| The
doctrine of Creation is foundational to Seventh-day Adventist beliefs.
To recognize that the earth and its inhabitants came about by
creation, not by chance, is to recognize the existence of a Creator.
To acknowledge God as our Creator is fundamental to
recognizing both His power to redeem us and His right to judge us.
Creation also is intricately tied to our belief in the
Sabbath, which is a memorial to God's Creation and a sign of the
believer's faithfulness to God at the close of time (Rev.
14:7).
Seventh-day Adventists take Genesis
1-11 as an accurate historical account of the origins of life
on earth. We accept the biblical account's straightforward
testimony that the creation of life on this planet and its various
habitats occurred in six literal, 24-hour days. Based on the
available biblical data, we also believe that the period of time since
the Creation has been a short chronology of a few thousand years, as
opposed to millions of years required by the general theory of
evolution. Further, we accept the account of the Fall, which
brought a radical change to life on this planet, as well as the
world-wide Flood, which destroyed that life and dramatically altered
the physical face of the planet.
The conclusions one reaches about what the Bible
teaches on this crucial subject depend much on the method of
interpretation one brings to the Bible. Our church has historically
rejected external authorities that claim to supersede what the Bible
itself says. We affirm that the Bible has final authority in
matters of origins. We accept the Bible as it reads in its
most straightforward manner.
Maintaining the historical-biblical view of Creation
is not simply based on an uncritical or apathetic disregard for modem
science. Denial of the historicity of Genesis 1-11 undermines
the very essence of Christianity-the plan of salvation-for it
necessarily denies the historical Fall and death resulting directly
from it. Acceptance of biblical Creation reminds us of our
desperate need of a Savior and gives us insights into God's love and
power to redeem us. Join us this quarter as we study what the
Bible and the Spirit of Prophecy say about God's Creation.
"God is Creator of all things, and has revealed in
Scripture the authentic account of His creative activity. In
six days the Lord made 'the heaven and the earth' and all living things
upon the earth, and rested on the seventh day of that first week.
Thus He established the Sabbath as a perpetual memorial of
His completed creative work. The first man and woman were
made in the image of God as the crowning work of Creation, given
dominion over the world, and charged with responsibility to care for
it."—SDA Fundamental Belief 6.
Contents:
Meet the Principal Contributor to This
Quarter's Guide
Randall W. Younker is associate professor of Old
Testament and Biblical archaeology and director  of the
Institute of Archaeology at Andrews University. He is also
director of the Ph.D./Th.D. program at the Seventh-day Adventist
Theological Seminary at Andrews. He received his B.A. in
religion from Pacific Union College in 1975 and an M.A. in biology from
that same school in 1977. He later earned a second M.A. and a
Ph.D. in Near Eastern archaeology from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Younker has taught a number of courses in science
and religion on the undergraduate and graduate level for several years.
In addition to teaching, Dr. Younker has been a field
archaeologist for nearly twenty years, working in both Israel and
Jordan. Currently, he directs excavations for the Madaba
Plains Project at Tell Jalul, a major site from the biblical period
located near Mt. Nebo in Jordan. He has authored or
coauthored over fifty scholarly and popular articles. Dr.
Younker and his wife, April, have four children: Rebecca, Michael,
Elizabeth, and Sarah.
Giardina Sabbath School Study Helps
Jerry Giardina of Houston, Texas, prepares a series
of helps to accompany the Sabbath School lesson. He includes
all related scripture and most EGW quotations. These are provided in
three wordprocessing versions Wordperfect;
Microsoft Word;
RFT for
our MAC friends; and HTML (Web
Pages).
Editorial Office:
12501 Old Columbia Pike, Silver Spring, MD 20904.
Principal Contributor: Jack J. Blanco.
Editor: Philip G. Samaan.
Associate Editor: Lyndelle Brower Chiomenti.
Editorial Assistant: Soraya Homayouni Parish.
Art and Design: Lars Justinen.
Pacific Press Coordinator: Glen Robinson.
Copyright
© 1999 General Conference of Seventh-day Adventist. All Rights
Reserved.
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