Genesis & Creation

[Gregory Matthews]

See:

https://atoday.org/six-days-six-thousand-years-for-everything-do-the-rocks-lie/

 

The author of this article is John McLarty, a former editor of Adventist Today.  Presently he pastors the Green Lake SDA congregation in Seattle, Washington.

 

 

[Gregory Matthews]

I can not respond in length now.  In brief McLarty is suggesting a change may be occuring in SDA thought as to some issues relsted to Crestion. Without saying with everything that McLarty said I agree with much.

[JoeMo]

I personally believe the Gap Theory. To me, Genesis 1:2 clearly states that God was working with existing material when creation week began.  If he had created everything at the same time, why was the world in so much chaos before God said "Let there be light" at the beginning of the first day?  Maybe there was a "war" or natural catastrophe that destroyed the earth or solar system that God created billions of years before?  Maybe the Bible is a chronology of God's interaction with man rather than a history of the universe?

Just my opinion.  God still created everything in the universe.

[Gregory Matthews]

Wanderer,  You are quoting an older version of SDA belief # 6.  The current version is below:

*  The issue is with the phrase:  "a recent six day creation."  [And actually with some other parts that I will not comment on now.]

*  This is being used by some to say that they must believe in a creation week of 6,000 to 10,ooo years.

*  It is being used to say, by some, that the Universe as a whole was created in the same time frame as the Earth,  some 6,000 to 10,l000 years ago.

*  It is being used by some to say that the basic substructure of the Earth was created at the time of Creation week. 

*  There are some elements of SDA belief in creation upon which SDAs have held a diversity of belief.  The wording of the current statement, and how it is being used cannot be accepted by many SDAs. 

*  As an example:  I do not believe that the Universe was created at the same time that the Earth was created.  In addition, I do not believe that the Bible has anything to say about the time for the creation of the Universe.   On the basis of the statement below, some would want to exit me from SDA membership.  It would not matter to them that I believe that God created both the Universe and the Earth.

*  McLaraty probably has some views on Creation that some people here would object to.  But, he is correct on the focus of his article as to how some    people are attempting to use this statement to move the denomination into a more rigid position that limits some of the diversity that has been allowed.

*  Disagree with him if you will, but understand what he is saying.   

 

Quote

 God has revealed in Scripture the authentic and historical account of His creative activity. He created the universe, and in a recent six-day creation the Lord made “the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them” and rested on the seventh day. Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of the work He performed and completed during six literal days that together with the Sabbath constituted the same unit of time that we call a week today. The first man and woman were made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation, given dominion over the world, and charged with responsibility to care for it. When the world was finished it was “very good,” declaring the glory of God. (Gen. 1-2; 5; 11; Exod. 20:8-11; Ps. 19:1–6; 33:6, 9; 104; Isa. 45:12, 18; Acts 17:24; Col. 1:16; Heb. 1:2; 11:3; Rev. 10:6; 14:7.)

[Gregory Matthews]

That is what we see happening.  You may not.  But that does not negate our expetiences.

[phkrause]

I'd like to say that from my reading of Genesis 1, I don't see that its talking about the universe, but about the earth, Sun, Moon and Stars!! Now I'm going to read the article and the article he's commenting about first.

[phkrause]

Well I just read Sven Östring's article "Our miraculous planet Earth," and found it very interesting and pretty much acceptable in my book!! Now to go and read John McLarty's article and see what he seems to be objecting to!!

[phkrause]

I finished the article and even though its OK, I still disagree with him that the Bible is talking about the whole Universe!! I don't really have a problem with the universe being billions of years old and planet earth being 6,000 years old! But we will never really know that, at least not now, today, but after the Lord comes and we have the time to ask and talk about all the reasons for this and that!! From what I understand there are things that God is not letting us know about or at least understand while we live here on earth, like the real age of planet earth!! Obviously by faith we should accept that the earth is 6,000 years old, personally its something that I really don't need to know, because is it really that important??

[phkrause]

19 minutes ago, The Wanderer said:

I agree with this statement. IF the Bible did also have a doctrine about "the universe" then one would think it should just say so! I interpreted his article to say that perhaps the church has to be more accepting of science, which also, cannot currently prove empirically, his universe idea for the creation story.

What he (McLarty) wants the fundamental beliefs to say/prove isnt even said or proven anywhere in Scripture! So who is being "rigid" here. The entire intention and mechanisms of the fundamental beliefs are ESPECIALLY for the decided and expressed purpose of allowing for some flexibility on exactly how Adventists interpret the creation account in Scripture.

Agreed