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Beyond A Reasonable Faith. #11: Reasonable Account Of Creation. Wide Array Of Creation Myths. Various Categories Chaos Earth Diver World Parent Emergence Ex Nihilo. Enuma Elish – Ancient Babylonian Myth. “When on high…” Varies by region Undifferentiated water beginning
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Beyond A Reasonable Faith #11: Reasonable Account Of Creation
Wide Array Of Creation Myths • Various Categories • Chaos • Earth Diver • World Parent • Emergence • Ex Nihilo
EnumaElish – Ancient Babylonian Myth • “When on high…” • Varies by region • Undifferentiated water beginning • Two gods: Apsu and Tiamat • Apsu god of fresh water • Tiamat goddess of salt water. • Mate and give birth to lesser gods.
Younger gods too noisy • Apsu listens to counselor Mummu and decides to kill the younger gods. • Tiamat’s eldest son Enki/Ea puts Absu to sleep and kills him. • Tiamat turns against her children and creates 11 monsters to kill them. • One of the young gods, Marduk wins the battle – creates people
Greek Accounts of Creation • Beginning was chaos • Erebus the dwelling of the dead appeared • Love appeared and brought order. • Light and Day appeared followed by Gaea, the earth. • Erebus slept with Night and gave birth to Ether, heavenly light….
Eridu Genesis – Sumerian Myth • Fragmentary tablet • Various versions of the myth from same timeframe • Gods An, Enlil, Enki and Ninhursanga create the black-headed people • Create a comfortable place for animals to live and procreate • Missing section then flood account.
Bible Myth Compared • Attacked by atheists, liberals and even conservatives. • Other myths compared by academics as “very similar” to the Genesis account • Similar? In what way?
Defense for the Genesis Account • Why defend it at all? • Claims to be the word of God • Upheld as truth by Jesus • Mark 10:6-8 – “But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female…and the two shall become one flesh…. • Quoted from Genesis
“We are well advised to take it seriously and literally, for God is able to say what He means, and will someday hold us accountable for believing what He says! Furthermore, the account is reasonable and logical, fully in accord with all true science and history.” Dr. Henry Morris The Logic of Biblical Creation Acts and Facts, 1990
Mark 13:19 • “For those days will be a time of tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation which God created until now, and never will be.” • Jesus believed God created the universe….AND HE WAS THERE!
Is There Logic In The Creation? • “We can also see a kind of logical order in the days of creation, according to which the later acts of creations build on earlier ones.” Vern S. Poythress Logic: A God-centered Approach to the Foundation of Western Thought
Day One • Heavens formed • Formless Earth • Light • Day • Night
Day 2 • Sky • Atmosphere
Day Three • Dry land • Plant life on the land
Day Four • Heavenly bodies • Sun • Moon
Day Five • Water life • Air life
Day Six • Land creatures • Man
Day Seven • Completion and rest