The Veritas Update 02.03.08

Over the last two weeks in Veritas the class took more of a scientific appraoch to explore the possibility of the longevity of life presented in Genesis 5. To premise this possibility two questions were asked:

Is it possible that people lived so long, and if so, how?

What exactly is it that causes people to die?

You see, people were not origionally created to die. The question of "why" we die has perplexed mankind for ages. Strangely, the answer to this question has always been hanging big and bright, right over our heads. While the sun is, of course, the source of light and life for our planet, the Ultraviolet and Alpha and Beta rays hiting our bodies are aging us everyday. When you are outside, in your home and driving in your car you are literally being subtly poisoned by the same source that gives you sight and sustenance.

So has the sun dramatically changed since the creation of Adam and Eve in the Garden?

This is highly doubtful, so the obvious question remains: What could God have set in place at the onset of creation that would protect us from the sun?

Water Canopy Theory

Did you know that besides concrete, water is the only thing that will dilute, or block, the suns deadly influences from your body? The major theory Veritas investigated this week was the possibility that a water canopy once covered the earth and protected mankind. However, there is no testable model as we cannot recreate a canopy over the earth to test its effects. So, in order to to come to a reasonable speculation on this theory, Veritas explored certain observations which employ the use of deductive reasoning to convey an operational conclussion.

A water canopy would bring about a total tropical environment were it cover the whole face of the earth. Additionally, a water canopy would provide greater atmospheric preassure, higher oxygen levels, blocked UV Rays and longer life. Plants, animals and people would be more robust. The earth would operate much like a greenhouse and there would be virtually no need for rain. But how can we possibly assume any of this happened?

Oxygen samples are fossilized in ancient amber depositsw and reveal that the earth at that time had higher oxygen levels. A Teradactyl could have never flown in our current earth environment. With its size, it would have needed greater atmospheric preassure to get lift. It is now known, thanks to fossils from Antarctica to the Northern Hemisphere, that the entire planet was once tropical. Moreover, there is substantial evidence that not only did reptiles used to be bigger, so did people and plants as well. One great resource to explore more evidence on this topic is the Creation Evidence Museum in Glenrose, Texas and veritas is planning a trip down there in the near future.

However, the primary, and confirming, resource the class looked to for evidence of this canopy was the Bible. Genesis 1: 6-8 states; "And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to seperate water from water." So God made the expanse and seperated the water under the expanse from the water from the water above it. And it was so. God calle the expanse "sky." (NIV)

Notice, God seperated the water below from the water above and called the expanse sky. Literally, there was water above the sky. True science and the Bible are never at odds with each other. Rather, they serve to confirm a Creator.

Further evidence is seen in the lifespans of man. Some have speculated that the ages in chapter 5 represent dynasties. But that argument is put to rest in the account of a post flood environment. Immediatley, we see that the lifespans of men diminish quickly. Considering that nothing in the Bible has ever been disproven, the Water Canopy Theory holds powerful credibility.

Join us next week as Pastor Jerry moves into teaching upon Genesis 6. This will not be a class to miss. Until then, may God bless you and keep you as you go forth spreading the fame of His son Jesus and the Gospel of His salvation.