 |
| photo courtesy of www.freeimages.com |
To many modern Christian leaders, pastors, and theologians the first chapter of Genesis is extremely puzzling. Many possible interpretations are offered but most theologians are sure that no one can know exactly which interpretation is the correct one. These scholarly men and women recognize all the hidden nuances of the story in Genesis. Such an impressive group of Bible-believing Christian thinkers have discovered many possible ways of interpreting the passage; ways that have remained hidden from the common, less-academic Christian and Jew for millennia and have only recently come to light through diligent study of all kinds of secular scientific theories. Instead of making the mistake of simply taking Genesis one at face value, these scholars have come to understand what has eluded the general Bible reader for thousands of years, i.e. God didn't create the entire universe in six, literal, twenty-four hour days approximately 6,000 years ago. Through the rigorous study of all kinds of evolutionary scientific evidences for billions of years of history these Bible scholars have discovered that there are really multiple ways of looking at Genesis. These various interpretations of the creation account in Genesis mysteriously began at the same time that geological evolution was first proposed. What a strange coincidence. The regular Christians like you and me, who are interested in the origin of the universe and all that is in it, owe a debt of gratitude to these modern Christian scholars for helping us to see that we've been mistaken all along. It's not our fault really. We were actually mislead by the text of Genesis that seemed so clear and easily understood to us. We took the words at face-value. What a bunch of simpletons we have been. But thanks to progressive creationists and theistic evolutionists we have been liberated from having to remain in ignorance. I feel so much better knowing that, according to these Christian leaders, I can't know what Genesis one actually means. How comforting. My faith in the word of God is bolstered by the fact that, even though no one can know for sure what the first chapter of Genesis means, everyone can be assured that it doesn't mean what it actually says. Now that I know that I was foolishly deceived by the text of the Bible when it told me about creation, I wonder if I have also been duped by the text of the Bible when it tells me about Jesus' resurrection?