Would You Adam and Eve it? [1]

O.K. Eden might be real; but no-one was there to check on Adam and Eve!

Quite right; but no-one was there to see the creation; but the Bible seems pretty close. But does it really matter? The Important thing is what the story actually means. It explains how things started going wrong; not perfect for ever.

And did they have apples, then?

The Bible doesn't say it's an apple; never has done. It says "fruit".

Whoops, wrong yet again!

Over the years, lots of people have tried to illustrate the story of "The Fall", as it is called.

Look at that weird picture!

"The Garden of Eden" - painted by Lucas Cranach; born 1472, died 1553.

Lucas Cranach the Elder (Lucas Cranach der Ältere, 4 October 1472 – 16 October 1553), was a German Renaissance painter and printmaker in woodcut and engraving. He was court painter to the Electors of Saxony for most of his career, and is known for his portraits, both of German princes and those of the leaders of the Protestant Reformation, whose cause he embraced with enthusiasm, becoming a close friend of Martin Luther. He also painted religious subjects, first in the Catholic tradition, and later trying to find new ways of conveying Lutheran religious concerns in art.

He didn't paint the numbers in circles; that's to help people understand!

This fine old gent tried to imagine the story of Adam and Eve. He painted a sort of medieval cartoon strip; with bits of the story scattered around. We can match the numbers with main events of the story.

EPISODE 1 : God makes a man.

EPISODE 2 : God makes a woman "out of man" to be his partner.

EPISODE 3 : God tells them not to eat from the tree that brings knowledge of good and evil

EPISODE 4 : The woman is tempted, eats and gives some to the man.

EPISODE 5 : They are ashamed and hide from God.

EPISODE 6 : God punishes them and sends them out of the garden.

The picture seems crazy to you and me; see God as the wise old man again. But it was Mr Cranach's best attempt to explain the story in one hit.

So now for the sermon, I suppose. What does it all mean?

We will understand that by thinking about the actual words in the Bible story. And be ready to think again.

You keep making this really hard work.

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 1st November 

Another Eden?

What, on Earth, Went Wrong?

We're answering your question (and the one in the little poem), namely; if God made everything so lovely and perfect, why is everything so unlovely and so imperfect in the world today?

Yes, and if it's awful, why doesn't God do something to make it better?

Which is why we need to go to the Garden of Eden.

Surely there wasn't a real place. It's just a story, isn't it?

The Bible actually tells us where the Garden is - or was.

A stream flowed in Eden and watered the garden; beyond Eden it divided into four rivers. The first river is the Pishon; it flows around the country of Havilah. (Pure gold is found there and also rare perfume and precious stones.) The second river is the Gihon; it flows around the country of Cush. The third river is the Tigris, which flows east of Assyria, and the fourth river is the Euphrates.

 So get the map! ...

And tell me more.

People have argued for centuries about where the Garden of Eden was. A Professor Juris Zarins (born 1945 in Germany but now a Professor in America) ...

... reckons that the priginal Eden is now below the waters of the Persian Gulf. (the shaded bit) The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are still flowing today but the other two have disappeared. The prof has taken photos from planes and reckons that the Pishon and Gihon are now dried-up river valleys as shown on the map. Other archaeologists don't agree with him, however.

OK. So there might have been a real Eden. But you cannot be serious about there being just one man and one woman to start it all off. It's too far-fetched to say that Adam and Eve were real people.

Are you watching Andrew Marr's "History of the World" on Sunday evenings.

No fear; homework to finish!

He reminded me of "Mitochondrial Eve"

Seriously?

In 1987, a group of geneticists published a surprising study in the journal Nature. The researchers examined the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) taken from 147 people across all of today's major racial groups. These researchers found that the lineage of all people alive today falls on one of two branches in humanity's family tree. One of these branches consists of nothing but African lineage, the other contains all other groups, including some African lineage. Even more impressive, the geneticists concluded that every person on Earth right now can trace his or her lineage back to a single common female ancestor who lived around 200,000 years ago.

Yes, yes, yes. That may well be a genetical fact, but you can't expand that to include apples, snakes and God walking about round the Persian gulf, can you?

We'll have a look next Tuesday.

By the way, who wrote that poem? [click on "What on Earth Went Wrong? - on the right] Was it you; or did you pinch it from someone else?

No comment!

[fbb has a Friday morning club to run, chunks of family invading the peace and quiet of the fbb family pile for half term and Sunday service to orgainse. Hence no Sunday bible Blog this week.  It's all go!]

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 30th October 

What, on Earth, Went Wrong?

THE COMPUTER OF THE MIND

"Where DID we come from," asked young Tim,

"I'd really like to know,

Not mum (and dad) - that sort of thing -

But years and years ago?"

The magic screen beside Tim's bed,

A sort of television,

Read the thoughts from in his head

With incredible precision.

The picture buzzed and squeaked and fuzzed

Yet stayed completely black.

"There's nothing there, maybe it's bust!"

Tim gave it a mighty smack!

Still nothing changed; then words shone out

Scrolling past in red.

"In the beginning there was nowt,

Nothing, zilch," they said.

"Let light appear!" - a heavenly sound

Boomed out all over the place.

From just a dot, then all around,

This light filled all of space.

A heavenly silver glistening light

Shone and gleamed a swirled.

The Voice again spoke out with might,

"Let's now create a world!"

Eddies came and span around,

A shapeless blob displayed.

Volcanic fire, exploding ground...

Young Tim was quite afraid.

But as he watched, the blob cooled down

To obvious shapes and forms;

Rivers and hills and sea and ground

But still with violent storms.

Next bit was weird, 'cos Tim had seen

The globe was changing fast.

What once glowed red was turning green,

The land was rich with grass!

The sky had cleared, the storms had gone;

It was a gorgeous blue.

A sun appeared - with warmth it shone

Brightly with brilliant hue.

The world was spinning very smooth,

Turning once each "day" -

Half with sun and half with moon

And stars to guide the way.

A closer glance revealed the sea

And it was changing, too.

Living creatures Tim could see

Were swimming in the blue.

Serpent things and fish and whales

Occupied the brine;

A million creatures, most with scales,

Appearing all the time.

Next the strangest thing occurred -

From water creatures crawled;

And, smooth with skin or thickly furred,

They formed the animal world.

The powerful Voice spoke out once more,

Expressing cheerful joy.

"Now I'll confess what this world's for -

It's home for girl and boy!"

From dirt and dust and sand and grit

A form was taking shape.

Tim thought he guessed the size of it -

A sort of naked ape!

But no; it stood erect and strong;

It was a man (like Tim)

And then a female came along

Companion just for him.

"Go out and multiply!" said Lord,

"This world is all for you,

It's pure and safe; you'll not be bored

We'll have adventures too."

The Lord proclaimed he'd done his best;

He'd done it very well

"And now I think I'll take a rest.

That's good for man as well!"

The screen went dim, his "box" closed down.

Tim hummed a happy song!

"A perfect world," thought Tim, then frowned -

"So what, on earth, went wrong?"

"Good Question, eh?"
"If God is good and lovely; and creation is wonderful; then why DO things go wrong?"
"Why doesn't God DO something?"

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 25th October 

And God Said ...

A spooky bit of Science.

That's Felix Whatshisname's balloon; the man who jumped out 24 miles up. Don't tell me that's got something to do with the Bible?

I said this was a spooky bit of science and you'll probably think it's even more far fetched but ...

... do you remember this?

Er, possibly? It's a map of the sky showing radiation stuff that proves that we had a big bang ...

Big inflation!

... OK big inflation; a beginning, something from nothing, just like the Bible says.

Absolutely, but why is it speckled.

I guess because it's got lumpy bits in it.

And those lumpy bits of matter sort of clumped together to form stars and, eventually, planet Earth. Remember, stuff condensed like steam on a cold window.

So it's lumpy - so what?

Well it shouldn't be lumpy. All the calculations, all the clever maths, points to a nice smooth inflation.

But if there weren't lumps we wouldn't be here talking about it! Now that is spooky.

But it gets even spookier. To investigate the lumps, they sent a balloon up ...

click on the picture to see it enlarged

... and they did even more tricky calculations ...

..and found that the lumpiness was caused by sound waves!

Sound? Where from? Space is empty!

Go on, what does the bible say?

Surely not? That's really weird!

Then God said, “Let there be light”

Then God said, “Let there be a dome ..."

Then God said, “Let the water come together ..."

Then God said, “Let lights appear in the sky ... "

Then God said, “Let the water be filled ..."

Then God said, “And now we will make human beings"

Are you telling me that the lumpiness is scientifically proved to be the Voice of God?

I couldn't claim that; not yet at least. BUT, yet again, it shows that the people who wrote the Bible down seemed to have a pretty good idea about things which would not be discovered for another 4000 years. If nothing else it IS spooky.

Can we have something nice and simple please. My brain is hurting even more!

Yes. On Tuesday a simple little poem!

Cool!

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 23rd October 

What a Difference a Day Makes!

Six Days or 13.7 billion years?

What a difference a day makes
Twenty-four little hours
Brought the sun and the flowers
Where there used to be nought

And so the whole universe was completed. By the seventh day God finished what he had been doing and stopped working. He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day, because by that day he had completed his creation and stopped working. And that is how the universe was created.

Well, you said you'd try to get out of this one.

I've got a questions for you.

Do I see a trick question coming?

Not at all; a very factual question. When Mrs Armitage next door had her baby girl last year what did you pop through the letter box?

A card, of course.

A what was the picture on the card?

It was a stork, carrying a baby.

Why?

You wouldn't send a picture of mum in the delivery room, would you? Best wishes, Mrs Armitage, glad to see you successfully had sex with Mr Armitrage! Its just a simple baby-ish picture to show where kids come from without the messy bit.

So how would you explain the hugeness of the origin of the universe to people who knew nothing of modern cosmology? You would use a simple picture.

Six days?

And another question: how long is a day?

I'm sure that '24 hours' must be the WRONG answer!

The planet Venus rotates slowly, so a "day" there is about 243 days on earth! Plenty of time each day, then, for homework!"

Plenty of time for playing MP3 tracks!

Out in the universe a "day" could be any length you could imagine.and certainly any length that an infinite God might choose! Even the bible says:-

A thousand years is like a day in God's sight

There's no reason for "God days" to be the same as "earth days". If there is a God then he is outside of space and time. That's what "God" means. So God could, in theory, have created everything instantly. That's what it would seem like to us. God doesn't need days!

I'm beginning to understand.

And one last thing. What does the Bible actually say? And not what you think it says.

"On day one God created light", doesn't it?

Evening passed and morning came—that was the first day.

Evening passed and morning came—that was the second day.

Evening passed and morning came—that was the third day.

O K, I get the point. But I never really noticed. From evening to morning is one night, not even 24 hours. Now I am confused. I never realised ...

And those are the words used in ancient Hebrew as well. There is not the slightest reason to think that the words of Genesis Chapter 1 were ever meant to be taken literally. People in the past have chosen to take them literally, perhaps because it was easier for them to understand. Remember, time is irrelevant to an infinite God.

My brain hurts!

And how about this for a spooky thought? An infinite God could have created the whole universe right now in the last second. He could have put all history and scientific discovery in the brains of humans so we think it's old and we think we know stuff.

That's ridiculous.

How would you know if he did? And there's something even more spooky ... but that can wait until Sunday.

 Next Bible Blog : Sunday 21st October 

Nature or Nurture? Chance or Plan?

I'm getting more and more confused

And I'm not surprised.

People say that Darwin explained everything; but he didn't. Now we've got Darwin and genetics to think about. And their ideas don't match up.

And neither can explain everything. Neither debate explains how a sea cucumber might sprout a couple of eyes!

Or even why giraffes have long necks.

Come on, that's easy; it's so they can reach tasty stuff high up in trees.

Really? Have you ever seen a Giraffe drink? A long neck is a disadvantage here!

Ouch! That looks painful! O.K. What do you believe, Mr Clever?

Simple answer or complicated answer?

Simple per-lease!

The Bible wasn't interested in how God made the world, plants and you and me. The writers, probably around 4,000 years ago, had no knowledge of modern science; but they were keen to show that the beginning of life, the universe and everything was part of a grand plan and not a freak accident.

But they didn't really understand the plan. Anyway, I don't feel like a freak accident.

Correct.

So they had a good guess?

Which turned out to be a remarkably good guess. Believers would say that they were "in-spired"; that an infinite God breathed the ideas into mens' minds.

As in "re-spiration" and "ex-spired"? A bit far-fetched, isn't it?

How else do you explain it?

GOD : The earth was formless and empty.
SCIENCE : It all came from nothing - the singularity.

GOD : Let there be light!
SCIENCE : Within seconds of the big bang the universe was full of photons - light.

GOD : Made a dome to separate the earth from the sky.
SCIENCE : Eventually stars and planets condensed to form solid masses.

GOD : Let the earth produce all kinds of plants.
SCIENCE : Simple plant life forms and develops.

GOD : Made the sun and the moon. He also made the stars.
 SCIENCE : An oxygen-rich atmosphere develops; clear blue skies. Universe "appears".

GOD : Let the waters be filled with many kinds of living beings.
SCIENCE : Animal life (fish and stuff) begins in the sea.

GOD : Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life.
SCIENCE : Land animals and, specially, man and woman.

You might just begin to convince me that God fits in there - somewhere; BUT the Bible has got one thing so wrong that I just can't accept it.

And what's that?

God created the universe in seven days.

No way! 13.7 billion years.

Well, then, we had better think about hat the Bible actually says ...

You'll have difficulty getting out of this one!

 Next Bible Blog : Thursday 18th October 

The Genes Make it Complcated

What about my genes?

They're a bit tight; and I don't like the faded bits!

Oh, hysterically funny! Genes,NOT Jeans! They say it's all in the genes! Did Darwin know about Genes?

Good question; and no, he didn't. The science of genetics had not been invented. yet.

In a way this part of the story began...

... with peas and this man:-

Gregor Johann Mendel from Silesia [Austrian Empire]
Born July 20 1822 : Died January 6 1884

Mendel was boss of this Abbey at Brno in Czecoslovakia ...

... where he experimented with peas, sweet peas, grown for their flowers, not as a vegetable. He was trying to find out why the flowers were sometimes pinky-purple and sometimes white.

Or why you have got your mum's green eyes; but you haven't got your dad's big nose!

No need to get personal!

Mendel devised a set of rules which began to explain how peas get some bits from their "mother" pea and other bits from their "father" pea.

Time to go for a 'P', then, ha ha!

But nobody took much notice of Mendel at the time. After all he was only experimenting with peas; not very important. Certainly, Darwin knew nothing of Mendel's work.

Then this man re-discovered Mendel's work and, virtually, invented the science of genetics.

William Bateson from Robin Hoods Bay, North Yorkshire
Born August 8 1861 : Died February 8 1926

And this started an whole new punch-up!

So Darwin got it all wrong, then? It's not about animals growing differently because of where they lived and what they ate. It's all in the genes.

I wish it were that simple, but it isn't. Until  Tuesday , think about this bit of the Bible [Psalm 139].

You created every part of me;
you put me together in my mother's womb.

I praise you because you are to be feared;
all you do is strange and wonderful.
I know it with all my heart.

When my bones were being formed,
carefully put together in my mother's womb,
when I was growing there in secret,
you knew that I was there;

you saw me before I was born.

 Next Bible Blog : Tuesday 16th October