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levite · 02-06-2008, 11:12 AM

I believe in Evolution, natural selection, chaos theory, and all of the elements that go into the scientific descriptions of how we got here from the Big Bang. I also believe in God, and that God is responsible for the Creation of the universe, and that there is such a thing as a Divine Plan.

In part, I can do this because I don't read Genesis literally, which is a perfectly acceptable choice for a Jew. There is an exegetical maxim of very long standing (it's been around long enough that I would wager money Jesus was familiar with it) that in ancient Hebrew is "dibra Torah k'lashon b'nei adam," meaning "The Torah speaks as people speak." What that means, in other words, is that sometimes the language of the Bible is idiomatic or metaphorical, and occasionally, it speaks in parables if that is the best way to convey meaning.

The point of the Genesis accounts of creation are not to give us accurate descriptions of the exact methodology of the creation of the universe. This is because the Bible is not a textbook. The Bible is there to teach us things about relating to God. In this case, the lesson offered is not about physics, biology, or geology, it is this: the God that revealed himself to the Israelites at Sinai is the same God who is solely responsible for the creation of the universe. Precisely how that creation was executed is, to the Biblical agenda, massively unimportant.

It is not clear to me that the entire Torah (Hebrew Scriptures) was in any way "dictated" by God. Prophecy is obscure, and much depends on the capacity of the prophet to comprehend and correctly interpret what God is attempting to show. But even if God did "write" Genesis, what good would it do to give a presentation on cosmological physics, planetary evolution, and natural selection to a group of pastoral desert nomads from 3500 years ago? It would be meaningless to them, completely incomprehensible, and they would fail to learn the lesson that the Genesis accounts accurately provide.

I also believe that the Divine Plan is flexible and subtle. God created the universe, in my personal opinion, to foster the emergence of intelligent life. I don't believe that "intelligent life" is limited to human beings, or is defined in any way by the shape, makeup, or evolutionary heritage of homo sapiens. I believe God speaks to many peoples, both on this planet, and, I am sure, on others. And if evolution had gone differently-- say, if there had been no asteroid collision 65 million years ago-- then something else would have evolved into awareness and intelligence, God would have revealed himself to those creatures, and perhaps this post would be being written by a two-meter tall semi-reptilian/semi-avian Jew descended from a Velociraptor. But I don't believe, from God's point of view, it would make a damn bit of difference.

I believe God wished to create intelligent life with free will in order to have aware, free creatures other than himself to relate to. I find it difficult to accept that it would make much difference what the physical appearance of such creatures would be, or the sequence of their DNA, or, for that matter, what elements their biology is ordered around.

I think God designed the matrix of the universe (physical laws, certain inherent probabilities, the way certain interactions tend to come about or resolve themselves, etc.), created all the proto-matter and proto-energy in the Big Bang ex nihilo, and set into motion the initial event of the Big Bang. The universe then developed according to the rules of evolution, natural selection, chaos and order, and physical laws that God designed.

02-06-2008, 11:12 AM	#224 (permalink)
levite Minion of Joss Location: The Windy City	I believe in Evolution, natural selection, chaos theory, and all of the elements that go into the scientific descriptions of how we got here from the Big Bang. I also believe in God, and that God is responsible for the Creation of the universe, and that there is such a thing as a Divine Plan. In part, I can do this because I don't read Genesis literally, which is a perfectly acceptable choice for a Jew. There is an exegetical maxim of very long standing (it's been around long enough that I would wager money Jesus was familiar with it) that in ancient Hebrew is "dibra Torah k'lashon b'nei adam," meaning "The Torah speaks as people speak." What that means, in other words, is that sometimes the language of the Bible is idiomatic or metaphorical, and occasionally, it speaks in parables if that is the best way to convey meaning. The point of the Genesis accounts of creation are not to give us accurate descriptions of the exact methodology of the creation of the universe. This is because the Bible is not a textbook. The Bible is there to teach us things about relating to God. In this case, the lesson offered is not about physics, biology, or geology, it is this: the God that revealed himself to the Israelites at Sinai is the same God who is solely responsible for the creation of the universe. Precisely how that creation was executed is, to the Biblical agenda, massively unimportant. It is not clear to me that the entire Torah (Hebrew Scriptures) was in any way "dictated" by God. Prophecy is obscure, and much depends on the capacity of the prophet to comprehend and correctly interpret what God is attempting to show. But even if God did "write" Genesis, what good would it do to give a presentation on cosmological physics, planetary evolution, and natural selection to a group of pastoral desert nomads from 3500 years ago? It would be meaningless to them, completely incomprehensible, and they would fail to learn the lesson that the Genesis accounts accurately provide. I also believe that the Divine Plan is flexible and subtle. God created the universe, in my personal opinion, to foster the emergence of intelligent life. I don't believe that "intelligent life" is limited to human beings, or is defined in any way by the shape, makeup, or evolutionary heritage of homo sapiens. I believe God speaks to many peoples, both on this planet, and, I am sure, on others. And if evolution had gone differently-- say, if there had been no asteroid collision 65 million years ago-- then something else would have evolved into awareness and intelligence, God would have revealed himself to those creatures, and perhaps this post would be being written by a two-meter tall semi-reptilian/semi-avian Jew descended from a Velociraptor. But I don't believe, from God's point of view, it would make a damn bit of difference. I believe God wished to create intelligent life with free will in order to have aware, free creatures other than himself to relate to. I find it difficult to accept that it would make much difference what the physical appearance of such creatures would be, or the sequence of their DNA, or, for that matter, what elements their biology is ordered around. I think God designed the matrix of the universe (physical laws, certain inherent probabilities, the way certain interactions tend to come about or resolve themselves, etc.), created all the proto-matter and proto-energy in the Big Bang ex nihilo, and set into motion the initial event of the Big Bang. The universe then developed according to the rules of evolution, natural selection, chaos and order, and physical laws that God designed. __________________ Dull sublunary lovers love, Whose soul is sense, cannot admit Absence, because it doth remove That thing which elemented it. (From "A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning" by John Donne)