For this assignment I interviewed my best friend since high school, whom I had never discussed beliefs with prior to this assignment.

Regarding the creation account of Genesis and whether or not the book actually records history my friend believes that it does to a certain extent. According to them the Genesis recordings are not exact accounts of what happened, but it is rather more of a parable. The creation story is just that, a story of what may have happened but not a literal word for word documentation of historical events. The six days of creation to them is not a literal meaning. The creation days were not twenty-four-hour days. The recording of six days will remain a mystery, rather it be billions or hundreds of billions of years in between each level of creation. He sees that God is immortal therefore his timeframe does not line up with that in which we have today. There is no time restraint on God, the recording of six days of creation was merely a parable written so that humankind would have some sort of understanding, though should not be taken literal. The six days to God may have very well been billions of years in our finite understanding.

Furthermore, believing that creation is not one of literal sense, he also does not believe that the earth is relatively young. Instead, he has the understanding that the majority of us are all taught in science class that the earth is millions to billions of years old. These scientific assessments are based upon fossil documentation and carbon dating. These scientific findings have impressed the belief that dinosaurs came before humans and were fossilized many millennia before God created human beings. That being said he does have the belief that Adam was a historical person. According to my friend there must be a beginning and that beginning of mankind, as taught in Genesis, is Adam. There was a first human and without any other scientific data to go on, one must believe and have faith that the recorded account of Adam is the first true historical man. There is no belief, as of now…pending further scientific discovery, that humans evolved from apes and/or chimpanzees. Human bodies have not evolved much over time; therefore, the logical explanation would be a direct ancestral line from an initial human figure, i.e., Adam.

Sheer belief is the basic reasoning behind my friends understanding. Not being a scientist creates limitations on the validity of data out there, but most data seems thoroughly researched and presented in a very believable and understandable way. The Bible, however, is not scientifically a literal account. Rather the Bible and especially the creation story is a parable about who we are as humans, where we came from, and how we are supposed to treat others. We have free-will which allows us to believe what we think fits best as the creation account. Additionally, our education and experiences also shape those beliefs. The ultimate truth lies somewhere between science and the Bible. Here on earth, we will never know the truth, but the truth will be revealed in Heaven, or wherever one may end up. There will be an end at some point, how that end occurs also remains a mystery to humankind. God’s wisdom and knowledge is far beyond what the human brain can fathom, and his truth remains a mystery to all of us.

During this interview I was enlightened by my friend’s beliefs and can see the compelling argument for the way they think. I also used to believe in the Old Earth Creationism theory based upon what we were taught in science and also watching things like Jurassic Park. It truly wasn’t until this History of Life class and some other recent studies of the Bible that I have done, that I began to alter my belief and understand a different more literal side of everything. I was once in the middle of science and scripture, mainly in regard to dinosaurs. But now reading more about the pre-flood and post-flood I have a different understanding. I think my friend’s views are common across my people group and after this assignment I hope I can continue to pick the brains of those close to me. I find this an interesting conversation and maybe I can also share my own beliefs with others as well.