Christian Apologetics| Lecture 10 : BC212-CA-20260911

Yeah. Yes. Good morning everyone. >> Morning. So let's continue from where we stopped yesterday. So um we'll go ahead and pray. Commit this class into God's hands and then we will discuss. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank and praise you Lord for your presence in our lives. We thank you for guiding and leading us with your word. And father even as we discuss various uh questions that people have um we pray that you will give us clarity and give us understanding on how we can approach people's questions and not just their questions but Lord their heart and their uh search for you. And father god we just uh uh commit this time and we pray that uh lord you will uh help things flow in in such a direction that lord we will receive a lot from it. We uh speak your blessings upon all the students their families upon our college and uh uh the faculty as well. We thank you Lord in Jesus name we pray. Amen. So yesterday we were talking about some questions from the book of Genesis and we saw that uh based on Genesis chapter 1 and two people ask so-called sorry questions pertaining to logic reasoning or uh even science. So then as believers how should we answer their questions is what we are looking at and we have focused on a couple of questions that people have. First is the um the age of the earth. So scientifically we state that it is billions of years old. So how can it be billions of years old if God created everything in a moment? But the answer to that question is God may have God has compressed many years. So how many years have been compressed is hard to tell. Like we gave the example of Adam and said when God created him in that moment he was around 40 years old but 40 years have been compressed. So if you were to you know check his u uh physical features or maybe check the quality of his skin or something you might date it to 40 years whereas he was created in that moment. So how many years God has compressed is hard to uh tell right? So we can answer it in that way. Moving on, we were talking about six days of creation. Whether they are literal days or they are um the there are billions and millions of years in those so-called days mentioned in Genesis 1 and 2. And we saw that there are certain theories that believers have proposed and we examined each one of them. The first one is gap theory where between each of the days there could have been a passage of millions of years but we answered and said there are no other scriptures that support this kind of a thought regarding gap theory. So we are discarding it. Secondly, we said that there is something called as day theory where we assume that each day itself is billions of years in terms of its span. So the basis for a thought like this comes from uh one of the scriptures in the New Testament 2 Peter chapter 3 and verse 8 where we see that for God a day is like thousand years and thousand years like a day. But if we apply this thought, we are already seeing that the passage of Genesis 1 and 2 also talk about there was light, there was darkness. So it sounds like we are speaking about a 24-hour day with half of it with light and half of it with darkness. So sounds more like the physical day that you and I experience compared to so-called millions and billions of years. And also the account says there was morning, there was evening. So then what does it mean? It's not billions of years. It's a literal 24-hour day. Right? So this argument already demolishes the thought of that one day being very long you know having many years in it. We can use several arguments and yesterday we were looking at a couple of other arguments as well and uh one of the other things that we said is um you know in terms of Sabbath. So if one day is thousands of years or billions of years doesn't make sense that we have to also consider because God commanded his people to keep the Sabbath but they did you can't keep billions of years of rest. Similarly 6 days of work doesn't mean indefinite work. There is a balance and the way we are practicing it right now is six physical days of work and one day of rest which is a more u receivable thought. We can keep stacking argument after argument. We can even say that uh God creating Adam. Um if you look at the day on which God created Adam, he was created on day six and then God rested. So if even if we assume that one day is thousand years, by the time God rested, how old is Adam? 40. So then you can keep calculating the time for when he um named all the animals and uh he's much older then by the time God decided to create Eve he is already thousands of years older than Eve whereas when you read the age there is a particular age given to Adam also when his son Seth was born he's a few hundred years old then why is the Bible saying he's only 100 years few hundred years old. So you see there are many arguments that we can pick and say one day equals thousand years. It's absurd. And also if you go back to the Hebrew language and examine that word yom, it's day is the word yum. It is consistently used throughout other writings of the Old Testament where yam is considered 24 hours day. So how can you use the same word and that be consistent throughout the Bible for 24 hours? Whereas when you come to this one passage in Genesis, we are saying here alone it is thousands of years. Everywhere else it is only one day, 24 hours. So it contradicts there's no consistency in the language. So in this way so many arguments tell us that this will not stand right. So we have to discard day theory also. we are discarding which is a final one that is left proposed by people. It's called theistic evolution. So theistic evolution simply means that evolution is true but God was involved in the evolution. So God guided the evolution uh and uh you know somehow he created everything in such a way that it matches what the theory of evolution states. Now the problem with that is we'll see in evolution there's a little bit of a change in order. The creation that are mentioned in evolution is not in the same order as what is mentioned in Genesis 1 and two. So that itself is a a big disparity. Now apart from this um you know for for us to say that um uh okay just one minute my uh train of thought is lost. Yeah. So the next uh point that I wanted to make is so we have introduced a concept of theistic evolution to accommodate a scientific theory which is the theory of evolution. So it's sounding like we believe in evolution and we are somehow trying to fit it into the Bible and saying that okay uh we feel that God could have guided this evolution whereas the Bible doesn't say anything about it. So what will we do if the theory of evolution changes? If all the scientists today sit together around the globe and say sorry our theory is wrong we are changing it or we are upgrading it. If we come up with an upgraded theory then we have to upgrade the Bible also. But is that possible? No. The Bible is the final authority of God's word. We cannot keep changing the Bible to accommodate theories in the scientific world. And many things as as far as science is concerned are evolving or growing developing thought. Yesterday we believed in something as far as science is concerned. Today we've discarded it. You know, till yesterday they said eat oats. Today they're saying don't eat oats. Right? So then what do you do? Every day there's a new idea. And we cannot keep changing the Bible to fit the changing thought. So it's problematic to take that as uh concrete scientific thought as concrete and then adjust the Bible to the scientific thought. So the the method itself as believers if we try to do that for everything the method itself our approach itself is wrong because we know that the word of God is final authority. So uh we have now discarded all three concepts about the day in Genesis chapter 1 and 2. So what is our final conclusion? Our conclusion is the day mentioned in Genesis chapter 1 and 2 is a 24-hour day like a normal day that you and I uh today is Friday. Now thank God it's Friday, right? Everyone's looking forward to Saturday and Sunday. So, it's just a 24-hour day and nothing more than that. Literal 24-hour day. So, that's how we will answer that question. Yes, please. Pastor, what if someone takes Daniel and you know where it talks about days as in it's very different compared to the days. Is it a different Hebrew word used in Daniel >> for uh >> um let me just get the reference. >> Yes, if you can just tell me. >> So in Daniel 12 >> verse 12 >> it says and blessed are those who wait and remain until the end of the 1,333 >> uh 5 days. And of course I know the context of this. We're talking about the end times >> and all of that. And I know it's different. I believe in the six seven days of creation and rest. But if someone were to pull this up and say here God is talking about days in a different way, >> right? And the these days mean different things because when we break it up, >> yeah, >> the days are years actually. >> So how would we answer that question? >> Yeah. So see this Daniel one is little days also. It is little days because uh it's basically the prophecy about the 7-year tribulation period. And in the seven-year tribulation period, uh what we have learned is that at the middle of the seven years, the antichrist will break his treaty. So this is three and a half years. It's referring to its literal days that are uh included here. Yeah. Yes. Yes. >> Yes. So, uh that again is uh weeks you know seventh week. Yeah. So that >> right. >> Yes. >> Correct. So um see it's basically when when we look at uh uh Bible interpretation depending on the passages we would need to apply the techniques in some places it's literal as we said uh where you you're just talking about normal days the day of Passover the day of Pentecost so it's just a narrative so when you look at that portion of scripture ure it's been narrated in simple language as if to talk about an incident whereas if we go to the book of Daniel and then you're examining the weeks there that is prophetic prophetic language and as you read the visions as you read what has been given we understand that prophetic uh language requires interpretation ation. So there's an element of interpretation required because it's a different kind of a passage. You see, so all those things will be applicable. >> I I understand that completely. But for someone who's a non-believer who's going to question us, many times if I've if I've shared stuff like this, not necessarily in context of this, say something else, they say, "Oh, you just choose whatever you want to believe from the Bible, and based on that, you interpret it this way. based on this you like someone who's not willing or doesn't have the spirit of faith to understand that we faith comes by like with faith comes understanding right true >> so sometimes they can say oh you just want to believe this so you've taken this and you've chosen to interpret this passage this way and this passage this way because it suits what you know they've told you to believe right >> so in that way >> yeah I I mean I see where that can come from and we can't stop it because uh people would want to oppose >> but we can be as logical as possible. So we or in the simplest uh terms we can say some passages are a narration. So you take it literally whereas some passages are figurative language. So this is prophetic where it kind of comes under figurative language. It has to be interpreted accordingly. For example, it's raining cats and dogs. I don't have a cat on my head or a dog on my head because it's figurative language. Any normal sane human being will understand that we just use expressions. So, uh some parts of the Bible are like that expressions which need to be interpreted. I'm just saying it's raining heavily, right? there's an element of interpretation there. So all we are saying is this portion where we are talking about the day is literal whereas uh this portion is figurative. That is why we are saying it's not a 24-hour day and then we use all our techniques of interpretation to break it down. Beyond this we can't say anything. you know, they could probably just bombard us uh with their opposing thoughts, but we'll just have to be like waiting, praying for them, I suppose. Yeah, sure. No problem. Thank you. So, coming uh back to our questions, we we understood that we've concluded that the days in Genesis are 24-hour days. So then what does it make us believe about our God? He has created the universe, the earth and you know all the creatures in six literal days. It's not impossible for him. Wow. That gives a lot of hope. Like thank God we serve a mighty God and uh uh he has been able to do this. So we just rejoice in that. Okay. So let's now look at other questions that people have. Let me just show you one image. Yes. So you can see now There is an order in which God created. So day one there was light there was darkness. Day two uh in he created uh firmament. Day three, dry land. He gathered the waters, sea and vegetation, meaning plants and all that. Day four, sun, moon, and the stars, the lights in the universe. Then day five, sea creatures and birds. Day six, land animals and humanity. So remember I kept telling us there's a little bit of an order change when we come to uh evolution we will see that just look at this order we have day three when plants were created plants as we see them. What does science tell us? How do plants make their food? Photosynthesis from what? The sun. But when is the sun created? Day four. So plants came first according to the Bible. Sun came later. Now you explain photosynthesis. You see it's it's not the way science has ordered it. Now this is the problem. Now when we are trying to superimpose the theories of science over the Bible, it's not matching. Now people will ask the question, sun is on day four, but day one says there was light and there was darkness. Where is this light coming from? What is the answer? >> The Lord. Okay. Any other answers to that? In revelation when we have the new Jerusalem, he said he will be the light himself. Right? So in the beginning when he intended for the world to be how in harmony with him that's how he showed us maybe that he is the true light >> and the source of all things. >> Yeah. So he is our light. Uh in the book of Revelation, we read about God being the light of the new heavens and the new earth. At that point in the future, we are not going to need a sun anymore. Because light will come from where? From the presence of God. When God is there, there is light. And for God, it's not a big deal to separate light and darkness. So our understanding is the plants received light from God, not from the sun. So the Bible has explained itself. There is light for the uh thriving of vegetation, but it's not from the sun. it's from himself. So when the Bible is clear that light comes from him in the future, the new creation uh I mean the new heavens and the new earth, why can't that have been done in the past also? Maybe that's how light was available. So people will look at this and they will say the Bible is inconsistent. How can the sun come later? How can the plants come before? But we know that the Bible shows us that God is light and light comes from his presence also. So there is no inconsistency because we've looked at uh various passages of scripture. So that's how we would answer the question where people ask how did the plant survive. Okay. So I think that's pretty clear. Now let us uh look at some other questions that are there in our uh chapter here. People will ask the question how could there be day and night on day one if the sun, moon and stars were created later. So same answer, God knows how to cut off um the light after 12 hours. He's providing the light but after 12 hours he knows how to kind of block that light so that there is darkness for uh the earth to function right because day is important, night is important. we read about uh so many things the the ocean different different things so he knows how to do all of it and he's figured it out right even without the sun and it's um uh how do you say like the rotation of the earth around the sun okay so we have an answer for that question and we've just explained it now people ask the question why does the Bible use different words in Genesis for creation. So what does it mean? Sometimes the Bible uses the word created or uh made or shaped. So in Genesis when we when we look at Hebrew words they don't match. So there is one word bar, there's another word uh asa, the another word yatsar. These words are different in terms of their actual understanding, but they're also similar. Okay, so uh we don't need to argue so much about it. But then there are people who will bring it up and say, why does it say create for this and why does it say made for that? And why does it say shape for this? They're all uh similar. Uh and we know that God has the ability to do all of them. So wherever the word bar is used, it means create. Create means to bring into existence. It didn't exist. It was in nothingness. And then finally God made or created those things. Whereas some other places we see the word esa which means god uh organized it, structured it, put it together which is also part of his ability and he can do it. Some places we see yatsar and uh this means fashioned or sculpted. This also he can do right. So there is no contradiction as such just because there is usage of different words in different places. All things that are mentioned as created by God are created by God. So we can examine another question that people normally ask. What is the greater light and lesser light mentioned in Genesis 1 and verse 16. So these are nothing but um you know objects which God created and obviously we tag the sun as a greater light and the moon as the lesser light. So just because the Bible uses the words greater light, lesser light, scientifically people will argue and say sun is okay because sun has its own process of uh uh nuclear fusion, right? I'm so confused at this point. I don't remember my science. Yeah. So it generates its own energy whereas moon doesn't. How can the Bible call it light? See light means the Bible is not specifying that the moon is creating its light. No. So why are we over interpreting it? It's just saying light is coming from it. So it's it's a luminary body or it's reflecting light also works. But basically light is coming from this body. It Bible doesn't say it's generating light. So there's no question of arguing over that. So these are some common questions that people ask and uh the answers that we can present to them. But the point that we are making is the Bible is not contradicting itself and the way people ask questions as if there's an issue with the Bible. we've just explained you have to uh you know look at it and apply some of the logic that we have also spoken about. So I'm just coming to the chat section here. Rajiv says if Adam was created with a mature body could light from distant stars also have been created already reaching the earth. If so, what does that imply about how we interpret both Genesis and astronomical observations? So, Rajiv, we will go by the Bible and the Bible. Yeah, because it says that he created the stars on day four. So if we assume that there is some light coming from the universe, we don't have no from day one to day three, the Bible doesn't say that God created anything that was bringing the light in. So then it'll it won't be correct to imagine that from some far away body light is coming into the earth. Cuz as far as the Bible is concerned, there was no other object that put out light. So we won't make that assumption that light is coming from a distant space. I hope I'm clear. You understood? Yeah, sure. Okay. Coming back to the chat. Okay. We were all answering uh some questions that were asked. Any other questions about Genesis? I told you that I don't promise to answer but you can ask your questions. Any other questions that are coming to your mind? So uh kids in kids church they have this question know does Adam have a belly button? So what is the answer for that question? Genesis because he was created by God. He doesn't have a a belly button comes when you cut off the umbilical cord from the mother. So Adam was not kept in his mother's womb and then he was born and they cut off the cord. So what is the answer for that? Does he have or he doesn't? Did God create one or no? Again, we can't be right about it. Maybe he didn't because he was not born through the normal process of con conception. Everyone else was born. Like even Eve was not born through the normal process of conception. So maybe they didn't have. We could even say God created one. So maybe they had also. So these are all speculative questions but uh yeah these are the kind of questions people ask. So any other questions add uh Genesis connected to Genesis. Is it okay if we can just compare like science and genesis in the evolution process so that we can see like how it contradicts? >> Yeah. Yeah. We we will do that. So we the next chapter is uh Darinism. So we're getting into Darinism. We'll go as deep as required and compare. I think that'll give you more clarity. And the chapter after that is the big bang. So we'll we'll examine these things. More questions will come up on it. Now there are other questions also that people ask. They ask about uh um a pre-adamic world. It sounds very interesting. Pre-adamic meaning Adam was not there at that time. And uh one concept we are aware of is the book of Isaiah talks about Lucifer in heaven and how God threw him out of heaven. So the question is when God threw him where did he go? Right? And when exactly did God create the heavens and the earth? Like was it very close to the throwing out of um say Lucifer or was it like first Lucifer was thrown out and then millions of years and then the earth was created. What was he doing? So based on all of these thoughts people come up with stories. There are many many stories and even preaching messages also are there that talk about uh the rule of Satan and this and that. But the problem with all of these things is we don't have enough scripture. We don't have any scripture actually. So we can't we can't make a story with one scripture. So it's better not to get into such things. Also people go to uh Genesis 6 and over there you have uh uh Noah. So it says over there that uh uh the sons of God they married the the daughters of men and then there was you know they assumption is they would have birthed a certain kind of race. Now where they human where they angelic like what is going on right so then based on this there are many concepts and theories you may have heard know words like nephilim and this and that but again the issue is we don't have enough scripture you can't take one passage and create a whole story about it and say you know these people were like this and they were they were ruling They had chariots and uh they had a king and his name was this and that. Where does it where does the Bible substantiate these things? So don't it's it's uh not good to let our imagination go beyond scripture. Now we do understand for fiction you know we have some really wonderful Christian literature where people have used their imagination but it's not contradicting scripture right but for kids like you may have heard of the series uh the chronicles of NA right but it's all like fun imaginative but you are very much uh aligned to doctrine you're very much aligned to scripture. We are not talking about some strange uh you know strange things contradicting the Bible. So whenever we have philosophies of that kind, concepts, theories, it's better to not get involved like pre-ademic race and whatnot. We don't know much about those things. So yeah, better better not to get into those things. Yeah, sure. So these are all some of the thoughts that come to my mind. Any other questions from Genesis? >> Um, I have a question. >> Yes, please. >> Uh, so we see in Genesis 12 that the earth was formless and void, right? Uh, so what do you think could have caused uh the earth to be in this state? >> Huh? So formless and void um it uh refers to emptiness. Emptiness as in the earth is yet to be filled. So that is understood isn't it Samuel? Because uh uh God is yet to create lot of things. You got it? Formless and void does not necessarily mean that it's in a destroyed state. I hope uh that helps. I don't know whether >> uh yes ma'am cuz I thought formula void uh uh it was in a chaos state or like a destructive state. >> Uh no not necessarily. I know it's all it's interpreted like that but formless and void uh though the language used there simply means it's it's empty yet to be filled like if if I have a plate and my plate is empty. I'm just saying it's formless and void. Very soon there will be some nice hopefully some biryani or something on it. Right. So it's not destroyed. It's just empty yet to be filled. >> Yeah, that makes sense ma'am. Thank you. >> Okay, great. >> Hello, ma'am. >> Thank you. >> Yes. >> Uh I I would like to ask you a question, ma'am. >> Yes, please, Renet. Uh if the text in Genesis 3 only refers to the tempter as the serpent or nakash, where do we get the idea that the main character was Satan? Is identifying the serpent uh as Satan uh a form of retrospective theological interpretation rather than a literal claim stated directly within the text uh of Genesis itself. Thank you ma'am. >> Thank you Ranet. Very very good question. So uh in Genesis 3 we uh see that the serpent comes and talks to Eve. But what do we say? Satan deceived Eve. But in the book of Genesis it just says the serpent. So Renit is asking how do we say that that is the devil? Right? So yeah, it is kind of retrospective in the sense that when we read the rest of the Bible, especially the New Testament, we can identify the characteristics of Satan. So you know we we read that uh he is like a roaring lion seeking for whom he may devour and uh uh Jesus said the thief comes to steal, kill and destroy. So putting all these things together and considering the ser serpent in the Old Testament, we know that the work that happened there of distracting Eve, tempting temptation, he's a tempter. So who could it have been? It could have only been Satan. Now I don't want to get too much into things because we'll confuse but again the question comes where serpent as in snake so um was it that Satan entered a snake one of the creation of God or did Satan become a snake. Are you with me? >> Are you not with me? Okay, you're with me. So, what do you think? Genesis 3, the serpent spoke to Eve, deceived her. I'm asking, the serpent means what? Is it that God obviously created uh snakes also? So did Satan become a snake, take the form of a snake or did Satan enter the snake? >> See again this is speculation. Some of us may say he took the form of a snake because Yeah. >> Right. Yeah. That's also possible. But we also know that angelic beings can take form. When Abraham uh was um you know in the in the wilderness, angels came like humans. Yes or no? >> Yeah. So who is Satan? He's a fallen angel. So he can sometimes take on a physical form also. So who knows? Maybe he became a snake, took the form of a snake to do that evil work or because he is a spirit. And we read uh in believers authority, we have learned that spirits are disemb uh uh demons are disembodied spirits. They're looking for a body. So, who knows? Did he possess a snake and go and talk to Uh, Eve, we we can always keep arguing about these matters, but maybe we won't know for sure. Yeah, please. >> Yeah. >> And so at that time and they were walking that spiritual authority and that will make it for all creation. I mean it would have been written that hey they fallen short of that then that under you know God's authority. >> Okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. Sure. Sure. I'm good. Good that uh you know you're thinking aloud. So um Trisha is saying at that point God gave dominion to Adam and Eve. Humanity had authority but also if you look closely God told them to protect protect from whom? So there is a possibility of invasion. There is a possibility of interruption. So then we can say that yeah he he could Satan could probably do his evil work back then as well. And you know we can keep talking about these things and say why did God let Satan come to the earth you know uh had he not been here maybe uh Eve would not have sinned. Now one more question which brother Loith is asking here. How and where did evil creep in Genesis when Cain killed Abel? Is it when Adam and Eve sinned? So yeah uh Adam and Eve sinned so the earth was corrupted with evil. But at the same time uh brother Loit when we talk about Lucifer where is where was Lucifer? Heaven. And also we read that he was a cherub in the presence of the Lord. Meaning different angels have different tasks. And Lucifer had a task in the headquarters. Can you imagine? Every day you go to work, who's there? God is there. Every day you have to go into God's chamber to do your work, worshiping God, playing instruments. Now tell me, somebody who's living in the presence of God, how can pride come into his heart? Sin in heaven. In heaven there is no evil. But how did Lucifer conceive sin in his heart? Big question mark. So the answer to that question is God has given free will to both angels and humans. If we align oursel we if we choose to align ourselves to God, we can use that free will righteously. But if we choose to go against God, we can use our free will for sin and conceive evil. So a cherub his task itself is worshiping God in the presence of God. I can't think of anyone else who can enjoy God more than him. in front of God. But what happened to the heart? Evil. You see? So again, you know, Cain and Abel and all like when we sin in a way, we understand it's a choice. We're making a choice. God created us perfect. He gave us, you know, obviously a good heart when we growing up as kids, innocence, all of that. But we choose evil many times. It's not that God created evil, but he's given us free will. Lucifer chose evil. Cain chose evil. People are choosing evil. Only lesson that we can give ourselves is we should not do that. I don't want any evil. I don't want to choose any evil. I want to use my free will to choose what is right and also pray, encourage others, teach others the word of God so that they may choose what is right. So this is how we would uh assess it and analyze it. I hope that helps uh brother Lohit and everyone else. Yeah, last two minutes. >> Right. Like if Saturn was cast out of heaven, why was he still able to appear in Job one? >> Why was he still >> appear in Job one? >> Okay, so we'll take this up next week because um I kind of have an answer, but I don't know if I will frame it in the right way and uh a quick way or let me do this. I will post it on the stream page. Is that okay? All right. So I think with that we can uh stop for today and um a word of caution from next week we are going to go fast. So you can feel the pace already. So please read and come otherwise we might feel like we are floating in space. Okay we don't want that to happen. Okay. So with this uh we are uh ending the class. How about one of our online students praise before we close. Almighty Father, we thank you Lord. We praise you Father God. Lord, thank you for your servant Pastor Nancy. Father God, whatever see you teach us, Father God, Lord, help us to grow in your word. Father God, thank you Lord. We praise you, Lord, master, for today's class, master. Thank you for every uh teaching of Father God. Lord, give us your spirit of wisdom and knowledge and understanding. Father, help us to grow in your word. Father, thank you Lord. We love you, Father. Let your kingdom come and let your will be done, Father. Lord, we praise you. We love you. We thank you. In Jesus name I pray. Amen. Thank you, pastor. >> Amen. Amen. Thank you uh Sister Puja. Thank you everyone. God bless you. Have a good weekend. God bless.