Personal Evolution

[Van]

When we look back on our individual lives, and ponder the influences that shaped our characteristics, people, books, films and particular studies come to mind.

I took Chemistry and Physics in High School, so I have a so called "BS" meter that rejects much of what modern culture considers as plausible. For example, travel faster than the speed of light.

I remember an English teacher who handed me my test paper, graded "D" and said,"such a shame Van, you do not understand grammar, but you have things to say."

I grew up in the 1950"s so the books and films that heavily influenced me come from that era. The Searchers, Bridge on the River Kwai, and Giant. Similarly, the books, other than the New Testament, include, Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, Kennedy, and Saints and Strangers.

Two Pastors come to mind, Pastor Bill whose witness led me to Christ, and Pastor Mike whose insightful sermons revealed the life long treasure of Bible study.

As you may discern, the culture of the time between the age of about 10 and about 20 instilled what I accepted as truth. And once we accept something as true, it is really hard for any of us to discern mistaken for truth viewpoints.

Wisdom rests on the bedrock of humility.

 

[JonC]

I was thinking of this yesterday (in a different context).

My study was theology. I was a Calvinist and appreciated how well worked out and interdependent that philosophy appeared. Understanding as a Calvinist is often attributing "spiritual wisdom" to how aspects of the philosophy relate to one another. It is a rabbit hole. My primary influences were calvinistic writers and pastors, as they reinforced my understanding. I even taught with a Reformed Professor for a few years.

It humbled me when I realized just how far I had drifted into Calvinism, into "theology", and from "the faith once delivered".

What I was thinking about yesterday was the Creation account.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth. We are given detail about the days of creation.

We develop theories to satisfy our questions, like Theistic evolution, the gap theory. We wonder about God speaking and the big bang occurring, or if a day is 24 hours versus an age.

But what if God intended to reveal to us truths rather than the answers to our questiond about the "how"?

Recently I have become more concerned with what God has said, with His Words, and not about human wisdom. It is humbling to read the Bible and believe God without choosing between theories. And this has led to a deeper understanding (an understanding that increases daily) of God's Word.

Was a day 24 hours before there was light? Or are we talking about ages? Did God create grown trees or sapplings?

I do not know. I really do not care because it is not for me to know. I was not there when God laid the foundation of the Earth. There is more in God's Word, in "what is written", than several lifetimes. We should be too focused on the words coming forth from God, and too busy applying those words to our lives, to be concerned about theories, unanswerable questions, and things not for us to know.