To start, I hope @Wookin_Panub would come back. He has been incredibly respectful, and open to discussion, and I hope he hasn’t been scared away. We are after all taking a look at and glorifying God. I am making this post to add a few things to this discussion, and hopefully answer a few questions for @Wookin_Panub, who will be referred to from now on as the original poster.
First, it looks like the way that the original poster interprets Joshua is the same way I interpret Genesis. Although it may not be scientifically or historically accurate, Genesis still holds truth. Correct me if I’m wrong, but it looks like you, the original poster, interpret genesis as a scientific and historical account of the creation of the universe. A literal belief is what this is called. As you know, there is more than one way to interpret scripture, and this includes the book of Genesis. How do you know what interpretation is the right one? Well, it helps to know what the intent of the author is and what genre you’re reading. Luckily, the intent of the bible is given to us in 2 Timothy 3:16-17. These verses say: “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.” The bible was written to teach us about God, how we may be saved, how to be righteous people of the Lord, and how to live a good Christian life as God wants us to. Nowhere does it say that the bible is intended to act as a science or history textbook. If it were, the bible is silent on quantum physics, photosynthesis, atoms, stars, Chinese history, etc. Everything in the bible is there to teach about God, not to teach us about science or history. Yes, some biblical accounts, like the firsthand witnesses of Jesus are meant to be taken literally, but books like the Psalms, Job, Revelation, and Genesis are meant to be taken as parables. Not literally true in a scientific or historical sense, but True in the sense that they are the Word of God. Thus, the Truth in Genesis is not that the Earth is 6,000 - 10,000 years old, or that it was created in six days, but that God created a universe that He cares for, and that all humans have and will sin against God, but that He is merciful in the end. This is what was meant to be taken from Genesis. God inspired His people to write Genesis in a way that the ancient people could understand his Truth. God did not intend to teach science or history with Genesis. He intended to teach His Truth. So, although the bible was written for us, mankind, it was not written to us modern humans.
It is good practice when reading a text to consider its purpose. The purpose of the bible is not as a non-fiction textbook, (In fact, I believe that much of the bible is fiction, but as I described above, it still holds Truth.) but is to tell us about God, and how to live our lives through Him. Thus, no matter what the genre, the books of the bible should always be interpreted as furthering our knowledge of God. I challenge you to re-read Genesis, but instead of looking at it like a list of facts or historical events, look at it and think, what does this tell me about God? I promise you, the meaning of the text will change, but you’ll learn a whole lot more Truths. If you’ve read it this way correctly, you’ll notice that one of the main themes of the early chapters is that God is the creator of everything. It never says how God created/s, just that He did. This is where the Bios comes in to play. We know that God created the universe. Thus, all truths in nature are also the Truths of God. Now we’re stepping out of the bounds of theology and into the bounds of science. For the sake of this post, think of science as the study of God’s natural creation. Science is not flawed, it is actually very good at what it does. The evidence from God’s natural creation tells us irrefutably that all life evolved from the same common ancestor. Unlike what is commonly stated, this notion does not contradict God. No, evolution is simply a means of creation, and as we can see, it is how God chose to create life. In that way, I consider evolution a holy process, and I think you should too.
Throughout these posts, you have also said that you think that we hold science higher than the bible, and in turn, higher than God. I can’t speak for anyone else, but this is not true of me. The bible and science are used for totally different purposes, so you can’t compare them to one another. To explain this, consider this parable: Imagine I presented you with the best tennis player in the world, and the best baseball player in the world. Then I asked you to choose which one is better at sports. Although both people are very good at what sport they play, they wouldn’t be very good at the other person’s sport. Suppose you said the tennis player was better at sports. I disagree, and accuse you of holding tennis higher than baseball. This is like what you’re proposing about science and faith. Both science and theology do what they do very well. However, neither one of them can do the job of the other. Theology was never intended to answer scientific questions, and science can’t answer theological questions because of its nature. Does this mean that one is better than the other? Of course not! They aren’t comparable to each-other. I have learned that to get the whole truth you have to accept both science and theology, and Biologos and theistic evolution present the best way of doing this. My knowledge is supported by two separate yet equally important pillars. One is called science, and one is called faith. They support a platform called truth. You have to have both, or else truth falls to the ground. Because all truths are God’s Truths, scientific inquiry is as much an act of worship as going to church. We must honor and glorify God in the office, lab, chapel, and everywhere else. To do this, we must accept both science and theology to honor God’s universal Truths.
Welcome to Biologos! I hope you do return to the discussion, and I pray that God will show you the way to theistic evolution so that you may honor all the Truths of God!
The things you said are actually some of my core beliefs, and I’m sure they’re the beliefs of many others on here.
