We are ‘flesh‘, made of the ‘dust of the earth’. We are part of creation; we eat, excrete, procreate, suffer and die just like the other creatures. The very idea of ‘dust’ describes our creaturely status. No humanist could speak more definitely of our lowly origins. Far from making us too otherworldly, the Bible cuts us down to size: ‘You take away their breath, they die and return to the dust,’ says the Psalmist. But if the Bible writers are realistic, they are in no way negative. The Bible affirms life, and joyfully encourages us to enjoy life’s pleasures. It tells us that if God has seen fit to create us as physical beings there is nothing in our make-up or anatomy to be ashamed of. Read more
In some ways we are no different from any other species on earth. We are creatures subject to the usual conditions of space and time. But we know that human beings ’stand out’ from other beings in several ways. Some of these are plain enough; they partly explain humankind’s superiority over other creatures: our creativity, our intellectual, linguistic and cultural achievements.
But the Bible adds a further and remarkable point. People stand out not by what they do but by what they are. This is expressed right at the beginning, in the creation story of Genesis 1. God said, ‘Let us make man in our image after our likeness.’ It is a theme taken up and developed in other parts of the Bible: we are not like the other creatures; we share God’s nature in a special way. Read more
Modern science developed in one place only, and over a restricted period of time. The place was Western Europe; the time, from the sixteenth to the seventeenth centuries. It is not immediately obvious why conditions were then particularly favourable. Much of the intellectual background of Western Europe at that time
“I have shown man the glory of your works, as much of their unending wealth as my feeble intellect was able to grasp.”
Johannes Kepler was not original — it was derived from classical antiquity. In technical invention, the Chinese had reached a higher level of sophistication than the Europeans, and at a much earlier stage. Why then was the decisive step to modern science not taken centuries before in Greece or China? Read more
We begin then by looking at creation from the differing perspectives of the biblical narrative and some other ancient stories.
This will help to show the distinctiveness and power of the Bible’s account of creation.
Creation in the ancient Near East
The recitation of creation stories in the ancient world bore little resemblance to our detached discussions on creation today. To these ancient peoples it was a matter of worship. Their sagas were not like the telling of fairy tales, but recitations of the annual religious festivals. Recounting these stories had the serious purpose of seeking both to preserve the order of society and to guarantee order and life before the threats of chaotic forces. Read more
In recent years there has been a widely-reported resurgence of occultism in the West. This has coincided with a strong movement, in other parts of the world, to return to traditional religious practices. Far more people are now aware of the reality of the spirit world than a generation or two ago. And when we look at the Bible, we find that God has created a universe of which non-material beings form a very real part.
Today people would acknowledge the influence of outside forces on human beings. We are not so autonomous as we once supposed. To an extent, we can be controlled, and sometimes we are. People’s experience, in many parts of the world today, goes along with Jesus‘ teaching to suggest that personal outside forces (angels, demons, spirits) can and do influence the behaviour of human beings. Read more
Hinduism is a shoreless sea. It has a continuous history of more than 3,000 years. During that time it has gathered into itself so many streams and currents of belief and practice that it is very hard to say just what it is. Hindus say this is a good thing, because it makes Hinduism the most tolerant religion in the world.
Professor Radhakrishnan has distinguished between four different levels of religious experience. His analysis takes us to the heart of the Hindu outlook: Read more
Islam, like Buddhism and Christianity, has an identifiable historical founder, about whom we know a great deal. Muhammad was born about the year AD 570 in the flourishing commercial city of Mecca. At the age of forty he began his prophetic ministry. In AD 622 he moved to Medina (Yathrib), where he died in AD 632.
The records show him as a man of infinite patience, who preached in Mecca for thirteen years and hardly made a convert. In his later years he showed himself a great leader of men. He gave to the warring Arab tribes unity, a simple creed (the Muslim creed consists only of the two clauses ‘I proclaim that there is no God but God, and Muhammad is the apostle of God‘), and a sense of destiny. For a thousand years the Christian world was threatened by their armies. Today the followers of Muhammad exercise great influence in the affairs of the world. Read more
Three great faiths had their origin in the Middle East: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. They are rigidly monotheistic, in that they declare that God is one, that there can be no other object of worship, and that there can be no other basis for the unity of all mankind.
The Jews declare every day, ‘Hear, O Israel; the Lord our God is one Lord.’ Read more
A hundred years ago evolution was much in the air. Everything was thought to be the result of long development. So it was taken that religion also must have developed; and as monotheism—belief in one God only — is the highest form of religion, this must have come very late in the history of mankind. Among the simpler races it was not expected we should find belief in one God; in fact, it was doubted whether there would be found any clear idea of God at all.
This idea was not altogether unreasonable. When a stranger tries to study the religion of a people he does not know, he first becomes aware of actions and ceremonies, some of which seem to him very strange. Read more
The Bible is one big book made up of many smaller books. As such, it shows both unity (’one’) and diversity (’many’). The unity of the Bible flows from its source in God. If God is ultimately responsible for it all, you would expect it to hold together. But the Bible’s unity can be seen on other levels too. One story—of creation, fall and redemption— runs throughout. Read more
