Tough questions on Science and the Bible - understanding how the Bible was written
I have been putting up a couple of posts lately on the different caves in my area and the various pre-human species that have been found there and studied. These specimens are often seen as the so called missing links of human evolution.
Making posts that feature aspects of human evolution are seen by some to contrast with many of the ideas I hold dear and post about regarding religion.
One of the users on steemit contacted me on steem chat and made a simple observation as well as asking me a pertinent question. I quote below:
“How a Christian can believe in evolution is beyond me”
“Either you believe the bible or you don't, simple”
“If you don't believe the bible (creation v evolution) then I have a question - how do you choose what to believe and what to ignore? You must have devised a method/formula for this and I would like to know what it is.”
These questions initiated a lengthy discussion that I am sure will continue for some time to come.
The discussion prompted me to write somewhat on this exact question.
These are all relevant questions which every Christian, that has an interest in science, will need to ponder over many times if they decide there is a disconnect between what they read in the bible and what the world around them has uncovered via the scientific method.
Over the next couple of posts I will put up my thoughts on these matters starting with a little foundational groundwork.
The obvious place to begin is with the bible.
By NYC Wanderer (Kevin Eng) - originally posted to Flickr as Gutenberg Bible, CC BY-SA 2.0, Link
The Bible is very different from any other book you will ever read or even study.
- It has stories but it is not a story book.
- It has romance, infidelity, intrigue, and murder, but it is not a novel.
- It mentions historical events but it is not a history.
- It describes observed and even supernatural phenomena but it is not a scientific text.
Neither were its contributors intending only to be story writers, novelists, historians or scientists.
It was written in most cases to be scripture and scripture has a very different purpose and intent.
Scripture is intended to be studied and cherished. It is meant to convey principles in many ways and on many levels. It is designed to provide the serious seeker, and the diligent scholar with a lifetime of rewards. It is meant to inspire questioning, to prompt pondering and deep reflection.
In short, it’s not just a book, to be skimmed over for entertainment or the simple gaining of knowledge.
If you approach it superficially you may find some stories, a little history, some perplexing phenomena and more than an intrigue, murder and infidelity or two, but you will have missed the real gems.
Many of the books of the bible where carefully and painstakingly written.
We know at the time of writing, the creation and dissemination of written works was not so easy or simple as it has been the last few centuries.
There were no printing presses, copies of written works were produced by hand and therefore comparatively rare and expensive by today’s standards. It most definitely was not as simple as climbing on the computer, spending a couple of hours typing up a post, clicking the submit button and thereby distributing it to a global audience at the speed of light.
Important works were planned, prepared, structured, and manicured to meet their intended audience.
The irrefutable evidence of this is to be found in the scripture itself. There as subtle structures there, which are unnoticed by the superficial reader, that have survived thousands of years of copying, transmission and translation into multiple languages.
These are a subtle but ancient writing and teaching pattern. As modern day readers unless trained to look for these teaching elements we miss them entirely. They intriguingly mostly survive transmission and translation because they involve principles and concept more than specific words and meanings.
So even if a translation is poor, if the basic concepts and order are preserved these teaching structures are preserved.
Today I will discuss two. Chiasmus and Parallels.
As modern readers we are used to poetic devices like rhyme and rhythm.
In ancient Hebrew (in which much of the Old Testament was written) more common literary devices are chiasms and parallels.
Chiasmus.
Is when concepts are repeated, but in reverse order. A – B = B – A
I quote a simple and well known one from the New Testament that many are likely to be familiar with.
Matthew 19:30
But many that are first shall be last; and the last shall be first.
Mark 10:31
But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.
Luke 13:30
And, behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last
Here we can see the repeated elements are the concept of FIRST and LAST and they are repeated in reverse order with LAST and then FIRST etc.
This is more likely to be familiar to us because repetition aids memory and it also creates emphasis. The repeating elements also contain a paradox which make them further stand out and more memorable.
Parallels
Have similar repeated elements A - B = A - B, except in the care of parallels the order remains the same. The order is not reversed as in a chiasm.
These repeating element can be extremely complex. The chiasm listed above is very simple, spanning only one verse and involving two repeated elements.
Some may be highly complex involving more than 12 elements, span many verses and even entire chapters.
Isaiah, which for most modern readers is one of the most difficult books of the Bible to read and understand is full of such complex and ancient linguistic devices. We may find it dense but to its ancient audience it was extremely beautiful and instructive in its complexity.
If you want to understand Isaiah you need to learn how to identify these devices and then the book takes on a whole new meaning. Entire books and web sites are devoted to the subject.
Below is a link to a lengthy page devoted to just one repeated theme spanning a few chapters of Isaiah to illustrate the point.
http://www.isaiahexplained.com/legacy/ChaosCreationChiasim.html
Below is a link to a page with details of 81 chiasms and parallels found in the book of Isaiah
http://www.bible.literarystructure.info/bible/23_Isaiah_pericope_e.html
Even small books like Daniel contain such elements
http://www.bible.literarystructure.info/bible/27_Daniel_pericope_e.html#1
Many of us are familiar with the stories of Daniel taught to us as children. His interpretations of visions and prophesies, but how many noticed the onion layered teaching methods employed in the narration of these stories?
The Old Testament is full of such complex and ancient literary devices. Their complexity and intricacy indicate the attention to detail, care and thoughtfulness that was put into writing scripture.
Thanks for tackling this @gavvet. It's a great topic.
While the Bible as a whole isn't any one literary structure, it is in segments. And many authors did write for specific purposes, such as recording history. The books of Kings, Chronicles and both books by Luke are written as historical documents. Kings and Chronicles were written from two different perspectives, providing a somewhat unbiased and sometimes incredibly honest look at the kings of Judah and Israel. While Scriptural, they are historical documents. Luke wrote to provide an account to Theophilus, which he states in both of his books.
Other books provide history, but mix more doctrine and specific teaching. This is particularly true of the pentateuch. And some don't really use devices like chiasms and parallelism, except maybe in specific quotes.
These unique variables within the Bible, written by some 40 authors at various times and exposing their personalities while maintaining their complementary nature and avoiding contradiction, is what makes the Bible both a whole unit and individual ones. And it dictates that some genres be handled differently than others. A great example would be the contrast between how we apply Proverbs and something more didactic/doctrinal, like one of Paul's epistles.
Specifically on the origins discussion, any perspective that defies the simple wording of the creation account is like pulling on a thread in an expensive wool sweater. Eventually the entire structure will fall apart.
The language of Genesis 1 is very clear. And the word for day (yom), if it is modified, never means anything other than a solar day. In the creation account, it is very clearly modified, in two different ways - by the day number and by evening and morning.
Perhaps more importantly, you cannot have original sin if you do not have a literal creation. Death entered the world through sin. Evolution demands death from the first spark of life until the first biped, destroying the very concept of original sin and it's implications. Without original sin, there is no atonement, imputation and salvation become a abstract ideas fit only for philosophers, since it no longer is truly a theological construct.
While I consider the last point the most important, and the prior one irrefutable, from a biblical perspective, from a scientific one, there is no proof of evolution. There is only conjecture. Sure, scientists have provided idea after idea. But, while they'd like to say there is a missing "link", the fact is that there is no real link at all. There's a huge gap that they can only propose ideas to cover. And their ideas are constantly being proven false, because they are just that, ideas - with no truly historical or scientific basis.
Obviously you'll provide your findings from your perspective. Maybe (or maybe not :) ) the challenges I've laid out will be of some use. I look forward to your insights.
Thanks for an engaging comment, I look forward to you future comments on further installments.
@gavvet
I know i have critisized your stuff in the past but I did so because you claim your God to be true. In this one you are correct. You can believe whatever you want to believe and surely scripture has nothing to do with evolution but rather interpetation. Trying to connect evolution and the bible is something neo-atheists say over and over again to gain petty arguments.
Having said that the bible, most likely, was not written by Mark, Luke, Paul.... These people according to some Jewish scholars represent eras. This is why you get so vastly different accounts about the ressurection for example.
Also, here is a Catholic biologist explaining evolution, debunking creationist notions
The Bible is not an historic book, is an esoteric book, write from initiate to initiate, jewish people were workers of egyptians that used symbols o hieroglyphs, and all the Bible was written in symbols. Many wars that appeared, talking about a spiritual job.
Thank you @gavvet for such an awesome post and we should talk about this kind of articles more often as looking towards the society and environment we live in today this holy scriptures can make a big difference in a person life. Can't wait to read more and talk about it.
@gavvet I would like to add one scripture how bible can benefit us all, 2Ti 3:16 All Scripture is inspired of God and beneficial for teaching, for reproving, for setting things straight, for disciplining in righteousness.
Very relevant to the current discussion, thanks.
I only have one thing to say on this topic is that every single DNA experts will tell you that human DNA has never evolved. It could not have evolved us from apes to human even if we was on this planet for billions of years. Evolution is not a FACT! Its just a theory that has been proven wrong for many years. Thing is the true rulers of this world wont tell us the truth, so all we have to go by is theories. Even most of Einstein's theories was proven wrong by Nicola Tesla and Einstein admitted it. Si ce Tesla exposed Einstein as a quack, the True Rulers all but erased Tesla and forced him to die pennyless and alone. The smartest scientists to ever live, ever.
I wasn't going to comment on this post. (this topic tends to get out of hand quick) Even though I believe the bible to be God's word and is to be understood and read literally within the authors defined terms. I believe that scripture is not to be understood by ones own understanding "ie, I think what this passage says to me. NO!", this is exactly how and why we have so many different denominations of christianity / "sudo Catholicism" ( they never finished the Reformation and still hold on to many pagan traditions every year and say they are doing it in God's name, which God clearly states hates people doing with his name.) I agree with your points on what DNA can and cannot do as well as evolution being wrong. These are simply one of many lies being pushed by our fraudulent education system. How can I say its fraudulent, by simply referring too those two very critical points; Tesla and the lack of knowledge as to who Tesla is and who Einstein is and how much his name is lifted up over Tesla. A man who never tested a single freaking theory of his own is held higher than the man who not only challenged him but proved him wrong, mathematically and by practical experimentation. The rest is Jesuit priest infiltrating every aspect of society to twist God's word and mans outlook on God. I completely disagree with the notion that evolution is a mechanism that God uses. Mostly because scripture flat out disagrees so many times in so many places. The very word evolution has "mutated" into this blanket term which covers many definitions and terms that were never apart of the original definition "change". Adaptation is not the same as what Evolution claims, yes changes occur but these changes never lead one kind of animal out of its family kind into another. An easy example is Dogs; they breed often and with ever new litter of pups not a single one of them is anywhere closer to becoming a Cat or a Horse because the genetic information is simply not there. Another example is more well known is the Liger, half lion half tiger both part of the same feline family. Cannot evolve without the necessary genetic information to turn on those traits.
"As it was in the days of Noah." People need to carefully examine this warning because it is happening again now. All flesh was corrupt before by the mingling of fallen angles an man.
It truly is an information war and not a fleshly one. The devil who is trying to out god God by counterfeiting everything he does, so by that understanding its obvious that many of these lies are going to look a lot like Christ's teachings as well as barrow from the foundation of Creationism to formulate a fraud.
These are just my beliefs and opinions that I know many will disagree even fellow Christians. So as the good book teaches, Test all things.
This will be a very interesting series of posts to follow.
Thank you for taking the time to research and make these posts. I look forward to reading the entire series.
Steem on,
Mike
Lets see how it unfolds.
One of the features that also make it unique is the fact that it is an unapologetic statement for a particular world view. That view emanates from the first sentence of the book: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." This profound declaration sets the stakes:
And then it begs a great many more profound questions for deep reflection. These questions are greatly enhanced by our expanding understanding of the universe we live in, and our improving observations of it. These questions span all of human knowledge. There is unlikely to be any single person that can circumscribe every facet of it.
I never tire of returning to this topic; looking forward to the coming discussion.
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Just as a side topic, where does the Apocrypha fit in here? Were they part of the books excluded in Nicaea or were those other books?
The term Apocrypha is applied quite loosely depending on from who's perspective and their separate histories are more complex than the simple council of Nicaea.
isnt the apocalypse stuff mostly a catholic thing?
No. The apocalypse permeates the entire Bible, both Old and New Testaments. You can find it in Isaiah, Joel, Job, Daniel, Zechariah, and the writings of Paul, John, Luke, Mark and Peter, to name a few. It was all written from 400 to 1000 years before the bishops of Rome gained "universal" authority.