Creation (bârâ), and natural processes

The Hebrew word bârâ (created),  is used in the Bible only in connection with the activity of God. It indicates something completely new coming into existence.  The heavens and the earth (every material thing) had a beginning, before the beginning there was nothing.  Thus “God created the heaven and the earth” (Genesis 1:1),  can only mean He created all that exists out of nothing. On the other hand He “made” the sun, moon and the stars (verse 16).  Psalm 90:2 speaks of the earth being formed. What then is the difference,  between 'created' and 'made?' An illustration comes to mind. They say that Sir Christopher Wren built St. Paul's cathedral in London,  England.  But this does not mean he physically built it,  but rather that he designed, commissioned and facilitated the building of it. Likewise 'God made,' as distinct from 'God created' allows for an understanding that the particulars of the formation of the sun, moon and stars was not necessarily hands on, so to speak. In other words the text allows for an understanding that the formation of the sun,  moon and stars, involved what we would call natural processes.

The question remains “Can natural process explain matter coming into existence?”  Certainly natural processes exist, but we are asking if something coming out of nothing can be explained in terms of natural processes. To assume so seems to me,  to be an unsubstantiated quantum leap of faith. But this is what many Scientists believe.  It is in fact hidden in the presuppositions of their methodology.

But first, you may object, “What about the Big Bang?” Let's examine that.  The Big Bang hypothesis states that all current and past matter in the Universe came into existence at the same time, roughly 13.8 billion years ago. At that time, all matter was compacted into a very small ball with infinite density and intense heat called a Singularity. The Singularity, so the theory goes,  suddenly began expanding, and the universe as we know it began.”  Please note, this is a description of what is thought to have happened, not an explanation of what caused it! Nothing is said about where the very small ball of infinite density came from, nor about the cause of it suddenly beginning to expand.  When challenged about such things,  those who dismiss the possibility or an external causal agent say something like “We don't know the natural cause yet, but we are sure we will eventually!”

But we need to probe this a bit deeper,  and ask what is the basis for this assurance. In fact it ultimately comes from their presuppositions.  Naturalism for example, states that “nature is the only reality,  there is no such thing as the  supernatural, there is nothing above, beyond, or outside of nature.”  So because this is true, they say, and because there has to be an explanation, then the explanation has to be in terms of natural processes. But this is circular arguing of the type “The moon is made of green cheese, and because this is true, we will eventually discover that the moon is indeed made of green cheese!”

Father, we all have a world view,  and in the end a world view can only be held by faith. They are unprovable by the Scientific method.  So we need to ask which world view best corresponds to reality. And my thesis,  and the thesis of the book I am writing, is that the Bible World view corresponds most closely to reality.  Help us to examine this with an open mind Lord in Jesus Name Amen