NaClhv

Theology, philosophy, math, science, and random other things
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                  
2014-08-18
Importance: 

The simple essential meaning of the Genesis creation story

In attempting to understand the Genesis creation story, it's easy to get lost in the many different interpretations and get discouraged. You may begin to wonder, "what hope do we have of understanding the rest of the Bible if the first chapter is already this confusing?" On a related note, if you don't hold to […]
2014-08-11
Importance: 

How is "light" used in the Bible, particularly in the creation story?

In my previous post, I mentioned that the creation of light in the first day of Genesis 1 is a strong hint that this passage should be interpreted metaphorically. Light is simply too powerful as a symbol to discount this interpretation. In order to back up my claim, I have examined every verse that mentions "light" […]
2014-08-04
Importance: 

Interpreting Genesis 1 by looking through John 1

Genesis chapter 1 needs no introduction. I am currently attempting to construct an interpretation of this immensely important passage, which has ever been a difficult and controversial endeavor. A standard practice when we run into such difficulty is to look to other parts of the Bible which could clarify our passage: we apply adages such […]
2014-07-28
Importance: 

Interpreting the Genesis creation story: an introduction

First, we need to lay down some foundations. I've written several posts on how we should interpret the Bible. I have said that: The Bible, like scientific data, is sacred and infallible. We approach it accordingly.   This leads us to certain well-established principles of Bible interpretation.  Furthermore, the Bible should be interpreted using science […]
2014-07-21
Importance: 

Why we should interpret the Bible in light of science

The post title may already be controversial. So I would like to start by reminding everyone that loving one another is more important than being right. Christians, of all people, should be able to intellectually disagree with one another while still being loving, because our identity is not based in our intellect but in Christ. […]
2014-07-14
Importance: 

Key principles in interpreting the Bible

In my previous post, I said that there are strong parallels between the proper approach to the biblical texts when we're studying the scriptures, and to scientific data when we're studying nature. For the Bible and nature are two halves of God's unified revelation, two books written by the same Person for the same purpose. […]
2014-07-07
Importance: 

How should we interpret the Bible? Look at it as scientific data.

"How should we interpret the Bible?" is an enormously important question. Your answer to this question will both cause and settle many controversies around you, and the history of entire people groups have been shaped by their answer. Fortunately, the critical, basic elements of Christianity do not depend on any specific interpretative paradigm. They're based […]
2014-06-02
Importance: 

Make the most of your time and your life. Number your days.

Have you actually tried numbering your days, literally? It's a little depressing, but worth doing. Let's take 60 years as an optimistic average remaining life expectancy for the people reading this this post. This is actually a good estimate if you're around 20 years old. If you're older, naturally your remaining life expectancy will be correspondingly shorter. 60 years converts to roughly 21,900 days. Is this a large number?
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