Christian Worldview

 By Angela and Gary Lee

Origins

Christian Beliefs

    For Christians everywhere the Bible is the source of our knowledge of creation. Genesis 1:1 state, “In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth” (NIV Bible et al., 2007, Genesis 1:1). Upon further reading of Genesis 1, God proceeds to create day and night, land, plants and animals. Genesis 2 goes on to reveal the creation of man and woman who were created in the image of God. This belief is found in many different parts of the world within a variety of cultures. The Seminole Indians are one group who pass creation stories down to their children. The story begins, “The Creator was busy creating Earth and all the living things. He made animals with paws, birds with claws, insects that crawl, and reptiles galore” (Henes, 2018). People understand the Creation story differently based on if they interpret God to have revealed Himself through special revelation or general revelation. Special revelation is God using spiritual means to reveal Himself. The Bible is full of such occasions from burning bushes, dreams and even angelic beings appearing. General revelation is what most of us use today. We find God has revealed himself through our research. Ken Ham who started the Creation Museum has used scientific sources and reasoning to give support to the Biblical creation story. Others may use philosophy or the study of history to support beliefs in a Biblical creation. Ken Ham is a supporter of one of the Christian approaches to creation with the young earth theory. Young Earth states that God created everything within six literal days and rested on the 7^th. The other two theories are Old Earth and Evolutionary Creationism. Old Earth believe creation took longer than 6 days. They believe earth is millions of years old as their may have been periods of time between each day or that each day lasted a long period of time. Evolutionary Creationists believe Earth is billions of years old but that it was created by God. They believe that life evolved over time while God controlled that evolution.

Current Understanding

    Young Earth creation is a belief system active within most churches I have attended. I have been unable to look at the evidence with a certainty. I hold more within the Old Earth Creation theory. I’ve spent too much time within the mainstream science world to satisfy my mind that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. I believe that time in the garden did not apply. No one knows how long they existed there before Eve took a bite. As a woman I can speak for temptation. Speaking for myself, if I have a bar of chocolate in the closet and someone tells me not to eat it for, I will die then I can resist for quite some time. Now, I do get bored of eating the same food, and the temptation of knowledge would be powerful, so I can grasp how after time that conviction may falter. It could have been 1,000 years that she resisted or maybe even 10,000 years. Time within the garden doesn’t count. Once they entered the world and was evicted from the garden began the countdown to Jesus coming. Old Earth makes the most rational mix between God and science. I cannot believe in Evolutionary theory. While I hold that a God created the world, science does not support to me that I can light a firecracker in the street and create anything aside from a mess. Something does not develop from nothing. While, I have found the old earth to be true for me, I cannot help but wonder if young earth is the theory for those with the most faith. I find myself more as doubting Thomas who stated, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe” (NIV Bible et al., 2007, John 20:25).  Young Earth theory takes a significant amount of faith to believe.

Impact of Current Understanding

    The nature of God can vary based on the worldview of the individual describing God. Some would remark on God’s love or kindness or faithfulness. While God possesses these characteristics, he also displays equal and opposite characteristics throughout the Old Testament. He often would destroy those who sinned, and He hardened hearts in Pharoah and Judas to accomplish His end goal. All of this falls within His right as Sovereign Creator. He has supreme authority, and is the Potter who uses His vessels for many purposes. These understanding leads one to have a different viewpoint on the nature of humanity. The Bible teaches that we are created in God’s image which for some changes the way they view people. The view that everyone has value is a predominant viewpoint among Christians. While this was God’s original plan, sin changed that viewpoint. In the Old Testament, God repeatedly called for destruction. In Joshua 6:21, “They devoted the city to the Lord and destroyed with the sword every living thing in it-men and women, young and old, cattle, sheep and donkeys” (NIV Bible et al., 2007, Joshua 6:21).  When they disobeyed God brought punishment that led to a man named Achan being stoned and burned. God’s viewpoint was on the eradication of sin. If Israel had faithfully followed God’s commands in the Old Testament, many people would not exist today. Entire tribes and races should not be here. Understanding how we are responsible for the care of the earth is also part of the Genesis story. We were given commands to have dominion and to work to care for the Earth in the original plan. This command has not changed and the call to arms exists even today. Within the Catholic church, “The Greek Ecumenical Patriarch, Bartholomew, is the first one in the Christian world to draw the attention of the world community to the seriousness of the ecological problem. He describes our current destruction of the environment as ‘ecological sin’ and “crime against creation” (Yaw Blasu et al., 2017).  God has demanded we care for the Earth. It is sometimes difficult to follow as the Earth will be destroyed and replaced with a new Earth someday. It seems pointless, but then one must remember God is Sovereign. Do it anyway.

 

 

References

NIV Bible. (2007). Tyndale house Publishers

 

Henes, D., & Spearing, C. (2018). A Seminole Creation Story. Cricket Media.

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Yaw Blasu, E. (2017). Our Earth, Our Responsibility. Evangelical Review of Theology, 41(3), 254–268.

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