Bringing Order To The Chaos: How God Created

When God created the world, he did so using various modes of creation. God’s creative activity and the methods he used to bring about the earth and humanity reveals something about the nature of God’s character.

Ex Nihilo

Ex Nihilo is a Latin phrase which put simply, means “out of nothing”. This phrase is often used to describe God’s creation of the earth and to depict the creation as out of nothing.

Though it has been much debated among scholars, prominent theologians such as Augustine, Calvin and John Wesley all support the idea of a divine creation, ex nihilo.

The opening statement in Genesis implies, if not demands, that nothing existed before God created:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”(1)

This indicates that before God created the universe, there was nothing. There were no building blocks in place for God to work with. This can be difficult for us to understand, since we cannot create without first having some materials. We are conditioned to know that ‘nothing comes from nothing’, and to understand the scientific law that ‘matter cannot be created or destroyed’. We cannot understand the idea of creation ex nihilo because it’s not natural to us. The point being, that it’s supernatural: only God can create, ex nihilo.

By Speech

Genesis 1 is very clear on one particular method of God’s creative activity: he spoke.

On each of the six days of creation, God spoke, and what he said, came into being:

“Let there be light,” and there was light (3)

“Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. (6)

“Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. (9)

“Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds.” And it was so. (11)

“Let there be lights in the vault of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years, and let them be lights in the vault of the sky to give light on the earth.” And it was so. (14-15)

“Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky.” ²¹So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems and that moves about in it, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. (20-21)

“Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild animals, each according to its kind.” And it was so. (24)

Psalms 33:6 even states that:

“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made.”

God creates through his speech. He simply vocalises his creative desire, and it comes forth.

From Dust

Though God originally created the earth from nothing, when it came to creating humanity, God formed the first man and woman from something that already existed. Genesis 2 tells us that:

“…the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground…”

Adam was fashioned from the dust of the ground, which was formed from nothing. Scholars agree that humanity was formed from the dust in order to connect humankind to the earth in a fundamental way. This idea is reinforced by the declaration that God gives in Genesis 3, after the fall:

“By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground,
since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.” (19)

“So the LORD God banished him from the Garden of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken.” (23)

Because of the inherent fallenness of humanity after Adam and Eve eat the fruit, humankind will reduce down to dust in death, because it was from dust that Adam was created – death will bring the physical body back to its original composition.

We also know from Genesis 2:19 that the animals were also formed from the dust:

“Now the LORD God had formed out of the ground all the wild animals and all the birds in the sky.”

And, that the trees were formed supernaturally from the ground, much like Adam:

“The LORD God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground” (9)

By His Breath

God also created using his breath. After Adam was fashioned from dust, God gave him the breath of life in order to bring him to life. Genesis 2 tells us that:

“God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul” (7)

Though God created Adam from the dust, it was not until He breathed into him, that he truly came to life. By filling Adam’s body with His breath, God gave Adam a divine origin, rather than just an earthly one.

Job 33:4 declares that:

“The Spirit of God has made me, And the breath of the Almighty gives me life”

And, Psalms 33:6 tells us that God breathed his breath into the universe also:

“By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth”

God’s creative activity is unique. Firstly, we must understand that in the beginning, he created from nothing – ex nihilo. Once he created matter from nothing, he then used this matter to shape the first man, and from the first man, he shaped the first woman. He also brought forth elements of the universe by simply speaking, and by penetrating the entire cosmos with his breath, thus giving life to the earth and to humanity.

If you want to celebrate God’s amazing creative activity, then please sign our petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!

What Is Green Christianity?

What Is It?

Green Christianity, in the broader sense, describes Christianity’s engagement with nature. It has come to be associated with individual Christians, and groups of Christians, who have a concern for environmental issues, and who actively reflect on nature. Their reflections are grounded in theological beliefs, and seek to represent and advocate for the environment.

Green Christianity stems from the firm belief that the environment should be protected and celebrated, because God commanded it in the Biblical account. For this reason, Green Christians put an emphasis on responsible stewardship of nature. As a result of this emphasis, Green Christians actively oppose policies and practices that bring harm or destruction to the environment.

The emphasis on human responsibility over nature is a response to Christianity’s traditional anthropocentrism – the standard tendency within Christendom to emphasise humanity, rather than nature. Green Christianity seeks to retain a focus on humanity, while also incorporating environmental concerns, and living out of a framework that is concerned with creation care.

Creation Care

Green Christianity is concerned specifically with the Biblical philosophy of stewardship.

In Genesis 1, God commanded humanity to care for the earth:

“And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.”

God has given the role of responsible dominion over to humankind. Green Christianity takes this role of stewardship very seriously, and seeks to protect and care for the environment as an act of Godly duty.

Genesis 1 also tells us that God looked at his creative work, and declared that it was ‘good’. Green Christianity recognises God’s deep love for the earth, and encourages humanity to exercise this same love, in order to honor God’s creation.

According to Psalm 24:1,

“The earth is the LORD’s, and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.”

Humans, and Christians in particular, have an inherent bond to the earth, and an obligation to conserve it, and to openly oppose any practices which abuse the earth or neglect it. Green Christians make it their business to be concerned with issues such as climate change, renewable energy solutions, the protection of natural resources, recycling, animal treatment and even family planning. Green Christianity seeks to put environmental theology into practice, and make a difference to the earth in a very practical way.

In short

Green Christianity seeks to do the following:

Celebrate both humanity and the earth, and recognise the inherent bond and mutual reliance between the two
Understand the human race and the earth as two interdependent elements of God’s creation, rather than perceiving one as being superior to the other
Promote responsible stewardship of all humans over the earth, in accordance with scripture
Seek more sustainable, renewable and peaceful ways of living on earth

Mainstream Christianity has often placed such a high priority on the salvation and care of people that it has often neglected to care for God’s creation in the wider sense. Though we must be concerned for saving souls, we must honor the entire cosmos. Remember – humans were placed last into an already established, created order. Green Christianity seeks to prioritise creation with a holistic concern for all of God’s creative work.

If you want to honor God’s creation, then start by signing our petition to make Creation Day an official holiday!

Scientific Evidence for the Parting of the Red Sea

“And Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all that night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. And the children of Israel went into the midst of the sea upon the dry ground: and the waters were a wall unto them on their right hand, and on their left.”

The story of the parting of the red sea, as described in the Hebrew Bible’s book of Exodus, has long been understood by Christian believers as a miracle – an act of God intended to deliver Israel out of Egypt. It is an archetypal event in the wider story of the Exodus, which saw the Israelites delivered from Egyptian slavery, and their entrance into the Promised Land by God, through the leadership of Moses.

However, more recent theories have begun to emerge that suggest that not only was this an act of divine providence; it also may have been due to a weather event, and artefacts may still remain which reinforce the biblical account. Some of these theories have even been put forward by scientists who believe they can place this historical event within the Biblical chronology, using scientific methods and theories.

The Red Sea

The Red Sea is a large body of water that has a surface area of approximately 169,000 miles and is over 7000 feet deep. Because of its notable mention in Exodus, the sea has come to be associated with the Bible, and with the iconic Israelites’ crossing. In the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible), the sea is referred to as ‘Red Sea’, but in the original Hebrew, the sea is referred to as ‘Yam Suph’, which can also been translated as ‘Sea of Reeds’. ‘Yam Suph’ occurs over twenty times in the Old Testament and has been traditionally understood to refer to the Red Sea. More recently, scholars have proposed that ‘Yam Suph’, may actually refer to ‘Sea of Reeds’ which is normally associated with the Nile and the story of Moses as an infant.

A physicist at Cambridge University in England travelled to the Red Sea in order to settle the matter, and found reeds growing there due to the supply of freshwater from the mountains flowing into the sea. He concluded, that for this reason, it would not be unwise to assume that “Sea of Reeds” refers to the Red Sea, and that the two names are in fact referring to the one, same body of water.

The appropriate translation for this body of water which is crossed in The Exodus is a matter of much dispute, but what is clear, is that it was a significant body of water, and one that could not be crossed without a significant event which would expose the sea floor, and allow the Israelites to walk through it.

Scientific Explanations

Wind

In 2010, American science student Carl Drew conducted research for his master’s thesis at the University of Colorado, which established the plausibility of the red sea parting, from a scientific perspective. Drew’s paper served to demonstrate that a weather event, if strong enough, could move water the volume of the red sea, causing a tunnelling effect that would allow for the human crossing described in The Exodus.

In his book Between Migdol and the Sea: Crossing the Red Sea with Faith and Science, Drews puts science behind the events of The Exodus and backs his research up with computer modelling and weather and wind simulations, showing how an atmospheric event big enough, could actually cause the parting of such a significant body of water. Drews even points out other times that this has occurred, such as in the Nile Delta just over 100 years ago. Drews concludes that according to his own model, Moses and the Israelites would have had four hours to cross the 4 kilometre stretch – ample time for them to get across. More recently, two researchers at the St. Petersburg’s Institute of Oceanography found similar results; the pair analysed the Red Sea crossing and calculated that a wind blowing at 67 miles per hour could have exposed the seabed, if it maintained the speed overnight.

Egyptian Remains

A startling piece of evidence that has rose to prominence, particularly on the internet, has been the discovery of what is believed to be the remains of chariot wheels on the floor of the Red Sea. According to proponents of the discovery, these findings confirm the Biblical account of Pharaoh’s army being drowned after they pursued the Israelites into the sea.

Archaeologist Ron Wyatt first discovered the site when he found a large column in the Gulf of Aqaba that appeared to be an ancient artefact, and drew his attention to the area. Wyatt quickly organised a dive, and went onto find what appeared to be the remains of chariot wheels, covered in coral, at the bottom of the sea. Some of the wheels were single wheels which had come to rest in the sea, while others were part of a set of two, still attached to their axes. One of these wheels was later confirmed as having been of the 18^th dynasty of Ancient Egypt by Egyptian authorities in Cairo. The 18^th dynasty was the first time chariots were used, and at this time they were reserved solely for the army. This places the artefacts at the same time as the Biblical account, since we know from Exodus 14 that the Egyptian army was washed away in the Red Sea;

“The Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea so that the waters may flow back over the Egyptians and their chariots and horsemen.” Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and at daybreak the sea went back to its place. The Egyptians were fleeing toward it, and the Lord swept them into the sea. The water flowed back and covered the chariots and horsemen—the entire army of Pharaoh that had followed the Israelites into the sea. Not one of them survived”

As well as the chariot remains, human bones were found which were authenticated at Stockholm University, as well as bones identified as originating from horses.

The Significance of the Scientific Evidence

Although there are scientific explanations to back up the parting of the Red Sea, the Hebrew’s crossing of it, as well as evidence to suggest that the Egyptians were obliterated, as Exodus describes, the accounts in Exodus are primarily theological texts, and should be treated as such. Traditionally, the accounts of the Exodus have been considered to reflect a historical reality, but recently it has come to be understood differently, and scholars have come to believe that the story may have been artificially constructed in order to cater for the specific theological concerns of the authors.

This does not beg the conclusion that the accounts do not, in fact, reflect a historical reality, but rather, that they are not primarily to offer historical facts – the description of the Exodus exists to reveal something about the nature of God, and his relationship with Israel, first and foremost.

To celebrate God’s creation, sign our petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday

Does God Exist Within Time?

What is time? As humans we are completely bound to it, and run our days according to it – clocks and watches are a part of every office, household, device and car in order to benchmark the passages of time as they pass. Working, sleeping, eating and children’s schooling are all subject to timeframes. Time is an inherent part of human existence, and of life lived every day. But, is time an inherent part of God’s existence?

God’s relationship to time has been questioned, as far back as the time of Jesus, but has prompted a revival on the topic more recently, as science continues to develop stronger understandings of our universe, and the way that it functions within time and space.

Was There Time Before Creation?

Scientific research understands time as bound up with matter: when time exists, matter does, and vice versa. Genesis 1 tells us that before creation, the earth was “without form, and void”, or “empty”, so we know that before creation, matter did not exist. If time = matter, then time did not exist before God created the earth. According to the same theory, time could not have existed before creation, since no matter was present. For this reason, we can at least conclude that before creation, God was not subject to time. Time had no existence, no meaning, and thus, no relation to God before he created the earth.

Is God Atemporal?

Many people take the position that since God appears to transcend time, he must be ‘atemporal,’ which means to ‘exist without relation to time’. The opposite of course, is to be ‘temporal,’ subject to time, which describes the state of the earth and humanity. Claiming God to be atemporal suggests that while time exists, God stands outside of it. There are two problems to this theory.

The first problem with divine atemporality is that it relies on a linear, human understanding of time that is limited. Our understanding of time is relatively recent. It wasn’t until the late 19^th century that time was standardised in order to streamline train departure and arrival times. Before this, different communities practiced time in a way that worked for them, and it wasn’t until around fifty years later that time was established universally. God has been working with time since the beginning.

In our world, time is linear. It has a beginning, where time started, and then moves forward at a constant rate, in a constant direction. We are unable to go back or forward in time, but rather are restricted to riding the conveyor belt that we have been placed on. When we make claims that God is bigger than time or that God is timeless then we are attempting to understand God in terms that we understand. God is not on the conveyor belt – he does not have to live within the framework of time. While we have to remember things that happened in the past, and visualise things that may happen in our future, God experiences every moment at once. We live in a world that is limited by its own parameters. The important thing to note is that God is not limited by our understanding of time – he created time, and is not restrained by things that he creates.

The second problem is that atemporality suggests that God is outside of time, and thus, is not fully in it. Though God is not bound by the physical laws and limitations of time that humans are, he is still within time. In order for someone to be truly outside of time, they would not be able to engage with the earth as God does, because the earth is so bound to time. However, we know from scripture that God actively engages with the earth and with humanity, in a way that is very much within the parameters of our time. This suggests that God is temporal.

What Does the Bible Say?

Time is first introduced in Genesis 1:5: “And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.” Since we see that God has established time here, shortly after beginning his creative process, we know that God was not previously subject to it. However, most of the biblical verses which address time seem to indicate that God is inside of time.

2 Peter 3:8 tells us that “With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.” God does not operate according to our time frame, yet we continue to attempt to conform him to the time to which our human minds operate. Isaiah 57:15 claims that God “inhabits eternity”. If God inhabits eternity, then He sees all of eternity at once. Though humans inhabit the linear line of time, in which we are rooted on the conveyor belt, unable to move backward or forward at will, God lives within the entire spectrum of time.

The best example of the way that God experiences time is in the DC Comics series “The Watchmen” created in the 1980s. The character known as “Doctor Manhattan” is the son of a watchmaker who becomes the victim of a scientific experiment after he accidently gets lost in the test chamber of his lab. After this incident, his experience of time is altered permanently, and he perceives the past, present and future as happening simultaneously. For Doctor Manhattan, time does not happen in a chronological order, or in a linear line. After his transformation, he experiences all the moments in his life at once. This is the non-linear way in which God exists. He is outside of the earthly sphere of time. The way that we experience time passing has no bearing on God’s existence. However, He is still very much within time. God is temporal, but he is more than that. He is Omni temporal – present in every moment of time. He exists in a single, timeless present .

How Can God Have Always Existed?

Scripture reveals that God exists “From everlasting to everlasting” (Psalm 90:2), so we know that God always has been and always will be. This divine eternity can be an extremely challenging thought for those trying to understand how God has always been, but this is made difficult, once again, by our limited understanding. Because humans are born, and die, we frame our lives with a beginning and an end, and this is how we understand the world, and life. God was not born, and will never die. However, just because we cannot understand the concept of God as both inside, and outside of time, does not conclude that God cannot be both. God never came into existence, and will never go out of existence. He is the Alpha and the Omega (the beginning and the end), but he is also without beginning and end. Because he exists every moment in time, and time has no end for God, His Omni temporality is also without beginning and end. God endures for all time.

How Can God Be Within Time?

Some will argue that God cannot be temporal in any way, suggesting that if God exists within time, then he must be subject to the laws of relativity which govern space and time. If this is the case, and he is in fact, bound by the laws of nature, then he cannot be omnipotent. The solution to this is quite simple: God established time. Before he did this, time was not a reality. He was not bound by time, and continues to be outside of it, because he is the creator of it. However, though he is outside of its framework, he is still present in time. Time was instituted in order for the world to function. God is Omni temporal – he exists without the limitations of time, but is existent and present in every moment.

To honour God’s creation, be sure to sign the petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!

Matters of Eden: How Long Were Adam and Eve in the Garden?

Adam and Eve were living in the paradisal conditions of Eden for some time before they ate from the tree and were subsequently driven out of the garden…but how much time did they actually spend in the Garden of Eden?

We do have some biblical evidence which can help us to make estimated guesses at the timeframe of the couple’s Edenic life. While we have no way of concluding for sure exactly how long the two were there, there are several reasons to believe that they only resided within the utopian garden for a short time before the expulsion.

Creation Week

Genesis 1 describes the week where God created the world from nothing. The world is described as being brought into existence through the creation of the heavens and the earth, vegetation, animals and finally, humanity. After God’s creative work, he observed what he had made and declared it to be good, before taking the seventh day to rest from his work.

From this we can gauge two things;

Firstly, we can conclusively rule out Adam sinning on the sixth day, as God declared everything to be good. Secondly, we can also rule out the idea that Adam sinned on the seventh day, as God consecrated it as the Sabbath.

From this we can conclude that Adam could not have sinned between his creation and God’s sanctification of the Sabbath, ruling out creation week all together.

Adam’s Age and Progeny

Adam’s age can help us to gauge an upper limit on how long he and Eve might have spent in the garden.

Genesis 5:5 states that “Altogether, Adam lived a total of 930 years, and then he died.” We also know from Genesis 1:14 that the world was being measured in times, days and years by this point, so we can take this figure at its face value. From this we can conclude that no matter how long Adam and Eve were in the Garden, it could not have exceeded Adam’s lifespan of 930 years, since we know that Adam was expelled from the garden.

Further to this, we know that Adam and Eve had children outside of the garden. Genesis 4:25 says that Adam and Eve had their child, Seth, after Abel’s death. We know that this is post-Eden and we also know from Genesis 5:3 that Adam was 130 years old when Seth was born. The reference to Abel’s death also makes it clear that there was a significant time gap between the birth of Cain and Abel and the birth of Seth. Genesis 4:17 suggests that Cain was married at the time of his murder of Abel which would place him as a late teen or adult.

Since scripture makes it clear that Seth was born outside of the garden, after the events of Cain and Abel, when Cain was old enough to be married and working the land, we can conclude that Adam and Eve could not have been in the garden for more than 110-115 years, and certainly not more than 130!

Issues of Conception

Since we know that God created Adam and Eve with perfect bodies, free from health issues, some have suggested that this perfect state would have produced rather quick conceptions, free from the fertility issues that abound in the modern day. In the modern world, we know that healthy fertile women have an 85% chance of becoming pregnant within a year. A perfectly formed women, without the complications of the modern world would probably get pregnant much quicker than this, but we can at least conclude that the chances of their Edenic residence was not likely more than a year.

We also know from Genesis 1:28 that shortly after their creation they were commanded to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth”. This suggests that the pair would have begun actively trying to reproduce immediately, and thus cannot have resided in paradise for very long, as the conception and birth of a child produced from Adam and Eve is not described until after the expulsion in Genesis 4:1.

Based on this evidence, we can speculate that if the couple spent more than a year in the garden between their creation and the fall, Eve would have conceived, or even given birth to children before being deceived and expelled. We cannot say for certain that there were no children present at the fall, whether in-utero or running around beneath the tree in question, but it seems unlikely given the complete silence regarding children until the fall, and the sudden appearance of them after the expulsion. The only conceptions or births recorded are described outside of Eden, which can only lead us to believe that Adam and Eve were not in the Garden of Eden long enough to have had children or even conceived any.

The Serpent

The last piece of biblical evidence we have to support a short-stay in Eden is that of the serpent from Genesis 3.

Based on the evidence elsewhere in the bible of the way that the ‘serpent’ works, it seems unlikely that he would waste time before seizing his opportunity. In Matthew 4, Jesus was only in the wilderness ‘forty days and forty nights’ before ‘the tempter’ came to undermine God’s authority once more. Another example is Job 1 where Satan is commissioned to interfere with the life of Job, and goes immediately to take up this position.

The ‘tempter’ would know that timing is everything. The longer he waited to strike with Adam and Eve, the more devoted and obedient the pair would be to God, since his presence in the garden and his relationship to the pair was very close and tangible.

Satan would have made no hesitation to set about undermining the relationship between Adam and Eve as early as possible, further reinforcing the theory that Adam and Eve did not live in Eden for very long before eating from the tree and being driven out.

To honour God’s creation, be sure to sign the petition to establish Creation Day as an official holiday!