GOD & THE BIBLE: STATEMENT #3
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I believe that if God created the heaven and the earth,
it did not resemble what we know today.
It was a precisely balanced, life-sustaining environment
of perfection when established, but it has since undergone
devastating changes that have greatly diminished
its beauty and weakened its ability to sustain life.
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Scientific studies indicate that our planet has undergone massive changes over time. There may be some differences in opinion as to the overall amount of time that has elapsed, but there seems to be very little disagreement when it comes to evidence of our planet’s historical past.
It is commonly accepted that there was a period of time in the past when large portions of our planet’s surface was covered by layers of ice. And, few would question the belief that the earth was impacted at least once in the past by a sizeable object from space.
To imagine that the composition of earth was not altered by these events would seem a little naïve. An objective reading of the Biblical record supports the occurrences of both of these historical events and a belief that the planet has undergone massive changes in appearance since its original formation.
The second verse of the Genesis account indicates that what was created in verse one exhibited no recognizable markings. We are told that it was without form and void, and that darkness presided across the face of the deep. “Face of the deep” is referenced as the “face of the waters” in the very next sentence.
Altogether, these statements paint an image of an uninhabitable chaos that was buried within an unconfined flood of water with immeasurable dimensions.
Moving past verses four and five where light is introduced, we come to a very perplexing declaration in verse six: an atmosphere is established for the purpose of separating water from water.
The atmosphere is referred to as a firmament and as a heaven. At this point the water is divided into sections above and below the newly introduced atmospheric barrier, but remains otherwise unconfined. That changes in verse nine.
“And God said,
‘Let the waters under the heaven
be gathered together unto one place,
and let the dry land appear:’”
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This is the first activity that appears to be directed to a specific location, as opposed to the previous descriptions of universal actions and results. However, it could be argued that the establishment of atmospheric conditions around planetary objects and the restrictions placed on the water that existed on planetary surfaces may have also been universal in nature.
In either case, this serves as the first reference to anything that, by today’s understanding, could be recognized as a habitable surface area.
The land mass appears when the vast majority of water is assigned to a new location. Water is now confined into restricted basins that are called seas (v10) and caverns beneath the surface that are later identified as fountains of the great deep (Gen. 7:11). There is also reference to flowing water called rivers in Genesis, chapter two. Apparently from this point, water flows freely throughout the planet, but it does so as one globally connected body of water.
It is inconceivable that what we recognize today as continents, oceans, seas and rivers are even slightly representative of the original geography that was revealed when the waters were “gathered together unto one place” and dry land appeared.
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I am not broadly educated in any specific field of scientific study, but I’ve never embraced the Pangaea Theory of Continental Drift. Likewise, I’m not endorsing the video link below. However, I do find it thought provoking.
Neal Adams: The Expanding Earth
Go Back to: GOD & THE BIBLE: STATEMENT #1
Go Back to: GOD & THE BIBLE: STATEMENT #2
Return to: 10 THINGS I BELIEVE ABOUT GOD & THE BIBLE
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