The Church of “Happily Ever After”

No story ever told truly comes to an end, however we all like closure to our stories. We ask, “So! What happens next?” A classic ending to many stories is “…and they lived happily ever after”.

Imaging inserting this ending “…and they lived happily ever after” in alternative positions in the Holy Bible:

In Genesis, “IN the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”. In five days He created the stars, moon, earth, plants, and animals. On the sixth day, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness… So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”
Genesis 1:28 “And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the dearth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.”
Genesis 2:8 “And the LORD God planted a garden eastward in Eden; and there he put the man whom he had formed….and…made he a woman, and brought her unto the man.”

…and they lived happily ever after?

No! They broke a commandment, got kicked out of the beautiful garden. But then, they had children, Cain and Abel.

…and they lived happily ever after?

No! “Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.”. But then Adam and Eve had Seth, “For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel”. And Seth had children, and they had children, etc.

…and they lived happily ever after?

No! Along came Noah. Man became wicked, so God told Noah he was going to destroy man. Noah built an Ark and save his family from the flood. “And every living substance was destroyed which was upon the face of the ground.” After 40 days, “Noah opened the window of the ark … he sent forth a dove”. The dove came back with a olive leaf. “…and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake;” As a covenant, God put a rainbow in the sky.

…and they lived happily ever after?

No. There was the tower of Babel. Abraham had from flee the land of his father, etc. etc. Let’s skip ahead to Moses. Abraham’s seed were now slaves in Egypt, Moses comes in and saves them, parts the Red Sea and delivers the house of Israel out of Egypt.

…and they lived happily ever after?

No. They got hungry, so God gave them manna. They were thirsty, so Moses smote a rock and God gave them water. They got wicked, so God gave them the Ten Commandments. They were plagued by serpents, so Moses used a staff to heal them. They got grumpy, so God made them stay in the wilderness for 70 years. Then, God finally brought them to Canaan, a “land flowing with milk and honey”.

…and they lived happily ever after?

I’m getting tired of this. Let’s skip to the good part. God sends his son, the Savior. He teaches amazing things: sermon on the mount, countless parables, etc. He performs miracles: feeds the multitude, heals the sick, casts out devils, walks on water, raises the dead.

…and they lived happily ever after?

No! They take him prisoner, falsely accuse him, publicly ridicule him and they crucify him. But, three days later he rises from the dead, a resurrected being, visits his friends, goes into the heavens. His church thrives and his apostles and disciples spread the Gospel throughout the land. It’s revealed to Peter that they should open the Gospel to the non-Jew or gentile. Even more converts!

…and they lived happily ever after?

Again the answer is “No!”.

Remember, the New Testament is not chronological. The order of Paul’s Epistles in our modern Bible is by size, not date.

The Apostles continue to perform amazing works and miracles.

The Apostles and disciples of Christ are rejected, persecuted, arrested, beaten and murdered (Acts 4:3; 5:18; 6:1; 16:20; 17:8,13; 18:5-6, 21:27, 25:4), (Acts 12:2).

The saints (early Christians) are mislead, blinded, start falling away and perverting the gospel (Galatians 1:6-7; 2:4; 3:1; 5:15; Hebrews 12:1-8; 1 Corinthians 3:3; 2 Corinthians 4:8; 2 Thesselonians 2:1-7; I got tired of looking). Wide spread persecution of Christians starts about 60-70 A.D.

The Bible is compiled somewhere between 60 and 200 A.D. closely resembling its current form today

…and they lived happily ever after?

The Creation/Evolution Scale

"Creationists" believe the Bible's version of God creating the world.
"Evolutionists" believe the physical evidence of a creation by natural forces and evolution of life.

For most, there is no compromise.

I would like to propose a scale with creationism on one end and evolution on the other to show that there is a middle ground. Then I'll explain my current belief.

1. Literal Biblical Creation - As stated in the Bible, God created everything in 6 days (literally 24 hour days). This occurred about 6,000 years ago. Any physical evidence doesn't matter.
   
2. Apologetic Biblical Creation - Same as literal biblical creation, but explain the physical evidence away by stating that dating methods must be wrong or God created all the evidence to make the earth look older.
   
3. Interpreted Biblical Creation - God created everything, but a "day" could be interpreted as "period of time". Thus, the Creation can possibly be compatible with the physical evidence.
   
4. Intelligent Design - The belief that accepts the physical evidence, but asserts that the order in our World and Universe to too extra-ordinary to have occurred by chance. Some divine hand must have been involved.
   
5. Big Bang and Evolution - Everything started with the Big Bang and the laws of Physics governed the creation of our earth, solar system, stars, etc. Life started in the primordial soup and evolved to what it is today. This history is "proven" by science using the evidence of geological layers and other dating methods, fossil history, cosmology, etc.
   

What do you believe? (Note: I haven't included viewpoints from other cultures)

I believe:

A. We are children of God who loves us and created this world as an opportunity for us to learn and grow.

B. God is omnipotent and capable of creating anything in any amount of time. He is capable of performing the "Literal Creation" in 6 days. This would include creating fossils, geological formations, and all the physical evidence of an old earth and evolution.

C. God would NOT create the physical evidence of evolution, as that would be deceptive. I don't think God would deceive us.

D. The physical evidence science has provided is real, however the truth may deviate from the conclusions of scientists (I think extrapolating back millions of years leaves room for error).

E. God had a hand in shaping all events that lead to the creation of all physical evidence. This includes a belief that God is not bound by time as we are.

Here are some interesting tidbits I consider in my belief of creation:

• The organization of atomic matter (protons, neutrons, electrons) just happens to create an enormous variety of physical properties. (I actually had a spiritual witness in my Chemistry class when I learned about this. It was a beautiful experience)[1]
  
• The organization of molecular matter adds even greater variety.
  
• The Earth has the most perfect orbit of all the planets, resulting in a moderate environment with H2O in solid (ice), liquid (water) and gaseous (clouds) forms. Ideal conditions for life.
  
• DNA is so complex that a single cell can continuously divide and each cell knows when and where to be skin, muscle, bone, nerves, blood, hair, organs, etc. The eye alone contains cells arranged intricately to make up the cornea, pupil, iris, lens, retina. The retina includes 126 million photoreceptors (rods and cones) connected to the brain via the optical nerve. Our "optical system" is more capable than the most sophisticated camera and computer of today.