution is consistent with the Bible. It’s only the staunch Evangelicals and fringe lunatics that insist on the inerrant quality of the Bible who defend the literal account in Genesis.
And don’t get me started with the account of Noah and the flood. Perhaps I’ll address that at another time, but for now I’ll leave you with this Creation analysis. If you’re a Christian reading this post, I urge you to think critically and objectively. Blindly following a belief just because it’s in a so-called holy book is foolhardy at best.
When man reached the stage of self-awareness he began to realize his own immortality. And in order to compensate he created the illusion that some supreme being, or beings, would sustain him after he died. Gods were created and stories told down through the generations that there was something waiting for man after he inhaled his last breath.
But the truth is there’s nothing. At least that’s what is evident now. Heaven, as described in the Bible, doesn’t exist. God, as described in the Bible, doesn’t exist. Whatever beliefs that are held by religious people in this world are simply superstitions and stories handed down through generations. We are, in a way, subject to ancient encoding that was at one time necessary for survival.
But hey, if it keeps you calm at night go ahead and believe what you want. It won’t change anything but it may placate you. And who knows…if you’re right then you get to spend eternity walking those streets of gold. Have fun doing that.
