Gap Theory; Old Earth Creationism; Genesis 1 & 2

[Jipsah]

Also the week could be a memorial to the events rather then a record of the actual time.

Which, IMO, is the case.

 

[Adventist Dissident]

There is a lot of heresy in this thread.

i think you might want to take a look at some of the post after this

 

[Aussie Pete]

Very litttle indeed. If my faith was based on that, I'd have cast it aside decades ago.

The New Testament .

The parts our Lord attested to.

Of the masses of rubbish that people "interpret" the Old Testament to "mean", very little. Flat earth? Seriously? Geocentric universe? Literal 7 day creation? A talking snake? Fruit from a magic tree? A flaming sword defending a terrestrial Eden? These things are the history of the beginning of humanity right enough, but none of it is literal.

You have no basis for your claim. The Bible does not say that the earth is flat. Why not a 7 day creation? Were you there? Do you have a hotline to God who says that He made it all up? How do you know what is made up and what is literal? For example, the book of Revelation describes Satan as the "Serpent of Old". Have you read God's response to Job's complaint in the last chapters of the book? Or is all that a fairy tale too? Where do you draw the line?

If you are relying on human understanding, you will be deceived. The world system is under the control of the evil one. Satan is the one who casts doubt on God's word and God's integrity. God's word is truth, or do you not believe that either?

 

[Benjamin Müller]

But many are about the first flood that completely wiped out everything. God talks about that as well in Jeremiah 4

I disagree with the interpretation of Jeremiah 4:23-26 is set during the time period between Genesis 1:1 and 1:2; the context of the chapter is the Day of the Lord. This appears to be a future event, not a past one. Compare with Joel 2:10 and Isaiah 5:30 ; 13:10; Ezekiel 32:7-8; Matthew 24:29

with 2nd Peter being a second witness to that.

Not sure if I agree with the 2nd Peter 3:6 interpretation being between Genesis 1:1/1:2; the fact Peter mentioned Noah's flood previously sounds like a hearkening back to his first comment 2 Peter 2:5.

Whereby—Greek, "By which" (plural). By means of which heavens and earth (in respect to the WATERS which flowed together from both) the then world perished (that is, in respect to its occupants, men and animals, and its then existing order: not was annihilated); for in the flood "the fountains of the great deep were broken up" from the earth (1) below, and "the windows of heaven" (2) above "were opened." The earth was deluged by that water out of which it had originally risen.

2 Peter 3:6 Commentaries: through which the world at that time was destroyed, being flooded with water.

However, I have seen a diagram in my studies which suggests that when the world was covered in water, that it was a type of baptism. Would be interested to hear of anyone's views on that.

 

[JulieB67]

I disagree with the interpretation of Jeremiah 4:23-26 is set during the time period between Genesis 1:1

This verse sets the subject he is about to talk about.

Jeremiah 4:22 "For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

He's getting ready to tell them what happened when he shook the earth before in his anger-

Jeremiah 4:23 "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

This verse totally takes us back to Genesis.

Jeremiah 4:24 "I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly

Everything shifted out of place. That's why the continents look like they used to fit together and why certain African animals are found fossilzed in the US and so on. It used to be a perfect climate. That's how God created it. He did not create it in vain. He didn't create a ruined wastland covered in water. He created it to be inhabited.

Isaiah 45:18 "for thus saith the Lord That created the heavens; God Himself That formed the earth and made it; He hath established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: "I am the Lord; and there is none else."

The word for vain is the same exact Hebrew word that's used in Genesis -tohuw to lie waste, a desoluation, a worthless thing, empty place, without form, nothing...

So we can see our Father did not create it that way. Once we know that, then we can safely assume the word "was" hayah should be translated "became" without form and void.

Jeremiah 4:25 "I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled.

No one survived this flood. No man, no animals.

II Peter 3:5 "For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:"

The current age we live in is not old. God is telling us in these verses that compared to how old the heavens and earth are, a 1000 years is nothing.

And we know that God moved over the face of the waters. These are the very waters Peter is talking about. And we know that there is land under these waters because he states let "dry" land appear. Meaning the land was wet. So that's another clue that God did not create the earth covered in water.

And not one Christian is willingly ignorant about Noah's flood.

II Peter 3:6 "Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:"

Nothing survived this flood.

II Peter 2:5 "And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;"

Noah and his family survived. And it doesn't make sense that he would bring up Noah's flood and then in the very same letter claim that people are willingly ignorant about that time period.

Jeremiah 4:26 "I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord, and by His fierce anger.

Our Father was furious. We now know this was the time of Satan's downfall. Before then as he described in Job, it was a happy place when the foundation was first laid-

Job 38:7 "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for Joy?"

Jeremiah 4:27 "For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end.

He literally shook the earth at that time, that's why everything moved out of place.

And on the Day of the Lord he will shake it again. We know his voice can shake the earth. Noah's flood whether it be global or local did not move mountains out of their place.

God's telling us in Jeremiah that he shook the earth at that time and he will do it again on the Lord's Day.

Hebrews 12:26 "Whose voice then shook the earth: but now He hath promised, saying, "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven."

 

[TomBombidil]

I tend to see it as historical and theological truth told through figurative and poetic language, where some parts dont need to be interpreted literally. I tend to lean to the old earth side of things. I’m also not really into theistic evolution, but I disagree with it being heresy, as it can be compatible with scripture as the processes through which God creates.

 

[Halbhh]

Below is why I noticed your post, as I have recently read fully through Jeremiah, and I'll quote below more fully the chapter:

Jeremiah 4:22 "For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge."

He's getting ready to tell them what happened when he shook the earth before in his anger-

Jeremiah 4:23 "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light.

This verse totally takes us back to Genesis.

Jeremiah 4:24 "I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly

Everything shifted out of place. That's why the continents look like they used to fit together and why certain African animals are found fossilzed in the US and so on. It used to be a perfect climate. That's how God created it. He did not create it in vain. He didn't create a ruined wastland covered in water. He created it to be inhabited.

Context is going to help us get this more precisely.

Let's look --

3 This is what the Lord says to the people of Judah and to Jerusalem:

“Break up your unplowed ground
and do not sow among thorns.
4 Circumcise yourselves to the Lord,
circumcise your hearts,
you people of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem,
or my wrath will flare up and burn like fire
because of the evil you have done—
burn with no one to quench it.

Disaster From the North
5 “Announce in Judah and proclaim in Jerusalem and say:
‘Sound the trumpet throughout the land!’
Cry aloud and say:
‘Gather together!
Let us flee to the fortified cities!’
6 Raise the signal to go to Zion!
Flee for safety without delay!
For I am bringing disaster from the north,
even terrible destruction.”

7 A lion has come out of his lair;
a destroyer of nations has set out.
He has left his place
to lay waste your land.
Your towns will lie in ruins
without inhabitant.
8 So put on sackcloth,
lament and wail,
for the fierce anger of the Lord
has not turned away from us.

9 “In that day,” declares the Lord,
“the king and the officials will lose heart,
the priests will be horrified,
and the prophets will be appalled.”

10 Then I said, “Alas, Sovereign Lord! How completely you have deceived this people and Jerusalem by saying, ‘You will have peace,’ when the sword is at our throats!”

11 At that time this people and Jerusalem will be told, “A scorching wind from the barren heights in the desert blows toward my people, but not to winnow or cleanse; 12 a wind too strong for that comes from me. Now I pronounce my judgments against them.”

13 Look! He advances like the clouds,
his chariots come like a whirlwind,
his horses are swifter than eagles.
Woe to us! We are ruined!
14 Jerusalem, wash the evil from your heart and be saved.
How long will you harbor wicked thoughts?
15 A voice is announcing from Dan,
proclaiming disaster from the hills of Ephraim.
16 “Tell this to the nations,
proclaim concerning Jerusalem:
‘A besieging army is coming from a distant land,
raising a war cry against the cities of Judah.
17 They surround her like men guarding a field,
because she has rebelled against me,’”
declares the Lord.
18 “Your own conduct and actions
have brought this on you.
This is your punishment.
How bitter it is!
How it pierces to the heart!”

19 Oh, my anguish, my anguish!
I writhe in pain.
Oh, the agony of my heart!
My heart pounds within me,
I cannot keep silent.
For I have heard the sound of the trumpet;
I have heard the battle cry.
20 Disaster follows disaster;
the whole land lies in ruins.
In an instant my tents are destroyed,
my shelter in a moment.
21 How long must I see the battle standard
and hear the sound of the trumpet?

22 “My people are fools;
they do not know me.
They are senseless children;
they have no understanding.
They are skilled in doing evil;
they know not how to do good.”

23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone.
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and there were no people;
every bird in the sky had flown away.
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

27 This is what the Lord says:

“The whole land will be ruined,
though I will not destroy it completely.
28 Therefore the earth will mourn
and the heavens above grow dark,
because I have spoken and will not relent,
I have decided and will not turn back.”
----
Jeremiah 4 NIV

As we learn from reading the chapter (or better the full book), God at that time (Jeremiah) was going to punish Judah because they would not repent and turn back to Him.

e.g. -- From the north.--The Chaldaean, and possibly the Scythian, invasion, as in Jeremiah 1:14. (commentaries on Jeremiah 4:6 Raise a signal flag toward Zion. Seek refuge! Do not delay! For I am bringing disaster from the north, and terrible destruction.)

The means of destruction will be a foreign invasion.

But, the only good way to read Jeremiah is to read from chapter 1 verse 1 all the way through, so that when we arrive at any verse, we have 100% full context.

It's not reasonable to construe the above as being about Genesis chapter 1. Even verses 25-26, 27 in context (full chapter) show a guess about Genesis 1 isn't the way to go. In verse 27, we read what God is going to do, future tense, to Judah, at that time.

We can notice how it fits that the heavens above grow dark in verse 28 is likely to be from the smoke of the burning of the cities during the invasion. It's like the many other prophesies in the Old Testament (I'm reading through fully) -- many ways the coming destruction is described to Judah if it will not repent, with many descriptions to make it vivid to them, so that they might repent before it was too late for them.

 

[JulieB67]

It's not reasonable to construe the above as being about Genesis chapter 1. Even verse 26 alone would undo such a guess.

Yes, God is angry at Judah for all of the abominations and idoltry. He's going to then tell them they are a little sottish (no understanding) and don't even know him or what he did before but he will and sets the stage,

Jeremiah 4:23 "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light."

This verse should take us right back to Genesis,

Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."

Same exact meaning in both verses.

God states in Isaiah he did not created the earth this way. This all happened at Satan's rebellion. Job tells of this time before it went down.

Job 38:4 "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Job 38:7 "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for Joy?"

God tells us in Isaiah that he did not create the earth void and without form, he created it to be inhabited and it was. So yes verse 26 would fit with this.

God restates this fact in 2nd Peter 3 that people are willingly ignorant about how old the earth really is.

 

[BobRyan]

• Where are we chronologically in Genesis 2? And,
  
• If God had created all these things in Genesis 1, where did they go in Genesis 2?
• Does this prove creation was not instantaneous over seven days? And,
  
• If so, which would be more probable: Gap Theory or Old Earth Creationism?

Genesis 2 is simply adding "more details" to the time boxed chronological sequence of Genesis 1. So there are no "days" - no "evenings and mornings" in the Genesis two section that details with a sequence of events.

In the sequences given in Genesis 2 there is no light, no sun, no moon, no fish, no air, no days... all those details are inherited from Genesis 1.

But Gen 2:1-3 provides a summary (and thus inclusion) of all details in Genesis 1.

Gen 2:
And so the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their heavenly lights. 2 By the seventh day God completed His work which He had done, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because on it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.

Which we see affirmed literally in legal code in Ex 20:11

So the Ex 20:8-11
8 “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. 9 For six days you shall labor and do all your work, 10 but the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God; on it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male slave or your female slave, or your cattle, or your resident who stays with you.

11 For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and everything that is in them, and He rested on the seventh day; for that reason the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

I think you have it a little backwards. What is the basis for taking it literally

It is etched in legal code that appeals to the very details of the literal timeline no matter the case of this or that person's preferences. The details in the text make it so clear as to the intent of the author that even the non-Christian professors of Hebrew and OT studies in all world class universities admit to it.

 

[BobRyan]

Genesis accounts are not historical. They are figurative.

Sinai is historical.. the legal code of Ex 20 is real history, real legal code and the Ex 20:11 statement makes Gen 2:1-3 real history as that is the only way legal code works in the Bible..

 

[BobRyan]

23 I looked at the earth,
and it was formless and empty;
and at the heavens,
and their light was gone.
24 I looked at the mountains,
and they were quaking;
all the hills were swaying.
25 I looked, and there were no people; (No humans - no man -- NASB)
every bird in the sky had flown away.
26 I looked, and the fruitful land was a desert;
all its towns lay in ruins
before the Lord, before his fierce anger.

NASB Jer 4:
23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a formless and desolate emptiness;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
And all the hills jolted back and forth.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no human,
And all the birds of the sky had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.

Jer 25
30 “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,

‘The Lord will roar from on high
And raise His voice from His holy dwelling;
He will roar forcefully against His fold.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A clamor has come to the end of the earth,
Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations.
He is entering into judgment with humanity;
As for the wicked, He has turned them over to the sword,’ declares the Lord.”

32 This is what the Lord of armies says:
“Behold, evil is going out
From nation to nation,
And a great storm is being stirred up
From the remotest parts of the earth.

33 “Those put to death by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.

======================

Jer 4 and Jer 25 are in complete agreement - the result that is coming to Earth is "no humans" left alive on Earth - rather it will be "desolate" a desolate Earth with corpses from one end of earth to the other.

The NT agrees.

1. All the saints taken to heaven 1 Thess 4:13-18
2. All the lost slain - 2 Thess 1, Rev 19:21

There is no way to "downsize" Genesis 1 or the "desolate earth" of Jer 4 where all nations, all mankind is affected to the point of "no humans" left on the planet according to Jer 4. Their bodies not buried because there are no humans left here to do it as we see in Jer 25.

 

[Halbhh]

NASB Jer 4:
23 I looked at the earth, and behold, it was a formless and desolate emptiness;
And to the heavens, and they had no light.
24 I looked on the mountains, and behold, they were quaking,
And all the hills jolted back and forth.
25 I looked, and behold, there was no human,
And all the birds of the sky had fled.
26 I looked, and behold, the fruitful land was a wilderness,
And all its cities were pulled down
Before the Lord, before His fierce anger.

Jer 25
30 “Therefore you shall prophesy against them all these words, and you shall say to them,

‘The Lord will roar from on high
And raise His voice from His holy dwelling;
He will roar forcefully against His fold.
He will shout like those who tread the grapes,
Against all the inhabitants of the earth.
31 A clamor has come to the end of the earth,
Because the Lord has a controversy with the nations.
He is entering into judgment with humanity;
As for the wicked, He has turned them over to the sword,’ declares the Lord.”

32 This is what the Lord of armies says:
“Behold, evil is going out
From nation to nation,
And a great storm is being stirred up
From the remotest parts of the earth.

33 “Those put to death by the Lord on that day will be from one end of the earth to the other. They will not be mourned, gathered, or buried; they will be like dung on the face of the ground.

======================

Jer 4 and Jer 25 are in complete agreement - the result that is coming to Earth is "no humans" left alive on Earth - rather it will be "desolate" a desolate Earth with corpses from one end of earth to the other.

The NT agrees.

1. All the saints taken to heaven 1 Thess 4:13-18
2. All the lost slain - 2 Thess 1, Rev 19:21

There is no way to "downsize" Genesis 1 or the "desolate earth" of Jer 4 where all nations, all mankind is affected to the point of "no humans" left on the planet according to Jer 4. Their bodies not buried because there are no humans left here to do it as we see in Jer 25.

There's an amazing chapter like that in Isaiah also, where after chapter after chapter of coming punishments of various nations, one at a time, comes an apocalypse on the whole world, the Earth laid waste.

 

[Halbhh]

Yes, God is angry at Judah for all of the abominations and idoltry. He's going to then tell them they are a little sottish (no understanding) and don't even know him or what he did before but he will and sets the stage,

Jeremiah 4:23 "I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light."

This verse should take us right back to Genesis,

Genesis 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep."

Same exact meaning in both verses.

God states in Isaiah he did not created the earth this way. This all happened at Satan's rebellion. Job tells of this time before it went down.

Job 38:4 "Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

Job 38:7 "When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for Joy?"

God tells us in Isaiah that he did not create the earth void and without form, he created it to be inhabited and it was. So yes verse 26 would fit with this.

God restates this fact in 2nd Peter 3 that people are willingly ignorant about how old the earth really is.

It's very very good to read Job from beginning through to the end. It's the only way to get the full meanings. Same for the wonderful chapters 38 thru 41.
Read those 4 chapters as one whole passage, where the entirety is needed. To fully appreciate.

 

[Jipsah]

You have no basis whatever for assuming that Genesis is primarily myth and legend.

Except when differs from the evidence found in God's actual handiwork. The "God designed it to look old" canard makes God into a cosmic stage magician, who makes things look like something they're not. You can buy that if you lke, I prefer to think that the author(s) of Genesis were giving us the children's version.

 

[TomBombidil]

Except when differs from the evidence found in God's actual handiwork. The "God designed it to look old" canard makes God into a cosmic stage magician, who makes things look like something they're not. You can buy that if you lke, I prefer to think that the author(s) of Genesis were giving us the children's version.

Not to mention they’re creating explanations that are not said in the text, which is what they typically accuse the old earth camp of doing.

 

[Halbhh]

Except when differs from the evidence found in God's actual handiwork. The "God designed it to look old" canard makes God into a cosmic stage magician, who makes things look like something they're not. You can buy that if you lke, I prefer to think that the author(s) of Genesis were giving us the children's version.

Another view: God uses visions (and dreams) to communicate most often --

1 Samuel 3:1 The boy Samuel ministered before the LORD under Eli. In those days the word of the LORD was rare; there were not many visions.

Of course the person receiving the revelation that was written down as Genesis chapter 1 was not there. He would receive both spoken words and visual scene(s). In other words, he would get a vision. We notice that in the text of Genesis 1 God also gives spoken words(!) -- just like Peter received in the vision of Acts 10. When God speaks in a vision, He doesn't waste words or say a lot of extra explanations of side topics that are not important (such as the triviality of the age of the Earth in mere years of natural time).

So, for Peter, only just barely enough words are spoken to convey the key theme (purpose), which Peter would need to think on to gradually understand:

9 About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10 He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11 He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12 It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles and birds. 13 Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”

14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”

15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”

16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.

17 While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. ...

Of course the vision is representative (it's not a literal 2 dimensional sheet world with 2 dimensional animals). In other words, what Peter saw wasn't a literally real thing, but a representation of something, like a work of art perhaps is one possibility but we can't say whether it would be fuzzy like in a dream or sharp like in a 4K video of actual individual animals that have existed literally, and a video of them was taken and then shown -- we don't hear which -- and it's not important. That would be beside the point.

In Genesis chapter 1 there is a main theme, and it is said to us 7 times.

 

[Aussie Pete]

Except when differs from the evidence found in God's actual handiwork. The "God designed it to look old" canard makes God into a cosmic stage magician, who makes things look like something they're not. You can buy that if you lke, I prefer to think that the author(s) of Genesis were giving us the children's version.

I don't think that at all. My view is that the earth is old. The account in Genesis is of the recreation of the destroyed earth. Why would anyone want to give intelligent people a fable or "children's" version? Humanity is no more intelligent now than thousands of years ago. If anything, kids have been rendered dumber by technology that does all their thinking for them. Scripture is inspired by God. Men did not sit around the village square wondering how to explain creation to a bunch of ignoramuses who could not understand the truth. God revealed His word to them. They relayed it to us. If that bothers you, take it up with God. It's His book, not mine.

 

[Aussie Pete]

I tend to see it as historical and theological truth told through figurative and poetic language, where some parts dont need to be interpreted literally. I tend to lean to the old earth side of things. I’m also not really into theistic evolution, but I disagree with it being heresy, as it can be compatible with scripture as the processes through which God creates.

The problem with any kind of evolution is sin. If people evolved from another creature, how could they sin? No animal sins. No animal has a conscience. Why should an evolved being be any different? And how could a glorified ape become in the image and likeness of God? What animal has free will? How could that be a product of evolution?

 

[Jipsah]

There is no logical reason to doubt that the Old Testament is an accurate record of God's dealing with the human race from creation to the time that God stopped speaking to His people.

Except for the fact that the Genesis timeline doesn't square with the evidence of what God actually did. Which makes perfect sense given that God doesn't reckon time as we do. See 2 Peter 3:8

 

[Jipsah]

I don't think that at all. My view is that the earth is old. The account in Genesis is of the recreation of the destroyed earth. Why would anyone want to give intelligent people a fable or "children's" version?

As an engineer daling with laymen, I did it all the time. Better to give then a give them a super-condensed version giving them all they needed to know in terms thay could grasp rather than start spouting technical details and watching their eyes glaze over. You svae the techno-speak for the customer's tech people. I'm telling both groups the truth, but if you think what I told the customer's management is technically correct and in detail you're sadly mistaken.

Humanity is no more intelligent now than thousands of years ago.

And they've never been a race of geologists. So you don't give them geologists' details that they haven't the education to understand. You say,"First this happened, then that, then the other, in 6 stages. Think of it as 6 days, day 1...".

Men did not sit around the village square wondering how to explain creation to a bunch of ignoramuses who could not understand the truth. God revealed His word to them. They relayed it to us. If that bothers you, take it up with God. It's His book, not mine.

It's His book, but I've found it distinctly unhelpful in the realm of electrical engineering, and I 'spect it's no more help when you're doing geology.

I particpated in the writing of documentation of our products back in the Good Old Days. I gave the documentalists tech specs, and narratives explaining them in functional detail. The docs people translated it all into English so that non-engineers could find out how to work the stuff. You can bet the ranch that the end user docs didn't look or sound much like my design specs. You write for your audience, or you may as well not write at all. You seem to object to God havng done that very thing.

And spare me the "take it up with God" tripe. It isn't God who's mistaken the User's Manual for Design Specifications, it's bone-headed literalists who think they can build their own laptop using data gleaned from the pamphlet that was in the box when they bought their last machine.