In the beginning, there was Chaos… a vast
void in the universe that is composed of pure darkness… nothingness.
Yet on the first day, God said, “Let there
be light.”
Then there was Big Bang.
Several months ago Pope Francis declared
that the evolution theory was accepted by the Catholic Church, stating that God
"is not a magician with a magic wand". Despite myself
being a former Catholic (I am currently not aligned with any other Christian
church, sect, or denomination), I totally agree with him, because in my
perspective, the Creation story is simply a summary of the 700-billion year
history of the universe.
Some people, including myself, had
concluded that the days mentioned in the Bible when God created the universe is
composed of a hundred billion years. Yet most religious fanatics still tend to
believe in the Creation story… in a literal sense.
As previously mentioned on my previous
article, the Bible for me is scientifically and historically accurate. I am not
just talking about the Creation story, but there are some significant events in
the Bible that although there are scientific explanations with this, however,
it does not alter my faith in God. Instead, those simply enlightened me with
the fact that God created science.
Consider the miracle from God mentioned in
the first book of Kings, where the prophet Elijah challenged the priests of
Baal to prove that God is real. According to the Bible, he set up an altar
composed of 12 huge stones and placed the offering above it. He poured three
jars of water causing the altar to be soaked wet to ensure that there are no
magic tricks. Afterwards, a big ball of fire came down from Heaven and burned
the altar, resulting with the people restoring their faith in God and the
priests executed.
Yet according to a popular TV show on
History called “Ancient Discoveries”, there is an episode that investigates the
various events in the Bible to prove it has scientific basis. And one of the
topics tackled is the abovementioned story.
According to the show, though the stones
and firewood that served the altar base is real, there are additional ingredients
that are added.
In the experiment, the investigators added
quick lime all over the altar base. Then they poured a generous amount of
liquid chemical called naphtha over the altar. When naphtha was poured over the
quick lime, it caused a chemical reaction causing the quick lime to ignite the
firewood, causing the altar to burn.
Though the experiment was a success, it
left a big question mark for me… How about the ball of fire?
After reflecting on the experiment and
reading the verse from the Bible again, I realized that God may have calculated
this event all along.
Let us imply that God instructed Elijah to set
up the altar made of 12 rocks, and pour them three times with water, not
naphtha. Of course the Bible says that this happened in Mt. Carmel, but does
not indicate the exact location. However, what if the altar is higher than any
other person? What if the altar is set up on a higher ground? In addition, the
Bible said that rain fell down from the heavens after this event had ended,
since prior to this event, there was a big drought that happened all over
Israel, and God said through Elijah that he will bring down rain.
Atheists and scientologists may now realize
what I am talking about, and you may be right.
I think that the ball of fire mentioned in
the Bible could pertain to lightning. How?
First, most of you are aware that lightning
usually occurs on an open field (though that was not necessarily the case all
the time), and lightning always seek the shortest path. The tallest structure in
the field is the one most likely to be hit. It could be a tree, a house, or
even yourself. That depends on which structure is taller.
Since the miracle happened in Mt. Carmel,
let’s say the altars were either set up on a higher ground, or set up in a way
the altars are taller than the people. Either way, since the altars are set up
higher than any other person, lightning will surely strike either altar first
rather than the person.
So why Elijah’s altar does struck by
lightning first instead of that of the priests of Baal? It’s because of the
water poured over the altar. Remember that lightning occurs when a
positively-charged cloud makes contact with a negatively-charged one, or either
a positively- or negatively-charged cloud makes contact with the surface with
an opposite charge. Remember also that lightning is a form of electricity, and
that water is a good conductor of it. The water provided better conduction on
Elijah’s altar, resulting with the lightning striking it than that of Baal’s.
By premeditating the course of events,
controlling the weather, and with a little help from science, God had convinced
the Israelites to come back to the faith. While this may be my own perception,
it does not necessarily mean my explanation is accurate. If you would like to
share your own insights about it, please do not hesitate to do so, because your
opinion is very valuable, and could be a big help in solving this mystery.
As for me, my faith in God is still strong,
and I always thank him for the countless blessings over the years. In any way,
I will still retain my stand that God knows anything and everything in this
world, and that God created science.
I, the Pooch, have spoken.
Read more at:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/pope-francis-declares-evolution-and-big-bang-theory-are-right-and-god-isnt-a-magician-with-a-magic-wand-9822514.html
http://www.reasons.org/articles/a-hypernatural-miracle-elijah-and-the-fire-from-heaven
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