Introduction
I would recommend always reading Part 1 first.
In 1543, Nicolaus Copernicus proposed the heliocentric model, placing the Sun at the center of the solar system. Initially met with less resistance, his ideas later faced scrutiny from the Roman Catholic Church as they challenged established doctrine. Galileo Galilei further supported heliocentrism with evidence, leading to the Church condemning it as “formally heretical” and placing him under house arrest. Others were even burned at the stake for ideologies such as this and other reasons.
Passages like Psalm 104:5, Ecclesiastes 1:5, Joshua 10:12–13, 1 Chronicles 16:30, and Psalm 93:1 seem to clearly state that the earth is immovable. Yet, understanding these verses in light of scientific discovery requires a shift in how we interpret them.
Indeed, our understanding of God and faith has grown to become more refined over time. Love was the focus, but it t takes a very long time to happen naturally within wider society. In the past, hearing that God commanded the destruction of entire nations was possible, perhaps as reflection of humanity’s barbaric state at that time.one might if the other didn’t first. Jesus, however, introduced a radical shift, emphasizing forgiveness and overturning ‘an eye for an eye.’
This wasn’t necessarily a change in God, but rather God guiding humanity from a more primitive understanding to a more refined one – a process of spiritual growth. God consistently meets humanity where they are, within their societal norms, and encourages a path toward justice.
Symbolic stories like the fall of Adam and Eve, while being rooted in some extra-dimensional truth [hence the world “symbolism”], must be understood within the frames of both scriptural genre and history itself.
Solomon’s references to the Tree of Life representing Wisdom in Proverbs 3:18 illustrates this. Certainly Solomon shows that the story has deep symbolic value, as he ties wisdom in with the story of creation from Proverbs chapters 1 through 8. However, Solomon never asserts that with the loss of wisdom from above we lost eternal life, only that with wisdom come life. As we’ll discuss here in this document, it’s likely that the rest of the origin story came after him.
The Bible associates wisdom with life or health in multiple places, suggesting what was lost in that symbolic ‘fall.’ While the Bible does state we can receive wisdom in part, we learn in 1st Corinthians 1:30 that Jesus ultimately embodies wisdom from above, providing assurance of everlasting life and hope. Even in our failings, we have access to eternal life through his unique sacrifice.
Consider the early Genesis story of wisdom, the tree of life, a choice to obey or disobey God by partaking of another symbolic tree, and the predicted consequences of that act being death. With the knowledge of sin, comes a choice, and that’s one we’ve all been faced with.
In this document we’ll discuss how Scripture speaks in diverse genres, and why a strictly literal interpretation is not always the most suitable way to read every account of biblical history. Properly understood, this approach can deepen our faith in God while leaving Sola Scriptura and the authority of God’s Word intact.
Moses Didn't Write Genesis 1-11?
Have you ever noticed that, outside Genesis 1–11, the prophets don’t preach a literal seven-day creation, a global flood, or the specific fall from Eden narrative other than an allegory to Satan’s personal fall in Ezekiel 28:13? I hadn’t heard it framed so bluntly either—until I started tracing the texts myself after extensively studying how Genesis 1-11 were likely compiled later than the time of Solomon.
This isn’t to say these chapters hold no value. Jesus does reference “the days of Noah” in a warning that judgment can arrive unexpectedly amid ordinary life (Matt 24:37–39; Luke 17:26–27). The ancient Near Eastern world (ANE) preserved a similar flood memory too: in the Epic of Gilgamesh (Tablet XI) the survivor is Utnapishtim. The overlap is real—divine warning, a vessel, preservation of life, landfall, birds beeing released from a window or door in the floating vessel. These traditional stories are based on real cultural memories.
Jesus also sweeps Abel into the martyr-prophet storyline: “the blood of righteous Abel … to Zechariah” (Matt 23:35; cf. Luke 11:50–51). That makes Abel the first in a long pattern of rejected witnesses. (For the record, Jesus names plenty of later figures—Abraham, Moses, David, Solomon, Jonah—but He never explicitly names Adam or Eve.)
“From the beginning” and the plural “them.” When Jesus grounds marriage, He quotes creation: “from the beginning God made them male and female” (Matt 19:4; Mark 10:6), echoing Gen 1:27. The plural “them” fits the Hebrew ’adam, which is also the word for humanity as a whole in the ancient Hebrew language—helpful when we’re reading genre and symbolism alongside history.
The first 11 Chapters of Genesis were likely written long after the original five books of the prophet Moses (the Pentateuch) had been established, or even after the time of Solomon for that matter [8].
Certain vocabulary in Genesis 1-3 is used elsewhere only in books written during the monarchy or later. You won’t be able to use a Strong’s Hebrew Concordance for these either, because Strong groups a series of similar meaning Hebrew words (IE: ba-ḥă-mū-ḏōw and neḥmād) under one number. It’s not granular enough to show the etymology (the change) of words over the spans of hundreds or thousands of years. Bible Hubs Hebrew section can be useful for this if you need further proof.
Here are only a portion of the examples:
- ʾēd (a mist, Genesis 2:6)
- neḥmād (pleasant, Genesis 2:9; 3:6) — Genesis 49:15 uses an entirely different word, while other early uses start with “ta’ or even use an entirely different word. Solomons books though, start using nehmad.
- tāpar (sew, Genesis 3:7), ʾ
- ēbāh (enmity, Genesis 3:15),
- šûp (bruise/wound, Genesis 3:15)
- ʿeṣeb (labor, Genesis 3:16&17, 5:29) [not used elsewhere],
- tĕšûqāh (longing, Genesis 3:16).
The word Shinar (Genesis 10:10; 11:2), was used by nations outside Mesopotamia “to designate the Kassite kingdom of Babylon (ca. 1595-1160 B.C.E)”; [3] consequently its use here indicates Genesis 11 was written no earlier than the date of that kingdom.
In regards to places: Genesis 11:28, 11:31 (the family of Terah and Abram is from “Ur of the Chaldees”). The Chaldea became a people in the time when Solomon was building the temple, and were actually immigrants from lands closer to Canaan [1].
Nineveh – Genesis 10:11–12 (Nimrod “built Nineveh”). Historically, Nineveh only became a major Assyrian city in the 8th–7th centuries BCE, centuries after the supposed “time of Nimrod”, leaving the location too insignificant to have been referenced by the prophet Moses. While Niniveh was built into a proto-city around 4500-4000 BCE with an area of about 0.4 square kilometers in size, archaeological survey evidence shows that Nineveh existed before this period as a small farming village between 6100 and 5100 BCE [2].
Either Nimrod built a farm, or he didn’t build anything at all. then, because we can’t explain the layers below the time he should have been living. Conclusion, he didn’t build it.
If we get into writing styles, Genesis chapter 1 (Priestly Source [7]) and 2 (Yahwist Source [6]) appear to have been written by different authors, neither of which write like the rest of Genesis. Many scholars believe that the origin story in Genesis, while based on the account in the 10 commandments (Exodus 20:11), was written post return from Babylon. The logic being that similarities throughout plus sentence structures in Noah’s flood account almost exactly copy word for word sentences in the epic of Gilgamesh [4].
**Understanding this may be necessary when considering Moses is to remain a prophet who spoke directly with God. What was written on the tablets of stone is creation happened in seven periods of time, but there was no explanation outside of that.
I have read several debates with study sources on the matter- and the ultimate conclusion is that out of Israels many neighbors, it was Babylons who had a fully developed origin story, which may have sparked some desire for Israel to have their own upon returning from captivity.
Upon returning to Israel with many generations being born in Babylon, all of the constituents had been exposed to the Ziggurat [tower] of Babel (Etemenanki) and Babylonian tales such as the flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh. The origin story then makes sense as an answer to what they had learned abroad, bringing all of their working knowledge back into Gods hands in their eyes, by tying in the 7 day statement from the 10 commandments, as well as their known genealogy.
In part 1 of this series, I mentioned how the Noahs ark story has an odd match with a pregnancy sequence, –from Noah entering the ark to the dove coming back with an olive branch in it’s mouth [the earth bearing its fruit]– being that it matches the time for a due pregnancy from start to finish. This odd symbolism really does make more sense when we realize the origin story was not written by Moses, but was an attempt of multiple authors trying to explain the connection between natural and the supernatural in a way that they all understood as “truth for today”.
**this does not diminish Jesus' reference to the names of Noah or Abel, for "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction" (2 Tim. 3:16-17). Maybe just literal all-inclusive historical value is not an exact criteria for the primeval history narrative in Genesis.
The parallels between the Epic of Gilgamesh and Genesis are profound. Either one (the oldest being the Epic of Gilgamesh) was inspiration for the other, or parallel memories were passed down through the generations, along genealogical records as far back as the Hebrews could keep verbal records alive.
We can account the flood narrative to be based on a real cultural memory, a natural disaster so big that it it destroyed the known world for a lot of people. Maybe even something as big as the Black Sea deluge hypothesis.
The flood nerative uses strong language, saying that everything under the heavens had water rush over top of it. The hebrew word used actually meant to prevail over in a momvement sese, not a static one.
It also says that everything that had breath died. However, these statements can be considered to be a hyperbole, used for effect rather than an actual historical account. This was very common in the writings of the time, not just in Hebrew culture, but in those nations that surrounded them as well.
The bible is rich with hyperboles: In places like Matthew 5:30 and Mark 9:45 Jesus said things like cut your foot off it makes you stumble, and yet, we all know how to read it within context. He also says in Matthew 13:32 that the mustard seed is the smallest, when it obviously isn’t. The language is used for effect.
Other hyperboles include Genesis 41:57 with the entire earth seeking food from Joseph in Egypt during the great famine, using exact words from the flood story when referencing all flesh on the earth dying. None of us are going to believe that the fist nations in south america also sought out Joseph, or potentially those as far away as Siberia.
Also consider that all the earth was seeking out the wisdom of Solomon in 1 Kings 10:2. We can have no doubt that this hyperbole was meant for effect. Again those in the Americas would not have been included.
The Nephilim Dilemma
Taking only a strictly literal historical approach to interpreting the biblical account still presents it’s own problems. This requires understanding who the Nephilim were in the context of Noah and the Flood. This particular aspect is often overlooked or misunderstood, leading to numerous speculative and sometimes bizarre theories about human women having sexual relations with and offspring from spiritual beings.
The Bible describes “sons of God” having sexual relations with the “daughters of man,” resulting in offspring known as Nephilim. Some refer to the non-canonical Book of Enoch to support the idea that these “sons of God” were fallen angels engaging in relations with human women, producing giants as their offspring. However, there are strong reasons to reject the Book of Enoch as divinely inspired, keeping it instead as a novel and non-canonical text from antiquity, consistent with the stance of most Christian traditions.
In the Bible, the phrase “sons of God” can refer both to humans and angels. When applied to humans, the term typically describes those who are faithful to God. Consequently, many scholars conclude that Noah and his sons were among these “sons of God.” This is a more reasonable interpretation, though sometimes I wonder if this was additionally an artifact reference to humanity breeding with Neanderthals, a branch of mankind that has since ceased to exist.
The Nephilim are unique in that they appear both before and after the flood, as indicated in Genesis 6:1-4 and Numbers 13:32–33, where ten of the Twelve Spies describe the Anakites (a Rephaite tribe) as descendants of the Nephilim:
And there we saw the Nephilim, the sons of Anak, who come of the Nephilim; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight.
Numbers 13:33
The Anakim, Rephaim, and other giant clans in Canaan (Deuteronomy 2–3, Joshua 11) may represent a later group associated with Nephilim-like traits.
Some Christians resolve this post flood Nephilim delima by proposing that angels procreate with women before the flood, and then again afterwards with Noah’s descendants.
On the other hand, an apparent contradiction lies in identifying Noah’s family as Nephilim -if the “sons of God” were their faithful Adamic ancestors. This is because while the Nephilim are later depicted as Israel’s unfaithful enemies, they are always in context of having the genes of giants. Considering the shorter stature of native ancient Hebrews, a literal interpretation suggests they did not inherit a that once faithful “Nephilim gene” from Noah.
Furthermore, if only Noah’s family survived the flood, how did the Nephilim reappear, and why did it verbally link the same group to those after the flood starting in Genesis?
“The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown.”
Genesis 6:4, NASB
To resolve this, many Protestant denominations, including Lutheran, Methodist, Presbyterian, Anglican/Episcopalian, and Seventh-day Adventists, interpret Nephilim as simply “giants.” While this literal “giants” definition is most agreeable, the survival of the Nephilim lineage through the flood should remain debatable.
When considering a story based on oral history with artifacts based on historical events, the mention of a taller lineage (the Nephilim) could support the idea of the Flood account describing a major regional catastrophe caused by raising oceans, such as the Black Sea Flood Hypothesis. Such an event, while devastating to those within its scope, would have constituted their entire world, leaving other regions unaffected.
In an uneducated ancient world, I imagine that legends of Giants was a way to keep people away from certain places. And as such, living giants were a strong and healthy tall tale.
Proof for a Regional Disaster
Flowering Plants
Have you ever considered the lack of flowering plan (angiosperm) pollen or flower bearing fruit bearing fossils up through the Jurassic layers? This has long been a known diabolical for young earth creationist (YEC) believers.
Starting in the Cretaceous period we start seeing flower pollen extensively, and the dinosaurs begin having what appears to be flower pollen in their stomachs. But the dinosaurs that existed before that period did not have angiosperm pollen in their stomachs, nor is angiosperm pollen found.
YECs will pitch this like it’s twised truth, and that angiosperm pollen has already been found. I can think of one article from by Brian Thomas, M.S., & Tim Clarey, Ph.D. “Pollen Fossils Warp Evolutionary Time” where they had me convinced that angiosperm pollen has been found in the middle Jurassic, but what I found was that they were twisting the journal article to appear to be in their favor.
This journal article that Thomas and Clarey reference highlight multiple morphological features of the pollen grains that align with what is known from (early) angiosperm pollen. These include:
Monosulcate condition: The pollen grains have a single sulcus (a slit or furrow aperture). Many early angiosperm pollen grains are monosulcate.
Columellate structure: The exine (outer wall) shows columellae (rod-like supports) connecting the outer layer (tectum) to a thin inner layer (nexine). That is, the “sexine” (outer wall part) is built via columns, a feature often present in angiosperm pollen.
Semitectate / reticulate sculpture: The outer wall is discontinuous or perforated (i.e. “semitectate”) and shows reticulate (net-like) patterning. That kind of sculpturing with a network of muri (ridges) and lumina (spaces) is typical of many angiosperm pollen.
Thin inner wall (nexine): The inner wall layer is extremely thin, which is more characteristic of angiosperm pollen (versus thicker walls in many gymnosperm or spore analogs).
Combination of the “full suite” of angiosperm pollen synapomorphies: The authors argue that the combination of being small, monosulcate, columellate, and having a reticulate exine meets what they consider the “full inventory” of angiosperm pollen synapomorphies (i.e. derived characters).
Phylogenetic / evolutionary plausibility: Because molecular clock estimates (depending on method) sometimes push the origin of angiosperms further back in time, there’s at least theoretical room for angiosperm-like forms in the Triassic. The authors cite that some molecular estimates place the origin in the Late Permian, Triassic, or Early Jurassic.
Stem-group possibility / convergence: The authors also hedge by not claiming they are necessarily crown-group angiosperms, but rather perhaps stem relatives. That more cautious stance helps them justify the possibility while acknowledging uncertainties.
With deep time, what we would expect to see in the Jurassic would be morphiological changes in pollen as several species got closer and closer to full array of changes necessary to become a flowering plant. Meanwhile, from a YEC perspective, we would expect that we need to find pollen at the Triassic level before the Jurassic if the earth was around 6000 years old, or even at the bottom of oceans near aquatic life in the Permian, as we find in the oceans today. Both of these stack in favor of deep time scenarios.
The earliest discovery of flowing plants comes from a late Jurassic layer find in China which is thought to be the birth place of flowering type plants. Then boom, in the Cretaceous period there is a ton of flowing plants and abundant pollen.
Snow Records
As the Dr Hugh Ross [a Christian himself] brought up in a debate with Dr Terry Mortenson, there is sufficient observable evidence for no global flood in Antarctica.
He says that we can compare records of some of the biggest volcano explosions across the ancient world and align them perfectly with ash layers in Antarctica. We can see the layers of years in between them and compare them with records in China and across the ancient world to establish the dates, and the layers all match up going back around three thousand (3000) years or more. We know what those layers are in Antarctica.
The primary issue is those layers are then sitting on top of more than eight hundred thousand years worth of snow layers below them. Young earth creationism can not explain this, and we know that a global cataclysm couldn’t have produce sufficient snowfall to release anything close to that mass of moisture from the air.
Simply put, there is evidence we can see with the naked eye that does not require equipment to gauge that the earth has been around for a very very long time.
God still has his hand in creation, and Jesus is still our redeemer. That's something that will not be taken from us.
Corals
As discussed in Part 1 of this series, sea levels have been rising, and falling ever since the foundation of the world. Places like the Enewetak Atoll hold direct proof of this, as does the island of Hawaii. Drowned shallow water coral reef studies have shown that throughout hundreds of thousands of years, the oceans have repeatedly grown and then entirely drowned shallow water coral species, and then receded later to develop a new layer, even at a new exposed rock level, or atop older reef layers. In some cases, completely exposed older layers can be found higher on the slopes of Hawaii since that is the last time the seas were consistently at those levels.
At Enewetak, the coral growths are nearly 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) thick of solid coral. As such, if the end of the last ice age caused sea levels to rise so quickly as to cover and drown the corals with 120 or more meters of water, then Enewetak would be buried deep under water. This is evidence that it had already grown corals at higher elevations during ice age cycles that came before it.
Irrespective of the time it would take to grow Enewetak to a thickness of more than 1.4km, the fact that the atolls are still above water now is evidence that they pre existed the last repaid raise in ocean levels. Just like Hawaii, these sea mounts are still slowly subducting, not being pushed up.
At some point around 13,000 years ago, the atolls would have looked like lofty white hills floating on the pacific ocean, and then during the maximum of warm global trends, they can still be buried below sea level a distance that would drown the existing growths. This is because the current ice caps contain enough water to raise sea levels by another 70 meters.
Sea levels have been rising for a long time, and dramatically starting some 11,000 years ago. So why wouldn’t there be a flood story if vast land masses had been covered? Why wouldn’t there be accounts of grand tempest and water level changes?
Taken at face value, the biblical account says the waters rose over a 150 day period, and that it was coupled with persistent rain. Taken at face value this is consistent with weather patterns being disrupted after a glacial reservoir breach, and rapidly changing temperatures. Also referencing the “fountains of the deep being broken open” may reflect that that the oceans rose more than the water raining down could account for.
A more simple explanation is that the dialogue on Noahs flood was a narrative that fit the origin stories, and the details were compiled in such a way as to show what they assumed would be the most truthful and scientifically sound explanation for its time. Otherwise it’s just a symbolic story about being birthed into this world we are in right now.
Physical Evidence Recap
So far we have touched on observable evidence for the age of life on this planet. Life trapped in a cycle of life-and-death that expands far beyond a 6000 year timeline, to something more like 500,000 years. These are not my hypothesis, we can observe it with our own eyes, and we are not relying on the fossil record in this case.
Back in Part 1 we also looked at the conspicuous distribution of species at conflict with a post flood migration from the middle east
There has been a lot to it, so let’s maybe recap those scientific items:
- The lack of angiosperm pollen in layers where it needs to be for the Noahs flood story to be taken with real historical value.
- Drowned corals show a growth pattern that can only be achieved over hundreds of thousands of years of cycling through life, death, and new growth.
- Keep in mind these are modern shallow water species corals going back ~500,000 years, not fossil corals.
- The Giant Moa bird in New Zealand certainly did not swim to New Zealand. It is native to the Island.
- The Elephant Bird of Madagascar didn’t swim there either. It is native to the island.
- Marsupials and unique creatures such as the platypus couldn’t have walked together from Noah’s arc to Australia alone. Especially the small ones like the blind and deaf marsupial mole.
- Many of the marsupials have living relatives in South America, but not Asia, Africa, Europe, or native to North America.
- There are marsupial fossils found in Antarctica, which used to be attached to both South America and Australia. This suggests this was their corridor for migration when the region was warmer.
- Native land animals east of what is known as the Wallace Line are vastly different from those to the west, which shows that those animals never co-mingled with those in Asia.
These observable evidences are as strong as any word of criticism in contrary to sound observation. God is not so cruel to try to fool us.
Anyway, it’s not the doctrine that’s wrong, it’s the interpretation and frame it has been placed in that carries error with it.
Shaken Faith
When I really applied myself to find new answers I hadn’t seen discussed on the internet or in scholarly papers regarding the flood debate, I felt very burdened by what I discovered. Especially after discovering the studies on corals.
It was not what I wanted! The other way was more comfortable. I grumbled in my heart a bit, perhaps to the point of being guilty, but then a powerful notion was presented: “Don’t cry over spilled milk”.
This is biblical
Do not say, ‘Why were the old days better than these?’ For it is not wise to ask such questions.
Ecclesiastes 7:10
I knew it was time to grow up, and I knew my faith wasn’t going to evaporate. I just need to wait on God. 1st John chapter 4 says,”there is no fear in love”, and I fear no punishment in discovering mere truth.
There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
1 John 4:18, NASB
I suppose the other option would to just be angry. I have felt it. I mean, God is not the one we expect to be shrouded in deep mystery. We could call it dishonesty if we were to not have any faith, but I believe God has a way for us to bear this burden of truth also. Many Christians have already accepted it.
It is our faulty human nature that wants to blame the mess on God. If our faith is shaken, we will be tempted to pack up and leave the faith. Here we are called to reflect, to pray about it. The Spirit will lead, and may he help us comprehend that extra unseen 4th dimension of Christs love that the apostle Paul called “depth”.
17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 will have power, together with all the saints, to comprehend the length and width and height and depth 19 of the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19
Reconciling Our Faith
I come from a background where this document will be proof to many that I no longer serve the God of the bible. To the contrary, the God of the Bible is deeper than the surface understanding.
And here will be out proof. God has shown since the beginning that he’ll meet people where they are at. as such he’ll meet the fundamental Christian where they are. He’ll meet anyone where they are and he’ll bring them into His love.
On the other hand, there are some who will say we’ve been rejected by God because we don’t have their message. To the contrary, they say this because they have fear.
I see this as akin to the parable of the talents given to the servants. One hurried what he had received so that he wouldn’t loose it, and gave it back upon his master’s return. Another servant made a portion more.
These are two types. The one who buries his talents had fear, and as such he would not budge. This one was foolish. The other made what they could with the talents, which can be any one of us who gathers more where there wasn’t anything previously.
To tell me or any other person questioning subjects like this that they have rejected the faith will not be profitable. If you can’t help them, show them love. Don’t be the one to throw stones. It will never prosper you to do that.
I honestly believe that like the one who believes that if the Bible says it, then it must be literal truth, is no more a fool than I am myself. We still both believe in Christ and love alike.
For the one who believes that the dialogue herein is of a lost person, and evidence of increasing wickedness within Christianity, render it to Christ. I will not judge you for your beliefs, and I will ask for forgiveness for your sins not leading to death –that is, if you harm my well-being because you think you are doing the right thing, then you will be forgiven.
I would expect that there be no other way for anyone else who reads this. We will be tried by those who think this is a falling away from the truth, but it is only fear within those who are currently incapable of accepting Jesus can still exist within the scope of this new knowledge.
Conclusion
Dispite best efforts by those who fear ceasing to believe in a literal interpretation of the biblical origin story, the biblical evidence is strongly in our favor as well, and actually in harmony with the scientific record.
Can you believe it? even the prophets of God have not defied the scientific record if we understand that the priests and scribes wrote the early part of Genesis.
Some things must remain untouched. The life of Christ is our pattern to live by.
4. The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him; 5. but whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him: 6. the one who says he abides in [Jesus] ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.
1 John 2:4-6, NASB
The sum of the bible is: God is love, we have been called to repentance from sin, and that God would send his Son to redeem us from a broken and sinful nature. In the meantime he’s been telling us what would come to pass through prophecy, some details about how earth’s history would end, and then harmoniously began anew someday.
This happened though scribes and authors who have been giving their testimonies about God from their historical and experiential perspectives since just about as far back as massive civilizations have existed. As such it is a credible book that calls all of mankind to love and repentance.
The New Testament says that God has stopped winking at our ignorance in regard to sin, since we have Jesus as our revealed Savior, our standard of righteousness, our appointed Judge — and the One who stands in our place as our substitute and intercessor
“And the times of this ignorance God winked at; but now commandeth all men everywhere to repent:”
Acts 17:30 (KJV)
While we have been enabled to help shape the way in which we believe, the final decision between what will be right and wrong will be left up to God. Despite these advancements, God is still winking at our additional ignorances. This is why Jesus said we would be in danger of hell fire for telling others they are a fool.
“But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment:
and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council:
but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire.”
Matthew 5:22 (KJV)
How could we condemn others if we also are so foolish?
God’s greatest commands are to love God and neighbor; following these principles offers well being – and herein is wisdom. If Christ is our firm foundation, then we’ll be safe.
If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9
