Does the bible teach that all natural phenomena come from God?

[xdisciplex]

A lot of people say that back then, when the humans were primitive and didn't understand things, they attributed everything to God. Rain,thunder,lightning and so on.
Primitive tribes still do this today because they do not understand what causes such things. Does the bible teach this, too?
Because the bible also speaks about this.

Job 28:26 - "when he made a decree for the rain and a path for the thunderstorm"

Job 37:4 - "After that comes the sound of his roar; he thunders with his majestic voice. When his voice resounds, he holds nothing back."

Psalm 135:7 - "He makes clouds rise from the ends of the earth; he sends lightning with the rain and brings out the wind from his storehouses."

Psalm 144:6 - "Send forth lightning and scatter the enemies; shoot your arrows and rout them."

I read that Benjamin Franklin's kite/electical storm experiment was supposed to disprove God. Previous to this experiment people thought lightening was a result of God's wrath. Benjamin Franklin proved it was simply a natural occurance caused by static electricity produced from water molecules colliding in a storm cloud.
And that Atheist everywhere pushed Benjamin's findings because it disproved a need for God.



Did christians think that all natural phenomena were from God until Franklin proved them wrong?

And is this here true?

The majority of Christians, at one time, believed the sun revolved around the earth with biblical evidence to support it. 1 in 5 Americans still believe the sun revolves around the earth.

Joshua 10:13 - "So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day."

Psalm 93:1 - "The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved."

 

[bmerr]

xdisciplex,

bmerr here. I think one would be caught in the evolutionary trap to assume that ancient man was "primitive". Think about it: Adam came straight from the Hand of God. I don't think God created an idiot caveman who dragged Eve around by the hair.

Certainly there have been periods of time in the earth's history when men were ignorant, and came up with fanciful explanations for the natural phenomena they observed. But I suspect there have been civilizations and technologies in the past that would make our modern convieniences look "primitive".

And the fat that things like lightning have been found to be just part of the natural cycles of the earth does not disprove God. Quite the contrary, they prove His existence. Who started everything, after all?

The ignorance of man does not nullify the existence of God.

In Christ,

bmerr

 

[Mercury]

Did christians think that all natural phenomena were from God until Franklin proved them wrong?

Hopefully most Christians continue to think that natural phenomena are ultimately from God, since God is the author and sustainer of nature! Sure, we've discovered much about the natural processes God set in place that was not known in earlier days, but this would only remove God from the picture if one believed that nature exists independent of God.

Asking whether something (rain, lightning, etc.) happens because of a natural process or God is kind of like asking whether a computer program runs because of its programming or its programmers. Both are true on different levels.

 

[xdisciplex]

But this would mean that all hurricanes,earthquakes etc. are made by God!?
I don't believe this. Do you think God steers everything? The wind, the waves, the sea, the temperatures, the clouds? Why should God do this? This makes no sense.

 

[Mercury]

But this would mean that all hurricanes,earthquakes etc. are made by God!?
I don't believe this. Do you think God steers everything? The wind, the waves, the sea, the temperatures, the clouds? Why should God do this? This makes no sense.

The natural processes and matter that produce hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. are made and sustained by God. Whether God "steers" these processes in any particular situation is beyond our ability to know, barring revelation.

Just because God sustains gravity doesn't mean he's out to get you when you drop something on your toe. Just because God sustains processes that produce hurricanes and earthquakes doesn't mean that every natural disaster is a judgement of God. If it wasn't for the orderly workings of nature, we wouldn't be able to use science to explore God's creation.

 

[BobRyan]

Asking whether something (rain, lightning, etc.) happens because of a natural process or God is kind of like asking whether a computer program runs because of its programming or its programmers. Both are true on different levels.

Hmmm - Mercury made a good point. too bad he is evolutionist "anyway"

 

[BobRyan]

But this would mean that all hurricanes,earthquakes etc. are made by God!?
I don't believe this. Do you think God steers everything? The wind, the waves, the sea, the temperatures, the clouds? Why should God do this? This makes no sense.

When you turn on the water in the sink does God go to your sink and "make the vortex" or did he make the laws of physics - laws of nature that DETERMINE the vortex! Ahh - He IS the God of nature - that makes things WORK!

And He MAKES what He says He makes!

both of those truths must be kept in mind for this subject.

 

[Link]

Didn't Job lose much of what he had in a whirlwind after Satan got permission from God to take those things?

 

[xdisciplex]

Hi everybody!

I see the problem as this.
If the bible said, and I don't know if the bible makes this claim, that all lightnings are made by God and that all earthquakes come from God then as soon as somebody is able to produce a lightning then it sounds like he has disproven God or the bible. This is the real problem. For example if scientists found a way to make lost limbs grow back then they would say this disproves God and miracles because we can do it without a God and without miracles.

 

[Blammo]

Hi everybody!

I see the problem as this.
If the bible said, and I don't know if the bible makes this claim, that all lightnings are made by God and that all earthquakes come from God then as soon as somebody is able to produce a lightning then it sounds like he has disproven God or the bible. This is the real problem. For example if scientists found a way to make lost limbs grow back then they would say this disproves God and miracles because we can do it without a God and without miracles.

If scientists create life from life, that doesn't prove anything. If they were able to create life from nothing, that would be something.

 

[xdisciplex]

Yes.
But the atheists accuse the bible of having a wrong opinion of the world and the universe. The world being flat and so on...
And when I read these verses here then it sounds to me like the bible is implying that the sun revolves around the earth.

Joshua 10:13 - "So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day."

Psalm 93:1 - "The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

 

[billwald]

"When you turn on the water in the sink does God go to your sink and "make the vortex" or did he make the laws of physics - laws of nature that DETERMINE the vortex! Ahh - He IS the God of nature - that makes things WORK!"

There are no laws of physics. They are only observations about how God happens to be running things right now. It would be against God's nature to create a universe that is self perpetating because God's nature requires him to micro manage every quark, right? <G>

 

[xdisciplex]

It would be against God's nature to create a universe that is self perpetating because God's nature requires him to micro manage every quark, right? <G>

Is this sarcasm or your opinion?

 

[Linda64]

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

The LORD is slow to anger, and great in power, and will not at all acquit the wicked: the LORD hath his way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. (Nahum 1:3)

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and by him all things consist. (Colossians 1:16-17)

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. (Hebrews 11:3)

 

[BobRyan]

Yes.
But the atheists accuse the bible of having a wrong opinion of the world and the universe. The world being flat and so on...
And when I read these verses here then it sounds to me like the bible is implying that the sun revolves around the earth.

Joshua 10:13 - "So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, till the nation avenged itself on its enemies, as it is written in the Book of Jashar. The sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day."

Psalm 93:1 - "The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and is armed with strength. The world is firmly established; it cannot be moved.

Atheists "need" to find out that "There is no God" -- Psalms makes that point clearly.

One way they do it is by trying to "blame the Bible" for any error they see in mankind, INCLUDING the crusades, the flat-earth RCC of the dark ages, etc.

But FIRST you have to swallow the line that the RCC is the BEST and most accurate interpreter of scripture. Most Christians here would not do that - so the Atheist does not get very far.

Einstein argues that relative motion means that you can select a reference point and get the "same effect" by viewing all other objects with respect to any given reference point. He is right. The bible authors selected the reference point for the observer as the one that we are currently standing on.

That is not particularly surprising. Why should God direct that a lesson in astrophysics or cosmology is a prerequisite to getting simple truths conveyed? Simply select the point of reference for the observer as being "earth" and keep it "simple"!

Two planes are converging on a single point at 500 MPH each. What is the velocity of the first plane from the reference of an observer in the second plane? From the reference point of an observer on the ground? From the reference point of an observer on the moon?