God created, God made (Genesis 1:1, 6)

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.  As we now know, the heavens and the earth (every material thing) had a beginning, before that 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).  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 he did not physically built it, 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. Psalm 90:2 speaks of the earth being formed. 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 phrase natural processes is descriptive, and Scientist have a fascinating description of the formation of the moon. But can natural processes explain everything? From the internet “Naturalism is the philosophical belief that everything arises from natural properties and causes, and supernatural or spiritual explanations are excluded or discounted.” In other words in the eyes of much modern Science the answer to my question is “yes.” But does this reflect reality?

The current most widely accepted description of the beginning of the universe is the 'Big Bang.' From the internet “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 suddenly began expanding, and the universe as we know it began.” Two questions, where did the singularity come from, and in terms of the scientific principle of cause and effect, what caused the Big Bang?

A beginning to the universe requires a beginner, someone or something external to the universe, that starts the whole thing. The universe cannot cause itself. To deny this is to imply that nothing created everything that is out of nothing. 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!” The word 'belief” in the statement that defines Naturalism, is both correct and interesting. It cannot be proved, and together with atheism, is every much a faith position, as belief in God.

Actually, Naturalism is one of an uncountable number of world views,  lenses through which we seek to interpret the world. There are mathematical theorems (Gödel's incompleteness theorems) that essentially imply that a world view can only be held by faith.  Since this is the case, we need to ask which world views most closely reflect reality.

Father,  there are many questions to ask. And my thesis, and the thesis of this book, is that Biblical World views corresponds most closely to reality.  Help us to examine this with an open mind Lord, and help us to live lives that prompt others to want to examine it too, in Jesus Name Amen