Comment on Dr. Geraty Affirms the Literal Creation Week? by Charles.
EG White
God placed man under law, a subject of the divine government. God might have created man without the power to transgress; He might have withheld Adam from touching the forbidden fruit; but in that case man would have been a mere automaton. Without freedom of choice, his obedience would have been forced. Such a course would have been contrary to God’s plan, unworthy of man as an intelligent being, and would 20have sustained Satan’s charge of God’s arbitrary rule. {EP 19.4}
From Eternity Past, p. 20.1 (EGW)
God made man upright, with no bias toward evil. He presented before him the strongest possible inducements to be true. Obedience was the condition of eternal happiness and access to the tree of life. {EP 20.1}
From Eternity Past, p. 20.2 (EGW)
The home of our first parents was to be a pattern for other homes as their children should go forth to occupy the earth. Men in their pride delight in magnificent and costly edifices and glory in the works of their own hands, but God placed Adam in a garden. This was a lesson for all time—true happiness is found not in the indulgence of pride and luxury, but in communion with God through His created works. Pride and ambition are never satisfied, but those who are truly wise will find pleasure in the enjoyment God has placed within the reach of all. {EP 20.2}
From Eternity Past, p. 20.3 (EGW)
To the dwellers in Eden was committed the care of the garden, “to dress it and to keep it.†God appointed labor as a blessing to man, to occupy his mind, to strengthen his body, and to develop his faculties. In mental and physical activity Adam found one of the highest pleasures of his holy existence. Those who regard work as a curse, attended though it be with weariness and pain, are cherishing an error. The rich often look down upon the working classes, but this is at variance with God’s purpose in creating man. Adam was not to be idle. Our Creator, who understands what is for man’s happiness, appointed Adam his work. The true joy of life is found only by working men and women. The Creator has prepared no place for stagnating indolence. {EP 20.3}
From Eternity Past, p. 20.4 (EGW)
The holy pair were not only children under the fatherly care of God, but students receiving instruction from the all-wise Creator. They were visited by angels and were granted communion with their Maker with no obscuring veil between. They were full of vigor imparted by the tree of life, their intellectual power but little less than that of the angels. The laws of nature were opened to their minds by the infinite Framer and 21Upholder of all. With every living creature, from the mighty leviathan among the waters to the insect mote that floats in the sunbeam, Adam was familiar. He had given to each its name, and he was acquainted with the nature and habits of all. On every leaf of the forest, in every shining star, in earth and air and sky, God’s name was written. The order and harmony of creation spoke of infinite wisdom and power. {EP 20.4}
From Eternity Past, p. 21.1 (EGW)
So long as they remained loyal to the divine law they would be constantly gaining new treasures of knowledge, discovering fresh springs of happiness, and obtaining clearer conceptions of the immeasurable unfailing love of God. {EP 21.1}
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Charles Also Commented
Dr. Geraty Affirms the Literal Creation Week?
@Bill Sorensen:
I do not wish to “conjecture” anything and am quite willing to wait until the kingdom to understand better.
Hebrews 11:6
But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Dr. Geraty Affirms the Literal Creation Week?
SAU published a seven-principle statement affirming the University’s stand on Creation. This was published in the June, 2011 Southern Tidings.
http://www.southernunion.com/site/1/docs/Tidings/2011/jun11.pdf
(see page 15)
Here are the seven principles:
1. We affirm the primacy,
authority, and trustworthiness of the
Bible in all areas of inquiry it addresses,
including the origin of the natural
world and the various kinds of life
created therein.
2. We affirm that Genesis 1-11 is
an accurate and historical account of
the events it presents. The description
found therein is reaffirmed throughout
the Old Testament, and every New
Testament writer and Jesus Himself
explicitly or implicitly affirms the historicity
of Genesis 1-11.
3. We affirm the supernatural
Creation of a beautiful and perfect
world in one literal week of six consecutive,
contiguous, 24-hour days of
creative activity, followed by the Sabbath
of rest.
4. We affirm that the Creation
week and the origin of life on Earth
took place recently, a few thousand
years ago, and that there was no life
on Earth prior to that time.
5. We affirm that death came
about as the result of human sin,
that there was no death in the world
as originally created, and that there
will be no death in the new Earth as
restored by God.
6. We affirm the value of Ellen
G. White’s endorsement of the biblical
teaching on the early history of Earth,
specifically a literal six-day creation,
God’s rest on the literal seventh day,
a short chronology for life on Earth
of a few thousand years, and a global
Flood.
7. We affirm that the doctrine
of Creation is foundational for and
interconnected with other important
biblical doctrines, including the inspiration
of Scripture, the Sabbath, the
character of God, the plan of salvation,
marriage, resurrection, and the
new earth.
I notice in principle #4 the statement, “Creation
week and the origin of life on Earth
took place recently, a few thousand
years ago, and that there was no life
on Earth prior to that time.”
Does that statement allow for an earth “without form and void” being in place prior to the creation week? How would that idea compare with what scripture says and what is written by EG White?
The Bible (KJV) says:
Genesis 1
1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
So, was the earth (as an un-created mineral ball) here prior to our creation week – possibly as part of an earlier creative act by God? The two verses above seem to possibly allow for that.
What does EGW say?
“In the creation of the earth, God was not indebted to preexisting matter. “He spoke, and it was …; He commanded, and it stood fast.†237Psalm 33:9. All things, material or spiritual, stood up before the Lord God at His voice and were created for His own purpose. The heavens and all the host of them, the earth and everything in it, came into existence by the breath of His mouth.” {MHH 236.6}
Her statement above does not seem to preclude that God may have created the material of this earth at an earlier time. But it is clear that it was created by God and it was created from nothing but His own power.
For me, it does not matter on that point. I believe what scripture says about it and I believe that Ellen White was inspired and correct in what she wrote.
I am not a qualified expositor on the original languages but there is indication in the SDA Bible Commentary that the form of the earth described in Gen 1:2 may be similar to the form of the earth as prophesied in Rev 20:3. We understand that condition (abussos) to be desolate of life.
I believe that this world was created by God about 6,000 years ago in a literal 6-day week followed by the first Sabbath day. It was a miraculous work and in no way depended on the notions of “science” as we know it here on earth. If the earth was hanging here (in space) prior to that creation, I know that He put it there at some previous time in preparation for what He was planning relative to the creation.
He is so totally in control. We even have a Biblical example of Him “making the sun stand still”. It would be speculation as to how He did that one. Did He stop the whole world from turning for those few hours? It does not matter. God is not bound by the laws of science, physics, or any other constraint that we are bound by. He is Almighty God. Who can know His ways?
Dr. Geraty Affirms the Literal Creation Week?
@Faith:
I know there is plenty about Gen 1 I do not understand and indeed may never understand. But when Jesus comes, I think we will all see “the light”.
Recent Comments by Charles
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No matter how the FBs are worded, there will be contention about it.
Anyone who has fully embraced this message realizes that the days to Jesus’ coming are few. Thus it behooves us to be about the work of proclaiming the unique ADVENTIST message to a world that is facing impending doom.
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@gene fortner: I don’t think anyone really knows what powers were being exercised on 9/11. Clearly the airliners were involved.
It was an event that changed the world in ways that top-down powers would yearn for.
No point in speculation… I think Veith probably was mistaken to do that deep dive and it seems that he has quietly backed away from it.
The thing we must focus on is to “Turn your eyes upon Jesus….” Clearly, we are in “the last days”.
LSU Removes Dr. Lee Grismer as Chairman of the Biology Department
@David Read: I find Veith’s “theorizing” regarding “conspiracies” to be spot on and on topic.
There is a great “conspiracy” – otherwise known as “The Great Controversy”. It is the ultimate reality of our rebellious little world today. AND it is the foundation of all of these other problems we deal with.
AND, IT WILL BE ENDING SOON!
LSU Removes Dr. Lee Grismer as Chairman of the Biology Department
Evidence that God is in control. LSU could become a beacon of light shining on the truth of our world an how we came to be here. That is as it should be.
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I believe we are involved in a Mount Carmel experience. As this world is hurling toward the great climactic “END”, we will see more and greater attacks against the truth by the great deceiver. The prophets of Baal will become bolder and more feverish. (Remember that the prophets of Baal on Mt Carmel were much from within the nation of Israel.)
What a day of reckoning it will be when “at such a time as we think not” that great cloud approaches this world. The signs today are loud and bold. Jesus is coming. Spread the word.
