Creationism is Inappropriate for Children

[acropolis]

Can I discover a solution to every problem...of course I can, for with God all things are possible.

Can god microwave a burrito so hot that not even he can eat it?

 

[someguy14]

Can god microwave a burrito so hot that not even he can eat it?

Matthew 27:48
And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

God spends one-sixth of his entire creative effort (the second day) working on a solid firmament. This strange structure, which God calls heaven, is intended to separate the higher waters from the lower waters. 1:6-8

The 'strange structure' is the atmosphere, which is 'solid' enough to allow birds to 'swim' through it, airplanes to fly through it, and returning spacecraft to require a heat shield to protect itself from the friction caused by the density of it.

GenOne is the story of separation and distinction.The 'higher' waters are purified by distillation and are yet another metaphor revealing the selection process that God uses throughout the bible.

God makes two lights: "the greater light [the sun] to rule the day, and the lesser light [the moon] to rule the night." But the moon is not a light, but only reflects light from the sun. And why, if God made the moon to "rule the night", does it spend half of its time moving through the daytime sky? 1:16

We call the light coming from the moon, 'moonlight' even though we know it doesn't produce it's own light. We also use the terms 'sunrise' and 'sunset'. Also, the moon has to be somewhere during the day, doesn't it?

Once again it is the profound metaphorical meanings in Genesis that are important, not the literal reading. That said the literal story makes more sense scientifically if it were translated differently. There are lot's of choices within the Hebrew language. The early translators used word meanings that supported what they already believed.

The train was already derailed in Gen 1:2, which should be properly read as "the earth became a chaotic wasteland", having been originally created in perfection, not "the earth was without form and void". See GAP theory.

 

[morningstar2651]

Stop spamming.

 

[morningstar2651]

Matthew 27:48
And straightway one of them ran, and took a spunge, and filled it with vinegar, and put it on a reed, and gave him to drink.

Is that a yes, or a no?

 

[leo J]

I thought you'd never ask. I'll keep my focus on Genesis 1 and 2.

The Genesis 1 creation account conflicts with the order of events that are known to science. In Genesis, the earth is created before light and stars, birds and whales before reptiles and insects, and flowering plants before any animals. The order of events known from science is just the opposite. 1:1-2:3

God creates light and separates light from darkness, and day from night, on the first day. Yet he didn't make the light producing objects (the sun and the stars) until the fourth day (1:14-19). And how could there be "the evening and the morning" on the first day if there was no sun to mark them? 1:3-5

God spends one-sixth of his entire creative effort (the second day) working on a solid firmament. This strange structure, which God calls heaven, is intended to separate the higher waters from the lower waters. 1:6-8

Plants are made on the third day before there was a sun to drive their photosynthetic processes (1:14-19). 1:11

God makes two lights: "the greater light [the sun] to rule the day, and the lesser light [the moon] to rule the night." But the moon is not a light, but only reflects light from the sun. And why, if God made the moon to "rule the night", does it spend half of its time moving through the daytime sky? 1:16

"He made the stars also." God spends a day making light (before making the stars) and separating light from darkness; then, at the end of a hard day's work, and almost as an afterthought, he makes the trillions of stars. 1:16

"And God set them [the stars] in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth." 1:17

In verse 11, God "let the earth bring forth" the plants. Now he has the earth "bring forth" the animals as well. So maybe the creationists have it all wrong. Maybe God created livings things through the process of evolution. 1:24

"I have given you every herb ... and every tree ... for meat."
Since many plants have evolved poisons to protect against animals that would like to eat them, God's advice is more than a little reckless. Would you tell your children to go out in the garden and eat whatever plants they encounter? 1:29

All animals were originally herbivores. Tapeworms, vampire bats, mosquitoes, and barracudas -- all were strict vegetarians, as they were created by God. 1:30

In Genesis 1 the entire creation takes 6 days, but the universe is at least 12 billion years old, with new stars constantly being formed. 1:31

Humans were not created instantaneously from dust and breath, but evolved over millions of years from simpler life forms. 2:7

After making the animals, God has Adam name them all. The naming of several million species must have kept Adam busy for a while. 2:18-22

God fashions a woman out of one of Adam's ribs. Because of this story, it was commonly believed (and sometimes it is still said today) that males have one less rib than females. When Vesalius showed in 1543 that the number of ribs was the same in males and females, it created a storm of controversy. 2:19

Before sin, the world was a vastly different place. What we observe now, and what we would have observed prior to the Fall are two very different things.

 

[Publius]

So says Bill Nye the Science Guy.

Bill Nye: Creationism Is Not Appropriate For Children - YouTube

Who is Bill Nye and why should I care?

 

[morningstar2651]

Who is Bill Nye and why should I care?

Bill Nye The Science Guy Intro - YouTube

Google is your friend.

 

[Fantine]

I think that creation science has spawned a whole generation of imaginative creative writers and media people who have made a career trying to explain away all of the inconsistencies in creationism. I have read some of them, and they're quite entertaining, and as intricate and detailed as any good science fiction novel.

As a communications person, I admire that creativity and think there is a need for imagination in our world. If creationism spawns imagination, it has one positive side-effect, at least.

But I do agree with Bill Nye. I believe that God's part in the continuing unfolding of our universe is even more miraculous than believers in Genesis could ever imagine...

Why do we try to limit God? Is it too hard for us to believe that His plan for creation is completely beyond our wildest imagination?

Genesis speaks far more of human limitations--in describing, in understanding--than it does of God's. God is unlimited.

 

[OldWiseGuy]

I was slightly offended by Nye's condescending attitude.

 

[AceHero]

But I do agree with Bill Nye. I believe that God's part in the continuing unfolding of our universe is even more miraculous than believers in Genesis could ever imagine...

Why do we try to limit God? Is it too hard for us to believe that His plan for creation is completely beyond our wildest imagination?

Genesis speaks far more of human limitations--in describing, in understanding--than it does of God's. God is unlimited.

I thought evolution was wrong when I was younger because I felt it made God limited by time. He therefore couldn't create the universe in the blink of an eye, which of course He could have done, but didn't. Today, I see the opposite as being true: we're limiting God based on what makes sense to us. We would create the universe in the blink of an eye. Why waste time? But God has no concept of time, since He has no beginning or end. To Him evolution just makes sense, to us, we most likely would have never thought of bringing the universe (and life) into fruition through gradual changes that took billions of years of fine tuning. To my fellow Christians, if God is capable of anything, why couldn't He create the universe via evolution? Why must we go against science when it's so clear?

 

[OldWiseGuy]

To my fellow Christians, if God is capable of anything, why couldn't He create the universe via evolution? Why must we go against science when it's so clear?

It isn't that clear. The bible allows for the same ancient beginning of the universe (GAP theory). The fossil record reveals a succession of perfectly formed critters with no apparent need to change.

 

[Git]

I thought evolution was wrong when I was younger because I felt it made God limited by time. He therefore couldn't create the universe in the blink of an eye, which of course He could have done, but didn't. Today, I see the opposite as being true: we're limiting God based on what makes sense to us. We would create the universe in the blink of an eye. Why waste time? But God has no concept of time, since He has no beginning or end. To Him evolution just makes sense, to us, we most likely would have never thought of bringing the universe (and life) into fruition through gradual changes that took billions of years of fine tuning. To my fellow Christians, if God is capable of anything, why couldn't He create the universe via evolution? Why must we go against science when it's so clear?

Finally, a fellow who has started to not contradict himself/his god. If you think of it, god is the essence of the whole universe, then If god is all mighty, why couldn't he have created the big bang or created everything via evolution?

That is the thing that is always bugging me. God is all-mighty, but seems that to the majority of fundamentalistic christians god isn't mighty enough to create things with any other ways than the bible has mentioned. Bible is not the word of god, to be direct. It is just an interpretion of events a long time ago when the Roman Empire was still healthy and around 300-400 years away from the downfall of the western parts of the empire.

 

[Caitlin.ann]

I was slightly offended by Nye's condescending attitude.

What about that video was condescending? He really believes creationism is detrimental to our society.

 

[Cromulent]

It isn't that clear. The bible allows for the same ancient beginning of the universe (GAP theory). The fossil record reveals a succession of perfectly formed critters with no apparent need to change.

This post reveals a misunderstanding of both the fossil record and the Theory of Evolution.

 

[leo J]

What about that video was condescending? He really believes creationism is detrimental to our society.

So, it's not possible to be condescending if you really believe what you are saying?

 

[Fantine]

Not only was God limitless enough to create a universe with many galaxies and planets that is continually expanding, He is limitless enough to give humans the intellectual capability to gradually move beyond Genesis, which told early humankind "who" made the universe, to a deepening understanding of "how" the universe is made and a deeper appreciation of how great God is.

A deeper appreciation that started when explorers circumnavigated the world, when Copernicus invented the telescope, when Russians and Americans first began exploring space, and which continues today.

 

[All Englands Skies]

Don't feed the troll.

Yeah, lets show them trolls!

Lets tell them We're not gonna take it, NO! we aint gonna take, we're not gonna take it anymore!

 

[OldWiseGuy]

This post reveals a misunderstanding of both the fossil record and the Theory of Evolution.

Are you saying that there is a clear understanding of the fossil record and of evolution?

 

[OldWiseGuy]

What about that video was condescending? He really believes creationism is detrimental to our society.

His attitude, not his belief.