ESSAY by OLDMAN (faith and origins)

I believe in God. And I believe that God has created this world and

all that we see around us. I guess that makes me a creationist. When

I first started on talk.origins I was asked a number of times to

explain the mechanism that God used in his creation. I had no answer

then. But I have thought long and hard on that and would like to take

a stab at explaining that now.

First of all I would like to take a moment to explain my qualifications

for offering this explanation. My extensive training in science

includes high school biology, chemistry and physics as well as a marine

science class in college many many years ago. Plus I like to read.

That should make me imminently qualified to offer expert opinions in

all sorts of scientific fields. Actually, and especially since I

remember little of my science schooling, it makes me very dependant on

others who are actually working researchers and/or scientists. I have

no way of being able to personally judge the truth of the claims that

are made in any of the myriad fields of scientific study. The other

thing that I bring to this is a deep love for God and a reverence for

his word, the Bible. I have no formal theological training but I have

invested a significant portion of my life in studying God's word and

seeking to understand it's relevance for my life. It is from these

two perspectives that I have sought to develop an understanding of

origins.

So how did God create the universe? While there are many ideas as to

how the universe began I am quite comfortable with it beginning 13.9

BYA in what is commonly called the 'Big Bang'. Alternatively I

suppose any of the oscillating or brane world theories would work just

as well. Within the 'Big Bang' model God would have provided the

highly compressed matter and energy that provides all of the matter and

energy that continues to drive the universe. In addition he

established the basic forces of nature like gravity, electro-magnetism,

relativity and quantum mechanics. How he did that I have no idea. I

am willing to just say 'God did it'. That doesn't mean that we

will never come to a better understanding of how it came to pass, and I

am not trying to fit God into some gap in our understanding. But it is

currently a mystery to me. And I believe that God is ultimately behind

it all.

From that point, the moment of creation, the universe has worked

according to the natural laws put into place at creation. That

includes a very rapid expansion and cooling period until the lighter

elements began to form. The formation of stars under the influence of

gravity, the forming of heavier elements in the ovens of super-nova

stars, and eventually the formation of 2nd and 3rd generation stars

with rocky planets. Eventually one of these rocky planets, among

potentially a billion billion or more other rocky planets ended up at

just the right distance from a star of just the right size and

composition and in just the right part of a galaxy. On this planet,

and potentially many others, the conditions were found that allowed

life to come into being. This life evolved along with the planet it

called home, producing the wide array of life that we see around us

today. At some point in the development of life on this particular

planet a species eventually evolved to the point that it became capable

of communication with God. And he then endowed that life with an

eternal spirit and began to reveal himself to us.

So did God create me? I would say yes he did. He did it using the

tools and process that he put into place way back at the beginning of

the universe. But to me, that does not take away from his work in

creation. If anything it enhances it. God was able to build a self

contained system that would guarantee that life, capable of

communication with him, would ultimately come into being. No guarantee

that it would look like it does or be in the place it is. But that

that life would come to be.

Although I believe that God is quite capable of creating the universe

fully formed and populated in 6 days, or in an instant for that matter,

it does not appear like it happened that way. The evidence that we see

all around us points to a very old universe and earth. It also points

to many more species, mostly extinct, than would be required if God was

creating each individual species as is. As a Christian, I do not

believe we have anything to fear from science or from the discovery of

how this world works or came to be. Even if those discoveries are

contrary to what I grew up with. The church before the time of

Copernicus is an example. They believed something that was later

proven to be scientifically incorrect and fought hard to hold on to

that. Yet in the end we have come to embrace the reality that the

universe does not revolve around the earth. I believe the same thing

is true today. While many are fighting against advances in science

that seem like a threat to us, in the end the truth will win out.

Romans 1:19-20 is often quoted here. But I believe Ray misses a lot of

its meaning. "Because that which may be known of God is manifest in

them; for God hath showed it unto them. For the invisible things of him

from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by

the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that

they are without excuse:" To me, this verse challenges us to look at

the creation and see how it is made. God wants us to be able to figure

out how it works. And in that knowledge, we should recognize his

handiwork in his creation. Please continue to research and come to

grips with how this universe works, including the diversity of life on

earth. While I reject the atheistic world view that many of you hold,

I do not believe that invalidates the truth coming out of science or is

any reason for me to reject it. Thanks again to all of you who have

been willing to help in my education. It is helping me to grow in the

knowledge of my Creator.