Introduction
The Old Testament teaches us that God is the sole creator and self-existing. He created the heaven and the earth and all that it contains, and before creation, He existed. In the book of Genesis, God is portrayed as having power over nature for He created the whole universe through the word of mouth. He stated that “Let there be water under the heavens and gather together into one place and let the dry land appear and it was” (New King James Version Genesis 1:7). He is also the source of life because He created a human being and gave him mandate to multiply and fill the earth and also to rule over the entire creation. He also created all the animals in the universe, and when He looked at His work, He was pleased because everything was good. God existed before heaven and earth, as well as all its creation.
From the Old Testament text and context, we learn that God is jealous as well as holy. In the commandments that He gave to the children of Israel, He warned them against making or worshipping any idol or graven image (Victor 57). He also warned them against revoking his name for it is holy. The text also teaches us that God is merciful, and He is ready up to forgive and to reunite with His people every time they repent. When the Israelites broke their covenant with God, He forgave them and renewed the covenant when they repented. The book of Deuteronomy also teaches us that God is holy for He chose holy people from the world. Also, the book of Psalms teaches us that God is merciful, and He favors His people not because of their majority, but because of his favor and mercies upon them. He chose to deliver the children of Israel from the bondage, not because of their numbers, but because He had heard their cries, and He was familiar with their suffering. Indeed, He delivered them because His favor and mercy were upon them. The text also shows that God cares and at all times concerned with the poor. He told the children of Israel to cancel their debts every seventh year and to make loans to the poor without interest (Victor 58). As a way of showing mercy to the poor, He also instructed the children of Israel to free the slaves after every six years of labor as well as not to harvest on the edges of their fields so that the poor could pick up on them. Also, He warned them against bearing false witnesses and murder (Victor 57).
Implication of Worship and Interaction with Science
As Christian, we should always worship God in truth and spirit bearing that He is the one who created us. We should also avoid revoking His name in vain for it is holy. While worshipping, we must ensure that our worship is in line with the scriptures to keep away from worshipping idols that are against his commandments. We ought to worship God even when we are alone since God does not look at our magnitude when giving us His mercies and favor upon our lives. We should also ask for forgiveness and repent every time we act against His commands as a way of reuniting with God. We are supposed to worship Him as a sign of appreciation in addition to thanksgiving for the good work of creating a man and giving him the mandate of ruling the entire creation. As Christians, we ought to apply the science around us to improve the worship of God and not to contradict the scriptures. We should always understand that science is only a tool for understanding what God created and it ought to help us to become His co-creators and not to contradict Christian beliefs towards God.
Reflection on the Wonder and the Beauty
As Christians, we sought to use God’s creation to improve as well as enhance our lives. Since human beings are part of God’s creation, we should collaborate with other human beings and apply the knowledge of science to come up with modern innovations that are likely to improve our lives. As human beings, we ought to come up with innovations that are environmentally friendly, which will avoid polluting the environment that is part of the creation.
Modern industries should avoid releasing harmful gasses into the air as these gasses can interfere with the ozone layer and bring about unfavorable climatic changes as well as releasing untreated industrial waste into the water sources, as this is likely to interfere with the lives of aquatic creatures. We should also come up with advanced ways of dealing with natural calamities like floods in case they take place.
Scientists should as well come up with modern ways of dealing with drought and famine through the integration of modern farming methods that are capable of incorporating irrigation as well as greenhouse farming. Farming along water catchment areas should be minimized because those areas act as water storage. Modern ways of tapping, storing as well as transmitting the energy from the sun ought to be put in place as a way of enhancing our lives, even when direct energy from the sun is not available or is insufficient.
Also, scientists should come up with modern sources of energy to avoid cutting down trees, which are part of the creation. In fact, the conservation of trees clearly indicates our concern for God’s creation. Since animals are part of the creation, we should also apply the modern science, come up with ways of taking good care of them, and avoid mishandling and killing. We should appreciate that they represent the wonders and the beauty of God’s creation. As Christians, we ought to take care of the financially challenged people in the society as well as assist them since they are part of God’s creation. We should avoid killing one another because life is sacred, and the act is against God’s commands.
Reconciling the Bible with Forms of External Knowledge
As Christians, we encounter people with different and contradicting stories that bring conflict between the Bible and the science, therefore, changing the historical beliefs about God. While the Bible clearly teaches that the Earth was created by God a long time ago, geologists formulate theories indicating that the earth was formed as a result of an extremely complex sequence of fossils, rocks as well as sediments. The theories aim at undermining the influence of God from the modern culture. They believe that the fossils on the planet were deposited over a very short period. Geologists also argue that Noah’s floods were only a global and violent incident like any other natural calamity and did not have any connection with God. Such stories always strain our faith and our trust in the Bible and sometimes we may view the message from the scriptures as misguided. The stories also create an obstacle to faith since these geologists believe on their interpretation of the word. Even as Christians, we always tend to look upon science as the ultimate arbiter of truth each time scientists speak on an issue of faith and leave the scripture to suffer every time conflicts arises. However, we should always ascribe to the inspiration and the authority of the Scripture and the Biblical history narratives (BioLogos).
Scientists also contradict the Biblical facts, which states that the Earth is fixed in its foundations. The science claims that the earth revolves around the sun and these revolutions bring about day and night. In the Bible, Joshua, as well as Solomon accurately, recorded their experience from an earthly perspective of the sun rising and setting and David praised God for holding the earth fixedly in His hand (Psalms, 104:5), without requiring a meaning of fixity in space. As Christians, we should understand that science is only a study of God’s natural creation that helps us in understanding God’s written word and cannot undermine the scriptures.
Scientists also formulate theories arguing that man came into existence because of evolution that took place over a long period. The evolution theories contradict the Biblical fact, which state that God created man in his image and likeness and mandated him to rule over the entire creation. The evolution theory contradicts and weakens Christians believes on the scripture since if a human being came into existence because of evolution, then human beings within a particular age group would resemble each other.
The nature do not depict individuals as evolution tries to portray them since human being resembles their parents or somebody who is closely related to them due to the genetic makeup. Also, the theory of evolution triggers many questions, especially on the origin of the first “things” that evolved into human beings. In addition, the question of how long does the evolution process takes place, yet human beings with same physical features are born every day has not been answered. As Christians, we should understand that God is the sole creator, and human being resembles him in all forms and aspects. In the book of Genesis, the Bible clearly states that after creating man, God gave him the mandate to multiply and feel the earth through birth. As a result, Christians should believe in the scriptures from the Bible, which narrate about the creation of man.
Works Cited
Bible. New King James Version. Web. 26 Oct. 2015
BioLogos,. ‘Biblical And Scientific Shortcomings Of Flood Geology, Part 1’. N.p., 2012. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
ID Vs. AI FACT CHECK 1/2. 2015. Web. 26 Oct. 2015.
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