This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. —1 John 1:5
Thank you for a very fine contribution.
Interesting article. Scholarly and educational.
I’m not a scholar or theologian - just an everyday Bible student. I enjoyed the article and am believe it is probably correct - maybe.
I believe that we are all descendants of Adam and Eve (unless there were others who were separately created outside of the Garden). We are one human race!
We don’t know what color the first humans were! Maybe they were black (how black?). Maybe they were white (how white?). Adam was made from dirt (did that give him his skin color?). Eve was made from Adam with a few minor adjustments (was she the same color?).
They were children of God! We are all children of God.
We don’t know what color they were, but we know they were beautiful.
“We” think we know where Eden was, but we don’t. If the Bible is true, there was a big flood once upon a time. The land masses were probably very different after.
We are all now descendants of Noah and his children. Noah and his wife might have had other children also after the flood.
We probably know less than we think we know, but we are all one family. We are all related. We are one race. We all matter because we are all God’s children.
I love darkness and I love light. If there was only darkness we would be blind. If there was only light we would be blind.
We are one family! We need each other.
That is a rock solid piece of truth that we can all be certain of! Were there seven pairs of clean animals as the Bible says, or was there only one pair of all animals, clean and unclean as the Bible says? Did Noah send out a dove as the Bible says or did he send out a raven, as the Bible says? Did God create the world in six days as the Bible says, or did He create it in one day, as the Bible says?
Oops, not many Adventists know about that last one, so I’d better quote it.
“… in the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens.” (Gen 2:7)
There are a few other things we can be certain of: We can trust God is one, and the Bible isn’t God is another.
If God did not cover Himself in darkness, I have oft wondered if His glory would fill the universe and His brilliance would obscure all the the celestial bodies.
God did create the earth and heavens in literal six days, says the Bible, not ‘in a day’ as you supposed. The proof-text you cited is wrong! It is Genesis 2:4, not 2:7. This verse (including the previous verses) is a summary of the creation of the past six days’ creation, not talking of one day creation.
I have more questions than answers. I can offer possible answers to the questions you bring up, but I don’t want to argue.
Regarding “in the day” it could mean in the 24 hour day or it could mean in the time. I am not a Hebrew scholar. I think there is a context, but I won’t argue it.
I think the Bible indicates that Noah sent out different birds at different times.
I agree that the Bible is not God. Still there is the question of it being a trustworthy message directed to us by god through fallible men?
I will not argue with you. I cannot tell you what to believe.
Thanks for the feedback, I did mean verse 7.
As to “this day” being a reference to the seven-day story just completed, I can’t remember any scholarly source agreeing with you. Can you?
Here’s the SDA Bible Commentary’s position:
“In the day. These words introduce the account of Gen. 2.” (SDABC, Vol. 1, p.221, last paragraph)
Twice-told tales occur often in the Bible, often with discrepancies. Usually they are left in the original, separated form, but not the story of Noah, et al. https://henryneufeld.com/the-two-flood-stories/ shows what the two flood stories could have looked like before they were homogenized.
Notice: From all the clean beasts take seven pairs, each with its mate, and from the beasts which are not clean take two, each with its mate. (Gen 7: 2)
Vs
And from all life, from all flesh, you shall bring two from all of them into the ark, to let them live with you. They shall be male and female. (Gen 6:19)
Most of us are unaware that the King James Version that we know used to contain the so-called Apocrypha books. EGW’s only surviving letter to our third founder contained references to verses found only in that original KJV. Should we consider removed books to have gone from being inerrant–or whatever–to containing occasional errors?
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