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Science was one of my favorite subjects of study as a child. As a young teenager my father bought me a chemistry set. He was somewhat into chemistry too if you include reloading ammunition. In eighth grade our school had a class called IPS which stood for Introductory to Physical Science. It was in that class that I became acquainted with the person who would be my best friend for the next ten plus years. And with that my interests in all academic study fell away as I was more interested in amusements/partying, and making friends. But after moving back to Pennsylvania, and getting involved with a church there (as mentioned in the previous post), my interest in science was rekindled.
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In the English language, the word science means knowledge, particularly, knowledge that is acquired through observation, or experimentation. In the New Testament, the Greek word <i>gnosis</i> is translated to the English words science and knowledge. "O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called." 1 Timothy 6:20. One may ask, how can there be such a thing as false science, is that not an oxymoron? It is because science is nothing more than a list of reasons for the acceptance or rejection of any given hypothesis. It is not the absolute that it is often revered as being because human reasoning is subject to prejudice, and those prejudices can influence a person's reasons for the acceptance or rejection of a hypothesis. Some of these prejudices came to my attention after my pursuit of scientific inquiry resumed.
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Continuing with what has been written. "And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day." Genesis 1:6-8. After laying the foundation of the earth, the Creator needed to make it habitable as that was his purpose. "For thus saith the LORD that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the LORD, and there is none else." Isaiah 45:18. By having a purpose in my own life, it made me that much more open to connect with other beings who operate on purpose. Purpose/intent is something that is denied in other worldviews, as things are generally accepted as happening randomly.
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Before the creation of the firmament, the earth was enveloped in a cloud of vapor in thick darkness. Now, light had been provided. And yet, even in the brilliant light, the fog and vapor cover had enshrouded the earth, keeping it semi-dark at the surface. This vapor existed because there was no atmosphere, no air. Without atmosphere there can be no sky. And without atmosphere there was no weight in the form of atmospheric pressure to bear upon the water, and keep it in liquid form. It would have burst into vapor. Therefore, the water was behaving in accord with natural law until an atmospheric pressure could be brought to bear upon it, and keep it in liquid form. Vapor formed above the water until the vapor cloud itself obtained sufficient volume and weight to apply a pressure upon the rest of the water at its base, upon the earth's surface, to maintain the bottom most portion in liquid form. The earth's gravity was the controlling factor. With the advent of light, another controlling factor was added, heat or temperature. Now the firmament could be created. For the first three days, the firmament was the atmosphere itself, but it wasn't completed until the events of the fourth day as will be covered later.
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So air was created. The atmosphere was interjected between the liquid waters covering the earth, and the vast vapor cloud above it. As the atmosphere came into being, much of the moisture in vapor form was absorbed as contained humidity within the atmosphere. That which could not be contained was left as vapor, much of it too heavy to float as clouds within the upper atmosphere. A large portion of this condensed as the atmosphere was created into liquid from the atmospheric pressure, and became part of the liquid waters below the atmosphere. There remained yet a great vapor covering in the form of a dense cloud mass of great thickness was in the upper atmosphere. Thus the firmament divded the liquid waters which were under the firmament, from the vapor cloud above the atmosphere, that is, within its upper limits. The great light which God created shown upon this vapor cover, appearing to the earth below as a diffused lighting through the cloud mass overhead. The surface of the earth now became visible. The surface of the liquid waters covering the earth could now be seen, had there been a human observer.
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The creation account goes on to say, "And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good. And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. And the evening and the morning were the third day." Genesis 1:9-13. The foundation of the earth had been laid on the first day. Light and air were provided. Now, the water and land must be separated in order for provide a suitable environment for life. This text says, let the waters be gathered together into one place (singular), in order for dry land to appear. In this text, the gathering together of the water called he seas (plural). The words one place are equaled with the plural word seas, indicating more than one place in the actual details of this movement. The term, "one place" is a general term applied to all the bodies of water collectively. The fossil record indicates that the greater portion of the earth's surface was at one time land, and a lesser portion seas, of which there were apparently many that are much smaller than the oceans we now know. These seas were likely more evenly distributed over the earth's surface so that no land was far from a body of water. This condition would have served as an additional aid to the world-wide climate of that day.
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As the Creator prepared to separate the water from the land, it is worth noting that it says, let the dry land appear, indicating that the land would be uncovered by the receding water, and would now be above the water level. One may ask, how could all the water run to a lower elevation when there was enough to cover the entire planet? The so-called pre-cambrian structure does give the appearance of molding, folding, and other actions. This could have been accomplished on the first day of creation when the foundation was laid, so that mountains and valleys were formed, waiting only for the waters to be removed in order to make their appearance. These is a passage in Psalms that supports this. "Bless the LORD, O my soul, O LORD my God, thou are very great; thou art clothed with honor and majesty. Who laid the foundations of the earth, that it should not be removed for ever. Thou coverest it with the deep as with a garment: the waters stood above the mountains. At thy rebuke they fled; at the voice of thy thunder they hasted away." Psalm 104:1, 5-7. Evidently, the Creator knew what he wanted in regard to earth's topography, and had created it that way on the first day. But it was hidden under the water and vapor cover so that it was without form and void. So where did the excess water go, and how did it get there? The answer to these questions will be more clearly understood when covering the events of the sixth day. For now, the water went underground to places specifically prepared for it at this time.
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Now that water, air, and land were formed and organized in their separate spheres, the earth was fitted for life forms. Again, it was necessary to do this in an organized manner. It wouldn't do for animals to be created at this point as there was nothing for them to eat. Since vegetation would be the food supply, it must come first. So the Creator speaks, and plant life comes together in abundance. The earth must have had the appearance of lush beauty. A carpet of greenery covered the newly emerged hills and valleys. These were created smooth and symmetrical. The broken, ragged upthrusts that we presently call mountains are the results of a catastrophe that will be covered in a future series of posts. But at this time, beautiful flowers were in full bud, waiting to burst into bloom when the sun is created the next day. Trees were created in full stature with full fruit, waiting to provide for the life forms to follow.
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