Let there be Love - Part I

Written October 18, 2008:

What follows is a model I’ve been building to make sense of life and the universe, a sort of self-substantiating rhetoric that I hope will be of some worth to you in your attempt to do the same. Parts of it have been pieced together from scientific, religious and philosophical books; the rest of it is simply what I’ve come to believe very firmly to be truth, and therefore entirely subjective. The central theme is Love, and given the metaphysical nature of this subject, I feel I must warn you that I won’t be able to qualify many of the statements which, while being in no way exhaustive, I hope will serve as solid points of departure for further discussion.

This first part is a summation of the Creationist vs. Evolutionist arguments, both of which are attempts at explaining the origins of the universe. Briefly stated, the Creationists hold to the Genesis 1 account of how the universe came into being, discounting any scientific explanations of the phenomenon. Theirs is a literal interpretation of the Bible’s account, down to the six days given as a time frame, which assumes that each of the events described happened in a 24hour period. This interpretation also gives the earths age to be only a few thousand years.

The Evolutionists, who are mostly either atheists or agnostics, are equally belligerent. Their position on the origins of the universe is largely based on the Big Bang theory, formulated entirely on scientific evidence and the observation of natural laws. Their argument mostly uses Darwin’s theory of natural evolution/selection to account for what has taken place on earth since then. For the sake of expediency, let’s suffice to say that, taken to their extremes; neither of these arguments holds water under close scrutiny. A more thorough exploration of this subject can be found in Is there a God? By John M Oakes, Ph.D.(Great Commission Illustrated, 1999).

Having looked into both arguments, I found that an open-minded analysis allows for a synthesis of both arguments; the biblical account fits almost perfectly with currently available scientific evidence about the history of the earth. Besides, I’ve never thought it necessary for science and religion to be irreconcilable.

“Science can only ascertain what is, but not what should be, and outside its domain, value judgements of all kinds remain necessary.”- Albert Einstein

Creationist and Evolutionist arguments melded, these are the assumptions I’ve been working with:

1. God existed before the creation of the universe.
2. God created the universe out of nothing.
3. After creating the universe and everything in it, God created life.
4. Last of all God created man.

This leads us to the second part of the model, which deals with the origins of man. Having established that an extremely powerful Creator brought the universe, and everything in it into being, along with an inexplicably complex set laws to govern how it would maintain itself, one is forced to think of why this being would go through all that effort. The synthesis of the creationist and evolutionist arguments shows a deliberate plan in the creation of the universe, and earth in particular. The fact that we have as yet to find another planet that supports life in the way that ours does only bolsters my conviction that the earth was created with a purpose in mind:

Day one: And the Creator said, “Let there be light” and there was light. Biologists have found that light is the necessary catalyst in the process of photosynthesis by which plants make food for themselves, and consequently provide the energy we need to keep our bodies working.

Day two: The Creator decided to make an expanse between the waters, to separate the water above the expanse from the water below the expanse. This expanse is what we would call the ‘atmosphere’ or ‘sky’ we live in, whatever is between the oceans and the clouds (water above and water below).

Day three: On this day the Creator gathered the waters below into the many seas and the oceans, raising dry ground (arable land) in between these bodies of water. The Creator then causes the land to produce various kinds of vegetation, plants and trees to bear fruit with seeds, each according to its kind. And He saw that it was good.

Day four: The Creator then went about placing lights in the sky to separate day and night, and let them serve as signs to mark the seasons and days and years, and to give light on earth. He made two great lights, the greater to govern the day, the lesser to govern the night.

Day five: The Creator spoke,” let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky.” And so were created the great creatures of the sea and every living thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. Blessing his creation, He bade them be fruitful and increase in number and fill the waters in the seas, and the birds increase on earth.
The Creator then caused the land to produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind.

Day six: Last of all, the Creator said unto Himself,” Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, end let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth (Syriac translation: all the wild animals), and over all the creatures that move along the ground.

“So God created man, in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Genesis 1:27 (NIV)

The Creator saw all that he had made, and it was very good.

Day seven: Having finished the work he had been dong, God rested.

Like an architect, God designed the earth and everything in it with a single aim in mind, giving careful consideration to the kinds of material conditions that would be necessary to support human life. The sun to control seasonal changes and the water cycle, the moon to control the ebb and flow of the tides; the creatures of the earth, sea and sky, the plants and trees of the earth to carry out the complex biological exchanges of nutrients needed to recycle the energy (and air) man would need to live. It’s pretty incredible to think of the amount of planning and thought that must have gone into creating a perfect natural balance of all these varied elements, all just so that we could have life!

Why would God go through all of this trouble? Why would he design and create the earth in all its exquisite perfection, and then give it mankind to rule over? In this next part of the model I will essay an answer that I believe with all my heart, soul and mind to be Truth.

I seriously doubt that God created the universe out of boredom. I mean, a being with the kind of power to form, apparently from nothing, the entire universe and provide means and laws by which it would carry working on it’s own must have had a pretty good reason to put forth all of that power. My answer? I think he was showing off. Not in the way that a child would show off a new toy to his friends, but more in the spirit of the Olympics, an exhibition or expression of latent talent. And not because God had anything to prove, or anyone else to impress, but simply because he could. Look at the hundred meter sprints at the Olympics this year. Asafa Powell must have been pretty chuffed with himself when he broke world record for the first time, making him the fastest man in the world. Enter Usain Bolt, who, in one of the most amazing spectacles I’ve ever witnessed, made Asafa and the rest of the field look like they were standing still, and he made it look so easy! The point I’m trying to make is that both sprinters must have known that they are pretty quick, but that knowledge clearly wasn’t enough for either of them, it never could be. They needed to experience as well as know that they are fast. This is essentially what I believe God was doing when he created the universe, it was an exercise of his power, in order to have an experiential knowledge of His infinite power.

Note again that as mankind, we were created in the image of God; as a reflection of him. God could only “see” Himself through us, like a self portrait using the rest of the universe as a backdrop, God revealed Himself unto Himself by creating us. Can you see the significance of this? We were made in the image of God, in the likeness of God, as a reflection of God; WE ARE GOD! We share His nature (the implications of this are scary) and His purpose. Any question, therefore, of our nature or purpose, can only be answered by or found in God...