Questions Youve Asked about the Old Testament DAYS OF THE DINOSAURS

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Questions Youve Asked about the Old
TestamentDAYS OF THE DINOSAURS
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Talking about origins

• Hot-button issue
• Litmus test for faithfulness
• Career driver
• Much conflict between believers
• RCHs parameters for discussion
• Jesus is lord! (1 Cor 123)
• Your understanding of origins gives me no basis
  for inferring your beliefs on

• Gods existence
• Gods power
• Jesus divinity

• Activity of Holy Spirit
• Need for salvation
• Value of Bible

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The central issue time

• OT narrates approximately 4,000 years of activity
• Geologists (not evolutionary biologists!) measure
  the earths age at approximately 4.7 billion years

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Reading Gods two books
Theistic naturalism Old-earth creationism
Non-theisticnaturalism
Young earthcreationism
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Non-theistic naturalism

• Old earth
• Geology earth 4.7 billion years old
• Biological evolution as explanation for organic
  life
• God
• Non-theistic explanations systematically exclude
  divine causes
• Not necessarily a-theistic scientists

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Young-earth creationism

• Young earth
• Biblical timelines and genealogies place Adam ca.
  4,000 BCE
• Origin of earth and life sudden
• God direct, hands-on creator
• Geologic/fossil record?
• Deny record altogether
• Compress time scale to fit

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Theistic naturalism

• Naturalistic with regard to processes
• Big Bang theory
• Plate tectonics
• Biological evolution
• Theistic with regard to causes
• OT creation stories
• Metaphorical/schematic/non-literal
• Accommodated to ancient Near Eastern
  culture/knowledge

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Old-earth creationism

• Blends scientific cosmology and biblical
  cosmogony
• Affirms geologic estimate of earths age
• Affirms special creation at specific times
• Harmonistic techniques
• Day-age equation
• Gap theory

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Talking about origins, redux

• Love the Lord with your whole intellect (Deut
  64-5)
• Love one another (John 1335 1 John 311-14
  47-8)

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Questions Youve Asked about the Old
TestamentDAYS OF THE DINOSAURS

• Next Weeks Topic (July 14, 2002)
• THE SIN OF BABEL