Fat Bible Bloke's Blog

So did Charles Darwin believe in God? Actually, for most of his life he did; but he did begin to think that God might have, sort of, set the universe running and then sorting itself out and making itself better. He did stop believing in God when his daughter, Anne Elizabeth, died at the age of 10. She is buried in the graveyard of Great Malvern Priory. Her dad had taken her there to drink the "healthy waters". He was heart-broken when it didn't work.  That must have been tough for him. So it was then that Mr Darwin set out to prove the Bible was rubbish? NO, NO and a thousand times, NO! He knew that his ideas would upset some people and he was saddened by that. But most Christians thought he was simply explaining how God created , not disproving it. For Darwin, it all started with an invitation to take a trip on a boat. HMS Beagle Captain Robert Fitzroy's Second expedition set sail 27th December 1831. Returned to England 2nd October 1836 ...

But what about God creating humans? But animals first, remember? Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small”; and it was done. So God made them all, and he was pleased with what he saw. Go on; show me some really weird animals! O.K. You asked for it! Thylacine (extinct) Aye-aye Colugo Glis-glis Bilby Dugong Human The wierd human is Carl von Linné [Linnaeus], born 1707, died 1778. He invented the system for naming all living creatures. In his system, the thylacine is (was!) "thylacinus cynosephalus", the glis-glis is "myoxus glis", the human is "homo sapiens"; that means "wise man". So man is just a clever monkey, right? In fact, that is one of the most misleading pictures that have even been drawn. As usual, various clever people don't agree completely but a simple explanation might be that man [homo sapiens] and the family of ape...

Life has Landed and humans represent a very small selection of vertebrates, which in turn makes up only about one hundredth of all the living creatures on earth. Then God commanded, “Let the water be filled with many kinds of living beings, and let the air be filled with birds.” So God created the great sea monsters, all kinds of creatures that live in the water, and all kinds of birds. And God was pleased with what he saw. He blessed them all and told the creatures that live in the water to reproduce and to fill the sea, and he told the birds to increase in number. Then God commanded, “Let the earth produce all kinds of animal life: domestic and wild, large and small" and it was done. But surely, everything evolved. Nothing to do with God?  1  is algae, descended from that primeval slime - the very beginnings of life.  2  is a sea cucumber; an animal but not much more than a tube; with food in at the front and poo out at the back. It has no...

That's Life! It was a popular TV programme once; but we're looking at how science grapples with the origin of life itself. OK so far. So where did life come from? . A Russian - Born 1894; Died 1980 This man came up with the idea of a primeval soup , a sort of sea of sludge. With all the heat, and great meteors crashing into the fiery hot earth, he guessed that the chemicals of life might mix and change and some sort of living slime might "appear" Doesn't sound very much like life as we know it! To continue ... In 1953 a research student (in America) set up an experiment to see what would happen if he used high voltage electric sparks and high pressure to try to "stir up" certain basic chemicals. Would this home-made "primeval soup" eventually become alive?  A bit like Frankenstein's monster creature? Maybe, but it didn't really work. And so far no-one has been able to "create" life! Some scientists suggest that li...

So, do you want the science first; or the Bible? Of course, the science! To help you understand, you need to buy a spaceship! And a time machine, and set the controls to take you back to about 3 seconds after the "big bang". Well, try to imagine the impossible. How far back must we go? Not far! Scientists reckon about 13.7 billion years. That's 13,700,000,000 years! Look out of your porthole, and what will you see? Cool! No, very hot actually! A few seconds after the "big bang", the whole of space was filled with brilliantly glowing and very hot particles of light . (They're called "photons", if you want the scientific term.) Photons, 13,7 billion years and what does the Bible say? In the beginning, when God created the universe, the earth was formless and desolate. The raging ocean that covered everything was engulfed in total darkness, and the Spirit of God was moving over the waters. Then God commanded, “Let there be light...

So what about God?  Is this what he looks like? Can anyone believe in a very old man on a cloud these days? No real believer EVER thinks of God like that. But back in history some of our big-name artists were expected to paint murals and canvasses with images of God. How could they illustrate an almighty and all-powerful being? When Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (it took him four years from 1508 to 1512)  he painted God as a huge, powerful and elderly human. The enlargement above shows God creating the sun! And this, from the same place, is God, with angels, creating Adam. Can you find it in the main ceiling picture? It was the best they could imagine; and certainly the only way they could think of painting God.   So, is this what he looks like? Of course not; but it might give some clues about God. It's a picture, an attempt to communicate a supernatural idea to an insignificant human. When I look at the sky, which you have made, at the ...