Answer by John Mackay and Diane Eager. These questions arose from a longer criticism of the events described in Genesis 3, especially the verbal temptation of Eve and God’s judgment on the serpent. The main issues raised were: The serpent is described as a wild animal, and according to today’s scientific classification system it was […]
Posts by Diane Eager
Diane Eager
CATTLE: Why did God invent cows when they give out gases that are so harmful to the environment?
Answer by John Mackay and Diane Eager The “harmful” gases being referred to are methane and carbon dioxide. Neither of these are dangerous to the environment – they are part of it. We also need to note that cows are a minor source of these gases in the overall ecosystems of the world. Both gases […]
HAIR: Did Jesus have long hair?
Answer by Peter Geyer and Diane Eager. Many people assume that Jesus had long hair. He’s the most painted person in Western art, and all the paintings depict Jesus with long hair. Hollywood has done the same. Often he’s portrayed as blonde with piercing blue eyes. But is that accurate? Unknown to most people is the […]
LIVING IN EDEN: Do we know how long Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden?
Answer by John Mackay and Diane Eager The short answer is that we are not specifically told in terms of days, months, or years, however, there are clues, which strongly indicate it wasn’t very long. The most obvious one is that Eve was not pregnant at the time they were sent out of the Garden. […]
KETURAH is called a concubine and a wife. When did Abraham marry her and when were her children born?
The original question was: Abraham had a concubine called Keturah and the Bible records he also married her. (1 Chronicles 1:32, Genesis 25:1-2) What is the time frame of these events and were Keturah’s children born before or after Sarah’s death? Answer by John Osgood and Diane Eager What is a concubine? In a polygamous […]
FLOOD FISH: If the rain for Noah’s Flood was fresh water, then how did saltwater fish survive?
Answer by John Mackay and Diane Eager There are two issues here: was the original water in the sea salty; and if so, how could salt water fish survive in freshwater? Flood Water The water in Noah’s Flood came from three main sources. The first was the water that had been created on day one […]
SNAKE VENOM: If God made everything good, why are snakes venomous?
Answer by Diane Eager We need to start by asking: What is venom? Venom is any harmful substance secreted by one animal and injected into another by biting or stinging. Now to ask: what is snake venom? It is a secretion from the salivary glands of snakes, which they use primarily for digesting things. The […]
POLEMIC? The early chapters of Genesis are a moral polemic against ancient pagan stories, so why do they have to be real history?
The original question was: My evangelical theological college teaches the early chapters of Genesis were written as a moral polemic against the multi-god, violent, and sexually immoral creation stories of the pagans, therefore we don’t need to regard Genesis 1-11 as real history. What do you think? Answer by Diane Eager and John Mackay To […]
DAIRY COWS suffer pain and inflammation if they are not milked, so did Adam and Eve have to milk cows?
Answer by Diane Eager To answer this question we need to consider what makes a cow produce milk in the first place. Like all mammals, cows produce milk to feed their babies. Therefore, the first time a cow will produce milk is when she has a calf. After that she will continue to produce milk […]
GIANT ANIMALS are dangerous by their size alone. Was giantism an effect of the curse?
The original question was: While studying animals of the past such as the 15 meter long (48’) gigantic serpent Titanoboa cerrejonensis, who could have swallowed a man whole, I’ve discovered that many animals were of gargantuan dimensions. I can’t believe such animals were part of God’s original very good creation. If God created animals so […]