Creation Accounts Are Initiation Ceremonies
First, the qualifiers:
We have a fragmentary
scriptural account - not everything has been included or retained from what
might have been included initially.
From reading the text, it is
difficult to understand what is literal from what is figurative or symbolic.
We don’t know how much Adam
and Eve knew and understood prior to the Fall (i.e. what does “innocent” mean?).
The creation accounts were not
given to us as a scientific dissertation by God regarding how He created the
universe; while He could have done that, He did not – implying that what we
have received from Him in scripture is for a different purpose.
How many accounts of the creation do we have?
Do they differ?
Which one is “right”?
Why is this the case?
What differences in perception exist between western
and eastern mindsets regarding the scriptures?
What are these ceremonies designed or intended teach
us?
What are these ceremonies NOT designed to teach us?
Scientific
Understanding of the Creation
READ Moses 1:27-35
Will God reveal the literal, scientific account of the
creation to us?
What must we do to receive this level of comprehensive
scientific knowledge?
Why
We Should Understand the Creation
Why study the creation?
What is the creation?
What is the purpose of the creation?
The
Creation
READ Genesis 1; Moses 2-3; Abraham 4
Was the earth created out of nothing?
What do we learn from these scriptural
accounts/creation ceremonies about how the Earth was created?
Who created the Earth?
Was the earth created in seven days or seven
thousand years?
When God says “in the
beginning”, what is being referred to?
What does it mean that the
earth was “without form and void” (Genesis 1:2 and Moses 2:2)?
What does “let there be
light” refer to?
Why does it talk about the “face
of the water” if the earth hasn’t been created yet?
What does it mean that God “separated
the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the
expanse”? (see Genesis 1:7)
What does it mean that the
light was divided from the darkness?
What does it mean that the
waters were gathered together into one place and then the dry land appeared?
What does all of this imply
about evolution and the rest of the periods/days of creation?
READ Moses 2:27 and Abraham
4:26-27, 5:12-13
What do we know about the creation of mankind on the
Earth?
What were the conditions of life in the Garden of Eden?
What commandments were given to man in the Garden of
Eden?
The Heavens Are for Signs
READ Abraham 4:14 and Jeremiah 31:35-36
Why does the Lord use heavenly signs?
How does the Lord use the sun, moon and stars/planets
as markers?
READ Exodus 31:13, 17 and
Exodus 12:14
What are the Lord’s Holy Days?
What do each of the seven annual Holy Days represent?
(Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Pentecost, Trumpets, Atonement,
Tabernacles)
What are the three types of Sabbath Days?
Case Study: What was the significance of the four Holy
Day blood moons from 2014-2015? (for additional help read Adrian Larsen’s
series of blog posts “Scripture Overhead” from 2015 on totheremnant.com)
For some additional reading, check
out Michael O’Connell’s Finding God in Science
For some additional reading, check
out Michael O’Connell’s Finding God in Scienceom 2014-2015? (for additional help read Adrian Larsen’s
series of blog posts “Scripture Overhead” from 2015 on totheremnant.com)
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