| Scripture
and Prayer Guide
Scripture and Prayer Guide
"Conversations With An Atheist: Science & God"
February 12 - 17, 2007
The creation accounts in the Bible are in the form of Hebrew poetry. There
are parallels, repetition and rich imagery, if not English rhymes! Note
that in Genesis 1 God makes light on the first day, then the sun and moon
on the fourth day. On day two God makes water and sky; on the fifth day
he makes the fish of the sea and birds of the air. On day three God makes
dry ground and vegetation; the sixth day God makes land animals and people.
See the parallels? Remember that the Bible is not a book of science that
explains how and when. The Bible tells us who and why. When science tries
to tell us who and why it overstretched. When well meaning believers of
the Bible try to make the Bible say how and why (often at the expense
of who and why) it overstretched. And leads to bad science. Both science
and faith are good creations of God. (See Francis Collins, director National
Human Genome Research Institute, author of "The Language of God:
A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief" Free Press, 2006, for further
study.) Notice that God says "It's all good."
Monday, Genesis 1:1-8
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface
of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4
God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness.
5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night."
And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate
water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water
under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called
the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the
second day.
Tuesday, Genesis 1:9-13
9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one
place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the
dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas."
And God saw that it was good.
11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing
plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according
to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation:
plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with
seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13
And there was evening, and there was morning—the third day.
Wednesday, Genesis 1:14-19
14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky
to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark
seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of
the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two
great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser
light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in
the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day
and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it
was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fourth
day.
Thursday, Genesis 1:20-23
20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and
let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21
So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving
thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every
winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God
blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill
the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth."
23 And there was evening, and there was morning—the fifth day.
Friday, Genesis 1:24-31
24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according
to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild
animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made
the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to
their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according
to their kinds. And God saw that it was good.
26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness,
and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over
the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move
along the ground."
27 So God created man in his own image,
in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and
the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the
ground."
29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face
of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They
will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all
the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground—everything
that has the breath of life in it—I give every green plant for food."
And it was so.
31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening,
and there was morning—the sixth day.
Saturday: Remembering why all this happened, Genesis
2:1-3,7, Psalm 8
Genesis 2: 1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed in all
their vast array.
2 By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on
the seventh day he rested from all his work. 3 And God blessed the seventh
day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating
that he had done.
7 the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground and breathed
into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.
Psalm 8
1 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory
above the heavens.
2 From the lips of children and infants
you have ordained praise
because of your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
3 When I consider your heavens,
the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars,
which you have set in place,
4 what is man that you are mindful of him,
the son of man that you care for him?
5 You made him a little lower than the heavenly beings
and crowned him with glory and honor.
6 You made him ruler over the works of your hands;
you put everything under his feet:
7 all flocks and herds,
and the beasts of the field,
8 the birds of the air,
and the fish of the sea,
all that swim the paths of the seas.
9 O LORD, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
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