Alpha Omega

The preceding description of the creation is a short, general description. The explanation of many aspects have been omitted. However, enough information has been presented to give one a relatively clear understanding of how the universe, the earth, life and man all evolved. Besides, this description was intended to be a brief summary. Although the creation process is a very important subject of study, it is of secondary importance to this treatise. There is neither the time nor the space for a more detailed discussion in this trilogy.

Moreover, science is constantly expanding its explanation of the various aspects of the creation process as more research is done and more knowledge is acquired. As previously pointed out, those wishing to obtain a more precise explanation of the creation of the universe, the earth, life and man ought to turn to the particular science book that gives the information they seek. These books, written by scientists inspired to seek the truth, proclaim the truth just as ineradicable as the Holy Scriptures.

Which brings one to Homo animus.

The Holy Bible, besides presenting an explanation of God’s creation, also gives that information about the distinctive feature that lifts man to the genus and species of Homo animus. This latter information cannot be found in astronomy books, geology books, paleontology books, the physical or cultural anthropology books, archaeology books or any other science book. Nor can it be found in the history books, philosophy books, psychology books or any other secular book. It can only be found in the Holy Bible.

One should note that the biblical translation used for this treatise is the Douay-Rheims in conjunction with the Latin Vulgate of St. Jerome (342 - 420). The reason the Douay-Rheims was chosen is because it was translated directly from the Latin Vulgate, which was translated by St. Jerome directly from the Hebrew, Greek and Old Latin used by the early Christians.

The version that he translated was the one that was first fixed as the official Christian Bible by the Council of Hippo in 393 A. D. Then in 397 A.D. it was again confirmed by the Council of Carthage as the official version of Christianity. Thus, St. Jerome’s Latin Vulgate has remained the undisputed official translation for over sixteen hundred years. The New Testament of the Douay-Rheims version was published by the college at Rheims in 1582 and the Old Testament by the college at Douay in 1609. Thus, English speaking Christians have had an English translation of the Latin Vulgate for over four hundred years.

For the present one must take several suppositions: God exists; He is a logical being; He is true in all His works and cannot deceive; and He is the Creator of the laws of natural science that govern the universe and everything in it. However, God does not interfere with the workings of the physical, chemical and biological laws of this world.

Since the laws of nature reveal that the universe and life are orderly and logical, one should therefore conclude that the information that the laws of natural science reveals about the creation process is true and correct. Indeed, every scientific fact that one can study concerning the creation process indicates that there was an ever slow evolution of everything that is in existence — as related in the opening chapters of this work. Also, it does not seem logical for there to be so much substantial evidence in favor of evolution if there was no such thing as evolution.

Finally, God did not make the physical and biological laws in order to have them deny logic and reason and that which science and the scientific method reveals to be true. One therefore ought to accept as true the teaching that the universe, the earth, life and man all evolved over millions, and in some cases billions, of years.

Another way to look at the description of the creation process is from a theological point of view.

The explanation of the creation as presented in the first chapter of Genesis was inspired by God. Since God is the ultimate Author of the Holy Scriptures and He cannot inspire error, then the Holy Bible must be the truth. Indeed, every promise of our Lord found in the Holy Bible has come true and every word of God has born out to be authentic fact. It does not seem logical for there to be so much substantial evidence supporting His word if His word were not the truth.

Also, God did not inspire the Holy Scriptures in order to have them deny logic and reason, for such would make Him out a fool. One therefore ought to accept as true the description of the creation process as presented in Genesis.

That the Holy Bible and science proclaim same truth about the creation may seem unrealistic. However, the Holy Bible cannot contradict science. Nor can science contradict the Holy Bible, for both come from the same source: God.

The narration in Genesis chapter one concerning the origin of the universe, the earth, life and man is not a beautiful flight of poetic imagery as many are presently claiming. (One should note that there are some who are ignorantly calling Genesis a myth. They are doing so in the innocence of their hearts, for they do not have any ill will. They just do not have the proper knowledge.)

However, the description of the creation as presented in Genesis is as real and as factual as any science book that one may find. This does not mean to say that the evolution of the universe, the earth, life and man is a misrepresentation of the facts by the scientists. Nor does it mean to say that those who are denying the facts of evolution in favor of their own heretical theories of scientific creationism, intelligent design creation or some other fundamentalistic interpretations of the Holy Bible are teaching the truth.

Finally, and most importantly, it does not mean to say that the universe, the earth, life and man were all created in six days. If there is any myth, it is in the fanciful story that God created everything in existence in only six days and only a few thousand years ago.

This book aspires to show that it is this latter belief that is the fanciful story. This trilogy hopes to manifest that everything in existence evolved, that this evolution took millions, sometimes billions, of years, and that man’s physical body evolved from an ape-like pedigree. Further, this treatise hopes to show that this evolution is confirmed by the opening chapters of Genesis.

This may be somewhat of a surprise and may seem unrealistic but that is what this book will manifest. It is built on the premise that there is a chronological order of events in the evolution of the universe, the earth, life and man and that this sequence of events was discovered by man using the scientific method.

These major events are: Big Bang and the expansion of the universe; then the gradual development of this solar system and the earth; then the creation of the first life and its evolution into photosynthetic forms; then the converting of the atmosphere from one dominated by carbon dioxide to an atmosphere dominated by nitrogen and oxygen; then the evolution of vertebrate life onto dry land followed by the evolution of the dinosaurs and birds; then the rapid proliferation of the mammals after the Mesozoic extinctions; and finally, the rise of man from the plains and jungles of Africa.

It is the purpose of this trilogy to show that the above sequence of events is predicted by both Genesis and science. It is the purpose of this treatise to show that there is no, can be no, disagreement between the Holy Scriptures and science, for both have the same source: Truth.

It is important to note that the interpretation of the opening chapters of Genesis presented in this book is not based upon deviations in the development of stars and other cosmic phenomena. It is not grounded upon the aberrations in the formation process of the earth and other geological phenomena. It is not built upon individual evolutionary lines of ancestry and other biological phenomena.

For example, it makes no difference to this trilogy whether black holes are at the centers of galaxies or what the scientists finally discover is at the centers of galaxies. It makes no difference to the theory presented herein what the geologists finally decide is the evolution of the earth/moon system. This book is not founded upon what invertebrate is the ancestor to all the chordates or whether or not asteroids (or comets) striking the earth are the actual causes of all mass extinctions. This trilogy does not depend upon whether the genus Australopithecus is an ancestor to or cousin of the genus Homo.

One must leave this kind of information to those scientists who are better qualified to explain such events. They have many years of study, research and training in their particular fields and know more about their own field of interest than the amateurs. It is far better for those who have little knowledge of a subject to just report the findings of the professionals, rather than try to interpret their work and build their own theories.

The discoveries concerning the major evolutionary events of the universe, the earth, life and man are what this book describes. What it interprets and reveals is that the opening chapters of Genesis and science both say the same thing concerning these major events. The interpretation of Genesis presented in this treatise is not concerned with individual events, for the explanations of them sometimes change as the scientists do more research and more knowledge is acquired.

The scientists of this world would have to drastically alter their concept of the previously described sequence of events in the creation of the universe, the earth, life and man in order to disprove what the Holy Bible proclaims about the creation process.

The theory presented in this book hopes to show that the opening chapters of Genesis were inspired by God and that He knew exactly what He was doing when He gave this information to the ancient narrators of Genesis. Further, this interpretation of Genesis has laid veiled in mystery since its conception thousands of years ago. One may draw an analogy and say: This treatise aspires to manifest that Genesis is a Rosetta Stone.

It may seem incomprehensible that the first chapter of Genesis says the same thing about the creation process that science says. It appears to be even more incomprehensible after one considers when Genesis was originally conceived (thousands of years ago) and the knowledge capabilities of the person who began the story (a scientific illiterate). It appears beyond comprehension when one considers all that must be studied in order to have just a general idea about the entire creation process and then trying to conceive of all this information being condensed into one small chapter of the Holy Bible — a mere thirty-one verses.

If the entire bible were dedicated to explaining the origin of the universe, the origin of the solar system and the earth, the origin of the first life and its evolution into photosynthetic forms, the origin of an oxygenated atmosphere, the gradual evolution of vertebrate life onto dry land, the heyday of the archosaurs and the birds and then the proliferation of the mammals and the rise of man, if the entire bible were devoted to explaining all this, then it is barely possible that one could comprehend how it might parallel what science predicts about the creation process.

But to declare that it is all consolidated in one small chapter of the Holy Bible and then asking one to believe this is analogous to asking one to believe that the impossible is possible.

However, one must not forget that just because something appears to be impossible does not necessarily mean that it is an impossible task. If one sets out believing that something cannot be possible, then it will never be accomplished. However, if one only begins by believing that the Impossible Dream must be possible, then it will be accomplished. Nor must one forget that our Lord is the Author of the Holy Bible and that nothing is impossible to Him (Lk.18:27). If God wanted the first chapter of His Holy Bible to proclaim an explanation of the creation process, then that is exactly what it would proclaim.

The opposite side of this same argument is similar. If God did not want His Holy Bible to proclaim a creation process, then He had ample opportunity to inspire the removal of it and all references to it from within its pages. One can hardly comprehend how many times the opening chapters of Genesis were copied and recopied on scrolls and parchment until they were finally put into one “book” by St. Jerome.

St. Jerome may be likened to the final editor of a movie. How many scenes end up “on the cutting room floor,” simply because they do not fit in with the director’s concept of the movie’s final appearance? The same may be said of St. Jerome. There are many inspired writings that St. Jerome chose not to put in the Holy Bible. The Gospel of Eve, the Letter of Aristeas, the Abgar Legend, the Gospel of Bartholomew, the Gospel of Truth, the Gospel of Thomas, and Epistula Apostolorum are just a few examples.

There are many more inspired writings that are not in the Holy Bible; one needs only to look for them in order to find them. It was inspiration from God that caused St. Jerome to put together the scriptures and leave these out.

Thus, it was our Lord who chose what works would eventually be in His Holy Bible and which ones would not be found there. One must therefore conclude that if God did not want His Holy Bible to proclaim a creation process, then such would not be there.

Also, as mentioned above, if He wanted His Holy Bible to proclaim a creation process, then such would be there.

To believe otherwise is to believe that a master chess player would begin a championship match with a defenseless, impotent beginning, or to believe that a master chess player would have less than total, absolute control over the chess board when competing against an amateur. Such could not be and would not be.

The same is true of God. He would not begin the salvation of man with a weak, unproductive beginning, nor does He have less than total, absolute control over this world and everything in it.

Another way of looking at this is by comparing the problem of Genesis with a thousand piece jigsaw picture puzzle. Is it possible to describe an entire jigsaw picture puzzle by observing just a few of the pieces? Is it possible to describe an entire jigsaw picture puzzle by observing only half the pieces? It is highly unlikely. One must study them all and piece them all together properly. Only then is it possible to describe the picture accurately.

A similar thing may be said of the description of the creation process as presented by science and that presented in the opening chapter of Genesis.

The evolutionists are looking at the evolution of the universe, the earth, life and man but are totally ignoring the existence of God and God’s input into the creation. One may say that they have a picture puzzle put together with one piece missing. But the fundamentalists take that one missing piece and build an entire creationists theory on how they believe God created the universe, the earth, life and man.

The problem is, is that neither the evolutionists nor the fundamentalists are looking at the total picture. Neither of them are looking at all the pieces of the puzzle, and they are both attempting to describe a picture puzzle with part of it missing. The evolutionists have one piece missing and the fundamentalists have the other 999 missing.

One cannot study just the sciences and then declare that Genesis is a myth. Nor can one study only theology and then declare that the sciences are incorrect. One must study both theology and the sciences — including the cultural evolution of mankind — in order to be able to postulate a hypothesis about Genesis and science. To do less than this is to disregard the scientific method, and to postulate a hypothesis without all the facts.

If one has spent his whole life studying just one section of forest how can he conceivable know what other sections look like or what the whole forest looks like? The same may be said of the creation. If one has spent his whole life studying just cosmology or anthropology or another scientific discipline how can he conceivable understand the entire creation process?

When one understands the entire creation process — including the cultural evolution of mankind and the development of religion and religious beliefs — and can see this as one evolving event, then he can compare it with what the first chapter of Genesis says. One can then do nought else but to agree that both science and Genesis proclaim the same truth. One can do nought else but to agree that Genesis is not a myth. Genesis is a Rosetta Stone that demands proper interpretation.

Finally, one is not attempting to say here that God had any kind of direct input into the creation of the universe, the earth, life and man. God does not interfere with the laws of nature. God’s involvement in the creation process was indirect. Just as a rich man does not actually build his own house. Rather, he hires carpenters, electricians, plumbers and other needed people to do the actual labor. But he will tell his friends that he is building his house.

The same applies with God. He did not actually create the universe, the earth, life and man. As stated earlier as a supposition, He created the laws of natural science that govern this world. Man evolved as a natural product of those laws. But one can still say that God created the universe, the earth, life and man because without Him there would be nothing.

Alpha Omega

Enter God