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Here's something I wrote for Facebook awhile back. I hope it's informative.


“Believe the science.”
This phrase is repeated often by the modern media. It means science should be the ultimate authority on most matters.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
This plain, easy to understand statement is rejected by many today in favor of other, more sophisticated theories that are far harder to explain.
Occam’s Razor.
This is a scientific and philosophical principle that has been around since the 14th century, promoted by William of Occam.
It says that when faced with a number of different solutions to a problem, the simplest is the most likely.
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”
A simple idea.
Believe the scientific principle.
That is the foundation for what follows.

Most of us love a good mystery. If memory serves, Agatha Christie is the single best-selling author after William Shakespeare.
A good mystery is tantalizing. Clues are left by the author at just the right time. Some are not even noticed at first. A skilled author can camouflage a clue so that its significance isn’t clear until the end, or after multiple readings.
“…with all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will…” (Eph 1:8, 9)
The mystery of His will.
In Genesis chapter 3, the serpent deceives Eve into eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and bad. Eve then gives some of the fruit to her husband, Adam. After they both sinned, sentence is pronounced by Yahweh (God’s name according to Gen. 2:4).
Speaking to the serpent He said, “I will cause hostility between you and the woman, between your offspring (“seed” New King James Version) and her offspring. He will strike your head and you will strike his heel.”
A cryptic statement that probably baffled Adam and Eve.
Thousands of years later, Yahweh made this promise to God-fearing Abraham, “In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed my voice.” (Gen 22:18 New King James Version)
The plot thickens.

The “seed” of Genesis 3:15 would be one of Abraham’s descendants. Yahweh blessed Abraham’s son Isaac, then Isaac’s son Jacob. Jacob then had 12 sons, who became the 12 tribes of Israel. Before his death, Jacob blessed each of his sons. While blessing his son Judah, he said this, “The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from any of his descendants.” (Gen. 49:10)
Because of famine, Jacob, his sons, and their families migrated to Egypt. There they multiplied, were enslaved, and finally set free by Yahweh through his prophet Moses. They conquered the land of Canaan and settled in it, eventually asking God to give them a king, such as neighboring pagan nations had.
Their first king, Saul, was from the tribe of Benjamin. He was unfaithful to Yahweh and rejected as king.
Israel’s second king, David, was from the tribe of Judah. Yahweh made a unilateral covenant with David in 2 Samuel 7: 12, 13. “…I will raise up one of your descendants (“seed” NKJV), your own offspring and I will make his kingdom strong. I will secure his royal throne forever. I will be his father and he will be my son…”
That was initially fulfilled in David’s son, Solomon. But was there more to the picture?

We now have a trail of clues, threading its way through the plot. If I remember right, nearly a thousand years had passed between Yahweh’s promise to Abraham and His promise to establish David’s dynasty forever.
After Solomon, Israel fell into idolatry and gross immorality, being influenced by its pagan neighbors. God allowed Jerusalem to be destroyed by Babylon and the Jews to be exiled.
What would this mean for the kingly dynasty of David?
In Ezekiel 21:27, Yahweh says this: “I will surely destroy the kingdom and it will not be restored until the one appears who has the right to judge it. Then I will hand it over to him.”
Who “appeared”? Who had the “right” to the throne?

600 hundred years later, we read in Matthew 1:1, “This is a record of Jesus the Messiah, a descendant of David, and of Abraham.”
After which follows a detailed genealogy.
In Romans 1:2-4, the Apostle Paul wrote this, “…God promised this good news long ago through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures. The good news is about his Son. In his earthly life he was born into King David’s family line, and he was shown to be the Son of God when he was raised from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit. He is Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Finally, Revelation 19:11-16 contains a majestic, fear-inspiring description of Jesus in heaven. It concludes by calling him King of kings and Lord of lords.
This concludes the mystery, thousands of years in the planning, as Ephesians 1:8-10 says, “…with all wisdom and understanding, He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and earth under Christ.”
The identity of the serpent? Most can guess but Revelation 12:9 spells it out, “So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”
Many believe that Satan struck Jesus “In the heel” when Jesus was crucified. Since God raised Jesus from the dead, his “strike” was not permanent. When Jesus strikes Satan “in the head”, it will be permanent.
This is a basic explanation of the Bible’s theme. It all points to Jesus Christ’s life, crucifixion, and resurrection. As Paul writes in Romans 10:9, “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”
That is the Christian faith.

There are many, many reasons to believe the Bible is God’s word.
Fulfillment of prophecies is one. Any study of the book of Daniel would surely increase an honest-hearted person’s faith.
Another is its astounding use of foreshadowing. I am an admirer of writers who do that in their books and screenplays. I tried to do it when I could in my lyrics and poetry, as well as my novels. In Of Mice and Men, Steinbeck’s use of the dog to foreshadow Lenny’s fate is masterful, no doubt.
Although it was written by 40 authors over a period of 1500 years, the Bible contains hundreds of examples of foreshadowing. Abraham being willing to sacrifice his only son by Sarah beautifully illustrates Yahweh’s sacrifice of his Son for mankind.
King David was betrayed by his trusted counselor Ahithophel who later hanged himself, an ominous foreshadowing of Judas Iscariot.
The entire system of sacrifices under the Mosaic Law symbolized what Jesus’ death would accomplish centuries later. Even down to the sash worn by High priest Aaron, also worn by Jesus in Revelation 1:13. There are more examples than I can hope to remember. There are several just in Psalm 22.
One thing that impresses me is the honesty of the Bible writers. Today we often read that officials or those in the media “scrub” unpleasant details from people or events they wish to present in a better light. It’s ubiquitous, as it was in ancient times. Faults of kings or national heroes were rarely recorded. I’ve written two semi-autobiographical novels and I can tell you, the temptation to make yourself look good is almost overwhelming.
Yet, again and again, Bible writers record the faults, sins and failures of leaders and prophets. Noah, Abraham, Jacob and his sons, Moses, Samson, David, Solomon, Peter, and the rest of the apostles. Peter declared that even if all the other apostles abandoned Jesus, he never would. He would die for him.
Hours later he denied knowing Jesus three times.
Why are these unflattering, humiliating sins in the Bible?
“Such things were written in the Scriptures long ago to teach us. And the Scriptures give us hope and encouragement as we wait patiently for the promises of God to be fulfilled.” (Romans 15:4)

There are many who are spiritually inclined but who might be put off Christianity by smarmy televangelists. These “ministers” existed at the dawn of the Church as well. Paul humorously calling them, “hucksters who preach for personal profit.” (2 Corinthians 2:17)
Also, Hollywood almost universally portrays Christians as backwoods rubes. Even as outright villains. Are Christians really like Sheldon’s mom on Big Bang Theory?
No, they’re not.
And there are no shortages of churches in my area with wacky messages on their marquees. But if you want to find out what Christianity is really about, you can.
With some commitment, and around a $150 you can learn enough to lay down the roots of a strong faith.

Is there a Hobby Lobby near you? For some reason, they have very inexpensive, but excellent Bibles. For $20 you can get an English Standard Version study Bible. Hardcover. It’s packed with information related to the Bible, its teachings and characters, presented in an easy to understand format. There’s also a leatherette version with less info but still very nice. Depending on your budget, they also have nice, leatherette copies of the New International Version and New King James Version. A regular 1611 King James version is a must, for reasons explained later.

Zondervan Bible Dictionary. Less than $30 on Amazon. Wonderful resource. Maps. Full color photographs. Charts. There are other Bible dictionaries. Zondervan is my favorite. Others may feel differently.
Strong’s concordance. It has every word in the Bible, along with its basic definition in Hebrew and Greek. Easy to use. It’s based on the King James, which is why it’s handy to have one. Under $10 at a used bookstore.
Vine’s Expository Dictionary of Old & New Testament Words. Newer ones are keyed with the Strong’s.
Vine’s gives a fuller meaning to the original languages. “Keyed” means there’s a number next to each word. You look up the number in the Strong’s. Bingo. They work together. Under $10 in a used bookstore.
Greek-English Interlinear. These give the literal meaning of the original New Testament text right beneath the Greek. Very worthwhile for doctrinal questions. It’s good to have a few for comparison. They can be expensive new but they’re cheap in used bookstores.
To someone unfamiliar with Bible study, these materials can look and sound intimidating. They were to me. But you can learn to use them in minutes.
Pop culture presents the Bible as a book of fables, while holding its own media, movies, music, and novels in the highest esteem. I believe any objective examination of the Bible will reveal to an honest heart what Peter described in 2 Peter 1:21, “…for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.” (NKJV)

The Bible is not just a book of history and moral principles with deep prophetic significance. Its plan of salvation is a thing of mathematical beauty. It is a golden jar of Holy Spirit.
Start with Luke, then read Acts. Acts is the origin of the church. It is full of historical characters. It also has a funny description of a riot in chapter 19. It could have been written yesterday.
You’ll love it.

All scripture quotations are from the New Living Translation unless otherwise noted. I know I recommended the English Standard Version, which is a much more precise rendering of the original text. The ESV is a like hearing a story told by Sheldon Cooper. The NLT is like hearing the exact same story told by Penny. If you can afford it, the NLT Life Application Study Bible is excellent. But the ESV at Hobby Lobby is better and for one third the price.

Im impressed with your knowledge of The Bible, I havent really seen or heard much from you in that regard here or elsewhere.

I went to Catholic school. we had our own Catholic translation of the Bible, which outsiders did not like. We prayed in school, and we had religion as a class, Theology in high school. Some of the kids I went to school with were very wealthy kids, I was not. But my folks felt it important to send us there. That and Music Appreciation were the two classes I did not like. Boring.

We had drugs, sex, fights, partying. No different than any other school. So in that regard, it was a waste of money. I should write my own story here.

The one thing it did was imprint an unwillingness to pass God off completely. When I watch shows about space, and nature shows, and how we used to think the world was perfectly built, I realize we dont think that honestly. If God designed the universe, he did a rush job of it. HE made alot of errors, with Bombarding Asteroids, Earthquakes, Tsunamis, Planets colliding into each other, Suns eventually fizzling out. Plagues, Cancers, and if he did all that intentionally, what kind of a mean and uncaring God is He?

Genetics play a role in everything we do, and everything we are. Some criminals have brains that are hard wired to be mean vicious people. Can God punish them for being this way? He created them that way.

HE also created us with a dubious nature. We have to be leery of all the false prophets, but yet, we have to know HE is the one. in Deuteronomy it says "You may say to yourselves, "How can we know when a message has not been spoken by the Lord?" If what a prophet proclaims in the name of the Lord does not take place or come true, that is a message the Lord has not spoken. (Deut. 18:21,22a NASB)

That's a great answer, if it happens in your life span, what if the truth is not known until 200 years later? Then what do you do?

I DO trust science, we dont have all the answers of course, but we are in alot better shape than we were a thousand years ago, or even a hundred years ago. How lucky are we to be born and living in this age, as opposed to a dusk to dawn life in rock houses.

Science has made this life for us. Science is an amazing thing, not fallable and subject to change, but wonderous nonetheless.

Science wont be able to stop the end of the universe, it has an expiration date, and we know how long the Earth CAN last, if its not taken down by something else before it.. But we may have a few million years. Nothing in the Bible has every talked about space, the universe, the history of life on our planet. Why? Cause it was written by people, and people didnt know those things back then

We didnt even know the Earth was NOT the center of the universe until 1500's, and Gallelio was arrested and jailed for the rest of his life by The Catholic Church for saying it, cause it meant that The Earth was not as important as any other place in the sky. And he was right too.

IMAGINE, what life would be like a million years from now. We might be able to think our way to another country just by thinking it. Were talking a million years

But thank God for Science, its a gift. Maybe God is involved somehow, Physics is a strange concoction of ideas that we still dont fully understand, look into the double slit experiment, or a concept called quantum entanglement, if you want to have your mind blown.

We do have order, gravity, laws of physics, mathematics, they could all be very well gift from God, and clues from God, perhaps God speaks in Mathematics, its likely other planets will as well

Back to my orignal point, im unable to Deny God, and I think it has to do with my schooling. I dont want to be an arrogant prick Atheist who enjoys busting bubbles and badgering people.

I just dont know, and I will say my prayers and acknowledge Jesus and God, and ask for forgiveness if im not 100% on board with the details.

FD, it sounds like you had a bad experience with the Catholic church. You're not alone.

I'm typing this while in line. Here goes.

I'm not sure asteroids are any sign of a mistake in Yahweh's creation. Or tidal waves. As far as I know, no other planet has ever collided with earth.

The Bible teaches Yahweh created man and gave him free will. Yet there would be consequences for disobedience. Death. Adam disobeyed and this proved true. Not only that, but God cursed the ground and drove man from the Garden of Eden. Now, instead of a Garden of Eden, you've got bad weather, droughts, floods etc, affecting even the animals.

Paul wrote about all creation being subjected to futility and "groaning" because of it. But with "hope".

Man could not free himself from this situation. Death comes to all men through Adam. (Romans 5:12)

God himself provided his Son as a sacrifice.


I'm gonna have to finish later.

Catholic school was not that bad in and of itself, what it wasnt was anything different than any other school. Corporeal punishment had passed before I ever attended, we werent hit with rulers or slapped, like my folks were.

All im saying is Religion was certainly presented to me.

Id call a universe as volatile as ours albeit beautiful to look at at times, un GODLY, because it doesnt make sense that an intelligent designer could be so careless. We have to struggle, and we have to age, and we have to die of something, but the earth is not a perfect design by any streech, keep in mind, our entire planet has been destroyed and replenished several times already. Due to asteroids hitting us, If I were God, Id probably not have asteroids flying around looking to destroy my creation.

Why create dinosaurs, and let them dominate the earth for tens of millions of years, then have an asteroid blow them up, which allowed humans to dominate. If that didnt happen, we wouldnt be here.

But obviously, Im not God. Well never understand it logically.

...I'm not sure asteroids are destroying anything of much importance and I don't know what happened to the dinosaurs. I don't think anyone else does, either. I certainly don't know what I would do if I was Almighty God, anymore than an amoeba would know what it would do if it were me.


But back to what I was saying...Jesus, as the "...last Adam" paid the price with his life to redeem Adam's offspring from death. (1st Corinthians 15:22, 45)

Those having faith in that sacrifice, Jew and Gentile, will be rewarded with eternal life where "...there will be no more curse." (Revelation 22:3)

That free gift is from a God of love. (John 3:16, 1st John 4:8)


There's not much more I can say at this point. It becomes "give a man a fish or teach him to fish."

In my article I recommended Zondervan's Bible Dictionary. It's outstanding, full of maps, charts, historical time lines, hundreds of in-depth articles on historical figures.

When Jesus chose his apostles, they had three qualities that are obvious, among others. Peter, Andrew, James and John were two sets of brothers, and were some of his first disciples.

1. They were spiritually inclined, taking the time to investigate John the Baptist.

2. Being fishermen, they were really hard workers. These guys were not flower power wimps, as they're often portrayed. They were tough men.

3. They were humble, willing to be taught and corrected, even publicly.

Note the kind of person Jesus said his Father was looking for in Luke 18: 9-14.

It's very, very hard to be that kind of person. Very hard.