37818
Well-Known Member
The universe is old. God has no beginning. And the Word (Logos) is the sole cause of all, John 1:3. Genesis 1:1.
-
Welcome to Baptist Board, a friendly forum to discuss the Baptist Faith in a friendly surrounding.
Your voice is missing! You will need to register to get access to all the features that our community has to offer.
We hope to see you as a part of our community soon and God Bless!
Genesis 1:16 and its added words.
- Thread starter 37818
- Start date
37818
Well-Known Member
What is it you do not understand? The rext says on the fourth day God made 2 lights. On the first day God said let there be light.
Interpertation is what one understands what is said to mean.
Of course he did. Even the text you put forward in the opening post to try to prove your point says so:
You are right that your interpretation is not what God said. The text stands on its own two feet.
37818
Well-Known Member
So are you saying God said "the Sun" and "the Moon" "and He made" the stars on that fouth day, and not "two lights?"
Please clarify what you meant by your reply. Noting what I had omitted. What I omitted of your reply seemed cofused to me
Yes, that is what I am saying. To clarify, I am NOT saying "not two lights," but am saying "not ONLY two lights" -- but two lights and the stars. Verse 16 comes in the context of Genesis 1:14-19, which is what God did on the fourth day, which reads this way in the Bible version you chose to reference:
New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the dome of the sky to separate the day from the night; and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. 16 God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. 17 God set them in the dome of the sky to give light upon the earth, 18 to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
"Sun" and "moon" are not used in verse 16 of Genesis, but rather greater light and lesser light. If that is not understandable enough, we have it interpreted for us in Psalm 136:7-9:
New Revised Standard Version
7 who made the great lights,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
8 the sun to rule over the day,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
9 the moon and stars to rule over the night,
for his steadfast love endures forever;
Hope this helps.
The universe was created at the same time as the earth.
37818
Well-Known Member
Your interpretation is disallowing a literal reading of God making "two lights" and a how God did it with the Sun and Moon. The Moon being made the "lesser light" to rule the preexisting night and stars.
You can interpret your way as you like. I believe my understanding is more likely true. As it is, the 6 days of acts of God are both supernatural and natural.
God created the natural, ex nihilo. Genesis 1:1 includes the actual billions of years. Whether God did it in the 1st day of the 7 days or prior in the created nature of it all. It is effectively the same.
37818
Well-Known Member
What ever constitues the "In beginning . . ." Remember in John 1:1 "In the beginning" includes eternity past. Where "the Word" was both "with God" and also "was God."
And in my understanding prior to the 7 days, Genesis 1:2, ". . . And the earth was without form, and void; . . ."
Not in the least; it literally accepts the two lights and literally accepts "and the stars" as well.
I will take the Psalmist's explanation, which includes the stars with the moon.
Genesis is not talking about the third heaven but about the earth, the earth's skies and the external universe and the beginning of man, which Jesus said that Adam was present because Jesus said that God made them male and female from the beginning.
37818
Well-Known Member
You are aguing interpretation.
No, you said that John says that there was God before there was a universe. Paul says that there are three heavens. So the Trinity were in the third heaven before earth and the other two heavens were created in the beginning. Do you disagree with that?
37818
Well-Known Member
God has no beginning. God is invisible and omnipresent. Was always, there was always His Agency, the Logos, the Son, And One eternal Essence by which "They" are the One God. Uncaused Existence (YHWH), Uncaused Cause (Logos, Johb 1:3),One Uncaused Essence (Holy Spirit, John 4:24, Romans 8:9, Romans 8:16). Three Persons who are the One (YHWH) Self-Existent being One in Substance (Holy Spirit).
"In the beginning God created the heavens (plural) . . . ."In the beginning was the Word . . . ."
Thanks! 37818, I agree that the Holy Trinity are eternal and have always had the third Heaven. I am only a layman; nevertheless, I think that 1:1 is talking about the first two heavens, which are defined as earth's atmosphere and the external universe of outer space and the galaxies.
So what do you think?
37818
Well-Known Member
In Genesis 1:1 is the universe. Genesis 1:8 God called our sky Heaven. At least that is how I interpret it. That water above our sky ceased to be there as a result of the flood.
Thanks!
2 Corinthians 12:2 (KJV) I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, (whether in the body, I cannot tell; or whether out of the body, I cannot tell: God knoweth
such an one caught up to the third heaven.The heavens created in 1:1 were the earth's atmosphere (Webster: a synonym for heaven is sky) and secondly the cosmos (Webster: orderly harmonious systematic universe)
The Third Heaven that Paul saw into is the Throne of God.
37818
Well-Known Member
What is called the firmament, in the margin of my Bible I have written "sky." I think heaven should be called heaven, especially the third.
In Matthew's account, the kingdom of "God" is also rendered, the kingdom of "heaven."
I apologize for the smiley face on my last post. I had a typo error and did not catch it. I would never intentionally insert anything in Scripture.
37818
Well-Known Member
That was caused by this board, not you. The simicolon followed by the close parethisis is automatically changed to a winking smiley face.