The Brown Bible
Why are the Beginning Descriptions of Creation and The Flood So Important in the Bible?
The Scientific Community Controls the Thinking of Many People, Even Ministers.
There are many people, Pastors included, who choose to begin their study of the Scriptures with perhaps the 12th chapter of Genesis. Rather than taking the Bible as it reads in the first 11 chapters of Genesis, they follow the understanding of things as presented by the scientific community and the popular media.
In todays world, a world-wide flood would be impossible to occur. The mountains are too high and the oceans are just too deep. There is not enough water to cover everything at once and the scientific community does not see any reason to postulate any great and sudden changes to the Earth that would produce an event on the level of a global flood nor would they postulate the kind of changes to the Earth that would be necessary to allow all the world, the whole globe, to be covered by water.
After all, mainstream science defines its own existence as one which studies natural processes that have not been affected by any god of any kind. There is no thought of a God who could bring about rapid change on the Earth. It is because of the definition of science itself, that science says God has had no part to play in the forming and molding of our world in the past or present. If one speaks of God interacting with our world, a scientist is likely to say: well that is not science!
Many people, even ministers, believe that the various scientific arguments are grave problems for belief in the Bible because they believe that these scientific arguments are essentially full-proof against the idea that there ever was, for instance, a world-wide flood as described in Genesis.
However, many scientific arguments are actually based on various assumptions, not just scientific facts. The truth is, that none of their positions, especially concerning historical events, are free from assumptions. These assumptions actually help to determine the outcome of their position. It is almost as if they have set up the problem so that it would go contrary to the Bible on purpose, because by definition, only natural processes are considered in scientific studies.
God is left out of all scientific arguments by definition. So how can science determine that creation week and the flood has never occurred when they have already defined science as a study that assumes there never was a time when God acted on our world? Thus, science has solved the problem about God by definition. They have defined God away from reality.
Did the Flood Story Originate from Local Floods in Mesopotamia or Should it be Taken at Face Value?
I have just read a news article that was in virtually all the news sources. It concerned an expedition to search for Noah's Ark. After writing a straight forward article about the expedition, they "muddied the waters" by quoting a geologist who says that in spite of the evidence of local flooding in Mesopotamia at the time of the early Sumerian kingdom, it is impossible that a ship could have run aground at an altitude as high as a mountain like Mount Ararat! (Original Article from cnn.com Posted: Monday, April 26, 2004 4:40 PM EDT (2040 GMT))
The idea that the flood story could have arisen from local floods in Mesopotamia is highly popular and it fits within the definitions that define science by leaving God out of the explanation, yet the Bible is very clear that all land was destroyed with a flood that covered the highest mountain and that it took Noah 120 years to build his boat.
If it was only a local flood and he had 120 years, why didn't Noah just move to higher ground? It would have been easier! Also, why did Noah have to build an ark to preserve all the land animals for all future times if the flood was only a local flood? Only when all land animals are threatened with being destroyed off the face of the earth, does the story make sense. According to the Genesis story, God actually brought all the animals to Noah! Noah did not have to hunt and catch them so he could put them into the ark.
"They came to Noah and went into the ark, two by two of all creatures that have the breath of life in them. Genesis 7:15"
It clearly is a central point of the Biblical story that this flood covered the whole world, the entire globe! We also see that it was God who brought the animals to the Ark.
So, of course, the idea that Noah's Ark could be located near the top of Mount Ararat, does not match with the idea that the Biblical story could have been inspired by the local floods of Mesopotamia. The idea that the flood story of the Bible was a global event has been ignored by the scientific community. Yet within the the details of the Bible story itself, the flood is described as a global event. It is not just a local event.
Does our Understanding of Genesis Affect How we View the Promises of God?
Now, what would happen if we were to believe that the Genesis story was really made up from various local flooding traditions? What would happen if we do not believe God when He provides us information on how our earth was created? What value would the rest of the Bible be to us? Is there a connection? Is the story of Genesis (the beginnings) concerning Creation and the Flood, supported in the whole of Scriptures? We must remember that even Jesus mentioned Noah and the ark as being a fact. Do we believe that Jesus is well informed when He talks about Noah?
Let's look at this point more closely, to see if we can separate one part of Scripture from all the other parts of Scriptures.
If we rely on evolutionary scientific descriptions, that say life on our world has been continuing for hundreds of millions of years; Would we trust the Bible or the God behind the Bible when it says that creation week is only 6000 years ago? How could we trust a book that says God created the Earth in 6 days and rested the 7th day, only 6000 years ago; when we don't believe it?
Is this God a God we can trust? Or is what God says to us, something that we can trust? Maybe there is no God after all.
If The Bible proved to be untrustworthy, what could we say about all the promises we find in the Bible? Are they just wistful thinking?
What about the most important promise of all, that Jesus is coming back to save us from a self-destructing world of sin and a sure death (we will all eventually die)?
Many people believe that when we die, that is it! We just become fertilizer and nothing more! Is that all we have to look forward to?
What about the purpose of the Bible, that assures us that the time is soon to come when Jesus will take His people back with Him to heaven? Have we lost our faith in the promises of the Bible because of the Genesis account?
I have learned to long for His soon appearing, when God will set all things right. There are so many verses in the Bible that speak of Jesus coming in the clouds to receive His Own People. All who keep the commandments of God, who's name is written in the book of life, Jesus will gather His people who love Him and his appearing!
Am I going to trust God and His book when I think about my own future and whether I want to follow God or not?
Many of the scientific arguments are actually based on various assumptions, not just scientific facts. Yet many are taking the position that these scientific arguments are grave problems for belief in the Bible. The truth is, that none of their positions are free from assumptions. These assumptions actually help to determine the outcome of their position. It is almost as if they have set up the problem so that it would go contrary to the Bible on purpose.
Satan does not want people to think of the Bible as a reliable source of information? In fact, Satan stands to loose his right to planet Earth, if he does not have complete control of the people, so Satan has much at stake in his legal battle against God. So I believe that Satan has helped scientists set up the philosophy of science in such a way as to exclude the truth of the Bible. It is literally a set-up!
So, if we are to fully trust God, we need to realize that what He has given us is truthful and accurate. We should not be entertaining the idea that this or that is incorrect, just for the sake of argument! The arguments are not really based on solid scientific arguments, but rather it is the assumptions that scientists take that help them to arrive at the evolutionary conclusions that they do come up with, in their scientific work.
My Own Experience With God.
The most important thing that has helped convince me of the reality of God and the truth contained in the Bible is from God Himself! He has been interacting in my life for some time now. I am going to describe three of the most striking things that I have seen happen.
A few years ago, I really needed money, in fact, I was facing Bankruptcy! I didn't even have money to go bankrupt! I was extremely worried about what was going to happen and how I was going to get out of the mess I was in. So I knelt on my knees and poured out my heart to God who is the answer to all our problems. I was unsure if a Christian should even consider bankruptcy, but then I always remembered in Old Testament times that at every Jubilee all debts were canceled. So I asked if God would allow me to go bankrupt that He would supply the funds. So when I finished praying, I got up and went out to see if the mail had arrived and right in the mail box was the money I needed!
Going back a few more years, there was the time when I was a missionary in Puerto Rico. I was a new teacher and I was an extremely shy person. It was all I could do to get up in front of the class and talk to 10 or so students. At the time it was a nerve racking experience.
Back in those times I was already spending a lot of time with God. Especially on Friday night, with nothing else to do, I would be reading in the Bible, making notes on the computer. Actually there was a Sunday that I got up and I started in with a study. Before I knew what had happened, it was about 5 O'clock in the afternoon. I hadn't even eaten breakfast nor had I done anything else. I totally lost all track of time.
One Friday, as I was studying, a strong impression came over me that God wanted me to preach a sermon in church! This was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard of before, especially since I had enough problems just speaking to 10 students let alone 500 or 600 people. So I pushed the idea out of my mind and continued doing what I was doing.
However this idea that I need to preach kept coming back into my mind. In fact, it was forcefully kept on my mind to the point that I could not think of anything else! It actually ruined the whole evening, because included with the idea was that God wanted me to accept the idea and I had a hard time saying yes. But I remember reading a lot of stories of people rejecting God's call and what they lost was His continual presence.
I especially did not want to loose God's presence, because it is God who has changed my life and has made me happy. So I told Him that I would do it if He would have some one ask me to preach. I didn't want to invite myself. When I made that decision, a very strong feeling of peace and happiness came over me and I realized that I had decided to follow God where He was leading me and He had accepted my answer.
The very next day, I was cooking the noon meal and a car pulled up at the front of the house. It was the head elder of the church, and out of the blue, he came there to ask if I wanted to preach a sermon in church!
After I accepted the invitation, I of course started to work on the sermon. What should I preach on? I didn't know. So I knelt down and asked God what I should preach. As soon as I finished the prayer with "Amen", an idea came to mind. During the course of preparing for that sermon, every time I stopped to pray asking for direction, just as soon as I finished praying, the idea that I needed would pop in my head. God literally gave me the sermon I was to preach!
Another request that I made of God was that he would allow me to be comfortable when I preached. I originally imagined that I would be so nervous that It would be hard for me to say anything. God really answered that prayer! When I came before the people about taking sin out of our lives, I was able to forget the people and actually say what was on my heart.
My third experience was more recent. It involved my Macintosh PowerBook Computer that I used to do all of my work on. I have been conducting my Pseudogene research with this computer and also I used it to write my web pages on it.
I have a CD burner so that I can make back-ups on CD-R disc. As time went on, it began to get harder and harder to get the SCSI interface to connect. After awhile it would often take 10 times to try to connect before it might work, and this was after I would work the plugs and do every thing that I knew to do. Finally, it would not work at all and I did not have the money to buy a new unit or to pay to get this working.
So I stopped to pray and I asked God to help the computer to work so that I could make a back-up of what I was doing. Then I turned the computer on, and it worked without any trouble at all! Ever since then, for the last four years, when ever I prayed for help to get the CD burner to work, it would work immediately.
Sometimes I would try to do it without prayer and it would just not work. Even with repeated attempts it would not work. However when I would pray, the very next time it would work again. Finally I started praying before I even started the first time, and it would always work the first time.
Now, just a week ago, something else happened. I have a program in C++ to help me in my creation research on pseudogenes. This computer program has taken me about 3 years to write. I had about ten different versions in the hard drive, each one is better than the one before with bugs taken out and new features added in. I hadn't made a back-up for a while, but suddenly the thought came to mind that I needed to make a back-up. I was in the middle of doing something and I really didn't have the time, but the impression was so strong that I knew that I needed to make the back-up right now! So I stopped what I was doing and turned off the computer. After I connected the CD burner to the computer and prayed for God's help once more. I then started both the computer and the drive. Of course, it worked like a charm and all my versions were recorded on the CD. After the CD was made, the program asked whether I wanted to verify and I indicated yes. Well half way through the verification of that disc, the computer hard drive crashed and it has never worked since! I have tried to get the computer to work several times since then and it has never worked.
I know that God impressed me to stop what I was doing and make a back-up of my work. In the mean time, God has also given me a new computer to use. So, as you can see, in all sorts of ways I have experienced the presence of God and I know that He is the Creator of All Things!
In my experiences with God, I have come to trust Him fully. God is trustworthy in everything that He does. So I know from my relationship with God, that He actually did create the world in six days and rested on the 7th day. I know that He also had to destroy the whole world in a global flood. In addition, I look forward to the time when I can live in the presence of God in heaven!
Because I have personally experienced God and the war that is ensuing between God and Satan, this legal battle against God; I have come to realize that the Bible is the most reliable source of information that we have. You can read about my earlier experiences by clicking on the link "Why did I ever become a Creationist; and also the last chapter of my book: The Joy of winning with Christ.
Since those early days, I have continued to receive blessings from God! You can read about my more recent experiences by clicking on the link Modern Day Miracles, What God has done for me?.
It is my goal to read my Bible at least an hour a day and also to talk to God, virtually all day. I don't mean that I am on my knees all day long. But that when there is a pause in my activities, I want my thoughts to come back to God. I can then talk to God with a comment or two. Maybe I need help in finding something. Maybe, I did something that I now regret. I can always talk to God in these times because He is my constant companion who is willing and able to lead me to a better life!
Actually, there are days when I do not spend time with God, and it shows. I often become angry over nothing and I become unhappy. What is happening is that I become the prey of the enemy. Without God's shield, Satan and his evil angels will have an easier time to cause me to sin and to make my life miserable. When I realize what is happening, I stop what I am doing and reconnect with God, the Creator of all things! It's as if the whole atmosphere of the room changes. It really does!
A Most Unusual Kind of Introduction
I admit that this is an unusual kind of introduction to a translation of a Bible. However, this translation covers the first 11 chapters of the Bible which are thought to be totally unreliable for the majority in today's world. Yet I have felt a special presence and help when I work on my creation research projects. I know that God is supporting this work and that He has allowed things to happen to help my research go forward. Often, when I am working on some problem, I have stopped to ask for divine help to lead me in the right path of inquiry. He has always provided me with the help and ideas that I need to get over the next hurtle. It seems that God wants me to continue in this work, so I believe the answers will come!
If the first chapters of Genesis didn't matter, I would not expect God's help to the extent that He gives me. He even makes sure that my data and programing is not lost due to a crashed drive. He does not want my work to be lost! I believe that the story of Genesis and the flood is extremely important because in my walk with God, I have come to depend and trust the Bible as the only sure testimony in our lives. I sense that God would have us believe the things written there because that is the way things happened!
So I want you, the reader, to realize that there is an alternative view of the Scriptures, that God really did create our world in 6 days and rested on the 7th! God really did make the Sabbath, a memorial of Creation! You can start testing this alternative view by asking the Creator Himself while you read the Bible! Why don't you see for yourself if there really is an all powerful God who shapes both world history and our own situation if we allow Him into our lives!
I do not serve a weak god of my imagination! I serve the God of all creation, who has made all things! He makes things happen! He is the one who creates things by His voice alone! What He chooses to do is not always what I want to happen, but we must remember that He knows the beginning from the end. He knows much better what is the best way for us. His "no" answers are not always easy to accept. It is easy for us to see that a son who asks his father for candy instead of regular food for breakfast, will be better off if his request is not granted; But it is often much harder for us to realize that God has accept a much better plan for our life than what we ask for.
There are other reasons why our prayers are often left unanswered.
(1) God looks after those who follow Him.
- The LORD is far from the wicked: but he heareth the prayer of the righteous. Proverbs 15:29 KJV
- For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 1 Peter 3:12 KJV
(2) We need a faith can can move mountains. Jesus has promised that if we have that faith, we can move mountains. (find that promise) Yet, we often see Jesus's disciples not do very well because they had no faith. How can we obtain that faith?
- So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Romans 10:17 KJV
(3) If we give our full heart to God so that our life, our actions, our thoughts etc reflect that fact that we have filled our minds with His truths, He will lead us in showing us what we should be doing.
- Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
- In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 KJV.
- For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. 2 Chronicles 16:9 KJV.
(4) This last reason why our prayers may not be answered the way we might want is one of the major themes of the Bible if we choose to recognize it. God is not in full control of our world because from the start, Adam and Eve chose to reject God.
Satan has been able to allow evil to surround our world with death and misery, none of which is what God would want for us. However because God allows freedom of choice, This unfortunate situation has continued for about 6000 years.
Because of accusations that Satan made before leaders of other worlds, God has allowed Job to be the prime example to illustrate that Satan does not control the whole world.
There will be times when we will find ourselves in testing times like that of Job's experience. However, God's grace will always keep us going if we always chose to follow Him. To learn more about this great universe-wide conflict, click on this link.
Why and How Did I Translate the First 11 or so Chapters in the Bible?
The purpose of this translation of the first 11 or so chapters of Genesis was to help me understand the meaning of the words and text of the Bible that deal with Creation Week and the Global Wide flood that destroyed the whole world. I wanted to try to understand what Moses wrote so that I might be able to judge who is right on the many opposing viewpoints concerning the words and text of the Bible.
I believe that a clearer understanding of the messages that God has provided us in the Bible, can help us in our scientific endeavors by giving us an inside scoop into what really happened! If God is indeed our Creator and has spoken into existence the whole Universe, then I should strive to better understand what He has said to us through His prophets!
Because of the time involved in translating Hebrew, I consider this project finished. At the rate that I was working, I estimated that it might take me 30 or 40 years to complete the whole Bible! I do not know the ancient Biblical text, so I must depend on an Interlinear Bible (Jay Green Editor) and other resources such as a Hebrew concordance (Wigram) and a Hebrew-English Lexicon (BDB), and also the Theological Wordbook of the Old testament (Harris, Archer, and Waltke) which all use the Strong numbers for the Hebrew words.
I am no Hebrew Scholar so it would be dangerous to base theological points on my text, especially if other translations do not support the same thought. When I think I know what the Hebrew text says, and I have my own English version, I have then consulted other English versions to see if I am within the same understanding of other versions. When I see differences, most of the time, I have conformed to what others say the text says. It is a dangerous thing to translate when you don't know what you are doing! However there are a few times when I have "stuck my neck out". The most striking example concerns the stars of Genesis 1:16 (Many translations have the Stars created at that time, however it could be that the Moon rules over the stars).
It is my understanding that most translators feel it necessary to have a word for word translation. However, it has not escaped my attention that words from one language to another do not have perfect agreement in their meanings. There is often history and associations that make certain Hebrew words take whole phrases in English to relay the meaning. When I read various translations, I find that they are often very brief. Thus it is very true that much of the deep meaning of the text is lost. This is why many say that to get the rich meanings of the text, the original language must be consulted. In the Brown Bible, I have tried to incorporate more words to help give the reader a richer understanding of the original text. However, sometimes I find that the reading would be bogged down with all the extra words. So I have sought for a happy medium.
It is my purpose to make the sentence structure as simple as possible and the language as modern as possible. In looking over the text, I see that I have not been too consistent. Since I don't want to spend years and years just on the first 11 chapters of the Bible, I have decided to leave the text as it is. However, if one of my readers comments to me about some aspect of the text, if I think the point is valid and something that I had overlooked, then I am not above changing the text.