The Order of Creation

Genesis is a theological document, not a scientific document. That does not mean it fails to tell the truth. Science does not bring us truth. It can barely muster fact. The theology of the Old and New Testaments give us creation in the sense that God did it. It comes from God, not from random chance or meaninglessness. Creation is personal, from the three persons of the Holy Trinity to the person. Creation is also continual, again, from the three persons of the Trinity to the persons involved in sex. Sex is in our brain and in our being, not just in our jeans. We take it from the whole to the part to our great peril. Sex sets up a partnership with the creator. We get to participate in the ongoing creation of the persons God intends to be. That alone ought to raise the level of conversation. Obviously, (sadly, most obviously), creation is not always what it was meant to be. The whole thing broke. But the intention and the bustedness are not one and the same, and again, we imperil ourselves when we confuse them. Marriage is an institution that keeps things clear and provides for our participation in God's ongoing creation. Don't mess with that. To mess with that is to invite chaos. To respect it is to welcome the dignity God intends.

Quotes

"Do not squander afflictions" was lifted from a list published by "Over the Rhine" in one of their newsletters.

Robert Kysar wrote: "It has often been said that creativity is the art of forgetting the source of one's ideas." It seems a worthy excuse for plagarism. Eclectic readers often forget sources and repeat wisdom without intending to pass it off as their own. It might be presumptuous to call that "creativity".

Another worthy quote from Gregory the Great: "Reason opposes evil the more effectively when anger ministers at her side." That was lifted from the latest issue of Touchstone Magazine. It excuses the ranting of one often righteously indignant with the wrong of the world.