1. Does the Genesis account stand up in a scientific world?
Our Subject is extremely important for the foundations in Genesis underlay the foundation of the whole Bible and our belief in it.
Today there are many false foundations upon which people have built and doing so is like going down the wrong path and even though we do everything right it is still the wrong path and a wrong path will not build faith or lead to a place in God’s kingdom. (SLIDE)
Does the Genesis account stand up in a scientific world?

2. However these FOUNDATION STONES requires CORRECTLY interpreting them.
YES - The GENESIS FOUNDATION STONES do stand up in our scientific world today. These foundation stones include:
The Creation Account
The Flood Account
First Principles: God, Sin, Death, Atonement, Promises
However these FOUNDATION STONES requires CORRECTLY interpreting them.
Two very wrong foundations
What is at stake? Life & Death
The Genesis foundation stones are huge and extensive
John17:3 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.

3. Biblical Faith is not Islamic Blind Faith!
One further point ...
Biblical Faith is not Islamic Blind Faith!
Hebrews11:1 Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.
The evidence is in God’s word and the things made.
Rom.1:20 For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, … so that they are without excuse:
Romans 3:28 Therefore we conclude that a man is justified (1344) by faith without the deeds of the law.
1344 dikaioo {dik-ah-yo'-o} AV - justify 37, be freed 1, be righteous 1, justifier 1; 40 (To render righteous)
God renders us righteous by the faith we exhibit. A weak faith has no power:
To render righteous before God
To counter human nature
To give “evidence of things not seen” i.e. kingdom to come.

4. What is wrong with this account of the days of creation as compared to Scripture.
It is important to understand just what God created on the fourth day. Because we know how large and how distant the stars are, having a correct understanding of what happened on the fourth day will help us decide whether the “Young Earth” theory is correct or not. It is important to let the Bible speak for itself and not to try to make it fit the theory we want to believe. Since God wrote the Bible, it should be scientifically sound even though that is not the purpose for which it is written. We know the Bible spoke of the circle of the earth when popular theory was that the earth is flat in the days of Columbus, and the historical background that Luke gives have been proven correct in every instance, and archaeology has supported every Bible historical happening. We need to look for clues in the text of the Bible to see just what is meant as far as timing is concerned. ?

5. What is different with this interpretation of Gen.1?
Didn’t get this off the internet but from _Bro Ray Smith in the book “God’s 7000 year Plan_________________________
From a Christadelphin book entitled:
God’s 7000 year plan with the earth by Ray Smith

6. This problem is why many do not believe the Bible!
The “CREATION RESEARCH SOCIETY” understands from Genesis that the heavens and the earth were all created about 6,000 years ago.
God’s power is unlimited—so our earth could have been made to look old as Adam looked old when he was created.
The scientific community finds this absurd because they say the earth is 4.2 billion years old, therefore they say the Bible can’t be inspired by God.
This problem is why many
do not believe the Bible!
There are no dates given in Genesis. Time is different for God, for we are told that one day is like a thousand years. God wants us to know that he did it, that he created everything, and he tells us what is important for us to know. When and how he did it is not what God wants us to learn from Genesis. The timing only becomes important when people use timing to try to make it look like the Bible is false. The debate among many Christians is, Did God create the universe and earth 6000 years ago with an appearance of age? Just like Adam was created an adult, looking like perhaps a 25 year old man would look, was the universe created with light from distant stars already in transit nearing the earth and ancient appearing rocks created on earth with radioactive dates of millions of years of age? Or, in an infinite universe of infinite age are we one special creation of an infinite God who tells us only what we need to know about our times?

7. Why most scientists do not accept the Bible! (SPEED)(TIME) = DISTANCE
THE ANDROMEDA GALAXY MILLION LIGHT YEARS AWAY therefore to see this galaxy it must have existed at least 2.5 million years ago.
(SPEED)(TIME) = DISTANCE
Since the rate (speed) of light is a constant, this formula requires long times for huge distances.
How do we calculate the distance of the stars in determining the time?
Methods: measuring the peak wavelength of the star’s spectra
But how do we measure the distance to the stars (SLIDE – Parallax)

8. One method is the PARALLAX angle
Astronomers also use the brightness measurements. By knowing the actual brightness and comparing it to the apparent brightness seen from Earth they can determine the distance to the star.
The Andromeda galaxy, our Milky Way's closest neighbor, is the most distant object in the sky that you can see with your unaided eye — but only on a clear night from a location with a very dark sky. 
There is no direct method currently available to measure the distance to stars farther than 400 light years from Earth, so astronomers instead usebrightness measurements. It turns out that a star's color spectrum is a good indication of its actual brightness. The relationship between color and brightness was proven using the several thousand stars close enough to earth to have their distances measured directly. Astronomers can therefore look at a distant star and determine its color spectrum. From the color, they can determine the star's actual brightness. By knowing the actual brightness and comparing it to the apparent brightness seen from Earth (that is, by looking at how dim the star has become once its light reaches Earth), they can determine the distance to the star.

9. GOD COULD HAVE DONE IT INSTANTLY-- BUT ------
BUT COULDN’T ALMIGHTY GOD HAVE CREATED THE LIGHT BETWEEN THE STARS? -- FOR HIS POWER IS UNLIMITED
GOD COULD HAVE DONE IT INSTANTLY-- BUT
Yes , God can do anything but
IT UNDERMINES ROM.1:20 “BEING UNDERSTOOD BY THE THINGS THAT ARE MADE” PLUS REQUIRES BLIND FAITH WHICH IS NOT THE TYPE OF FAITH GOD REQUIRES I.E. HUGE DISTANCES REQUIRE LONG TIME PERIODS TO SEE THE LIGHT FROM THE STARS. HENCE 6000 YEARS IS UNACCEPTABLE FOR MOST SCIENTISTS.

10. The major problem was the 4th day!
Genesis1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
Were the sun, moon and stars created on the 4th day
and if so are we are not locked into a 6000 year old creation?

11. FIRST KEY IS INTERPRETING “FIRMAMENT OF HEAVEN”
Genesis 1:20 … and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
Genesis 1:7 And God made the firmament 7549, and divided the waters which were under the firmament 7549 from the waters which were above the firmament 7549: and it was so. 8 And God called the firmament 7549 Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
Conclusion: The “firmament” is the ATMOSPHERE and NOT heaven!
There was water above it.
Birds fly in the firmament of heaven.
Pass out marking pencils – note that these are theirs

12. 3974 ma'owr {maw-ore'} AV - light 18, bright 1; 19
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights 3974 in the firmament of the heaven (atmosphere) to divide the day from the night; and let them (= lights) be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 17 And God set them (lights) in the firmament of the heaven (atmosphere) to give light upon the earth,
What would happen to the earth if the sun was in the earth’s atmosphere?
3974 ma'owr {maw-ore'} AV - light 18, bright 1; 19
“ma’owr” is not the sun but the light from the sun.
Cover v.14 only
Light – Heb. “ma’owr” not the source – next slide Psa. 74:16.

13. “maowr”
“shemesh”
“MAOWR” & “SHEMESH”
Psalm 74:16 The day is thine, the night also is thine: thou hast prepared the light<3974> and the sun <8121>.
3974 “ma'owr”, AV - light 18, bright 1; 19
8121 “shemesh” {sheh'mesh} AV - sun 119, sunrising 9, east side, windows 1, misc. 5; 134
Different words with different meanings -- basic but very important for interpreting the 4th day.
“maowr”
“maowr”

14. Did God make the stars on the 4th day?ff
SINCE THE FIRMAMENT DESCRIBES THE ATMOSPHERE THE “GREATER LIGHT” IS THE LIGHT FROM THE SUN & THE LESSER LIGHT IS MOON LIGHT -- BUT WHAT ABOUT THE STARS!
Genesis 1:16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
Did God make the stars on the 4th day?
NO, THE WORDS “HE MADE” ARE IN ITALICS MEANING THERE IS NO HEBREW WORD AND THE TRANSLATORS JUST ADDED IT IN! THE HEBREW READS: “the stars to rule the night.”
SO WHAT DID GOD DO ON THE 4TH DAY?

15. God on the 4th day cleared the atmosphere so that the lights coming in from the heavenly bodies could be clearly seen and used.
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Why is it so important to be able to show the Bible doesn’t support the sun, moon and stars being made on the 4th day?
To believe the Bible we are no longer locked into all having been created about six thousand years ago. Rather the sun, moon, stars and earth were created in the beginning (Gen.1:1) which could have been millions of years ago.

16. Bible marking lesson
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
= Atmosphere Gen.1:7,8; 20

17. MANY BELIEVE IN A YOUNG EARTH BECAUSE THEY THINK THE BIBLE SAYS THAT GOD CREATED THE SUN, MOON AND STARS ON THE 4TH DAY.
This interpretation causes many difficulties from not believing the Bible to interpreting Genesis as a myth and not literal, i.e.
It is important to understand just what God created on the fourth day. Because we know how large and how distant the stars are, having a correct understanding of what happened on the fourth day will help us decide whether the “Young Earth” theory is correct or not. It is important to let the Bible speak for itself and not to try to make it fit the theory we want to believe. Since God wrote the Bible, it should be scientifically sound even though that is not the purpose for which it is written. We know the Bible spoke of the circle of the earth when popular theory was that the earth is flat in the days of Columbus, and the historical background that Luke gives have been proven correct in every instance, and archaeology has supported every Bible historical happening. We need to look for clues in the text of the Bible to see just what is meant as far as timing is concerned.

18. Myth? Parable? Theistic Evolution?
“HONEST TO GOD”
by Bishop Robinson
"In the last century, a painful but decisive step forward was taken
in the recognition that the Bible does contain 'myth' and that this
is an important form of religious truth. It was gradually
acknowledged by all, except extreme fundamentalists, that the Genesis stories of the Creation and Fall were representations of the deepest truths about man and the universe in the form of myth rather than history, and were none the less valid for that. Indeed it was essential to the defence of the Christian truth to recognize and assert these stories were not history, and in competition with the alternative accounts of anthropology or cosmology."
Myth? Parable? Theistic Evolution?
Historically, people have found areas of conflict between the Bible and what they understand about the real world. Babylon was considered to be a mythical empire in the Bible until the ruins were discovered in Iraq. Galileo was persecuted by church authorities because his discovery that the earth circled the sun was considered to oppose Bible teaching that the earth is the centre of the universe. We need to realize that the Bible is always correct, and it is our understanding of it, or our understanding of the evidence in the real world that is the problem. Look at the effect of both beginning with cosmology

19. Jesus & Paul understood the Genesis account as REAL.
HOW DO WE KNOW THE GENESIS ACCOUNT IS NOT A PARABLE OR MYTH?
Jesus & Paul understood the Genesis account as REAL.
(Paul) 2 Cor. 11:3 But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
(Jesus) Mat.19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female,

20. INTERPRETING GENESIS AS REAL
Genesis 1:1 In the beginning (no time restraints given) God created (“bara”) the heaven and the earth. [2] And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. (a time gap here?) And (about 6000 years ago) the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Q1 When was the beginning?
(not told)
Q2 Could there be a time gap in Gen. 1:2?
(yes)
Q3 Could there have been previous creations before our seven day creation?
Q4 What about Ex.31:17?
Mention that the gap in the middle of a verse is not unusual. Prophecies often have gaps, for instance when Jesus quoted the verse from Isaiah in the synagogue. Tyre was destroyed in stages. In God’s mind events are certain and the fulfillment sure. The gap in time for completion is not an issue for God.

21. Exo. 31:16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, …[17] It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days the LORD made [“asah”] heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed.
“asah” is linked with making things out of that already EXISTING. “Bara” describes that new, unique, creative use of God’s power.
“Asah” in Ex.31:16 describes the 7 day creation while “bara” in Gen.1:1 describes the beginning when God created the heavens and earth.
Does this distinction hold in all of Genesis chapter 1?

22. “bara” describes that new, unique, creative use of God’s power.
HOW WELL DO OUR DEFINITIONS OF “BARA” AND “ASAH” HOLD?
“bara” describes that new, unique, creative use of God’s power.
“asah” is linked with making things out of that already EXISTING.
1:1 In the beginning God created“bara”the heaven and the earth. NEW
1:7 And God made the firmament… (from EXISTING materials)
1:11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding (“asah”- making) seed, and the fruit tree yielding (“asah”) …EXISTED
1:16 And God made (asah) two great lights (Source already EXISTED)
1:21 And God created (bara) great whales, … (UNIQUE creatures)
1:25 And God made (asah) the beast of the earth … (Source EXISTED)
1:26 And God said, Let us make (asah) man in our image… (Source of dust)
1:27 So God created (bara) man in his own image, in the image of God created (bara) he him; male and female created (bara) … (NEW spiritual potential.)
1:31 And God saw every thing that he had made (asah), and, behold, it was very good… Gen. 2:2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made (asah) (; & he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made (basa). (talking of our 7 day creation).
2:3 … that in it he had rested from all his work which God created (bara) and made (asah). (Our creation has things both new and old.)
Need to review before giving

23. THREE REASONS FOR “HAD BECOME”
Genesis supports an old earth
Gen.1:2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
Gen. 1:2 “Now || the earth|| had become waste and wild …” (Rotherham)
Gen.1:2 “… the earth hath existed waste and void” (YTL)
Why is the verb tense here so important?
THREE REASONS FOR “HAD BECOME”
Inverted Hebrew word order.
The verb “was” (to be) isn’t necessary in Hebrew, unless to show a tense change.
God didn’t create chaos. The earth at some time in the past had become without form (waste) and void (wild).
“Was” is the past tense of the verb “to be”. In some languages the word is not included unless necessary for clarity. To say the tree is green, they would say “The tree green” The verb is only included to make a point, such as “the tree had been green” or “the tree will be green” for instance.

24. Biblical support for an ancient heaven and earth.
fff
Biblical support for an ancient heaven and earth.
(need to review this ahead of time showing:
Examples of inverted word order and that usually in Hebrew have verb before the subject, i.e. “created God the heavens …”
“eth”
In Hebrew, an inverted verb order signifies a change in tense. Some translations translate “was” to “had become”.

25. FURTHER SUPPORT FOR “HAD BECOME”
V.2 Now // the earth// had become waste (“tohuw”) and wild (“bohuw), and //darkness// was upon the face of the roaring deep, but // the spirit of God// was brooding upon the face of the waters.
(translation from Emphasized Bible by Rotherham)

26. In Scripture when used together support a previous creation.
Question - How does “tohuw” & “bohuw” add additional evidence?
future
Tohuw shouldn’t be a capital (tohuw)
In Scripture when used together support a previous creation.
Judah & Jerusalem after Babylon destroyed it, v.5.

27. THE CORRECT INTERPRETATION MUST AGREE WITH THE REST OF SCRIPTURE.
Isaiah 45:18 For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain <tohuw>, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.
Question: How does Isaiah 45:18 support a previous creation?
The earth was not created “tohuw” (without form, waste) therefore it must “had become” “tohuw”.
Conclusion: Sometime well after Gen.1:1, about 6000 years ago His power moved upon the earth which had become “tohuw” and we have the 7 day creation.
We are not linguist but we do know our Bibles and key to our interpretation is agreement with the rest of scripture. This is a major point but because the Creation Research Society has made such an impact in the Christian world, it can carry over to Christianadelphian circles as well.

28. What about Ex. 20:11; 31:17 & Psa. 33:6?
Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made (asah) heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.
“Made” in Hebrew is “asah” and not “bara” as in Gen. 1:1.
“bara” signifies something new being created from God’s power. (Jer.31:22; Isa.65:17,18; 48:7. 45:18). “Asah” signifies some made out of that existing.
Context of Ex.20:11 is the days of the 7 day creation when the firmament, dry land, seas were divided.
Question – Why no mention of the sun, moon and stars?
Answer – They were created in the beginning (Gen.1:1).

29. THE POSSIBILITY OF A PRE-ADAMIC WORLD IS NOT A NEW IDEA!
(From Elpis Israel, John Thomas, 1848)
“Fragments, however, of the wreck of this PRE-ADAMIC WORLD has been brought to light by geological research … that its organic remains coal fields and strata belong to the ages before the formation of man, rather than the era of creation or the Noahic flood.”
(Question) Does this prove a pre-Adamic world?
No, Dr. Thomas wasn’t inspired.

30. The “CREATION RESEARCH SOCIETY” understands from Genesis that the heavens and the earth were all created about 6,000 years ago.
The scientific community finds this absurd because they say the universe is 20 billion years old, therefore they say the Bible can’t be inspired by God.
Why not an interpretation that fits what we see, i.e. the size of the universe (Time= Distance/186,000 miles/sec.) & doesn’t turn off those with a scientific background. It also makes a big God and a small man.
There are no dates given in Genesis. Time is different for God, for we are told that one day is like a thousand years. God wants us to know that he did it, that he created everything, and he tells us what is important for us to know. When and how he did it is not what God wants us to learn from Genesis. The timing only becomes important when people use timing to try to make it look like the Bible is false. The debate among many Christians is, Did God create the universe and earth 6000 years ago with an appearance of age? Just like Adam was created an adult, looking like perhaps a 25 year old man would look, was the universe created with light from distant stars already in transit nearing the earth and ancient appearing rocks created on earth with radioactive dates of millions of years of age? Or, in an infinite universe of infinite age are we one special creation of an infinite God who tells us only what we need to know about our times?

31. From Bro. Ray Smith “God’s 7000 year plan”
Didn’t get this off the internet but from _Bro Ray Smith in the book “God’s 7000 year Plan_________________________

32. Genesis is Allegorical
Allegory is an extended metaphor to show similarity
Adam - Christ
Eve – ecclesia
Eden - kingdom
Serpent – wicked men
Nakedness - sin
7th day – Millennial rest
Days 1-6 – reign of sin and death for 6000 years.
Heaven - governments
Earth - peoples
Grass – human nature
Trees – nations
Light – truth
Darkness – ignorance
This Genesis allegorical path requires the real account be
first established.

34. Baby dinosaurs could easily fit into the ark.
SOLUTIONS
Baby dinosaurs could easily fit into the ark.
Dinosaurs may be relics of a pre-Adamic world.
These might be solutions for dinosaurs but not for the theory of evolution.

35. (Gave @ Greenaway May 25, Jan. 2003 and Ewen Rd. Sept
Greenaway May 25, Jan.2003 and Ewen Rd. Sept. 7, 2003,Kitchener Feb which went well.
Notes from Greenaway – sounded as I was adlibbing it. I need to work on transitions especially on beginning slides – Peking man etc
Need to be careful how I introduce previous creation – make sure not so definite at first)
Notes from Ewen Rd. I was able to quite a couple of minutes before time. I had it down better but it still wasn’t tight. This time it was the comparison of the Evolution model and creation model slide which need a lot more time on.
I would like to begin with a question: What is the age of the earth?
The Creations Research Society says about 6000 yrs old.
Scientists say the earth is between 8 and 20 billion years old and have no respect for all who say it is about 6000 years old.
One of the reasons is because of the simple formula: (RT= D). Distance = speed times time
(NEXT SLIDE)
How do we measure the distance of a star or galaxy?
The technique if called Parallax
(Illustrate by putting your thumb in front of your face and first closing one eye, then the other eye. The perceived movement of your thumb is the parallax.
* Instead of your two eyes are two cameras. First a picture is taken of the star then six months later when the earth is on the other side of the sun a 2nd picture is taken and the parallax is measured. By using trig, the distance can be worked out.
Slide – Andromeda Galaxy 2million lights years away