Tour 2: Nature - beginning Sunday, December 15 - Advent Lutheran Church, 2222 S. Arlington Ridge Rd., Arlington, VA 22202

Tour 2: Nature - beginning Sunday, December 15

12/14/2013

Nature in the Bible. Creation, Catastrophe, Stewardship. Wind, Water, Fire, Earth. Light and Dark. Creatures great and small.

In the next two weeks, we will have the opportunity to discern how nature affects us, how we affect nature.
We will discover that human nature is part of nature.
Where, in nature, do we see God? Stars, sand, animals, people, floods, famine?
How/where should we "make straight a highway through the desert" or what "uneven ground shall become level" as a result of our efforts?
How would we run the universe, if we were God? In what would we take the most pride?
Where do humans fall on the continuum of God's greatest hits, creation-wise? Are we his crowning glory?
Does the Biblical story come full circle in Revelation, leading us back to Genesis?

This two-week tour looks to be ripe with opportunities for discussion. Let's get started!

6 Comments

Gerry

12/16/2013 02:42:43 am

I am intellectually more comfortable with Psalm 104, but psychologically more comfortable with Roman's 8. I agree with the Psalmist's vision that all creation is of God and therefore displays God's majesty. However, I feel the battle between the flesh and the spirit, which I associate with what philosophers call the conflict between our lower and higher emotions. But if God is the source of all creation, then isn't he also the source of our "lower emotions"? I'm not sure where to draw the line between God's creation and "the flesh."

Gerry

12/17/2013 02:17:06 am

According to my study Bible, the Hebrew image of creation in Genesis 1 is not God making something "from nothing" but God separating and ordering the existing formless, dark chaos covered by uncontrolled waters. Reality exists, and God is what gives it order, meaning, and purpose. I like that.

PAA

12/17/2013 07:19:00 am

These Scriptures remind readers to worship the Creator not the creation. Sun, volcanoes, trees, etc were literal objects of worship for the ancients. For us the reminder is to worship the Giver and not the gifts.

Gerry

12/19/2013 07:40:07 am

Is anyone else having trouble picking up the thread of these readings? I get the idea that the flood returned the earth to the pre-creation situation of a watery chaos, but otherwise this cutting from the Noah story seems unconnected.

Marianne

12/21/2013 10:12:51 am

I'm not sure there is a "thread". I believe this theme is more of a "sampler" of selections describing, personifying (?), and attributing nature to God.

Gerry

12/20/2013 02:56:44 am

I tried applying the four methods (Devotional, Historical, Literary, Lutheran) to the reading for 12/20. It took a bit of time and mental effort, but I can say that it was quire rewarding.

Tour 2: Nature - beginning Sunday, December 15

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