Every so often a T.V. show hits the air that draws me close to God. Usually it’s something on either The History Channel or Discovery, and has something to do with the world around us. I know many Christians often complain about these same networks putting on programming that promotes ideologies that are very contrary to the Christian world-view, but this has never really bothered me. Sure such a practice creates misconceptions about our God and our faith, but rather than complain about this I have always seen it as my job as a Christian to correct the misconceptions and challenge some of the too easily accepted ideologies of the world. In many ways I’m actually very thankful for such networks teaching us what they do, because the truth that shines forth from these networks draws me closer to God as I learn more about his creation.
In the past I’ve been drawn in by shows such as “Planet Earth”, “the Universe”, “Shark Week”, and documentaries about great people of the past. Currently the show grabbing my attention is The History Channels “Expedition Africa”.
Now to be honest, the personalities on this show aren’t all that engaging, but by the third episode I had quickly learned that the explorers weren’t the stars of the show, God is. Now let’s be clear, this isn’t the attempt of the shows producers in any way, but when you watch the show from a proper Christian world-view I’m not sure how we can see the show any other way.
When crossing the plains our explorers come across a myriad of animals that we would never see anywhere but in a zoo, and these animals are living in these plains in much the same way we would in a big city. They are sharing the same watering holes, lying near each other in the tall grass, and just living life in their little animal society. Its awe inspiring.
At one point the explorers walk near a few giraffe’s, not more than 50 yards away, just jogging along. Within the radius of a few miles they find lions, hyenas, hippos, baboons, pythons, wild cows (no joke), and an elephant or two. Humans don’t just trek through these plains often, although there are small villages near by, but these animals just go on living without us just fine. It was like their own little city.
The reminder – 1) God is a God of beauty who makes beautiful things. 2) Those animals aren’t there for our benefit; they are there because God likes them. Life is more about him then us. The fact that God has great interest in us is a blessing, not a right.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Why do you hate...?
Have you ever noticed that when it comes to certain things in life, most people are pretty much the same? If I was to say that I was looking for a “good” parking spot, just about everyone on earth would know exactly what I meant. They would automatically interpret “good” to mean “close”. No one ever asks the question, what do you mean by a good parking spot? At the same time, I don’t have to say “I’m looking for a close parking spot”. In this instance “good” and “close” is the same thing even though the words are not synonyms by any means. Because of this, it assumed that everyone on earth would obviously agree on what a “good” parking spot was. What if someone doesn’t agree? What if you were driving in a car with me and I proclaimed ecstatically that I found a great parking spot, and then I parked in the last spot in the lot. You’d think I was a bit off right? The question that I often find myself asking however, is why do most people agree with so many things in life on what is better than something else? Is it because those things are better, or because people are trained by culture to think they are better? If someone simply had a different perspective on things, could they actually see beauty in things that most people find irritating? As more of a fun post than anything else, I thought it would be interesting to list my top ten things in life that most people hate, and that I actually kind of enjoy because I’ve had the fortune of gaining a different perspective on these things. These are things that I think people are trained by culture to hate because most people do hate them, but they sort of assume they are bad because they have always heard everyone else say that they are bad. I would ask you all to consider, are these things really as bad as most people assume them to be. After reading, it would be great if you would respond with one of your own.
10) Baseball on T.V. –
O.k. so not everyone hates baseball on television, but I often hear from fellow sports fans that baseball doesn’t match up to other sports on T.V. because its too slow, takes too long, and is just boring. Instead of boring, I see the slow pace of the game as relaxing, and the strategy of the game as interesting to dissect.
9) Boredom –
You’re thinking, really? Yes really. I actually think being bored is underrated as it provides me time to reflect and organize my thoughts. People should really give planned boredom a chance; it’s actually…well…kind of fun.
8) Movie subtitles –
Many people refuse to watch foreign films unless they are dubbed over in English. When you dub over a film you lose the timing and emotion of the actors, the intensity of the editing, and the feel of the movie changes for the worse. If your excuse is that you don’t read fast enough, the more foreign films you watch the quicker of a reader you become. It’s a win – win situation.
7) Commercialism at Christmas –
This one is especially big for my fellow lovers of Jesus. For some reason people assume that commercializing the birth of Jesus is a bad thing. I have yet to hear a good reason why. The more it’s commercialized, the longer it stays accepted in the mainstream. Because of the commercialization we have Christmas specials on network television that often include the gospel and Christmas music about Jesus being played in fast food restaurants for an entire month. What’s wrong with that?
6) Big business –
You often hear people say that they hate Starbucks for putting mom and pop coffee shops out of business, or that they hate multiplexes for putting little movie houses under, or that Wal-Mart kills smaller grocery outlets. So what? These same people usually say that they support capitalism. Do you see the hypocrisy? The big stores put the little ones under because people like the big ones better. Our society is built on allowing people a choice and people are choosing big business. Why should this upset us? Don’t get mad at Wal-Mart, get mad at everyone you know who shops there. It’s their fault. Besides, Starbucks being a big business allows them to donate MILLIONS of dollars to deserving charities each year, something small coffee houses can’t do.
5) Grocery shopping –
I think people are trained to assume that we are supposed to hate grocery shopping. I love it. It relaxes me. I take my time, use the hour or so to reflect on life, and pay attention to new products that I and my family might enjoy. Try thinking of grocery shopping like this and it might change your whole perspective.
4) Miley Cyrus –
And other celebrities like her. For some reason its trendy to slam on certain celebrities. I know some actually do some dumb things that bring it on. But why does it become trendy to slam on people like Miley Cyrus? I don’t get it. What did she ever do to you…or anyone else for that matter? It’s popular to be annoyed by many celebrities that actually aren’t that annoying. I actually think Miley is talented. O.k. call me a little girl, I’m just using her to make a bigger point.
3) Long lines –
People hate long lines because they are impatient. When I am at a store I often get in the longest line on purpose, and this practice along with many others has trained me to be a more patient person. I rarely get frustrated at anything anymore and this is a major reason why.
2) Censorship –
Not on a political level but on a personal or business level. Many people think it’s wrong to censor. Wal-Mart and stores like it wont sell parental advisory versions of any music, so if you wont edit your album than you’ll have to sell it somewhere else. Green Day recently released a press statement condemning the act and calling Wal-Mart on the carpet. I think Green Day should realize that Wal-Mart is a business that has right under our laws to sell or not sell anything they want. It’s not “right” or “wrong” on their part, it’s their right. If you don’t like it, buy and sell your music somewhere else, why is that so hard?
NUMBER 1) Rainy/overcast weather –
For some reason when someone hopes for “good weather” they always mean the same thing – warm weather and clear skies. I think warm weather and clear skies is overrated. I love a light rain and some clouds in the sky – why can’t this be what people mean when they say they want “good” weather. Are we all trained and programmed to love warm weather because that’s what the status quo considers “good” weather, or do we really like it better. Maybe I’m weird but I don’t. I can’t wait for a news weather man to one day say “hey everyone, look for great weather this week, low 60’s with a lot of clouds and a great chance of rain.”
What do you think? Send me yours or critique mine.
10) Baseball on T.V. –
O.k. so not everyone hates baseball on television, but I often hear from fellow sports fans that baseball doesn’t match up to other sports on T.V. because its too slow, takes too long, and is just boring. Instead of boring, I see the slow pace of the game as relaxing, and the strategy of the game as interesting to dissect.
9) Boredom –
You’re thinking, really? Yes really. I actually think being bored is underrated as it provides me time to reflect and organize my thoughts. People should really give planned boredom a chance; it’s actually…well…kind of fun.
8) Movie subtitles –
Many people refuse to watch foreign films unless they are dubbed over in English. When you dub over a film you lose the timing and emotion of the actors, the intensity of the editing, and the feel of the movie changes for the worse. If your excuse is that you don’t read fast enough, the more foreign films you watch the quicker of a reader you become. It’s a win – win situation.
7) Commercialism at Christmas –
This one is especially big for my fellow lovers of Jesus. For some reason people assume that commercializing the birth of Jesus is a bad thing. I have yet to hear a good reason why. The more it’s commercialized, the longer it stays accepted in the mainstream. Because of the commercialization we have Christmas specials on network television that often include the gospel and Christmas music about Jesus being played in fast food restaurants for an entire month. What’s wrong with that?
6) Big business –
You often hear people say that they hate Starbucks for putting mom and pop coffee shops out of business, or that they hate multiplexes for putting little movie houses under, or that Wal-Mart kills smaller grocery outlets. So what? These same people usually say that they support capitalism. Do you see the hypocrisy? The big stores put the little ones under because people like the big ones better. Our society is built on allowing people a choice and people are choosing big business. Why should this upset us? Don’t get mad at Wal-Mart, get mad at everyone you know who shops there. It’s their fault. Besides, Starbucks being a big business allows them to donate MILLIONS of dollars to deserving charities each year, something small coffee houses can’t do.
5) Grocery shopping –
I think people are trained to assume that we are supposed to hate grocery shopping. I love it. It relaxes me. I take my time, use the hour or so to reflect on life, and pay attention to new products that I and my family might enjoy. Try thinking of grocery shopping like this and it might change your whole perspective.
4) Miley Cyrus –
And other celebrities like her. For some reason its trendy to slam on certain celebrities. I know some actually do some dumb things that bring it on. But why does it become trendy to slam on people like Miley Cyrus? I don’t get it. What did she ever do to you…or anyone else for that matter? It’s popular to be annoyed by many celebrities that actually aren’t that annoying. I actually think Miley is talented. O.k. call me a little girl, I’m just using her to make a bigger point.
3) Long lines –
People hate long lines because they are impatient. When I am at a store I often get in the longest line on purpose, and this practice along with many others has trained me to be a more patient person. I rarely get frustrated at anything anymore and this is a major reason why.
2) Censorship –
Not on a political level but on a personal or business level. Many people think it’s wrong to censor. Wal-Mart and stores like it wont sell parental advisory versions of any music, so if you wont edit your album than you’ll have to sell it somewhere else. Green Day recently released a press statement condemning the act and calling Wal-Mart on the carpet. I think Green Day should realize that Wal-Mart is a business that has right under our laws to sell or not sell anything they want. It’s not “right” or “wrong” on their part, it’s their right. If you don’t like it, buy and sell your music somewhere else, why is that so hard?
NUMBER 1) Rainy/overcast weather –
For some reason when someone hopes for “good weather” they always mean the same thing – warm weather and clear skies. I think warm weather and clear skies is overrated. I love a light rain and some clouds in the sky – why can’t this be what people mean when they say they want “good” weather. Are we all trained and programmed to love warm weather because that’s what the status quo considers “good” weather, or do we really like it better. Maybe I’m weird but I don’t. I can’t wait for a news weather man to one day say “hey everyone, look for great weather this week, low 60’s with a lot of clouds and a great chance of rain.”
What do you think? Send me yours or critique mine.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
One more try.
So I think I realized something. The main reason my blog doesn’t stay consistent is because I think I have little faith that there are many people actually reading it. After a few blogs in a row with no feedback at all, I got disenchanted with the whole thing and thus the reason for the lull. And then recently I received a flurry of comments from people asking “where’d the blog go?”
So here I am. In reality, I should be motivated enough by even a few people out there that feel like what I write each week (when I’m actually writing each week) helps them think about something in some way that they hadn’t before. So here it is, one final attempt to rebuild a readership and maintain a consistent blog. If it doesn’t work this time then I'm sure I will just give it up for good, but I really think I will keep it going this time.
For motivation, if you read something intriguing, post a comment and let me know. It always helps.
So here I am. In reality, I should be motivated enough by even a few people out there that feel like what I write each week (when I’m actually writing each week) helps them think about something in some way that they hadn’t before. So here it is, one final attempt to rebuild a readership and maintain a consistent blog. If it doesn’t work this time then I'm sure I will just give it up for good, but I really think I will keep it going this time.
For motivation, if you read something intriguing, post a comment and let me know. It always helps.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
The 2012 Theory
Many of the questions we received at our recent God and science forum don’t have much to do with science so they aren’t on the docket to be answered. Although this next question fits the “non-science” criteria, I thought it deserved some attention anyway because it can be seen as remotely scientific in nature.
How should Christians regard things such as the Mayan calendar? What are your thoughts on the 2012 theory?
To be honest, although this theory based largely on the Mayan calendar has many scientific elements to it, this is more a question about religion than science. Because the final cycle of the Mesoamerican long count calendar ends in December of the year 2012, and because of some strange things set to happen in our solar system around the same time, many believe that the year 2012 will either bring the end of the world, or will do the opposite, and bring some massive level of advancement to the human race.
The reality is this. Most of the thoughts brought forth in the various 2012 theories are more metaphysical than scientific – having their roots in the New Age movement, and scientists are downplaying the events causing change in the solar system of that year as fairly normal and harmless occurrences (normal except for the extreme rarity in which they occur, every 225 million years or so). If you’re looking for extensive info on this theory and all it entails simply Google “2012”. But as far as how we as Christians should regard this theory, I say not at all.
How should Christians regard things such as the Mayan calendar? What are your thoughts on the 2012 theory?
To be honest, although this theory based largely on the Mayan calendar has many scientific elements to it, this is more a question about religion than science. Because the final cycle of the Mesoamerican long count calendar ends in December of the year 2012, and because of some strange things set to happen in our solar system around the same time, many believe that the year 2012 will either bring the end of the world, or will do the opposite, and bring some massive level of advancement to the human race.
The reality is this. Most of the thoughts brought forth in the various 2012 theories are more metaphysical than scientific – having their roots in the New Age movement, and scientists are downplaying the events causing change in the solar system of that year as fairly normal and harmless occurrences (normal except for the extreme rarity in which they occur, every 225 million years or so). If you’re looking for extensive info on this theory and all it entails simply Google “2012”. But as far as how we as Christians should regard this theory, I say not at all.
Friday, March 6, 2009
Close encounters of the third kind!
Is life possible on other planets, if so would God have created this as well?
Yes it’s possible. Is it likely, I’m not sure? I think I’m much more open to the idea of little green men than most Christians are, but the universe is 98 billion light years across. Since God is about his glory, then I just don’t see any reason to rule out the possibility that he has other intelligent life forms on other planets in the distant universe worshiping him. The reality is its speculation. The Bible doesn’t address the possibility in any fashion, so there isn’t much point in putting energy into it from a theological perspective. From a scientific perspective I agree with the spending of money to search for other life as this serves as a way for us to understand God’s universe better.
There is an interesting hypocrisy I find in many Christians regarding this issue. When it comes to our own testimony about God we say things like “always tell your testimony”, or “no one can deny what God has done in your life”, or “your testimony is your great witnessing tool”, so that we build up testimony about a God no one can see as a valid argument to others as to why we believe in him. Then when we hear people give testimony of alien encounters we think they are crazy, superstitious, or making it up. What’s the difference? Our testimonies often sound just as crazy to people who don’t believe as those people preaching about aliens sound to us. Now I certainly believe that there are a ton of other reasons to believe in God than a person’s testimony, but when we close ourselves off to possibilities that God has not closed off himself, I think there is something contradictory about that.
Yes it’s possible. Is it likely, I’m not sure? I think I’m much more open to the idea of little green men than most Christians are, but the universe is 98 billion light years across. Since God is about his glory, then I just don’t see any reason to rule out the possibility that he has other intelligent life forms on other planets in the distant universe worshiping him. The reality is its speculation. The Bible doesn’t address the possibility in any fashion, so there isn’t much point in putting energy into it from a theological perspective. From a scientific perspective I agree with the spending of money to search for other life as this serves as a way for us to understand God’s universe better.
There is an interesting hypocrisy I find in many Christians regarding this issue. When it comes to our own testimony about God we say things like “always tell your testimony”, or “no one can deny what God has done in your life”, or “your testimony is your great witnessing tool”, so that we build up testimony about a God no one can see as a valid argument to others as to why we believe in him. Then when we hear people give testimony of alien encounters we think they are crazy, superstitious, or making it up. What’s the difference? Our testimonies often sound just as crazy to people who don’t believe as those people preaching about aliens sound to us. Now I certainly believe that there are a ton of other reasons to believe in God than a person’s testimony, but when we close ourselves off to possibilities that God has not closed off himself, I think there is something contradictory about that.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Rapid Fire!
Today I’m going to answer a few of the questions from the God and science forum on one blog because there were many questions that require very short answers.
Q. Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?
A. This is impossible to know and I’m not sure that the answer matters much. If they had them then God created them that way, but obviously they would not have received them in the way that the rest of us did.
Q. Are you saying that Jesus evolved from an amoeba?
A. No, in fact at the forum we said the opposite. We all made it clear that we do not believe in large scale evolution which would teach that all living things had a common ancestor evolved from a single cell organism. We all believe in smaller scale evolution which includes mutations within kinds, and that natural selection and speciation are common occurrences. We all believe however that humans are a unique creation by God as are “kinds” of animals.
Q. Is the behemoth in Job actually a dinosaur?
A. I don’t think we can know the answer to this question because the Bible isn’t clear about exactly what the behemoth was. But it is clear that dinosaurs existed and that they were really cool.
Q. How does the Bible explain the ice age?
A. It doesn’t. This is one of many occurrences that happened on earth that does not get discussed in the Bible. The Bible is not a history book looking to catalogue all that has ever happened, it’s a story about God redeeming his people. The ice age doesn’t fit the criteria for what God was trying to accomplish in Scripture.
Q. What about shape shifters?
A. I have no idea.
Q. Did Adam and Eve have belly buttons?
A. This is impossible to know and I’m not sure that the answer matters much. If they had them then God created them that way, but obviously they would not have received them in the way that the rest of us did.
Q. Are you saying that Jesus evolved from an amoeba?
A. No, in fact at the forum we said the opposite. We all made it clear that we do not believe in large scale evolution which would teach that all living things had a common ancestor evolved from a single cell organism. We all believe in smaller scale evolution which includes mutations within kinds, and that natural selection and speciation are common occurrences. We all believe however that humans are a unique creation by God as are “kinds” of animals.
Q. Is the behemoth in Job actually a dinosaur?
A. I don’t think we can know the answer to this question because the Bible isn’t clear about exactly what the behemoth was. But it is clear that dinosaurs existed and that they were really cool.
Q. How does the Bible explain the ice age?
A. It doesn’t. This is one of many occurrences that happened on earth that does not get discussed in the Bible. The Bible is not a history book looking to catalogue all that has ever happened, it’s a story about God redeeming his people. The ice age doesn’t fit the criteria for what God was trying to accomplish in Scripture.
Q. What about shape shifters?
A. I have no idea.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
God and science answers begin!
Well everyone, last Sunday was fun for me. I love talking theology and science at the same time. I hope it was informative. We received about four times as many questions as could be answered in one night, so Jordan and I are going to try and tackle these questions on our blogs over the coming weeks. Please keep checking back until your question is answered.
Here is the link to Jordan’s blog – www.faithfulreason.wordpress.com.
My first question is this – After Cain is sent away, who is his wife if only Adam, Eve, and Abel existed?
First of all – JOIN A SMALL GROUP! Sorry for the shameless plug, but this topic was addressed in every small group last week and I love to see people in small groups, so please get in one so you can get answers to questions like this. But I will still give the short answer here.
Adam, Eve, and Abel were not the only people on earth. The Bible discusses these few people, but the Bible rarely gives the entire story surrounding many issues because this is not the Bible’s purpose. It is widely believed that Adam and Eve had had many children, grandchildren, and maybe even great grandchildren by the time Cain killed Abel and was sent into exile. Cain most certainly married one of his sisters, which sounds bad now but would not have been an issue in his time. The reason – because genetic defect is why marriage of close relatives today is so vile. In Cain’s day their genetics were still too pure to be an issue. Now lets get this strait, God himself bans incest in the Scripture. But the vile nature of incest was a later development that Cain did not have to worry about, and God did not ban it until later. To populate the earth, sibling marriage was necessary.
Here is the link to Jordan’s blog – www.faithfulreason.wordpress.com.
My first question is this – After Cain is sent away, who is his wife if only Adam, Eve, and Abel existed?
First of all – JOIN A SMALL GROUP! Sorry for the shameless plug, but this topic was addressed in every small group last week and I love to see people in small groups, so please get in one so you can get answers to questions like this. But I will still give the short answer here.
Adam, Eve, and Abel were not the only people on earth. The Bible discusses these few people, but the Bible rarely gives the entire story surrounding many issues because this is not the Bible’s purpose. It is widely believed that Adam and Eve had had many children, grandchildren, and maybe even great grandchildren by the time Cain killed Abel and was sent into exile. Cain most certainly married one of his sisters, which sounds bad now but would not have been an issue in his time. The reason – because genetic defect is why marriage of close relatives today is so vile. In Cain’s day their genetics were still too pure to be an issue. Now lets get this strait, God himself bans incest in the Scripture. But the vile nature of incest was a later development that Cain did not have to worry about, and God did not ban it until later. To populate the earth, sibling marriage was necessary.
Sunday, February 8, 2009
Movies...
I know, my last post promised a blog every Friday. I forgot. But here it is a few days late. And for the first time, this blog has little to do with spirituality. As many of you know I am a movie freak. I have a movie pod cast on itunes called filminfocus that I co-host with Jason Spencer, so check it out, its free. Also, I post movie reviews on a website flixster.com, username sanjurosamurai. I’ve seen most major films released in 2008, and I wanted to recommend my top 10.
1) Changeling
2) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3) The Dark Knight
4) Burn After Reading
5) Kung Fu Panda
6) Gran Torino
7) Vicky Christina Barcelona
8) Defiance
9) Revolutionary Road
10) Doubt
Keep in mind, some of these are rated R, but there is some great commentary in these films on the human condition and important philosophical themes – well – except Kung Fu Panda that’s here just because its fun.
1) Changeling
2) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3) The Dark Knight
4) Burn After Reading
5) Kung Fu Panda
6) Gran Torino
7) Vicky Christina Barcelona
8) Defiance
9) Revolutionary Road
10) Doubt
Keep in mind, some of these are rated R, but there is some great commentary in these films on the human condition and important philosophical themes – well – except Kung Fu Panda that’s here just because its fun.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Im Back!
Hey everyone! I’m back. I know I know, it’s been like 3 months since I’ve blogged. But here’s the thing, I have decided to rededicate myself to blogging by keeping myself on a very strict schedule. From now on, at a minimum, I will be posting something new (and hopefully interesting) each and every Friday. I could do more through the week, but Friday will be the standard day for the blogs.
This time, I’m back with purpose. I’m helping Harvey answer some of the questions that were texted in during the service last weekend. Here are some of your questions and my answers.
Q: Does the tree of life, as well as the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, maybe refer to an analogy of some sort?
A: First I have to be sure that I understand the question. If you are asking if the tree’s are not actual but analogous in nature – then the easy answer is no. The trees are real, and we know that because the text gives us no reason to believe otherwise. Many have said that these trees sound mythological so they must be, but the Great Wall of China doesn’t sound realistic either and we all know that it exists. Come on, a wall that big that can be seen from space, I don’t believe it!
If you believe that the trees are real but are asking if they double as analogous to something else – Maybe, but that’s surely not the point of the trees. They are actual trees that serve an actual purpose in the designed plan of God, and their purpose is very clear in Scripture.
Let’s look at another one.
Q: If man has a sense of God in them, then doesn’t that contradict total depravity?
A: I’m not sure how it would. By “sense” I assume you’re referring to the image of God in man. The image is broken by the fact that we are born totally depraved, but the image is not removed completely. Keep in mind, there is a difference between “total depravity” and “utter depravity”. We are born totally depraved in that we are not righteous on our own because of sin and we need God’s righteousness (Romans chapter 3). But we are not born utterly depraved, which is the idea that man can do nothing good. We do things that are good as an extension of being made in God’s image even thought the image is broken.
Next question.
Q: Adam and Eve’s kids have to have sex with each other to multiply the population?
A: Yes. It is repulsive today to marry siblings, but God did not make a law against it until the time of Moses. The issue of deformities of the children would have been a non issue because the reason that some children of sibling parents have deformities is because those siblings have the same genetic defects that they received from their parents, and the defects then become magnified and passed on. This early in the line of this family genetic defect would not be an issue because Adam and Eve didn’t have any. It takes many generations for defects to gain potency.
It is impure today to have such incest – but since there were no moral, legal, or genetic problems in the days of Adam and Eve, and since this was the only option, this has to be what happened.
This time, I’m back with purpose. I’m helping Harvey answer some of the questions that were texted in during the service last weekend. Here are some of your questions and my answers.
Q: Does the tree of life, as well as the tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, maybe refer to an analogy of some sort?
A: First I have to be sure that I understand the question. If you are asking if the tree’s are not actual but analogous in nature – then the easy answer is no. The trees are real, and we know that because the text gives us no reason to believe otherwise. Many have said that these trees sound mythological so they must be, but the Great Wall of China doesn’t sound realistic either and we all know that it exists. Come on, a wall that big that can be seen from space, I don’t believe it!
If you believe that the trees are real but are asking if they double as analogous to something else – Maybe, but that’s surely not the point of the trees. They are actual trees that serve an actual purpose in the designed plan of God, and their purpose is very clear in Scripture.
Let’s look at another one.
Q: If man has a sense of God in them, then doesn’t that contradict total depravity?
A: I’m not sure how it would. By “sense” I assume you’re referring to the image of God in man. The image is broken by the fact that we are born totally depraved, but the image is not removed completely. Keep in mind, there is a difference between “total depravity” and “utter depravity”. We are born totally depraved in that we are not righteous on our own because of sin and we need God’s righteousness (Romans chapter 3). But we are not born utterly depraved, which is the idea that man can do nothing good. We do things that are good as an extension of being made in God’s image even thought the image is broken.
Next question.
Q: Adam and Eve’s kids have to have sex with each other to multiply the population?
A: Yes. It is repulsive today to marry siblings, but God did not make a law against it until the time of Moses. The issue of deformities of the children would have been a non issue because the reason that some children of sibling parents have deformities is because those siblings have the same genetic defects that they received from their parents, and the defects then become magnified and passed on. This early in the line of this family genetic defect would not be an issue because Adam and Eve didn’t have any. It takes many generations for defects to gain potency.
It is impure today to have such incest – but since there were no moral, legal, or genetic problems in the days of Adam and Eve, and since this was the only option, this has to be what happened.
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