Genesis 1 and modern science
J. Michael McGill mmcgill@inetworld.net
Sun, 1 Mar 98 23:48:28 -0000 (00888817708, 199803020746.XAA25613@inet1.inetworld.net)
MICHAEL MCGILL(3/1)
These are some of the problems with Genesis 1 and science:
1. Genesis 1:5,8,13 mention 3 days, "evening and the morning" before the
sun and stars were created in day 4 (Genesis 1:14-19).
2.According to the observable laws of physics and astronomy, modern
science tells us that the first stars were formed BEFORE the earth, and
that the sun and planets including the earth were formed together. The
Bible says that the earth was created before the sun and stars.
3.According to some the 7 day creation story of Genesis 1 fits Babylonian
mythology which the writers of the Bible got form their Babylonian
captors (according to some there is evidence the Bible was written after
the Babylonian captivity). Genesis 1:6,7,8 refers to Babylonian mythology
and Babylonian astronomy. Babylonian astronomers envisaged earth as a
hollow mountain surrounded by a vast sea. Inside the earth lay the dark,
dusty realm of the dead. Arching over the earth is the "circle of the
earth" (Isaiah 40:22) or the solid firmament (Greek: solid body; firm
foundation) on which moved sun, moon, planets and stars, somehow. Held
above the firmament was water (for rain, to come through "windows"), and
the firmament domes were supported by a ring of raided earth set in the
midst of the sea. Why was the firmament formed in the "midst" of earth's
"waters"(Genesis 1:6)? Clearly, this is an image of a dome-like firmament
over flat waters of a flat earth. The Bible scribes exactly copied the
ignorant inventions of Babylonian firmament astronomy of that time,
including its words and concepts of windows and doors in the firmament
for rain! "above the firmament"(Gen. 1:7) is where the huge supply of
water needed for the Flood was stored--more than all earth's clouds could
ever provide. As we read in the account of the Flood, God ended the rains
using Babylonian astronomy again (Gen. 8:2): "the WINDOWS of heaven were
stopped and the rain...restrained."(My emphasis)
Did God speak thus, to be understood and not confuse or mentally upset
those living then? Could it really upset people then to deal with
truthful astronomy -- the same people who were ready to believe in a
virgin birth or that a woman could be born from a man's rib-bone?
4. TWO contrary Genesis versions suggest at least two writers, both
ignorant or unmindful of each other, and ignorant of the facts of nature
and astronomy, not to mention the age of the earth.
Michael