I love when someone leaves a comment that tries to diffuse some of the things I post about Christianity. It's not the debate part or arguing part (if you even call it that) that I love the most -- it's the invitation to take the words I write and break them down deeper. I want to squash any doubts that might exist out there about Christ. And if someone is posting a comment like that, then I have to assume there are others out there that feel the same way.

So allow me to retort -- the anonymous commenter left a very knowledgeable, well-written reply. His/her comments are italicized, and my rebuttal is below each statement. Let me know your thoughts... it's important to me that you understand my words. Remember, I am not a Biblical scholar, nor did I ever attend any classes or seminary. Every time I am about to write in my blog, I pray that the Holy Spirit will speak the Lord's word through my fingers, and that I might be able to express clearly what it is we should know about Christ. I firmly believe that He is doing that. My thoughts and explanations come not from me, but from the Holy Spirit within me. If you don't believe that, then that's your choice -- but remember, this time last year I wasn't even a Christian. I am here for a reason. You are reading for a reason. Just keep an open mind:

(Commenter)

There are many contradictions from the the first chapter alone in the Book of Genesis.

Take the following examples.......

1. "Let there be light; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light day and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day." Genesis 1:3-5

This statement indicates that the first thing created was the day and night.

But we know that day and night would come after the existence of the sun and through its rise and set. However, verse 14 from the same chapter indicates that the sun was created on the fourth day:

"And God said, let there be lights in the firmaments of the heavens to separate the day from the night: and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years, and let there be lights in the firmament of heavens to give light upon the earth, and it was so. And God made the two great lights, the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night; He made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon the earth, to rule over the day and over night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening, and there was morning. A fourth day." 1:14-19

This statement indicates that the sun was created on the fourth day, and from here the days should start. This, of course, disagrees with verse 3 which informs us of the start of the day three stages before the formation of the sun.

2. The same chapter states that the vegetation, plants yielding seed, and the fruit trees were created and grown on the third day:

"And God said, 'Let the Earth put forth vegetables and plant yielding seed and the fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, upon the Earth. And it was so. The Earth brought forth vegetation, plants, yielding seed according to their own kinds, and the trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, a third day." 1:11-13

But we know that none of these vegetation and plants could grow without sun, while the same chapter tells us that the sun was created on the fourth day as mentioned before.

(My comments)

First of all, one of the very first things that God creates in the very beginning of Genesis was light. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:3-4) Somehow there was light. If He hadn't created the sun yet, then how was there light? Perhaps it was God's light. Sure, the Book of Genesis says that God created the Heavens and the stars on the fourth day after He created plants, and it does very much tell us that He created the sun and moon on that day as well.

Really... are you going to base all of Christianity on what order/what way God created the earth and the Heavens? What makes you think our small, tiny human minds can even comprehend how God does things? You've got to remember, these are humans who are writing this stuff down. Yes, they are infused with the Holy Spirit like I am, writing down words that come from God. But we are still human. We write what we can comprehend. Imagine that my husband Randy sat down with an 8 year-old and told him in detail all about his job: how he gets plans for new job sites... how he looks over the blueprints and decides what to bid on for concrete... how he measures the plans and does the take-offs to determine numbers which then correspond to prices... and then submits the bid... then waits to hear back... and then upon hearing that he won, assigns a crew accordingly... and then manages the job site to ensure that the crew is working to specs... etc, etc, etc.

Then imagine Randy asked the 8 year-old to write it down in a report so that this 8 year-old's friends could understand. What do you think that might look like? Do you think that kid could even really comprehend exactly how Randy does his job? He might get most of it down in a crude, basic way. Most likely he'll forget to jot down a step or two, and quite possibly he'll mix up one or two of them. But in the end, this 8 year-old kid will understand -- as will his friends -- that Randy is a guy who bids on plans to put in new cement work.

Now imagine that 25 years later, one of the 8 year-old's friends found that report and read it. I'm sure he'd be scratching his head, saying, "Hey, this doesn't quite make sense. I don't know a whole lot about cement work, but I know that there's no way that this Randy guy could win a job first and THEN figure out how much cement-work there is in order to put a price on it. That doesn't make sense." Most likely, either the kid didn't hear Randy right, or the kid wrote it down wrong. In either case, do you honestly think that it matters? Do you think that this guy -- 25 years later -- should say, "Well, obviously since this is all wrong, none of that happened. I don't believe this is even real."

I'm not saying that the Bible is full of mistakes. However, what I am saying is that we humans make mistakes all the time. It's just part of who we are. It's quite possible that it got jotted down wrong. Not to mention that we humans do not have the capacity to even come close to understanding how/why/in what time frame God does things. If anyone even hints to the fact that they do, then that is simply ignorant and blasphemous. And if you are one of those humans who are going to take discrepancies like that and completely toss Christianity out the window, you are grasping onto something that in the end will not matter one iota. I've seen people hold faith and believe in things that are filled with much more head-scratching discrepancies than that: finances, marriages, investments, houses, mortgages, business ventures, etc. If you choose to deny Christ simply because you don't fully understand a piece of Scripture of the Bible, then I will pray for you that you see the other thousands upon thousands of passages that illuminate the way to Christ. Imagine picking up a fantastic novel and tossing the whole thing aside because one of the sentences in the beginning doesn't sit well with you. Or imagine dropping your college education because one of the chapters in a textbook doesn't make any sense to you. Just because it doesn't make any sense to you doesn't mean that it doesn't make any sense to everyone. I guarantee that there's someone out there that can understand it. Most likely the man who wrote it.

(Commenter)

3. The same chapter states that God, on the sixth day, created man in His own image:

"Then God said, 'Let Us make man in Our own image, after Our likeness; . . . So God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them." 1:26-27

Muslims believe that God has no image and no form. He is the Infinite Who encompasses the whole universe. He has neither a body, nor is He material, nor do the visions comprehend Him. To think that God has a form of a man, to the Muslims, is degrading to the whole concept of God.

(My comments)

How do you know that God has no image and no form? Many, many times in the Bible it states that The Lord spoke, or the Lord appeared. The Koran acknowledges the story of Abraham in much the same way the Bible does, right? Genesis 18:1 reads: The LORD appeared to Abraham near the great trees of Mamre while he was sitting at the entrance to his tent in the heat of the day.

How can the Lord speak if He has no form and no image? How can He appear if He has no form and no image? The phrase "The Lord appeared" and "The Lord spoke" occurs many times throughout the Bible. If I'm not mistaken, in the Koran the phrase "Their Lord called unto them" occurs often as well.

Again, you are assuming that you know everything about God. To assume these things is pretty arrogant. I'm not trying to be harsh -- just honest. One has to be pretty full of himself/herself to say, "We know God has no form." You don't know that. You don't know that He has no body. Did He not appear to Moses in the flames at the burning bush? There had to be some type of form for Moses to recognize the Lord in those flames, right? The Lord appeared to Solomon in a dream -- if the Lord has no image, no form, no mouth with which to speak, no body with which to move, how did Solomon "see" the Lord in His dream?

The bottom line is we simply do not know the Lord intimately enough yet to comprehend this. We will, though... one day.

(Commenter)

4. Chapter two contradicts the first chapter. The first chapter, as you know, has stated that vegetation and plants and the trees were created on the third day, before the creation of man, who was created on the sixth day. The second chapter tells us that man was created before vegetation and plants:

"These are the generations of the heavens and the Earth when they were created. In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens . . . when no plant of the field was yet in the Earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up-for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the Earth, and there was no man to till the ground ... but a mist went up from the Earth and watered the whole face of the ground . . . then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being . . . And the Lord God planted a garden in Eden, in the East; and there He put the man whom He had formed.... And out of the ground the Lord God made to grow every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food, the tree of life also in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil." Genesis 2:4-9

This statement clearly indicates that there was no plant before the creation of man.

There is another point in this statement, namely, that there is a tree of knowledge of good and evil. But we know that knowledge does not grow on trees; it comes through experience and learning.

(My comments)

Again, this commenter is picking apart discrepancies in the order/time that things were written in the Book of Genesis. But we humans cannot understand or comprehend time as it is to God. To try and suggest that is silly.

I have to shake my head at the comment that "knowledge doesn't grow on trees; it comes through experience and learning." What? Seriously... in a book that has miracles and healing of the poor, and giving sight to the blind, and parting of the Red Sea, and turning water into wine... you are going to question this???? I don't mean to be condescending. If two people are the first people on the earth, who is going to teach them anything, if not God? Who is to say that there wasn't a Tree of Knowledge back then? Who's to say that upon the New Earth under the reign of Christ, there won't be all kinds of magnificent trees like this? God rose a man from the dead. He planted the seed of life of His holy son within a virgin woman. I assure you, if God wanted to have a tree of knowledge, He can. Even in the Koran it acknowledges the same story as the Bible in regard to Adam & Eve and Satan with the tree. No, it doesn't state that it was a tree of knowledge. But the Koran does state that Adam and Eve learned of their bodies after they ate -- it says that "their bodies became visible to them." Something happened, right? They became aware and ashamed of their bodies. That sounds kind of bizarre just in itself. How can one suddenly "see" their bodies? How can one be "instantly" ashamed?

My friend, God is asking us to read, to believe, to comprehend and to have faith. He does not ask us to pick apart each passage, trying to dissect it as something that could happen in our time or not. We do not live in an age of miracles and unbelievable occurrences that come from God. We live in an age of faith.

Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. We live by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor 5:6-7)

Stay tuned for part 2 of this commentary rebuttal tomorrow...