The Biblical Report of Creation

Orient, think. The way we present things to children is critical. When correctly understood, biblical interpretation does not contradict the scientific view of the creation of the world. It is important to distinguish between what God wanted to reveal to humanity through Scripture and the non-essential elements belonging to the writer. We should try to explain the biblical message of creation to children simply and understandably. The biblical description of creation should not be considered scientific information. Therefore, the procedure referred to in the Bible is not relevant—the creation of light, the sun, and the division into days. There is therefore no point in trying to find any hidden meaning in this text or fit it into stages of development. Scripture is the true revelation of God because God is the originator of everything that exists. To give people a sense of the way of creation, God gave them the ability to gradually enter into the mysteries of nature. God could certainly dictate a perfect scientific study to someone who would understand this report. But only a few top scientists would have understood it. When considering all biblical texts, it is necessary to take into account not only the time of their creation but also their place of origin. People in the Orient think and express themselves very differently from us Europeans. They judge truthfulness according to the content and inner meaning, rather than the extent to which it is a historically verifiable fact. A small example will illustrate the orienting point. Imagine someone had seen a film from the past several centuries and thought that the people in it did not exist historically. For example, their names cannot be verified. This may be true. However, this does not change the fact that the film truthfully displays the time or events of that time. The film provides a real image of the time, its characters, and attitudes. In the Holy Scriptures, we must first seek the inner truth. It cannot be attacked. Not even in the image of creation. The natural sciences can neither prove nor disprove the existence of God. However, contemporary physics can calculate the age of matter, thus disproving the hypothesis of its eternity. This fact should not be circumvented by worldly scientific opinion. We have already considered where the world comes from. Who made it? We concluded that it must have been someone very wise and good. It’s a pity he is invisible. Unlike a refrigerator or a bicycle, there is no label bearing the name of the manufacturer on the sun or on the tops. However, the one who did all of this work took care to ensure that we know something about him. He did not step forward, like the grandfather in our story. But we have a written report about it. Imagine there is a book where you can read all about it. It’s an ancient book called the Bible, or Holy Scripture. It says that everything was created by God. God is very wise and virtuous. He is invisible, yet always close to us. He is so close that he hears and sees everything and knows everything. So we can actually talk to God. Isn’t that amazing? Today, I’m going to tell you something. The Coolerens were playing in the yard. Suddenly, they started to argue. Nobody knew how the quarrel started. We don’t understand why they started arguing. They just started arguing and treating each other badly. Do you know how powerful he is? They started arguing about whose dad is the wisest, most wicked, and most powerful. Georg seemed to win because his father was a sailor. He saw all sorts of things and lived all sorts of adventures. But Anna beat him to it. She said her dad is a rescuer and saves people every day. Not everyone can do that. So that was that.
Then there was Franz, who boasted that his father could shoot a rifle. Everyone acknowledged that saving people is more important than shooting. However, they argued further and could not agree on whose father was the best. They were all right, but they still hadn’t solved the question of who the wisest and best dad was. An older boy standing to one side said: ‘I know someone who is truly the wisest and best. He knows everything because he invented everything.’ He didn’t even ask anyone to do it for him. He’s the best because he didn’t do it all for himself, but for us. He gave us everything for free, and I can talk to him at any time. I can talk to him at any time. He always makes time for me. He always listens to me. He is with me even when I’m all alone. Who was he talking about?