On the following internet site the book 'THE HISTORY OF LIFE' can be viewed
or downloaded in its updated version,
in German or English, Works- or Word-format:
www.urzeitundendzeit.de
From the content:
Is the earth - according to the Bible - a disc, heaven a 'firmament'?
Did the Garden of Eden really exist?
Did God create the world in seven days?
Were Adam and Eve the first human beeings?
Is 'descent' an atheist or a biblical concept?
Where do sufferings and death in creation come from?
Was Noah's flood a local or a worldwide catastrophe?
What did really happen when the 'Tower of Babel' was built?
Why Darwin could no longer believe in the Bible
Strong and weak points of the 'critical theology'
How to apply scientific methods to the Bible
Faith and natural science
Confessions of famous scientists
SUMMARY: The whole book at a glance
The first chapter of the Bible is a family tree, describing the evolution of
life on earth. The sub-title of the creation report summarizes the whole
process with the following words:
These are the generations (Hebrew toledot=descent) of the heavens
and of the earth in their being created (Hebrew bara=creation)!
(Genesis 2:4)
The noun toledot used here is an Old Testament technical term for
lines of descent and genealogical trees.
Indeed, the first book of the Bible contains a family tree which starts
with the Spirit of God 'breeding' over the waters of the early earth.
Then it describes the development of life on earth in ascending order:
plants, water animals, land animals and at last mankind.
The evolution of life is closely interwoven with three specific creative
acts of God, which support it like pillars: The creation of 'heaven and
earth', the creation of 'living souls' and the creation of 'humans',
which is the dimension of spiritual life.
Scientifically speaking this corresponds to the 'Big Bang',
the sudden beginning of matter, space and time,
then the 'Cambric Explosion', the sudden appearance of animal life
nd finally the comet-like rise of mankind.
According to the Bible creation and evolution are not incompatible
or contradictory but two aspects of God's way to act - up to now!
Usually, the second chapter of the Bible is interpreted as a 'second
creation report'. But Genesis 2 is not at all repetition but simply
the logical continuation of Genesis 1.
It describes what happened thereafter - otherwise it would
contradict the first chapter:
Adam descended from the humans of the sixth 'day' and lived
during the seventh 'day' in a precisely described landscape
in the Near East about 5000 years before Christ.
He was the first human being with whom God entered into
a personal covenant, he was the first elect.
His mandate was toestablish God's dominion over the fallen earth.
The Garden of Eden was a 'protected area'
which Adam explicitly had to 'guard'.
A spiritual battle is described that leads to the events of
Noah's Flood and the Tower of Babel, and which is going on to this day.
A SCIENTIFIC INTERPRETATION OF THE BIBLE
If we want to treat the Bible properly we have to explore its ancient texts
with adequate methods.
The book of Genesis is the entrance and the foundation of the Bible,
and all the subsequent books are built upon this basis.
This is the reason why it is so important for us to really understand
the 'Book of the Beginnings', because otherwise our faith is built upon sand.
In the following, we will try to show how a scientific interpretation of the
original text can look like:
First the meaning of each Hebrew word will be explored by looking at
all Biblical passages where it appears (concordance)
and by considering its origin (ethymology).
Then it will be interpreted according to the context in which it is situated.
We shall use the commonly recognized dictionaries and want to enable
the reader to verify every argument.
The last section deals with the (German) historical-critical theology,
showing its strong points and weaknesses.
It is - even so as many 'christian' interpretations - based upon
centuries-old traditions that urgently need to be modernized and adjusted,
for example to the facts of archeological findings,
but also to the facts represented by the statements of the Hebrew Bible.
Greetings!
Armin Christian Held
_____________________________________
www.urzeitundendzeit.de
DIE BIBEL VON ANFANG AN BESSER VERSTEHEN -
Ein Vergleich des Originaltextes der Genesis
mit den Erkenntnissen der Naturwissenschaft:
Schöpfungsbericht - Adam in Eden - Sintflut - Babel
DIE BERGPREDIGT - Jesus' Grundkurs für alle Christen
DIE GEMEINDE GOTTES -
Biblische Lehre, profetische Eindrücke, persönliche Erfahrungen
--
_____________________________________
www.urzeitundendzeit.de
DIE BIBEL VON ANFANG AN BESSER VERSTEHEN -
Ein Vergleich des Originaltextes der Genesis
mit den Erkenntnissen der Naturwissenschaft:
Schöpfungsbericht - Adam in Eden - Sintflut - Babel
DIE BERGPREDIGT - Jesus' Grundkurs für alle Christen
DIE GEMEINDE GOTTES -
Biblische Lehre, profetische Eindrücke, persönliche Erfahrungen
.
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