Wait...Was it a Punishment or a Prophecy?

This past week, a friend sent me a sermon to listen to. I appreciate sermons that cause me to think from a new angle and this one did exactly this. I'm going to link the sermon at the end of the post so you can enjoy it for yourself.

One of the main points the pastor made is that God always uses male, female, and their relationship to represent Christ and the church. I've talked about that on the blog many times, and despite clearly recognizing that symbolism in Adam (Jesus) choosing to leave paradise (Heaven) to be with Eve (the Church), I never made the connections this pastor made about intimacy. After listening his sermon, I thought back and realized another thing I missed...

Eve's Punishment

In Genesis 3, after Adam and Eve have eaten the forbidden fruit, God gives Eve the peculiar curse of pain in labor. From this, people have come up with some pretty wild beliefs. Those theories don't matter though. What matters is that Eve represents the church.

End Times

There are numerous scriptures that liken the end of times to a woman in labor. Labor isn't a surprise. By the time a woman is in labor, there's been months of preparation and the woman knows her baby is coming. When the time is near, she begins to feel the labor pains. At first they are far apart, but soon the contractions are close together. It is when the contractions are occurring rapidly after one another that she knows it is time to deliver the baby.

The end of the world is similar. We know that the church shouldn't be surprised by the second coming of Jesus because we have the discernment and wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the prophecies. We often assume the labor pains are the warning signs Jesus laid out, such as earthquakes, famines, wars, etc. I agree that these signs will increase in frequency, but after thinking back on the church metaphor, I realized it's also about persecution.

Persecution

Ever since the fall, doing the right thing—the Godly thing—has been persecuted by humankind. How did the first murder occur? Cain was upset that Abel was worshiping God the right way. The curse that God put on Eve to have pain in labor isn't just about women feeling physical pain bringing forth children; it's about the church experiencing pain bring forth the fruits of the spirit and "creating" new life in Christ.

From Biblical times, all the way through today, we can see examples of God's church being targeted because of their faith and unwillingness to yield to the enemy. Whether it be during the days of the prophets or during the dark ages when the Catholic church was killing anyone who spoke out against them, people who have stood for God's true Word have always experienced persecution. As we draw nearer to Christ's second coming, persecution will become more and more frequent against those truly following God's Word.

Nurturing New Believers

Photocredit: ShutterStock.com / Monkey Business Images

Churches are supposed to be going out into the world, bringing people to Christ. When these people accept Christ and choose to be reborn, a new life in Christ is created. Just as a woman nurtures a child in her womb, the church is supposed to nurture new believers. Some women take extreme caution when they're pregnant—getting regular checkups, eating healthy, avoiding high stress situations, etc.—to ensure their baby is growing in a healthy environment that is conducive for optimal growth and development. Other women may not be in the position to take the same precautions; they may suffer from addictions or illnesses that in turn affect the development of the baby. Churches are exactly the same way. Not every church is a healthy environment and not every church nurtures new believers.

What I Really Missed

The punishment God gave Eve isn't just a punishment, it's a symbolic prophecy. Just as the Feast Days pointed to Jesus' coming, the labor women experience to bring forth life points to the history and purpose of the church. When you look at a something that was meant to punish, and realize it's still part of the testimony/prophecy, you just know that God is awesome.

References

1. Michael Polite. "I Don't Have Bad Sex". YouTube. January 1, 2016

Untainted Words of God: Adam & Eve

There are lots of weird interpretations concerning Adam and Eve. In this post I'll discuss the relationship between Adam and Eve, the treatment of women based on Eve, their race, and the idea that Eve is transgendered

Introduction

Photocredit: FreeImages.com/Blend Images

Why not start at the beginning? Adam and Eve, along with their relationship, form the basis of how people view men and women today. The modern concept of Adam and Eve creates so much discord, from the treatment of women to race, even to gender. I've seen so many ideas and doctrines derived from said ideas that I can't keep track of them all! Nevertheless, I find them all equally interesting and I want to talk about them.

This post is covers a variety of interpretations stemming from Adam and Eve, which means it's also a bit long. You can use the table of the contents to the right to skip around, or to bookmark your place if you need to come back to the reading.
Top

Eve

In a freestyle battle, a poet posits that the reason Black men treat Black women poorly and as side chicks is because they were taught women came from their sides.

You treat the Black woman like a side b****
Well 'cause you were taught she came from your sideB. Dot

He is clearly referencing Genesis 2:21-22:

²¹And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; ²²And the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.Genesis 2:21-22

I don't disagree that the poor treatment of women throughout history stems from the interpretation of Eve's relationship to Adam (more-so in connection with the idea that Eve is to blame for sin entering the world, but we'll get to that in a minute). However, I find both the interpretation he references and his subsequent evaluation to be off the mark. In order to make this claim, the poet makes many assumptions:

• How does he know that the Black men who treat women poorly are Christians? I've never met a true man of God that was mistreating the women in his life...
• How is it that this treatment is only damaging the relationship between Black men and women? Why hasn't this effected White people? Or the people of countless other cultures and races that are Christians?
• How does someone being created from your very own flesh automatically translate to mistreatment?

The poet's premise that women are seen as less than and unworthy of men's respect because they are created from the rib of man makes no sense. What makes a mother's love so strong? The fact that the baby came out of her, that the child is her own flesh and blood. Adam says similar words upon realizing Eve has been made from his own body:

²³And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man. ²⁴Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.Genesis 2:23-24

Adam is ready to leave his family behind to be with the person who has come from his rib. Why? Just as a mother's world shifts to center around her child, his world shifted around Eve. Adam's only family at that point was God, and he did leave God behind for Eve (I'll clarify this point below in the section "Was She to Blame?"). Adam already recognized that they were one flesh, and this is before anyone was told to be submissive to anyone.
Top

Helpmeet

The Bible tells us Eve was created to be a "help meet" for Adam, which sounds submissive for sure and is probably how people came to think that Eve's role was to be submissive from the beginning. However, Genesis 3:16 tells us that part of Eve's punishment is that her husband will rule over her. If that is part of her punishment, it stands to reason that she was on equal footing before. So one has to wonder what was meant by "help meet?"

Merriam Webster sends readers to "helpmate" as the definition of "help meet"^[1] which is defined as "a person who is a companion and helper."^[2] While helper doesn't sound any better in terms of submission, a helper is not necessarily a servant. A companion and a helper could be a partner; after all, partners do help each other.

Nevertheless, this is where I told you knowledge of time periods and original languages is important. We can try to force fit definitions to words like "helpmeet" and "helpmate" to support the idea that woman was created as a maid or argue her to be created as partner, but this is counter productive. We don't want speculation; we want answers. The original Hebrew words translated to "help meet" are ezer and k’enegdo.

Ezer

Ezer, which is translated as "help," is created from root words that mean to save, rescue, and to be strong. According to experts, the word ezer is used 21 times in the Bible and although it is translated as "help", in context 8 of those times (roughly 40%) it means "savior." The other occurrences mean "strength."^[3] When God says He wanted to create a help meet for Adam, He is saying Adam needed someone to be his strength. Ever heard the saying "behind every successful man is a strong woman"?

K’enegdo

K'negedo is only used this one instance in the Bible, however scholars believe it means "exactly corresponding to."^[3] My study Bible lists the English "meet" to mean "complimentary."^[4]
Top

Was She to Blame?

Despite his lyrics, most of the poet's assumption that women are to be treated poorly stems from the blame that is often placed on Eve for the fall of mankind. Like the poet, most feminists have a problem with placing the fall of humanity on Eve. However, in the Bible, the blame isn't placed squarely on her shoulders: all 3 parties (the serpent, Eve, and Adam) are punished for their role in the act.

Let's go back to my point that Adam left God for Eve. When Eve decided to taste the forbidden fruit, she didn't stuff the fruit down Adam's throat. We are told that she offered it to Adam and he willingly ate the fruit. He could have let Eve eat the fruit alone with the expectation that she would die and he'd be fine. He could have ran off to find God in the hopes that God would stop her. However, like most people who are in love, he followed her blindly. Whether he simply didn't want to disappoint her or wether he was afraid to be without her, he knowingly turned his back on God to follow Eve.

¹¹Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. ¹²But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence. ¹³For Adam was first formed, then Eve. ¹⁴And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression. ¹⁵Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.1 Timothy 2:11-15 KJV

Perhaps the harshest passage in the Bible as it relates to women and our plight due to Eve can be found in 1 Timothy 2:11-15. This is the root of the idea that women are worthless and should have no rights. However, there's a lot more to the first than meets the eye. Bear with me as we step through the implications of this passage.

1 Timothy 2 Does Not Place Blame on Eve

As I said earlier, Adam willingly ate the fruit, which is confirmed in 1 Timothy 2:14. Now, if you study the books of law (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy), you will notice that accidental sins were the only sins that were forgiven. We are reminded of this in the New Testament, as well.

For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sinsHebrews 10:26 KJV

When we go back to Genesis 2 and 3, you'll notice that God directly instructed Adam not to eat the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. God also created the Garden of Eden before Adam's eyes. We aren't told how Eve receives the news of this rule, whether God tells her after her creation or whether Adam relays the news. What we do know is that Eve seems to be the very last thing created, implying that she never sees the full glory of God creating life. Just as parents expect older siblings to show younger siblings the ropes and senior employees are to show new employees the ropes, God likely expected Adam to be a leader in the Garden of Eden.

When Eve came to Adam with the suggestion that they eat the fruit, she was deceived (1 Timothy 2:14 confirms this). To be deceived is to believe something that is not true.^[4] Therefore, the serpent had convinced Eve that it was OK to eat the fruit and she was not purposefully disobeying God. She was confused and fell prey to false doctrine (there it is, all the way back at the very beginning!). Adam, on the other hand was not deceived. That means he knew they were not supposed to eat the fruit, yet he did it anyway.

Each person had their own fault in the situation. Eve could have waited and asked God directly. This is why she doesn't get off scot-free when the punishments are doled out. However, it was Adam who should have put an end to the action, not because he was a man but because he knew better.

Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:Romans 5:12 KJV

Sin entered the world through Adam ("one man") because it was Adam who deliberately disobeyed God.
Top

Women Teaching Doctrine

Now that we understand the role of deception in the events that occurred, we can talk about teaching. No one wants false doctrine being taught to the masses. In 1 Timothy 2, Paul says that he doesn't suffer (tolerate) a woman to teach doctrine because Eve was deceived (i.e. confused) about doctrine. While Paul does say that she should learn in silence, he does not say that they are to always be silent. Paul is discussing the issue of false doctrine being taught in the church at Ephesus (read 1 Timothy 1 to get the proper context). It appears to me that Paul is talking about a woman's conduct during something similar to a Bible study. He doesn't want the women to take over (or "usurp") the lead ("authority") from the man who is knowledgeable about the topic.

If I had never experienced the wives of deacons or pastors, and women in the congregation hijack a church service and turn it on its head, I would probably have trouble with the idea presented above. After all, how can one be so sure a similar circus might not occur from men at another church?

There's a little detail that goes unnoticed when reading this passage. In 1 Timothy 2:11, Paul says, "let the woman learn in silence." He doesn't say let women be silent, but he refers to "the woman" as though he is speaking of one specific woman. Now "the woman" could be referring to all women, but it could also mean a specific woman. If we continue paying attention 1 Timothy 2:12, says "a woman," which definitely refers to women in general, but then, why didn't Paul say "let a woman learn in silence"? Also, he refers to "the man," not to men in general. Paul doesn't say do not let women usurp authority from men, but rather he says a woman should not take authority from a specific man.^[6][7][8] My study Bible further suggests that this prohibition is from public teaching and cites Acts 18:26, Titus 2:3-5, and 1 Corinthians 11:5 to prove its point.^[5]

Does this mean women can be in charge of a church? I'm not sure, but it's definitely not as cut and dry as people make it out to be. The passage is definitely speaking on conduct in the church, not at home or at work. Paul is definitely not saying a woman has no rights in her marriage because he says quite the opposite in 1 Corinthians 7 (emphasis added):

The wife hath not power of her own body, but the husband: and likewise also the husband hath not power of his own body, but the wife.1 Corinthians 7:4 KJV

I've read a few studies of this passage, and countless books have been written on the topic. I'm listing some articles you can read online for better clarity below.

• "Adam and Eve in Ancient Gnostic Literature" by Marg Mowczko @ New Life
• "Lost in Translation: A Look at 1 Timothy 2:12-15" by Bob Edwards @ The Junia Project
• "Defusing the 1 Timothy 2:12 Bomb" by Gail Wallace @ The Junia Project

Top

Childbearing

In 1 Timothy 2:14, the woman in question is Eve, and presumably in verse 15, we are still talking about Eve when Paul says "she." Paul tells us that the "curse" of childbirth is also her salvation. This is one of the most beautiful paradoxes in the Bible. Part of Eve's punishment is that she will bring forth life in sorrow. However it is through a woman that life continues. It is through Mary that Jesus is born and thus, through a woman salvation is provided to all mankind. God may have cursed womankind to feel pain as we bring life into the world, but He also blessed us with a form of creation that man did not receive. This is part of God's complimentary design—different, but both necessary and important.

My study Bible interprets verse 15 to mean that women are saved even in the role they have (i.e. we don't need to teach to earn our salvation).^[5] Top

Appearance

In opposition to that, the poet (who is quite talented despite his apparent hatred for his Creator) places women on the pedestal of being gods. He references pictures of Adam and Eve where Adam has a belly button to further his point that Adam came from a woman making woman god. Which is crazy, considering the fact that those pictures weren't created until the 16^th century or so. Those aren't real depictions of Adam and Eve!
Top

Race

Adam and Eve are always depicted as a White man and a White woman, but that isn't Biblical either. Very few descriptions of skin color are given in the Bible (a clue that God doesn't care about skin color so much as your heart, motives, and actions). One such description given is of Esau, Jacob's twin brother. Esau is described as being ruddy or red in color. Like everyone else, Esau is a descendant of Adam and Eve, which means that red color must come from their genes...

Basic genetics tells us that a child receives one gene from each parent. Together these genes determine our physical features. Genes are classified as dominant or recessive. For example, let the gene that causes brown eyes, be known as B, which is a dominant trait. Now, let the gene that cause blue eyes, a recessive trait, be known as b. For a child to have blue eyes both parents must pass it the recessive b, otherwise the B trait will dominate. Skin works in a similar fashion, with dark skin being a dominant trait and pale skin a recessive trait. For us to have the range of skin tones we have now, genes for both dark and light skin traits must have existed in Adam and Eve. Note that people of African descent have been known to give birth to albinos or lighter skinned children, but it is unlikely that "fully" White parents will give birth to a dark skinned child. Thus, there are multiple possibilities as to Adam and Eve's physical appearance.

One of them may have been made up of purely dominant traits, with dark brown skin, brown eyes, curly hair, etc., and the other could have been made up of purely recessive traits, with pale skin, blue eyes, and straight hair. Another possibility is that they both could have had a mixture of dominant and recessive traits. We really don't know. The only thing we can say with absolute certainty is that Adam and Eve were not both White. Likely, the first people had combinations of dominant and recessive genes, thus exhibiting dominant traits. Over time the recessive trait would have become more pronounced. At the point of Noah and his wife, this cycle would have restarted. When God divided the people at the tower of Babel, this may have been the catalyst for weeding certain traits from different nations.
Top

Gender

In the media nowadays, there is a lot of discussion about gender. Although the Bible clearly states that Adam is a man and Eve is a woman, people have begun to stretch the words of the Bible to create new interpretations of Eve's gender. In the article Where Would Jesus Pee, Hemant Mehta tackles the question of where Jesus would be expected to go to the bathroom. The question stems from the fact that Jesus does not have an Earthly father, which convinces a multitude of people that Jesus did not receive a Y chromosome, thus making Him biologically female. The commenters further this question by attributing it to Eve, who was born of Adam's rib with no female DNA.

It sounds like a legitimate question until you actually think about it...
Top

Physical Appearance

In both the case of Eve and Jesus, there was no such thing as gender reassignment surgery. I doubt they took hormones therapy either. In the case of Eve, who gave birth to an unknown number of children (we know of at least 3), she was clearly created with a female reproductive system. While Jesus did not father children, the community assumed Him to be a man from birth. When Mary gave birth to Him, she knew He was a boy because of what she saw. If she'd given birth to a female child and tried to pass her off as a male, once puberty hit, it would have been very obvious that something was amiss (His voice, monthly bleeding, inability to grow facial hair, physique, etc.). Further if Jesus Himself was transgender, don't you think He would have left us a clue that it was OK to be transgender? Both Jesus and Eve's physical appearance matched the gender ascribed to them without the aid of surgery or hormone therapy. Therefore, it's pretty safe to say that they were biologically the gender ascribed to them as well.
Top

One Parent, One Set of DNA?

The crutch of this argument is that both Eve and Jesus have DNA from only one provider. Well, Adam has DNA from no one in that case. Obviously God, who made us in His image, created DNA for Adam and Eve. He also provided Jesus' Y chromosome (He is Jesus' Father after all). Just as He was able to create Eve from Adam's rib, He was able to create Jesus inside Mary's womb. Just because He did not physically impregnate Mary, does not mean He couldn't have contributed to DNA of Jesus. If Jesus and Eve had no genes from God they would have been a clones of Mary and Adam respectively... What's more is that in the case of Eve coming from Adam, men have an XY chromosome pair so even if Eve received all of her DNA from Adam, she still could have gotten 2 X's. One commenter assert that since Eve was created from Adam's rib, she started as male and the "reassignment" was done by God. However, a rib is not a human being, nor is it gendered. Just as Adam started from non-gendered dust, Eve started from a rib, which is non-gendered. While females may have smaller rib cages on average,^[9] a single rib from the cage does not gender a person. From the moment Eve became a living human, she had the biology of a woman. God did not take a clone of Adam and reassign his male reproductive organs to female ones. If you want to claim that then every man on the planet is transgender because he came out of his mother's womb and thus was created from feminine materials. Sure the sperm allowed the "reassignment" of the fetus to male, but the baby developed and grew from the mother's ovum.
Top

Divine Intervention

For argument's sake, let's say we agreed with the theory that Eve and/or Jesus were actually transgendered. In both cases the transformation or reassignment occurred before the person was brought to life and was done at the hand of God. Therefore, at the moment they became human and by the time they breathed their first breath, they were already biologically the gender God intended them to be.
Top

The Bathroom

Because I can't resist thinking in depth about questions posed, I gave a little thought to the bathroom question. Again, remembering the times, there would have been no bathrooms in either of their life times, not in the sense that we have bathrooms today, at least. Nudity was not encouraged; we see that in the story of Ham's cursing that looking upon his father's nakedness was frowned upon. Thus, I'd wager men didn't pee beside each other and women probably didn't either. Likely bathrooms were non-gendered (like those in our homes) and people provided some sort of occupied/unoccupied signage to avoid embarrassment.
Top

Disclaimer

While I believe that God brings us in to the world as the gender we are meant to be (that includes guiding doctors in their decision for babies born with evidence of both genders), I don't actually care which bathroom people choose to use. As long as you aren't bothering me, I don't care. As a woman, the stalls give us most of the privacy we need. Further, concerns for assault are not limited to women (re: Amy Inita Joyner-Francis) and just like a perverted man could inappropriately film women (re: University of Toronto Dumps Transgender Bathrooms After Peeping Incidents), so could a lesbian (or even a straight woman who was simply off her rocker).
Top

References

1. "helpmeet". Merriam Webster. 2016
2. "helpmate". Merriam Webster. 2016
3. Heather Ferrell. "The Real Meaning of the Term Helpmeet". Women in the Scriptures. November 9, 2010
4. "deceive". Merriam Webster. 2016
5. Holman Bible Publishers. Holman KJV Study Bible. pg. 2028-2029. 2014
6. Mowczko, Marg. "Adam and Eve in Ancient Gnostic Literature". New Life. March 2015
7. Edwards, Bob. "Lost in Translation: A Look at 1 Timothy 2:12-15". The Junia Project. September 2013
8. Wallace, Gail. "Defusing the 1 Timothy 2:12 Bomb". The Junia Project. January 2014
9. Bellemare F., Jeanneret A., Couture J. "Sex differences in thoracic dimensions and configuration.". American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. 168(3):305-12. August 2003

Genesis 1 & 2: Creation

This story of creation is one of the most widely known stories of the world. It is staunchly contested by evolutionists and plagued with theories about "the real first woman" Lilith. Are you ready to dive in?

Introduction

Creation vs. Evolution

Evolution is a scientific theory that concludes animals evolved from single cell organisms into the creatures we have now. According to evolution humans evolved from apes over. Many believers do not believe in evolution as they it conflicts with the story of creation in Genesis. There are two major discrepancies between these views: God created man vs. man evolving from apes, and the timing of the events.

One thing I don't understand about my fellow believers is the overwhelming attempts to "prove" creation. By nature, some things—many things—concerning belief in God require a leap of faith. If there is a tree in a field, when you point to the tree and declare, "There is a tree in the field!", only a blind person will contest your observation, and knowing that they are blind, even they will probably believe whatever the majority says. God doesn't want mindless slaves who have been forced to worship Him, He wants us to choose to worship Him. So, as we walk in faith, every once in a while God brings us to a cliff to see if we will make the leap of faith because we truly believe and trust Him or if we will stay behind because we do not trust Him. I'm not going to try to prove one or the other true, it's up to you to decide what you believe. Instead I'm just going to point out some interesting things people on both sides tend to assume or assert incorrectly or overlook all together. If you are curious to some arguments however, check out this video on Problems with Evolution
Top

God the Magician?

Many in today's society think of God as a magician—they imagine him waving His arms and then *poof* something happens, but verses such as Genesis 2:7, clearly say that God formed man. This implies that He shaped and molded His creation the way a sculptor shapes and molds a statue. I prefer to think of God as an artist, a title more befitting for the Creator.

Let's talk about artists for a second: think of your favorite artist or an artist you learned about once. Does one of their paintings come to mind? Can you recognize the writing of your favorite author without seeing his or her name on the text? When you hear a song for the first time, can you guess the artist before the radio host tells you who it is? Branding, before it was a buzzword, is something all successful artists have in common. As far back as as man can trace, created works have been subjected to authentication processes. These processes are made possible because each artist has a brand, a signature that identifies him or herself.

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Genesis 2:7 KJV

God is not much different from an artist—there are signs of His signature all over the universe which link His creations. Top

Timeline of Creation

Genesis 1 gives the timeline of events. Repetitive in structure, each set of verses tell us what God said, what was created by his command, His blessing and approval of the creation, and what day it was. Moses tells us that in the beginning there was nothing but God and waters, which His spirit moved over.
Top

The Two Tales of Creation

Some people believe that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are two different accounts of creation and assert that there are discrepancies in the accounts. This has not only lead to legends about a mysterious woman named Lilith, but also calls into question the ordering of the events of creation.

Lilith

The origin of the Lilith legend lies in the fact that Genesis 1:27, we are told God created male and female with no distinction of who was created first, but in Genesis 2 we are clearly told that God created Adam first and Eve second. From this people have asserted that there were two different women created, one named Lilith and one named Eve.

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.Genesis 1:27 KJV

According to lore, Lilith refused to be submissive to Adam and ran away. These legend existed in ancient Judaism, and while Lilith is not mentioned in the English Bible, there are stories of her in the Babylonian Talmud. In version of her story she is akin to a demon, perhaps having origins in Sumerian vampire myths where female vampires are called Lillu or Mesopotamian myths about lilin (female night demons)^[10].
Top

Evidence For

One website goes into massive details about the "evidence" for the existence of Lilith, claiming Lilith was serpent in the garden, citing similarities between Lilith and the leviathan, and discrepancies in Genesis 1 and Genesis 2's description of creation^[6].
Top

Evidence Against

While Lilith may be mentioned in the Talmud, she is not referred to as Adam's wife^[7]. Furthermore, there isn't actually a discrepancy between Genesis 1 and Genesis 2. Moses presents the story of creation similar to how someone would give an academic presentation (or talk) today; first he runs through a highly structured outline that gives an overview of what occurred (Genesis 1), then he goes back to add in details he though were important. Note that while Genesis 1:27 mentions male and female in the same sentence, it does not say that they were created simultaneously (see the earlier section called God the Magician?). Since God formed man, we can logically conclude that one was created and then the other, with both being created on the sixth day. In Genesis 2, Moses is no longer giving us a timeline, but telling us the specifics of what happened. When it says God planted a garden, and the trees grew (Genesis 2:8-9), this isn't Him creating trees, this is Him planting specific trees in a specific location. If you read Genesis 2, you will notice there is no mentioning of the sun, the moon, the stars, or the heavens in terms of creation, this is because Moses isn't giving us a new and contradictory timeline. Nowhere in Genesis 2 does it say "and then He created" or anything similar; Genesis 2 merely notes the things we have already been told were created when providing more detail on them. In Genesis 2:19, this is not saying God created Adam before he created the animals. Nowhere does it say first God created Adam, then the animals, then brought them to Adam. We already know Adam was created after from Genesis 1, Moses is simply reminding us that the animals were created by God (repetition was clearly the style of writing back then, and this also marks emphasis that God is the Creator) before informing us that God let Adam choose the names of each creature. Yes, Moses is speaking of Adam needing a mate in verse 19, but there is no indication that Moses is giving us a timeline or sequential events between the two verses. If the events were sequential, it would read "And then out of the ground..." or "So out of the ground..." however, there is nothing that concretely gives us the timing of this action in relation to the creation of man.

¹⁸And the Lord God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. ¹⁹And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.Genesis 2:18-19 KJV

When looking at Genesis 2 as a whole, it is obvious that Moses is just detailing events that occurred and reiterating the fact that God created all things, not giving a precise timeline of said events. Top

Day by Day Creations

The First Day: Light

The first thing God creates is light, from the context of the entire chapter, we can see that this light is not the sun but some other light (the sun was not created until the fourth day). There are two interesting links to science stemming from the fact that God created light first: (1) is this light related to The Big Bang that science theorizes about—how would someone who knew nothing about science come to the conclusion that light was the first thing created on their own? and (2) the concept of sonoluminescence, the ability for sound waves (like God's voice perhaps) to transform underwater bubbles into light.

²And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. ³And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. ⁴And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.Genesis 1:3-5 KJV

Top

The Second Day: Heaven

In verses 6-8, we are told that God creates, then separates a "firmament" from the waters. According to the concordance in the KJV Study Bible, "firmament" is mentioned 3 other times in the bible: Psalms 19:1, Ezekiel 1:22, and Daniel 12:3. Each time it is a translation of the Hebrew word raki'a meaning "expansion." It is defined as denoting "the space or expanse like an arch appearing immediately above us."^[1] God calls the firmament Heaven. Note that Genesis 1:1 speaks of "heaven and earth" where heaven is not capitalized as it is in Genesis 1:8 with reference to the firmament. There are four different Hebrew words in the Old Testament that are translated into "heaven": rakia (firmament), shamayim (heaven and earth or upper and lower regions), marom (mountain), shechakim (expanses).^[8]

And the likeness of the firmament upon the heads of the living creature was as the colour of the terrible crystal, stretched forth over their heads above..Ezekiel 1:22 KJV

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.Psalms 19:1 KJV

And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.Daniel 12:3 KJV

Ezekiel speaks of the firmament in reference to a vision he has of "the glory of God," while Psalms uses is to speak of God's handiwork and Daniel 12 is discussing the end of the world. Using these passages and the facet Heaven is capitalized in Genesis 1:8 indicating a proper noun, we know that this is reference His home, Heaven—thus on the second day He created Heaven.

³And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. ⁴And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. ⁵And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.Genesis 1:3-5 KJV

Top

The Third Day: Earth

Genesis 1:9-13 details God creating Earth (the planet). He separates land from water and creates plant life. The phrase "yielding fruit after its own kind" implies the fruit trees were fully mature. This not only contradicts evolutionists' theory that the seed came first, but also contradicts the idea that animals (specifically marine life) came before plants. A question posed by Presents of God Ministries is "why do we have wasps that rely on certain plants to lay their eggs within them to procreate. And if this is true, how do those plants survive without the wasp pollinating them? If the plants and the wasps were created thousands of years apart, how does the plant pollinate without the wasp, and how does the wasp procreate without the plant?"
Top

The Fourth Day: Sun, Moon, and Stars

Next, God creates the Sun, moon, and stars, which he tells us are to be for signs, seasons, years, and days. Here, we come some of the questions I find most interesting. This is the first day that Earth has a Sun and moon, up until this point day and night appear to refer to the first light, created. More-so than the order of things, the most attacked points between evolutionists and creationists is the timeline. Was it really 6 days? Now, as a believer, I believe that God does not lie to us, so when He says 1 day He means 1 day. Some Creationists use 2 Peter 3:8 to argue that 1 day = 1,000 years... I don't necessary think this is the case (I think the point of that verse was more to illustrate that when you are immortal time becomes irrelevant), but I do recognize that time is highly influenced by man. Take daylight savings time for instance—its not real, just something man implemented for our benefit (at the time, at least). Similarly we have the Julian and Gregorian Calendars, along with the Mayan. Muslims mark their calendars based on Mohammed, where as we based ours after Jesus. Since we are all alive today and able to speak to each other, it is easy to figure out why our calendars differ and match them up, but what of the beginning of the world? How do we know the Earth rotated at the same speed, that the days were 24 hour days?
Top

The Fifth Day: Life in the Seas & Life in the Sky

God created creatures of the sea and creatures of the sky. Again, people often use this as "evidence" that creation is wrong, as both sea life and birds are created "simultaneously." However, being created on the same day does not imply simultaneousness—God still may have created the sea life first and the life in the air second, we aren't told. It's still odd that mankind would have guessed life to begin in the ocean or in the sky. Wouldn't people assume like started on land (or in the sky only)? Why wouldn't they think God lived on Earth and created things with mankind watching? Again how did they get so close to what science claims without the benefits of modern science? Plus, we know science isn't perfect, I mean ten years ago Pluto was a planet... Einstein corrected Netwon's laws...

And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.Genesis 1:21 KJV

Top

The Sixth Day: Life on Land & Man

On the sixth day, God created the animals that live on land, last creating man. An important thing to note about the creation of man is that for everything else, God says let the water or let the Earth bring forth, but for man, He says "Let us make man in our image." This signifies that we are different—special—from the other animals. It is here that we meet Adam and Eve for the first time (though not by name). We are also told that everyone was vegetarian at that point.

And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.Genesis 1:30 KJV

Genesis two adds more detail to the picture that man was formed from the dust of the ground and woman was formed from man's rib.
Top

The Seventh Day: Rest

God sanctifies the seventh day, which we now call the Sabbath. The seven days represent our modern week, the first day being Sunday and the seventh, Saturday. An interesting thought that comes from concluding the timeline of creation: one year represents the time it takes the earth to make a complete revolution around the Sun, the original 30 day month represents the lunar cycle, a day represents one revolution, hours represent the cycle of the Sun traveling in the sky, so what does a 7 day week represent? Other nations have used a different number of weeks, but evidence supports the 7 day week dates as far back at least as far as the Babylonian empire. Even in the ancient days there was the concept of a "week," but what prompted them to create a week? What (other than God) would prompt the Jews to choose 7 days? Why not assume God created the world in one day? Or eight days? Or aligning with the season? The 7 day week cycle has never been broken since Moses day and perhaps even before Moses' day according to modern sources^[9].
Top

Points of Interest

God Says "Us"

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.Genesis 1:26 KJV

When we learn that God created man, God refers to "us" before creating man. There are many possibilities in who the mysterious "us" is. The most logical (and probably common) guess is that "us" refers to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. In Genesis 1:2, it is commonly believed that the "spirit of God" moving is the Holy Spirit, which strengths the hypothesis that this is who He was talking to. Another identity for "us" could include the angels. The Bible focuses on man's history, particularly the lineage of Jesus, so we are left in the dark about the timeline for the creation of the angels and events that transpired in Heaven. Were the angels created before or after man? We are told that everything ("all the host of them") was finished by the seventh day, so we know that the angels must have been created between the first and sixth day. He may have created the angels in heaven right after He created Heaven on the second day, or He may have made the angels on the sixth day like man—it's impossible to say for sure. Which means it is possible that the angels were also part of the "us" God refers too.

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.Genesis 2:1 KJV

Taking into consideration the act that God again uses "us" when discussing the fall of mankind in Genesis 3, we know that "us" is knows both good and evil. This would definitely include Jesus and the Holy Spirit, but what about the angels? A lot of things are speculated about angels, and using these speculations we could make an assumption about whether angels knew of both good and evil, but let's wait until we find Biblical evidence to prove or disprove that the angels.

And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil: and now, lest he put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live for ever:Genesis 3:22 KJV

Top

Marriage and the Sabbath

Two traditions were established in the Garden of Eden while the world was still perfect: the Sabbath and marriage.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.Genesis 2:3 KJV

Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh.Genesis 2:24 KJV

Top

Tilling the Ground

Genesis 2:5 tells us that when God created the plants of the Earth, there was no man to till the ground. While its impossible to tell if Moses was saying Before God created man, there was no one to till the ground so God created man, or if he was telling us that originally plants survived without man tilling the ground, it is interesting to note that this becomes man's punishment in Genesis 3.

⁵And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground. ⁶But there went up a mist from the earth, and watered the whole face of the ground.Genesis 2:5,6 KJV

Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground from whence he was taken.Genesis 3:23 KJV

Top

The Garden of Eden

Moses not only describes the beauty of the Garden of Eden, he also tells us the general location of Eden.

And the Lord God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed.Genesis 2:8 KJV

And a river went out of Eden to water the garden; and from thence it was parted, and became into four heads.Genesis 2:10 KJV

Verse 8 of Genesis 2 tells us that Eden was located east of something (assumably the location of where God created man). We are given further insight to its location in verses 10 through 14, where we are told the names and locations of the four rivers that flow from Eden.

• Pison is the first river. We are told that it surrounds a land called Havilah, and that Havilah is rich with gold, bdellium, and onyx.

  ¹¹The name of the first is Pison: that is it which compasseth the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold; ¹²And the gold of that land is good: there is bdellium and the onyx stone.Genesis 2:11,12 KJV

• Gihon is the second river and it surrounds Ethiopia.

  ¹³13 And the name of the second river is Gihon: the same is it that compasseth the whole land of Ethiopia.Genesis 2:13 KJV

• Hiddekel is the third river and it flows toward Assyria.
• Euphrates is the fourth river.

  And the name of the third river is Hiddekel: that is it which goeth toward the east of Assyria. And the fourth river is Euphrates.Genesis 2:14 KJV

There are several places mentioned of which we have record and know the location: Ethiopia, Assyria, and Euphrates. With research, we find that Hiddekel is the ancient name for the Tigris River^[5][3]. Havilah is thought to be the Grecian Colchis near the Caspian Sea by some sources^[2]. Many people speculate as to the locations of Eden, and the locations of these rivers but there are two thing that are definite from the description given: 1) Eden was likely in the middle east, near Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent, and 2) this is East of Africa. Science claims man originated in Africa, the Bible claims man was created then moved eastward to Eden. When Adam and Eve left Eden where did they go? Did they head South or West, further East or North? The bible doesn't tell us, but again, Moses tells us something eerily close to what science claims. Sources also have found that it is possible life originated in the Middle East^[4], where the Garden of Eden is located. Another interesting point is that Moses gives us tons of information of the first two rivers, just enough information of the third river to identify it as the Tigris, and no information of Euphrates, which is unchanged in name. I highly doubt this is coincidental.

Top

References

1. BibleStudyTools.com: Firmament
2. BibleStudyTools.com: Havilah
3. BibleStudyTools.com: Hiddekel
4. Deem, Rich. "Humans Out of Africa". God and Science. April 4, 2014
5. Dictionary.com. "Hiddekel". Easton's 1897 Bible Dictionary
6. "Lilith in the Bible". Bitter Waters.com
7. "Lilith in the Torah, Talmud, and Midrash". About.com
8. Smith, William. "Entry for Heaven". Smith's Bible Dictionary. 1901.
9. "What Is the Origin of the 7-Day Week?". Calendar Through the Ages. 2008
10. "Where Does the Legend of Lilith Come From?". About.com

Adam

Adam is both the first human and the first man to walk on Earth. God's creation of him is revealed in Genesis 1 and 2. The story of his life spans from the beginning of Genesis through Genesis 5. Adam marries Eve, and fathers at least three sons: Cain, Abel, and Seth. We all descend from him.

Introduction

Adam is both the first human and the first man to be created by God. His creation is told in Genesis 1 and 2 and the story of his life spans to Genesis 5. Adam marries Eve, and fathers three sons: Cain, Abel, and Seth. Adam lived to be 930 years old^[2]. The name Adam is also the Hebrew word for man. It is thought that name could be derived from a Hebrew word meaning "to be red" or the Akkadian adamu which means "to make."^[1]

Disclaimer: Liberty taken with the depiction of Adam.
Please remember the Bible does not specify a description for most individuals.

Top

Character

We are given much less information about Adam than Eve. We know that he named the animals, that he was lonely (hence God creating Eve), and we know he went along with Eve's plan to eat the forbidden fruit. However, we are not told anything distinguishing his character. We are told of Adam's initial disobedience to God, because that is necessary part of the narrative, but we aren't told much about his reaction after the fact. Does he ever sin again? Does he blame himself or does he continue to blame Eve?
Top

Progeny

Adam has many sons and daughters, according to Genesis 5:4, but his named (or important) descendants are Cain, Abel, and Seth. We know that Cain kills Abel, so Abel does not produce a line. Cain's line goes on to advance worldly knowledge, culminating in another murderer. Seth's line traces down to Noah, producing the only survivors of the flood, as well as, Enoch, one of the few men to never die. It is interesting that the offspring of the couple are often referred to as the seed of Eve (Genesis 3:15, Genesis 4:25), but never directly as the seed of Adam.
Top

Discussion

While there are lengthy passages dissecting the importance of Adam, it seems that most people spend a most of their energy discussing Eve and the ramifications of Eve's actions than Adam.

Adam as a Type

Paul said the following about Adam:

⁴⁵And so it is written, The first man Adam was made a living soul; the last Adam was made a quickening spirit. ⁴⁶Howbeit that was not first which is spiritual, but that which is natural; and afterward that which is spiritual. ⁴⁷The first man is of the earth, earthy; the second man is the Lord from heaven. ⁴⁸As is the earthy, such are they also that are earthy: and as is the heavenly, such are they also that are heavenly. ⁴⁹And as we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall also bear the image of the heavenly.1 Corinthians 15:49 KJV

It is obvious that this passage has more to do with Jesus than it does with Adam, but the contrast and similarities are very interesting. Paul defines Adam as a type, with Jesus being the last of his type. Russell Grigg from Creation Ministries has an entire article dedicated to the parallels between Adam and Jesus. One of the most interesting comparisons he makes is that Adam brought sin in the world, he brought the curse of death upon the Earth while Jesus conquered sin and through Him, the curse is lifted.^[4] The parallels are poetic in a way that only God can manifest; we see that we inherit our sinful nature from Adam's failure but we inherit redemption and grace through Jesus' triumph. Both are condemned to death, but it is Adam who lives a full and "happy" Earth life the way society imagines. It is Adam who marries, has children, and ages to see his grandchildren (probably great-great-great grandchildren too at 930!). In doing the right thing, Jesus is the one who is persecuted, ridiculed, and eventually murdered for His obedience to God. Yet, it is Jesus who will rule God's Kingdom after judgement day.
Top

Race

One thing I find interesting is that despite the meaning of his name, people still depict him as white. This is one of the major criticisms of Christianity. Many African-American's are turned off from "the white man's religion," citing it as the source of oppression and white supremacy. In this, the discussion of white Adam and white Jesus often come into play. Like many things in Christianity, tradition is seen as "fact" turning people away from truth. While Europeans of the renaissance era may have depicted Biblical people as white, whether to promote white supremacy ideas/concepts or simply to make the faces more familiar, the Bible does not talk about race at all. The closest descriptions we are given about race are nationalities (e.g. Moses wife is Ethiopian and thus she is likely black) or distinguishing characteristics (e.g. Esau is described as red).

It seems odd that a word meaning "red" would be ascribed to the first man if he were not "red" in complexion. An alternate meaning for the word "adam" has been shown to mean Earth, suggesting a connection to Adam's formation from the dust of the Earth. However, in a fertile climate, such as the land where the Garden of Eden was placed, the dirt would be dark in color. The closest thing to "white" dirt that I've seen is the sand found at the beach. Likely the soil was a reddish brown, which is probably why the word was also associated with the color red. This lends to the idea that Adam would have been reddish in skin color.

Was Adam Black?

Although I have depicted Adam as a black man in cartoon above, this still does not mean Adam was in fact "black." The interpretation that Adam had reddish skin could place him into a myriad of races or ethnicities that we recognized today. When Europeans first came to America, they described the Native Americans as red (evidence for this can be seen in the racial slur still being used for an NFL football team). In black culture red or "redbone" is a black person who has red under tones in their skin, usually this person is also lighter-skinned. Likely, this terminology stems from the same origin as the terminology for the Native Americans, and perhaps these blacks are the ones who also have significant Native American ancestry. Yet, this skin color can also be found in Arabs, people of South East Asia, people from India, and even in parts of Africa. Thus, even if we could conclusively determine that Adam was red, as his name suggests, we can't pinpoint a "race" without further information. The reason I depicted Adam as a black man is because of the diversity in African genes; it stands to reason that the first man must have contained genes that would give rise to those we see today which makes it unlikely that he would have been white with blonde hair or blue eyes. Since the Africans are the most genetically diverse group of people today,^[3] I chose to depict Adam with African features; however, as I said, this is no more "correct" than the depictions of him as a white man, because at the end of the day, we will never know what Adam actually looked like.

God's View of Race

God created all races and no where in the Bible does it say one race is better than the others. The fact that people try to cite the Bible to promote racial supremacy or hatred is deplorable. While it may seem that proving Adam and/or Eve (I say or because it's possible that Adam and Eve were not the same "race") belongs to a particular race proves that race "special," this is wishful thinking. When God said He created male and female in His image, He meant humanity in general. God didn't specify physical attributes, likely because He knew racism would be a problem, but also because that wasn't His point of reference. Think about this: Adam and Eve were made in the image of God, their children were made in the image of Adam and Eve, and their grandchildren in the image of Adam and Eve's children, etc. Thus all of humanity, regardless of "race" are made in the image of God.

When God talks about people, it is based on nationality, and He speaks of each nation based on their righteousness. In every case, when God finds someone righteous in an unrighteous nation, that person is spared (e.g. Rahab and Lot). Skin color is mentioned only in terms of leprosy (turning white) and Edom being red in color. This makes it obvious that God didn't care about color, so why should we?
Top

Bible Verses

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.Genesis 1:27 KJV

And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.Genesis 2:7 KJV

And out of the ground the Lord God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.Genesis 2:19 KJV

And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.Genesis 2:23 KJV

¹⁷And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life; ¹⁸Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field; ¹⁹In the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. ²⁰And Adam called his wife's name Eve; because she was the mother of all living.Genesis 3:17-20 KJV

³And Adam lived an hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, and after his image; and called his name Seth: ⁴And the days of Adam after he had begotten Seth were eight hundred years: and he begat sons and daughters: ⁵And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years: and he died.Genesis 5:3-5 KJV

Other Bible Verses on Adam

• Genesis 4:1-2
• 1 Chronicles 1:1
• Job 31:33
• Luke 3:28
• Romans 5:14
• 1 Corinthians 15:22
• 1 Corinthians 15:45
• 1 Timothy 2:13-14

Top

Other Posts About Adam

Top

References

1. BehindTheName.com: Adam
2. Genesis 5:5
3. Highfield, Roger. "African DNA Has More Genetic Diversity". Telegraph. February 2008
4. Grigg, Russell. "First Adam—Last Adam". Creation Ministries. 2011

And Then There Was Light: Sonoluminescence

This week, I started to do a post showing the similarities and dissimilarities of various religions (much like I did in the last post for Christian Denominations). However, I came across this interesting video and decided to share it instead. The comparison of religions post is coming, though!

The above video is from BBC Horizon's An Experiment to Save the World. The researcher in the video is Dr. Seth Putterman who is a professor in the physics department at UCLA. His research covers sonoluminescence—the process of sound being turned into light.  This phenomenon occurs when a sound wave passes through a bubble of liquid, causing the bubble to first expand and then collapse. Upon collapsing the energy is released in the form of light. After noting that the light appears like a star, Dr. Putterman reveals in the video that the surface of the light bubble burns at tens of thousand degrees. The current question is whether the inner core is hotter and hot enough for fusion.

The scientific impressiveness of this is obvious; if it turns out that the inner core is in fact capable of nuclear fusion, the uses of this discovery are countless. What may not be obvious, and probably won't be mentioned by the science community is that this possibility was recorded over 3500 years ago in approximately 1400 bc. Genesis 1:2-3 says that God spoke to the waters and created light!

How did Moses know that sound  (the sound emitted from God's voice in this case) actually can create light?

I've always found it interesting that scientists merely provide "scientific evidence" that the story told in Genesis 1 is completely plausible. The only real point of contention is the time frame, which makes sense as time is measured by man made units. For example, it is currently 2015 in America, but in Islamic countries it is 1435. Because both of these calendars were created during time periods we know much about and are still presently used, it is easy to translate between them and understand how the dates match up. However, we have no record from mankind during Adam and Eve's time on Earth. How do we know the unit of "day" is the same as our "day"? How do we know the Earth rotated at the same speed? There is a lot to be accounted for that could cause carbon dating to generate a different time frame. Regardless of the timing, it is amazing that people who didn't have telescopes, computers, space-travel, cell-phones, the concept of zero, or even schools could accurately predict modern day occurrences and discoveries.

Perhaps after I finish the post on different religions, I'll do "True Predictions of the Bible." Let me know what you think below.

References

1. Seth Putterman. "Sonoluminescence: Sound Into Light". Putterman Research Group via University of California, Los Angeles; visited April 2015
2. V.B. Belyaev, Yu.Z. Ionikh, M.B. Miller, A.K. Motovilov, A.V. Sermyagin, A.A. Smolnikov, and Yu.A. Tolmachev. "Experiments on Sonoluminescence: Possible Nuclear and QED Aspects and Optical Applications". AIP Conference Proceedings, pg. 413-416. December 26, 1999
3. A World Of Knowledge. "Horizon: An Experiment To Save The World". YouTube. March 17, 2014