Creation - Evolution
Are ther the same?

In the beginning God created heaven, and the earth upon which thou standest. The earth was without form--and void, then light appeared. God made a firmament and two waters, the greater of which was beneath the firmament, the lesser above. The waters were gathered together; dry land appeared. Plants came forth upon the dry land. Sun, moon, and stars appeared. Sea life, winged creatures, and then the land animals. And lastly God created mankind.

The first chapter of Genesis is the story of the creation of our world. The realm of scientific thought, theoretical though it may be, is very much like the Genesis story. A nebulous creation followed by an evolutionary period is strongly suggested in Genesis One. The "Nebular Theory" explains how a huge, shapeless, interstellar gas cloud condensed into a flat rotating disc. Gas composed mostly of hydrogen, but including dust of many different compositions, is found many places throughout the visible universe.

Mutual attraction (gravity) within such a cloud will draw each atom and molecule toward a central area. Rotation within the cloud is as natural as it is when water goes down a drain. Centrifugal force shapes the condensing cloud into a flat disc. This is a natural result of rotation. The greatest concentration of gas and dust will be in one or more central lumps with smaller concentrations streaming around it. The earth up to this point would be without form, empty or void--and quite cold.

As density within the dust cloud increases, mutual attraction becomes stronger. More and more matter from the remains of the flattened disc is then drawn into these forming bodies. Greater concentrations mean greater gravitational attractions, greater forces of compression and friction all combine to produce localized heat energy which becomes trapped within the increasing mass of matter. Natural radioactivity produces more heat. These two major heat sources, plus others, unite to raise the temperature to a point sufficient to start thermonuclear reactions, slowly at first but increasing in intensity. In our own solar system the "lump" at the center was the only one large enough to kindle and to maintain its own atomic fire. The planet Jupiter is a borderline case. To date it has not ignited but some people believe it may at some future time. Many of the protoplanets were (and still are) too small to hold their early atmospheres. Some were able to hold only a portion of the heavier parts of their original atmosphere. The dust cloud thinned, light had appeared.

During this time the protoearth was coming into its own. A core within one of the smaller concentrations around the protosun was building its own reserve of heat energy. It wasn't big enough to ignite itself atomically as did the sun. However, it did become warm enough to produce chemical reactions (example--hydrogen and oxygen uniting to form water). This would take place throughout the primordial mass of earth and much would be trapped throughout this mass. In the case of water it would be forced to the surface at one or more later times -- perhaps in time of Noah when the fountains of the deep were broken and the windows of heaven were opened. (This latter undoubtedly referred to the waters above the firmament. One school of thought teaches there were rings around the earth at one time; rings of ice crystals that were much like the rings of Saturn. The cause of the collapse of these rings or other waters above the firmament is an item for speculation.)

As gasses, the constituent parts of water will react in the atmosphere to form water and rain. A constant cloud cover being replenished continuously would present an almost continuous deluge. When this primeval deluge ended, the water involved would settle into its own level in basins or depressions in the earth's crust. Dry land had appeared.

At this point Genesis indicates plant life appeared. The temperature was warm enough. The greenhouse effect caused by the cloud cover (see the previous paragraph) would assure a uniform warmth ideal for plant growth. There was ample moisture. The context from Genesis seems to indicate that plant life came first and began on land. This is at odds with the popular scientific theory of a marine origin of life. The biblical records say that plant life appeared -- was not created -- which supports part of the theory of creation. More on this later.

As radiant solar energy drove away the remains of the primordial interplanetary gas cloud, the sun finally shone through to the earth. The atmospheric clouds dissipated until the sun, moon, the brightest stars and eventually the entire sky were revealed to an "observer" on earth. Such an observer would have been Moses as the panorama of creation was revealed to him. This positioning of Moses, the observer, is critical to understanding the proper interrelationship of the biblical story of creation and the Nebular Theory of Creation. His point of observation was within the condensing interstellar cloud that formed our solar system as we know it. It was as if the earth was forming under his feet. His observation was of the earth primarily and the solar system secondarily. The rest of the universe was already in place, up and running, and its beginnings were not a part of the Biblical account.

The power of solar radiation can be seen through the study of comets which spend much of their existence at such distances that they are beyond the limits of the sun's ability to remove their gas coverings. Each time they return to a near proximity to the sun they bring their portion of primeval gas with them. Their long tails are evidence of radiant pressures stripping away the lighter gas from their central cores.

Sea animals appear next upon the stage of the ancient world. The biblical account and the scientific idea are in agreement on this point regarding life beginning in water (plant life excluded). Winged creatures and land animals appear. Evolutionists believe life began in the sea and migrated to land via the amphibian, reptilian, avian (bird), and mammalian stages. The Bible does not indicate any of the mechanisms involved for making a change from aquatic to terrestrial life but it does hint that such a change occurred when it lists fish before birds in the order of creation. Since there is little concrete evidence, pro or con, each of us in therefore free to decide for ourselves the proper sequence of events and their relative importance.

God's ways are natural ways. Everything that has occurred from the beginning of time up to and including the present age must answer to God's natural laws, many of which we know nothing about (but our ignorance doesn't alter their validity). There are only a few instances where the first chapter of Genesis indicates that God performed an act of creation which involved laws beyond human understanding. He made the heavens, and the earth, and the firmament which context indicates is the dome of the sky. He made animal life. He made man. Only these three recorded acts of creation. All other events are worded in such a way as to mean "bring forth or appear" even though they have been translated "create". Animal life, which was created, differs from plant life, which appeared. The clue is in the Hebrew word which has been rendered "nephesh" according to the Scofield Reference Bible. It means, in part, Soul or Self-conscious Life. As compared to other living organisms the difference can be compared to conscious and unconscious existence, with or without a soul - - or mind. The application of this term to the heavens and the earth is beyond my limited understanding but may involve certain metaphysical overtones.

Man was created. Again, the manner in which this was accomplished is not indicated except that he was made of the dust of the earth. All things are made of the dust of the earth through the intermediate steps of plant life utilizing non-living material as food, then becoming part of the food chain supplying the higher animals. Man's creation may have been a sudden miraculous act or it may have been along evolutionary lines of development. One interesting comment came from a biblical scholar who said that Adam may have been the first monkey with a soul. This is an indication of how little we really know about ourselves and our past.

This writing itself is an incomplete but educated guess on what our past has been.