Facts and Fables

9 min readApr 8

April 7, 2023

While the first “protohumans” are reported to have come out of Africa 70,000 to 100,000 years ago, the first civilization was in Mesopotamia in the Middle East.

I purposely am excluding “protohumans” from this essay, because I am convinced that the Theory of Evolution is a farce whose main purpose has always been simply to discredit the Bible which claims God as the Creator of the Universe, the Earth, and all living things, including Mankind. The theory of evolution is based more on philosophical principles of atheism and agnosticism than on truly scientific methodology.

As I understand the situation — as it always seems to have been — is that man made Religions and Philosophies of Science have a common problem in that their fervency and intense zeal overwhelm logical thought processes.

Both such Scientists and Religious Scholars ignore the adage, “Keep your head screwed on tight.”

Missing links are still missing.

All around us we see that species are becoming extinct. They are not evolving.

Biblical cynics still push new and old perversions of Scriptural contents.

Cynics continue in their dark dances and refuse to come into the light, because their thoughts and deeds are dark.

That resistance is confusing to me, because truth never hurts anyone!

While there is solid Scientific and solid Biblical hypothesis, many traditionally held beliefs are no more than fables. So, whenever I come across conflicts between the two, I take a hard look at both.

For example, Genesis One, the Bible’s Creation Story, has morphed into the realm of fable. It was not happening in six twenty-four hour days. That interpretation is in error from the get go, because the sun was not created until the fourth “day.” The nonsensical understanding developed over a misinterpreted word, “day.” While we may ordinarily understand it to simply indicate a period of time — like a “day” — it is properly translated as something more like an “era.”

These time periods could have overlapped, been rather brief or rather boundless. What matters here is God did create the entire Universe and everything in it — both living and non. You see, eternity is a rather timeless concept and very difficult for us to grasp, because all our lives we live in a chronologically temporal existence of the repeating cycle of sunrise/sunset and clocks that tick, tick, tick our lives away. It is very difficult to wrap our minds around timeless existence.

So, not to exclude scientific thought I turned the page to the alternative hypothesis. Recently, I again read the Big Bang Theory from several .edu websites as well as Britannica.

It seems more ridiculous than ever: Nothing (Outer Space) always existed. There was a super-compressed, super-heated nothing, but in a super thermonuclear explosion, nothing became something, ordered, substantial, and in this unpurposed and undirected chaos of a Universe everything magically appeared — galaxies. stars, planets, us — everything! Without provocation or any oversight, eventually life itself appeared — again, for no particular reason other than happenstance, conveniently fitting into a philosophy of Science that is no more than superstition, blind faith, and fable.

Now, I know that Science does a really good job of explaining how things work and the state of an expanding Universe, but the why of it all, that is, what initiated this Creation? That remains unexplained.

So, I ask, “How did your daughter’s graduation present of that new car get in your driveway?”

In the end, I see the Big Bang having more similarity to the Biblical account in the book of Genesis in the Bible. “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” (Genesis, Chapter One)

Critics have said that the order of Creation doesn’t make any sense, but like I pointed out eternity is a concept we humans just can’t wrap our minds around. We think in a linear pattern only — vertical or horizontal, it’s still linear. Maybe the Bible can be seen as more pictorial and even poetical than mathematical…

So, where did we come from? God’s foresight, design, power, results He determined were good. Once all the fables are filtered out, Biblical Creation is more realistic to me than the Big Bang Theory.

Also, in Genesis One, Mankind is created. Adam and Eve didn’t come into the picture until Genesis Two, after God had “rested from all His work.” Then, came the Story of Paradise with Adam and Eve as the main characters. Think on that fact for a moment. One should also make a mental note that Adam named the woman “Eve” (literally, “the mother of all living”) just like every other living thing brought before him. My point is that Adam named her so, not God. Also of note, they lived a very cloistered and isolated life, having no idea that there was a whole world outside of Paradise… until they were kicked out.

It is so important that we get the stories straight. Otherwise, facts blend into fables, and who really believes in fairy tales? The Bible was not written for entertainment.

The Bible is an historical work written from cultural perspectives and how the people of the time understood the world. For example, the Levitical food laws of “clean and unclean” did not talk about microscopic parasites and infectious diseases. They simply said don’t eat scavengers or dead animals that have died from unknown causes… and are probably spoiled and rotten.

*****

Now, my essays have all had united purposes staying true to intelligent research and utilizing the scientific method, that is, “principles and procedures for the systematic pursuit of knowledge involving the recognition and formulation of a problem, the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses.” (MerriamWebster.com)

The “formulation of a problem” in this definition can be related to such adolescent queries as “Why am I here?” or “Where did we come from?” or “What is my purpose in life?” or “Why is there beauty?” or “Why are there wars?”

The “collection of data through observation,” I must affirm, comes mainly from the observations of those witnesses recorded throughout Bible history, especially by Jesus’ Disciples who spent over three years walking and talking with Him and eating and sharing, seeing Jesus for who He is, and that is three years observing the purposeful teachings and miraculous acts of Jesus.

There are also the observations within my own life experience and the commonality in the testimonies of what others have experienced in their lives in being twice born Bible Believers.

The starkest example I can think of is that audible voice that said to me, out of nowhere, “Quit smoking!” I idly conceded that smoking was wrong (or as I later described “sin” as “being harmful to oneself or to others” — smoking doing both). Nevertheless, I had been enjoying smoking cigarettes for over twelve years, and I had no real motivation nor the slightest will to quit. Coffee/cigarette. Making out/cigarette. Driving/cigarette. Hanging out/cigarette. Etcetera/cigarette… However, after two days of a bad cold, I woke up the next morning and the addiction was gone. It disappeared as if I had never smoked in my life! Never touched another one.

As for “testing the hypothesis” of the Born Again experience, Patty and I have tested the challenge presented in Psalm 34, verse 8, written by Israel’s famous King David, “Taste and see that the Lord is good. Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” We have tasted, and it’s delightful.

Over and over this invisible God has manifested Himself in our lives, our minds, and our insights.

Such realities are what I have been trying to share with everyone.

Unfortunately, this passage is also true: “Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still people do not accept our testimony.” (John 3:11)

Nothing new. Why believe a stranger? How about a whole bunch of them?

It is always a choice.

Immediately following the New Testament’s famous “People of Faith” chapter, listing dozens of people recorded in the Bible, Hebrews chapter 11, is this passage: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Hebrews 12:1–3, NIV)

So, as I continue my attempts to persuade friends, acquaintances, and people I have never met, that the Bible is truthful and reliable, and most importantly, be assured that the miracles which Jesus wants to bring into your lives are real.

And please! The sky didn’t open. The bells did not ring. We were not transported in sparkling clouds of glory… We got down on our knees and prayed and Jesus came into our lives, our everyday lives. No Hollywood graphics. No meta binoculars. Meat and potatoes reality. That’s all. Real life. Real living.

But I digress…

So, I research words from the Bible that have become religious, meaningless, ethereal, and immaterial to people’s lives in order that they become practical, meaningful, down-to-earth, and easily applied to our real existence. My method is using the original Bible languages of Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek and researching scholarly works to find their original meanings. This lends more accurate and fuller understandings of the passages that can become understandable, useful, and purposeful in individual lives. It also minimizes misconceptions and fantasies from pervading persuasive discussion of the texts.

I think it helps individuals to understand the significance of the Choice they have before them.

There are always those who tend to omit, twist, and pervert the Bible verses in their pursuit of dominating discussions — I suppose in their struggles to prove their superiority in all phases and dynamics of their existence — “as in egotist, a person who is overly concerned with his or her own desires, needs, or interests.” (ibid) There are also those who get a kick out of trolling, picking fights between people with no intentions of resolving anything.

At any rate, they seem to derive some perverse kind of pleasure from their endless critiques.

They first deceive themselves and then want others to join them. “Misery loves company.” apparently is a true saying.

As for me, I am just trying to help you all to understand in order that you can make informed decisions about God, Jesus, and the Bible. I would hate for anyone to miss out because of some pseudo-intellectuals’ deceit or some medieval fables.

Notwithstanding all of that, the Bible’s account of the Big Bang is this: In the beginning, God said, “Let there be light!” And there was light. God created everything and set it all in motion. That is why Scientists can make sense out of everything, because a sensible God created everything. Science just cannot explain why.

God created Humanity. He also created Adam and Eve.

Why? God only knows.

It seems especially these days that Humanity isn’t making much sense of Creation whatsoever. For example, why is there this race to establish Man’s presence on the Moon and later, on Mars?

It is an international competition to set up military presence and mining to protect our sole claims to extract minerals from underneath their surfaces.

I don’t see why people in general are so enamored with that multi billion dollar project when so many people here on Earth are without food, water, and shelter. Or, what about cancer research for a cure? Or, what about Environmental Catastrophe? Don’t look up? Just don’t look.

Well, I digress once more… So, now back to the Bible…

God placed a tree in the Garden of Eden and told Adam and Eve never to touch it, never go near it. Why did He put this forbidden fruit there in the first place? Several reasons, I suppose, but most of His reasons remain a mystery to me, and I refuse to speculate… Except, possibly, there is this one that is found throughout the Bible: God is love. He chooses to love; God made Mankind in His image so they too could choose to love — both Him, as their Father, and one another, as their brothers and sisters.

All I know is that He created a process of revelation, revealing Himself, His ways, and our redemption, and above all His love.

So, why give the Choice?

Love is not love without the free will to choose to love.

“Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” (1 John 4:7–12, NIV)