The Serpent’s Temptation (Leaving Genesis 1 & 2 Behind)
Max Planck was a theoretical physicist from Germany. He won the Nobel Prize for the discovery of “energy quanta”. A crater on the moon bears his name, some units and concepts in physics bear his name, and there was even a space observatory known as the Planck.
Dr. Planck once said:
Science demands also the believing spirit. Anybody who has seriously engaged in scientific work of any kind realizes that over the entrance to the gate of the temple of science are written the words: Ye must have faith. It is a quality which the scientist cannot dispense with.
Max Planck
Although Dr. Planck had his faith, I’m not suggesting he was a true believer or even that he was consistent in his beliefs. But he was right to say that all science does require faith.
Dr. Jason Lisle, Astrophysicist, said it this way, in his book The Ultimate Proof of Creation:
Faith is not antagonistic to reason. On the contrary, biblical faith is required for reasoning. One must believe in order to understand. Faith must come first, we need certain presuppositions in order to even begin to reason. For example, we must first believe that there are laws of logic before we can argue for them logically. We must have faith that our senses are reliable before we can even begin to read the Bible. But when we do read the Bible, we will find that our faith is justified. Biblical presuppositions such as logic, uniformity, reliability of senses, and memory all make sense in the biblical worldview. The Bible provides the justification for these things.”
Dr. Jason Lisle
This explains some of why we have started by studying the basics of Genesis 1 and 2. And I shared with you three keywords that we will come back to again and again:
- Truth – The Bible teaches us that the world was created by a Mind, by a Creator, who established the physical laws of the universe. Logic exists because it reflects the ordered mind of God.
- Dependence – Our Creator needs no one and nothing. He is eternal and all powerful. But we need Him – we have limits, and live in time and space.
- Purpose – We have a purpose from God. Ultimately, creation gives glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.
To read more, check out the earlier posts: 7 Hebrew Words, Genesis 1 and 2: First Keyword, and Genesis 1 and 2: Keywords #2 and #3.
As Christians, we believe that God wants us to know Him, through His Creation and through His Word. It is possible to “do science”. It’s possible to investigate the evidence. Sure, we’re limited creatures. But it is possible to know absolute truth, because we have an “absolute” Creator.
When you try to separate your thinking from the truths of Genesis 1 and 2, strange things happen.
The Christian author from Russia, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, wrote about the politician Andrey Yanuaryevich Vyshinsky, a powerful man in the Communist Soviet Union. Vyshinsky wrote a report which, according to Solzhenitsyn, reflected common ideas in the Soviet Union at the time. Solzhenitsyn writes:
…it is never possible for mortal men to establish absolute truth, but relative truth only. He then proceeded to a further step, which jurists of the last two thousand years had not been willing to take: that the truth established by interrogation and trial could not be absolute, but only, so to speak, relative. Therefore, when we sign a sentence ordering someone to be shot we can never be absolutely certain, but only approximately, in view of certain hypotheses, and in a certain sense, that we are punishing a guilty person.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956)
Thence arose the most practical conclusion: that it was useless to seek absolute evidence—for evidence is always relative-or unchallengeable witnesses—for they can say different things at different times. The proofs of guilt were relative, approximate, and the interrogator could find them, even when there was no evidence and no witness, without leaving his office, “basing his conclusions not only on his own intellect but also on his Party sensitivity, his moral forces” (in other words, the superiority of someone who has slept well, has been well fed, and has not been beaten up) “and on his character”.
In other words, loyalty to “the Party”, and personal perspective, is more important than the truth.
Without absolute truth, justice falls, and science falls. And people who are unjustly arrested by tyrannical regimes still somehow think that they can simply explain to someone that their arrest was “a mistake”. But they forget that reason and logic were left behind when Genesis 1 and 2 were left behind.
Most of us know what happened next, after God had given his commandments to the first humans (Genesis 1:28-30; Genesis 2:15-17). Along comes Genesis 3, and, of all things, a talking snake.
Of course, we now know this was not just some freak of nature – the serpent in Eden was Satan himself (Revelation 12:9).
It’s fascinating to notice Satan’s tactics. I won’t go into detail here, but take a few minutes to look at what he does:
Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?”
Genesis 3:1-5
And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’”
But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”
The serpent starts with a simple question. He’s like a friendly neighbour, just trying to help. But he gets at least two details wrong, as he questions God – “you” is plural (God had given the command to Adam, so it was originally singular). And of course God had not been the big meany who would not let them eat of ANY tree.
Then the woman makes mistakes – “neither shall you touch it”? I don’t remember that command.
Finally, the serpent is bold enough to directly contradict God, and hold out the temptation.
God, the Creator, had created the trees, and in fact had created the woman’s eyes. Would it not be wise to trust Him? But instead, she (and the man, who is with her!) chooses another authority. What is it?
Well, the woman starts not with faith, but with the evidence. And then she creates her own standards. She is the ultimate authority. And, to steal another thought from Jason Lisle pointed out, she does something not only immoral, but irrational.
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate.
Genesis 3:6
Satan loves the supposed evidence, when it’s taken without faith in God. Remember how he tempted Jesus Himself? “If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread” (Matthew 4:3) (emphasis mine). Let’s test the hypothesis, Jesus! – IF.
Let’s see … how does Jesus respond? “It is written…“
First, God’s Word. Because without God, the evidence makes no sense.
You cannot use evidence properly apart from faith in the truth of God’s Word.
Again, an atheist can correctly interpret evidence. You don’t need to specifically believe Genesis 1 and 2 to do that. But you do need something of the truth as a foundation.
You may remember the well known verse about the defense of the faith:
…but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect…
1 Peter 3:15
Yes, present your reasons, bring forth the evidence! But let’s look at the context. “But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you will be blessed. Have no fear of them, nor be troubled, but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy…” First, the source of all truth. We honour Christ as Lord, the Creator of all.
“…honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect, having a good conscience, so that, when you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.”
The man and woman in the Garden ignored God’s truth and their relationship with Him. They listened to the lies of a fellow creature, taking the place of the Creator, throwing the world into chaos.
“…honor Christ the Lord as holy…” – because in the end, there are only two options. Christ or Chaos. (And I’ll tell you more about the origin of that phrase later on.)