Tuesday, March 14: Who is Creator?
Just how old is the planet we inhabit? Bible literalists would have us believe that the earth is only a few thousand years old, while scientists point to evidence that our planet has existed for billions of years.
If there is that much disagreement about WHEN the earth was created, is it any wonder that there is even greater debate about HOW the earth was created? Bible literalists claim that God made the earth and all that dwells upon it in only six days, while many scientists point toward the Big Bang Theory or the Solar Nebula Hypothesis.
Can we, as believers with rational minds, find peace and contentment somewhere in a middle ground rather than in an either / or? I believe we can examine the very first words of the Bible: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Notice that there is no mention of when or how creation occurred, so our thinking is not strictly bound by either Biblical literalism or empirical evidence.
The dilemma lies in how we attempt to apply rational thought to a phenomenon that is unquestionably supernatural in scope. However, if we ascribe to the notion of a Triune God with Jesus as the Redeemer and the Holy Spirit as the Sustainer, then we are obliged to accept God as the Creator. If our sense of God as an omnipotent, omniscient, and omnipresent force is foundational to our faith, details of the whens and hows of creation become irrelevant. We can confidently state that “We believe in one God…maker of heaven and earth.”
Jennifer Fletcher is the author of today's Lenten Reflection.
Jennifer is the mother of two sons. Jamie, a physician married to a nurse practitioner, has fond memories of serving as an acolyte at St. Thomas for several years. Jason, an intellectual property attorney currently living in Atlanta, went to elementary school with Meg at Clubview. Jennifer is also the grandmother of one precious little girl, pictures of and stories about whom she will share any time, anywhere!
