A look at evolution from a Christadelphian perspective

We never shall get to know how everything really was created, until the moment Jesus has returned and will tell us or our Father in heaven will enlighten us.

Until then many options are possible, and lots of ideas are being uttered. The question of where we come from is a mystery man has explored throughout human history. 

Geocentrism (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Looking at Evolutionary Creationism: A Christadelphian Perspective you may find some interesting reading.


One hundred years ago, second editor of The Christadelphian CC Walker rebutted the arguments of a Christadelphian who thought the concept of a spherical earth was unbiblical and heretical, and based his arguments on a literal reading of the Bible.

Fundamentalists and the New Atheists are mirror images of each other in how they see the science-Bible debate. The former reject science because a literal reading of the creation narratives conflicts with it, while the latter reject Christianity because they know that reality contradicts a literal reading of Genesis which they think is the only possible way to read the Bible.

Nothing demonstrates the fact that Genesis 1 is ancient cosmology and not modern science more effectively than its declaration that the firmament was solid, separating waters above from waters below. It is this one fact more than anything else that destroys both literal and strong concordist readings of the Genesis 1 that seek to read it as a scientifically accurate account of origins. It also shows that contemporary special creationists - both YEC and OEC - not only fail to interpret Genesis 1 properly on this point but are also ignorant of how early Christian and Jewish expositors interpreted Genesis 1.

Read more in:

Karl Giberson: Geocentrism is what real Biblical literalism looks like

From the Dust - Conversations in Creation

Early Christians and Jews accepted that the firmament of Genesis was solid

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Related articles

• Creationism is not a plain reading of the text (religionron.wordpress.com)
  Yom — which means day has other meanings.  None of them in ancient hebrew means a 24 hour day.  It means literally sunset to sunset.  So then how exactly can there be a sunset to sunset before the fourth yom in Gen 1:14-19?  Right there cant be.   That definition requires an earth, a sky, a moon and a sun.  Which didn’t exist until then.  So the other definitions of yom are this: a metaporic day,  an unspecified amount of time.   If we want to take it literally we are left with an unspecified amount of time.   Those of us that think its metaphoric don’t have a problem with either.  Why?  a day to God is an unspecified amount of time.  Either way the main reason for the belief is wrong.
• Genesis as a metaphor, does even that work? (skeptical-science.com)
  Most would dismiss the idea of 7 literal 24 hours days, as described in the book of genesis, as factual (except perhaps Ken Ham), and so Ken aside, one of the most popular views, one that I once personally embraced, is the thought that it is simply a metaphor, and that each day is a symbol that represents a geological age. Is even this credible?
  
• Ch. 6 - Non-Concordist interpretations (lookroundyou.wordpress.com)
  Non-concordist views- Genesis is divinely inspired and authoritative but does not contain historical or scientific information
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  the number and ordering of the “days” of Genesis 1 are chosen for poetic and thematic reasons rather than historical reasons; Genesis 1 is not typical Hebrew poetry, nor is it Old Testament historical narrative such as the books of Samuel and Kings;  It is a narrative but one with rhythm and repetition of ideas and phrases.  There is structure where the first three days correspond with the last three:
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  Both – let science drive the interpretation of Scripture rather than letting theological considerations and consistency with the rest of Scripture be the priority.
  Reminder: focus on living our lives according to the “clear messages of God’s Word” rather than debating the nuances of interpretation of less clear passages
  
• Without science, and the center of our own universe (themorningsun.com)
  Since the universe isn’t fixed, you can make an argument that every spot is its center. The case for the other is a touch dicier, especially if you understand anything about gravity.
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  Geocentrism is a fringe idea among fringe ideas in scientific circles. Alas, scientific circles aren’t the same as popular circles. Most polls tag public belief in it at between 20 and 25 percent. That is, at least one in five Americans believe that Copernicus got it wrong in the 16th century.
• Creationist: Science Begins with the Bible, Not the Facts (patheos.com)
  Over at Answers in Genesis, Ken Ham asked fellow Creationist Steve Golden to review a book promoting, among other things, the idea that evolution is real but God has a hand in the process.
  Of course, this is all blasphemy to them because Christians who buy into theistic evolution are obviously the wrong kinds of Christians
• Creationist Ham Claims Fossil Is Proof Humans And Dinosaurs Lived Together (americanlivewire.com)
  To most of you who have probably grown up with the belief that dinosaurs lived millions of years ago and that humans have only recently come into existence, this claim may seem a little far fetched. Creationist Ken Ham is claiming that an Allosaurus fossil that the Creation Museum is going to put on display will prove that human lived right alongside dinosaurs only a few short thousand years ago. Ham claims that the great Biblical flood took place a little more than 4,000 years ago, which wiped out the dinosaurs at that time. His whole claim has traditional scientists metaphorically standing around and scratching their heads.
• Biblical Science You Were Never Taught In School (bblessedtoday.net)
  Even if you are not a scientist, I want you to know that you don’t have to be a scientist to believe the bible over the smartest scientists on the planet.  My first thought was, “this can’t be, this is crazy.”  As you dig a bit into the matter and the shock dies down, your next phase will be that you will not knock down Geocentricity and say it is not so and let it be a possibility and not make a full decision. Perhaps after you see some of these videos and links, you will say, this is not crazy, this is biblical. And you will realize God is always right.
• The Mind of Creationists and Our Communication Gap (skepticalteacher.wordpress.com)
  Like many who call themselves skeptics of pseudoscience, the paranormal, and religion, I have some friends who are into one of more of the aforementioned areas. Specifically, I have friends who proudly call themselves creationists, in the sense that they adhere to the most common variant called Young-Earth Creationism (where their reading of the Bible says the Earth/universe is roughly 6000-10,000 years old). What I want to do here is to recount a conversation I had with one of these friends and how it opened my eyes into how the creationist mind seems to work.
• Geocentrism? Seriously? (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
  I have to scratch my head over Geocentrists. These are people who believe that the Earth is fixed in space, unmoving and unmovable, and the Universe literally revolves around it. Without exception, in my experience, these followers of Geocentrism believe in it due to a literal interpretation of the Bible. Finding passages in the Bible to support this belief isn’t hard; Genesis is loaded with them.
  However, like young-Earth creationism, the problem here is in that "literal" part^*. If you take the Bible to be true word for word, then you have to deny a vast amount of reality, and almost everything we’ve learned about the Universe since the Bible was written.
  
• Geocentricity: Cosmology of the Bible (bblessedtoday.net)
  Many Christians are falling for deceptions of all kinds. They are falling into cult and occult false denominations, false good, false evil….they are being attacked on every aspect of life. Why would the area of science be any different? I already did an earlier post with longer videos to look at. Biblical Science You Were Never Taught In School  Please just look at what it is. You don’t have to believe it if you don’t want to but I think the argument is compelling and you know what else is more important? I trust God’s word over what the godless humanists say about anything.  As Christians we should follow God’s word over man’s in all things.

Jesus spoke Hebrew and Aramaic

Pope Francis and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu traded words on Monday over the language spoken by Jesus two millennia ago.
"Jesus was here, in this land. He spoke Hebrew," Netanyahu told Francis, at a public meeting in Jerusalem in which the Israeli leader cited a strong connection between Judaism and Christianity.
"Aramaic," the pope interjected.
"He spoke Aramaic, but he knew Hebrew," Netanyahu shot back.

We should compare it to today where many people speak their mothertongue and speak an other language for business matters and to be able to have a good conversation with others who speak a different language. As such many today speak English, Spanish or Mandarine to communicate with foreigners or business partners.

Jeshua was a palestinian Jew, from the Essene sect, who spoke Aramaic.
Israeli linguistics professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann told Reuters that both Netanyahu, son of a distinguished Jewish historian, and the pope, the spiritual leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics, had a point.

"Jesus was a native Aramaic speaker,"

 he said about the largely defunct Semitic language closely related to Hebrew.

 "But he would have also known Hebrew because there were extant religious writings in Hebrew."

Zuckermann said that during Jesus' time, Hebrew was spoken by the lower classes - "the kind of people he ministered to"
But we should know that by those speaking Aramaic were also people who had studied and who had better positions in life and as such were not of the 'lower class'.

Additional reading > Pope, Netanyahu spar over Jesus' native language

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• Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Enlightens Pope Francis About Jesus
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Wéér een boek over homoseksualiteit en geloof

Johannes ten Hoor heeft de laatste paar jaar niet meer zo veel gelezen over homoseksualiteit en geloof. Op een gegeven moment wist hij de verschillende visies en standpunten wel. Maar toen hij onlangs bij zijn ouders was en ze vertelden dat ze een nieuw boek over homoseksualiteit en geloof hadden gekocht, besloot hij het toch maar in te zien.
Nog altijd zijn er te veel christelijke homo’s die zich verscheurd voelen, het gevoel hebben dat ze moeten kiezen tussen homo-zijn of christen-zijn. Nog altijd zijn er te veel christenen die zich door hun geloofsgenoten afgewezen voelen. En zo lang kerken niet verder komen dan een verhitte dogmatische discussie – inderdaad vaak ongenadig hard – wordt dat gevoel alleen maar versterkt.

> Lees zijn verslag:

Wéér een boek over homoseksualiteit en geloof

over een boek van Justin Lee (oprichter en directeur van het Gay Christian Network)

Belang van rechtvaardigheid gekend bij Nederlanders

Kerken spelen een belangrijke rol bij de invulling van levensstijl van hun kerkgangers en juist zij brengen rechtvaardigheid veel vaker onder de aandacht dan duurzaamheid is de opinie van de Micha Monitor waarbij volgens hen de kloof tussen arm en rijk, een belangrijk Michathema is dat  bij velen hoog op de agenda staat. Met name PKN-ers en Evangelischen maken zich druk om armoede en onrecht. Vier op de vijf kerkgangers ziet het dan ook als een Bijbelse opdracht om zich daarom te bekommeren. Voor hen is de Bijbel heel duidelijk over het belang van rechtvaardigheid.

Onze noorderburen mogen zich tevreden voelen met datgene wat ze hebben. Goed is ook te zien dat gelovigen als niet-gelovigen toch bewust lijken te zijn van de noodzaak om rekening te houden met latere generaties. Toch kunnen wij vaststellen dat weinigen aan de huidige levensstijl iets willen veranderen en zeker niet willen gaan overgaan tot consuminderen. Voor de kerkgangers is het nog iets belangrijker om na te denken over de plaats waar een product is gemaakt. Daarbij voelt men zich ook verantwoordelijk voor de schepping.

Het Nederlandse netwerk van 24 kerkgenootschappen en non-profit organisaties roept al jaren, met name kerken en gemeenten, op om bezig te zijn met gerechtigheid. Niet alleen in preken binnen de kerken, maar ook praktisch in buurt, stad of elders in de wereld.

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Recht doen, typeert Bijbelse levensstijl
"Als wij blijven groeien, blijven ze elders honger houden" 

Christenen zijn wel lief, maar niet groen #MichaMonitor

Abu Hamza is gone, but Britain is still a hotbed of radical hatred

Britain: The real threat to our security is not Vladimir Putin or Chinese cyber-warriors, but the new breed of jihadists

By Con Coughlin

 

The one thing you can count on when dealing with Islamist extremists who freely ply their trade from the sanctuary of the British Isles is that they are fully aware of their human and legal rights. Whether it is through the useful advice provided by civil liberties activists – who more often than not are funded at British taxpayers’ expense – or the result of studying al-Qaeda’s manual on waging judicial jihad against the West, the leaders of British-based Islamist groups know only too well how to protect themselves against unwelcome scrutiny of their activities.

The extensive support network available to terrorists such as the Egyptian-born Abu Hamza al-Masri would certainly help to explain how the radical cleric from north London managed to avoid extradition to America for a decade or more, thereby making a mockery of British justice, as well as undermining the efforts of successive British governments to protect the public from attack.
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The life sentence that is likely to be imposed on Abu Hamza in September will symbolise the end of a generation of British-based Islamist radicals who openly rejoiced in the horrors of the September 11 attacks in 2001. But it is unlikely that this will deter the modern breed of jihadists, who arguably pose far more of a threat to our national security than Abu Hamza ever did.
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Tuesday’s conviction of a 31-year-old Portsmouth man for attending a terrorist training camp in Syria shows how seriously the security authorities are treating this challenge. A number of other suspects, including Moazzem Begg, the former Guantanamo detainee and darling of BBC current affairs programmes, are now awaiting trial on similar charges. Add to this all the other radical Islamic groups, such as the Muslim Brotherhood, that are using Britain as a base from which to campaign for the overthrow of pro-Western regimes – often through the use of violence – in countries such as Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, and you get some idea of the scale of the security nightmare our hitherto tolerant approach to Islamist extremism has created.

Read the full article: Abu Hamza is gone, but Britain is still a hotbed of radical hatred

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