Rockey's Thoughts

Make Truth God's Again, Part 1

Rockey Jackson, August 1, 2024

(Note: Scriptures referenced, but not in the text, may be found in the Endnotes.)

“Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God has shown it unto them. For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse.” (Romans 1:19-20)

God has revealed himself to all of humanity through the creation. Before the twentieth century, Christian naturalists believed that they were studying God's other book, the creation. It revealed the infinite creativity of His nature and His love for us. Is it any wonder then that Satan wants so very badly to deny the creation and to separate science from our understanding of God? In John 14:6, “Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.'” Jesus is the Truth. All truth is of Jesus. Let us take back what Satan has stolen. Let us Make Truth God's Again.

I believe that the Holy Scriptures are true. However, I question every person's interpretation of the Scriptures, especially my own. At the same time, I do not: “Trust the science.” I question everything to determine what is true. These early years of the 2020s have taught us very painfully that it is as easy to buy a scientist as it is to buy a politician. It is as easy to buy medical administrators and health care professionals as it is to buy a politician. It is also as easy to buy educational administrators and educators as it is to buy a politician. As Paul wrote to Timothy: “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows.” (1 Timothy 6:10)

People interpret all things according to their worldview and theology. (We are far removed from the language and the culture of the Bible. Translators also translate according to their worldview and theology. Question everything!) There are some obvious absolute truths. However, our knowledge of the truth is growing all of the time. It can make us rethink, from time to time, both our worldview and our theology. It can be a wild ride, but it is worth it to know the Truth better. Let us Make Truth God's Again.

Please let me share three examples to explain what I'm talking about. The first will be an example of how God has revealed himself in the creation. The second will be how we interpret Scripture by our worldview. The third will be how our knowledge of the creation (science) may also help us correctly understand what God has revealed to us in the Bible. (For some more thoughts about interpretation, please see Appendix A.)

The first example is the way God has revealed Himself through the creation by patterns. There is evening and morning, the pattern of the day. There are six days to work and the seventh day to rest and remember God, the pattern of the week. There is the orbit of the moon around the earth, the pattern of the month. There is the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, the pattern of the year. There is the blessing of the four seasons, seed time and harvest, that occur every year. There is the yearly cycle of feasts that pattern God's plan to redeem us. The central theme of the Bible is the story of what God has been willing to do to make atonement for sin and reconcile a person's relationship with Him.

Let's look at the day, the very first pattern created. At the very beginning of the Bible we are told:

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day.” (Genesis 1:1-5)

The pattern is evening and morning, darkness to light. This may be compared to Ephesians 5:8: “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,” and 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

A Bible search for scriptures containing darkness and light returned fifty-five matches. They would make an interesting study. The point here is that the very first pattern of darkness to light, evening to morning, the very first day, reveals the pattern of redemption. This is the pattern of going from living under the law and then receiving God's grace. Sinners living in darkness will be judged by the law. Redeemed Saints, living in the light, will receive God's grace.

The second example shows how we interpret Scripture by our worldview. Let's consider the story of Adam and Eve. If the reader is not familiar with this story, it may be found in Genesis 2:4-3:24.(i) This story may be interpreted from the worldview that physical life is ultimate reality and people have spiritual experiences. It may also be interpreted from the worldview that spiritual life is our ultimate reality and we are having a physical experience.

It may be seen as quite natural to interpret from the first worldview. Most people are far more afraid of dying physically than they are of dying spiritually. It is also the traditional interpretation.

In the story of Adam and Eve, the Serpent (Satan) tempts Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. God has told Adam and Eve that if they eat the forbidden fruit, they will die. Satan tells Eve that the fruit is good for food and will make her like God, knowing good and evil. He then tells her that she will not die. Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit and they do not die physically. On the surface, this makes Satan the truth teller and God the liar.

I'm often impressed with the intellectual gymnastics people are capable of to justify their beliefs. In this case, it is asserted that the word die actually means dying you will die (eventually). This means that Adam and Eve were created to live physically forever. It also means that the Second Law of Thermodynamics did not take effect until after Adam and Eve sinned and fell from grace.

If we interpret this story from the second worldview that spiritual life is the ultimate reality, we get a very different result. God is spirit and He knows that we will live eternally. Those Redeemed Saints who have entered into a submitted relationship with God will spend eternity with God in Heaven. Those who are in rebellion to God will live eternally separated from God in Hell, which is spiritual death. God sees spiritual death as far more important than physical death and when God talks about death we should first think of spiritual death. This is emphasized in Matthew 10:28: “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

So, if God meant Adam and Eve would die spiritually, then they would be separated from God and, like Nicodemus in John 3:1-21,(ii) they would need to be born again spiritually. In the story we see that after eating the forbidden fruit Adam and Eve covered their shame with fig leaves and hid (separated) themselves from God. When God came looking for them, they confessed and God showed them that it was not by their works (the fig leaves) but by the shedding of innocent blood (the animal skins) that their sin was forgiven and spiritual life restored. Interpreting from this second worldview makes Satan the liar and God the truth teller. Each acts according to their nature.

Now we can understand that Adam and Eve were created for the physical lifespan recorded in the Bible and that the Second Law of Thermodynamics was part of the original creation. Also, if we think about it, if man was created to live physically on the Earth forever, then salvation and Heaven (which we are told is one thousand times better than the Earth) are the second prize for screw ups who couldn't live sin free. I think NOT! I believe that God planned to redeem sinful humanity and for them to live eternally in Heaven before he ever created the heavens and the Earth.

Our third example will show how the truth we learn from God's other book, the creation (science) may also help us correctly understand what God has revealed to us in the Bible. When I was a young child in the 1950s, we were taught that each person is unique, using as an illustration finger prints. As time passed we learned more about genetics and DNA. We now know that each person has unique DNA. Where does our DNA come from? Well, it comes from our ancestors, of course! Many have had their DNA tested to learn more about their ancestry.

In church I was taught as a child that everyone descended from Adam and Eve. Let's take a critical look at what that means. Going back to the story of Adam and Eve, God created Adam in Eden to tend the Garden. Adam had one set of DNA. No suitable helper was found for Adam, so God took DNA from Adam and cloned Eve. Clones have the same DNA as their donor. If we all descended from Adam and Eve, we would all have the same DNA. Now that puts me in a quandary. How can what I was taught as a child and the science of DNA both be true? Are God's two books at odds with each other?

Does the Bible provide a way out of this conundrum? Maybe. The Bible has another telling of the creation of humanity that is recorded before the creation of the man Adam. It occurs on the sixth day of creation and is found in Genesis 1:26-31.(iii) I was taught as a child, that the sixth day creation story was the general version and the Adam story was the specific telling of the same event. Maybe we should compare them to see if this is so.

In the story of Adam and Eve, Adam was created (singular) and Eve was cloned from him. On the sixth day of creation God created males (plural) and females (plural). This would provide multiple sets of DNA that would continue to mix as we see happening today. God placed Adam in the Garden of Eden to tend it. When his first two sons came along, one was a farmer and the other was a herder. This shows that they had a domestic (or tame) culture. Humanity created on the sixth day was given dominion over the entire Earth and, being many, were placed throughout the world. There was no mention of domestic plants and animals. They were left then with a (wild) hunter/gatherer culture that was dependent on the wild plants and animals. The descendants of Adam had a life expectancy of 930 years, give or take about 35 years (895-965). The people created on the sixth day, like us, had a life expectancy of about 85 years, give or take about 15 years (70-100).

We see this as the Bible story continues. After the flood, Noah was left as the last of the Adam race of man. His DNA was nearly bred out of the genome over succeeding generations. This is recorded in Genesis 11:10-26(iv) and continues through the lives of the patriarchs until Joseph, who died at the age of 110 years. This is explained in Part 2.

Table 1: Differences in the creation of Humanity on the sixth day and Adam.

To me, this doesn't seem to be two accounts of the same event. However, if they are indeed two different events, then it agrees well with what I've learned from anthropology that primitive cultures were almost universally wild, hunter/gatherer societies until they came into contact with people who had a domestic, farmer/herder culture.

These are just three examples showing how our worldview and our theology may influence our interpretation of both Holy Scripture and science learned from God's other book, the creation. I believe that we should question everyone's interpretation of both Scripture and scientific teachings, especially our own. If the possibilities I've shown in the examples are true, then many things will be seen differently that follow from them. Make Truth God's Again, Part 2 will continue to reveal some of these differences. However we choose to believe, I hope we can all agree to Make Truth God's Again.

Appendix A: Some Thoughts to Help with Interpretation

Endnotes