In the Beginning: Science Faces God in the Book of Genesis
Language: English
Pages: 226
ISBN: B00KQZY532
Format: PDF / Kindle (mobi) / ePub
Beginning… object” and which is, in turn, a translation of the Hebrew rakia, meaning a thin metal plate. From the scientific view, however, there is no firmament; no sky to be viewed as a material dome. What seems to be such to our eyes is merely space stretching out indefinitely. There is, to be sure, an “end” to space. As our telescopes and other instruments penetrate farther and farther out into space, we can detect objects as far as twelve billion light-years away. Since the light from such
about one hundred eighty million years ago did the first mammals appear; they were small and 72 In the Beginning… primitive varieties resembling the opossum more than any other present-day mammals. Mammals didn’t really come into their own till the giant reptiles became extinct seventy million years ago, and they didn’t become the recognizable mammals of today till about thirty-five million years ago. 25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and
translated “the Lord God.” The Hebrew language in its written form consists of Isaac Asimov 99 consonants only. The vowels are not included, but to people who know the language, that does not matter. As Hebrew became less familiar to the Jews, however, and as the common language of everyday use became Aramaic in Persian times, it became customary to make the vowel sounds in Hebrew by diacritical marks under the letters so that those unfamiliar with Hebrew could pronounce the words correctly.
of the food upward to where the gods were thought to live, and in grateful exchange the gods would grant a good harvest or victory over one’s enemies. In later times, of course, the reasons for sacrifice were made more lofty, but the practice was eventually abandoned just the same. 4 And Abel he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof.143 And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. 143. Presumably Abel killed the firstborn lambs (“first lings”) for the
Kenite war song. 24 If Cain shall be avenged seven fold, truly Lamech seventy and sevenfold.165 165. Lamech seems jubilant over his victory, indicating that he considers his killing to be superior to that of Cain. Perhaps (the Bible doesn’t say, of course) he was thinking that Cain slew an unprepared and unarmed man, while he himself may have killed an armed man in a duel. Certainly, this would seem to be an indication that in the course of the eight generations from Adam, human conflict had