Page 2/The BattalionAVednesday July 31, 1985
Students, act now
Gripes can be heard all over campus concerning the new ca
ble packages offered by McCaw Cablevision. Now A&M stu
dents have a chance to turn their gripes into action.
College Station is taking applications for a committee set up
to monitor the actions of city franchises such as telephone, gas
and cable television companies. College Station Mayor Pro Tern
Robert Runnels said the committee will probably look at the ca
ble television issue first.
To gain a seat on the Franchise Advisory Committee, fill out
an application from the College Station city hall. The applica
tions will be given to city council, and it will select the committee.
For more information call 764-3541.
Students account for a large part of McCaw’s business, and
therefore should voice their opinions. We hope city council will
also recognize the need for student participation on the commit
tee.
Cable television affects students directly, and if they don’t
seize this opportunity to be heard now, they will have no legiti
mate excuse for complaints about inadequate service later.
The Battalion Editorial Board
The mystery of creation: Genesis and
*
Mark Lupo
&
Gary Barbee
Guest Columnists
By understanding
the first two verses of
the Scripture, we can
recognize that there
is no contradiction
between the Bible 1 ■ =
and geology. The attack against the Bi
ble is merely beating the air.
In the original Hebrew, this initial
verse of the first chapter of Genesis con
tains seven words which carry within
themselves a sense of independence.
These divinely revealed words do not
say that in the beginning God “formed”
or “made” the world out of certain raw
materials.
No, the heavens and the earth were
created. This word “created” is “bara” in
the original. So that in the beginning
God bara the heavens and the earth.
In the first two chapters of Genesis
three different words are used for the
act of creation:
(1) “bara” — calling into being with
out the aid of pre-existing material
(Gen. 1:21,27; 2:3).
(2) “asah” — which signifies the mak
ing, fashioning, or preparing out of
existing material. For instance, a car
penter can make a chair, but he cannot
create one. The works of the Six Days in
Genesis are mainly of the order of “a-
sah”.
(3) “yatsar” — which means to shape
or mold as a potter does with clay. This
word is used in Genesis 2:7 as follows:
“And Jehovah God formed man of the
dust of the ground.”
Interestingly, Isaiah 43:7 illustrates
the meaning and connection of all three
of these words: “every one that is called
by my name, and whom I have created
for my glory, whom I have formed, yea,
whom I have made."
“Created” signifies ^ calling into be
ing out of nothing; “formed” denotes a
fashioning into appointed form; and
“made” means a preparing out of pre
existing material.
The words “In the beginning” re
inforce the thought of God creating the
heavens and the earth out of nothing.
There is really no need to theorize.
Since God has so spoken, let men simply
believe. How absurd for finite minds to
search but the works of God which He
performed at the beginning! “By faith
we understand that the worlds have
been framed by the word of God” (Heb.
11:3). Who can answer God’s challenge
to Job concerning creation (see Job 38)?
To understand the first chapter of
Genesis, it is of utmost importance that
we distinguish the “earth” mentioned in
verse 1 from the “earth” spoken of in
verse 2. The condition of the earth re
ferred to in verse 2 is not what God had
created originally.
Now we know that “God is not a God
of confusion” (1 Cor. 14:33). When the
Bible states that in the beginning God
created the earth, what He created was
therefore perfect. The waste and void
of the earth spoken of in verse 2 was not
the original condition of the earth as
God first created it. Would God ever
create an earth whose primeval condi
tion would be waste and void?
“Thus saith Jehovah that created the
heavens, the God that formed the earth
and made it, that established it and cre
ated it not a waste, that formed it to be
inhabited: I am Jehovah; and there is
none else” (Is. 45:18). How clear God’s
word is. The word “waste” here is “to-
hu” in Hebrew, which signifies “desola
tion” or “that which is desolate.” It says
here that the earth which God created
was not a waste.
Why then does Genesis 1:2 state that
“the earth was waste”? This may be eas
ily resolved. In the beginning God cre
ated the heavens and the earth (Gen.
1:1). At that time, the earth which God
created was not .a waste; but later on, in
passing through a great catastrophe, the
earth ch’dbecome waste and void.
So that all which is mentioned from
verse 3 onward does not refer to the
original creation but to the restoration
of the earth.
God created the heavens and the
earth in the beginning, but He subse
quently used the Six Days to remake the
earth habitable. Genesis 1:1 was the
original world, Genesis 1:3 onward is
our present world, while Genesis 1:2 de
scribes the desolate condition which was
the earth’s during the transitional pe
riod following its original creation and
before our present world.
Over a hundred years ago, Dr.
Ghalmers pointed out that the words
“the earth was waste” might be trans
lated as “the earth became waste.” Dr.
I.M. Haldeman, G.H. Pember, and oth
ers showed that the Hebrew word for
“was” here has been translated “beca
me” in Genesis 19:26: “His wife looked
back from behind him, and she became
a pillar of salt.” If this same Hebrew
word can be translated in 19:26 as “be
came” why can it not be translated as
“became” in 1:2?
The word “became” in 2:7 (“and man
became a living soul”) is the same word
as is found in Genesis 1:2. So that it is
not at all arbitrary for anyone to trans
late “was” as “became” here: “In the be
ginning God created the heavens and
the earth, (but) the earth became waste
and void.” The earth which God created
originally was not waste, it only later be
came waste.
“In the beginning God created the
heavens and the earth” (Gen. 1:1) and
“in six days Jehovah made heaven and
earth, the sea, and all that in them is”
(Ex. 20:11).
Comparing these two verses, we can
readily see that the world in Genesis 1:1
was quite dfferent from the world that
came after Genesis 1:3.
In the beginning, God created, the
heavens and the earth. In the Six Days
God made the heaven and earth and
sea. Who can measure the distance that
exists between “created” and “made”?
The one is a calling into being things
out of nothing, the other is a working on
something already there. Man can make
but cannot create; God can create as
well as make.
Hence, Genesis records that in the be
ginning God created the heavens and
the earth, but later on the earth had be
come waste and void due to a tremen
dous catastrophe, after which God com
menced to remake the heaven, earth
and sea and all the creatures in them.
Peter 3:5-7 expresses the same
thought as well: the heavens and the
earth in verse 5 are the original heavens
and earth referred to in Genesis 1:1, the
earth mentioned in verse 6 that was
overflowed with water and which per
ished is the earth Covered with water
which became waste and void as men
tioned in Genesis 1:2 and the heavens
and the earth that now are as spoken of
in verse 7 are the restored heavens and
earth after Genesis 1:3.
The works of God during the Six
Days are quite different from His crea
tive work done in the beginning.
“In the beginning Gid created the
heavens and the earth.” Note that there
is no detailed description here. We
therefore do not know whether the
original heaven and earth were created
Mail Call
Letters to the Editor should not exceed 300 words in length. The editorial staff reserves the right to edit
letters for style anS length but will make every effort to maintain the author’s intent. Each letter must
be signed and must include the address and telephone number of the writer.
Texas needs Bill back
EDITOR:
On Friday, July 26, the man who laid
the foundation for the Republican Party
in Texas announced his candidacy for
Governor. Former Governor Bill Glem-
ents declared he wanted his old job
back. He has good reason. Mark White
has defaulted on many of his campaign
promises: lower utilities — nowhere in
Texas has this occurred; no taxes —
Texas has seen the biggest tax increase
in its 150 year history.
While Glements was Governor, he
ran the state as an efficient business. He
did not spend the state’s money on friv
olous expenses, such as Mark White’s
$25,000 playroom for his children in
the Governor’s Mansion. Governor
Clements also provided leadership
while in office even though his was in
the minority party.
Sen. Kent Caperton, D-Bryan said, “I
think a governor has to lead. It was hard
to get Mark White to do that this ses
sion. And it may be that he believed that
we shouldn’t have much legislative pro
gress ... If that’s what he wanted, he ac
complished that, because he was not
much of a presence.” (Bryan-College
Station Eagle; May 30)
Over the past three years we have
seen our state government move into a
big financial mess, We need a man in
Austin who understands state govern
ment and business to get us back on
track. The ideal candidate, the man who
also laid the Republican foundation, has
stepped forward. As Republicans and
Texans we need Bill Clements.
Jennifer Hoyt
Class of’88
Mentally ill have right
to higher education
EDITOR:
There seems to have been a some
what pessemistic attitude toward the
firefighters on campus for the TAMU
Fire Fighting & Prevention School, con
cerning their lack of respect for time
honored Aggie traditions.
I, for one, would like to hail my vote
with the firefighters — having just had
my application for graduate school re
jected because I am afflicted by a mental
illness — schizophrenia. Is that another
staunch tradition of A&M, to deprive
those, less fortunate of the right to a
proper education?
Have not the mentally deprived — we
who have to devote far more effort and
discipline to accomplish what the usual
student does with ease —just as much a
right to attend the University? Are we
not due some consideration for our
needs? For that matter, why are homo
sexuals so openly publicised — even ap
plauded — on campus given front page
publicity in fact, when they are at least
as ill mentally as a schizophrenic such as
myself?
But no, the Board of Regents —
whose policies Graduate Admissions no
doubt follows — are supported in their
prejudices against the less fortunate by
none other than Gov. White and his cro
nies in Austin.
They have devoted considerable ef
fort to legislate out of existence those
state institutions which are charged with
protecting the rights and privileges of
the mentally ill, who have no other
means to ensure their well-being. Legal
action as was taken by the Gay Student
Services; the mentally ill have no such
rights.
William H. Clark, II
ex-Aggie
Persecutors as bad
as two-percenters
EDITOR:
Every year there are many letters
written to the editor from incensed “98
percenters” about “two-percenter’s” and
visitors to our campus who are “disres
pectful” of A&M traditions.
While a number of these people may
truly be going against tradition inten
tionally, I’m sure the majority do so out
of ignorance. It is my opinion that any
Aggie who persecutes someone for be
ing ignorant of tradition is as much a
“two-percenter” as those who intention
ally flout the traditions. And yes, perse
cution does occur, s
My roommate (who transferred here
last spring) has been treated very badly
because she quite innocently asked what
Muster was and why there was such a
fuss about it. Don’t expect anyone who
has not gone through any orientation
here to know every tradition on campus
and don’t assume that because someone
is an upperclassmen, they know as much
about A&M as a freshman who just got
out of Fish Camp.
Besides, are we here to better our ed
ucation or show the world how petty
and tactless we are when we persecute
the ignorant?
Nancy Tanner
Class of’87
Pool shouldchange
policy
EDITOR:
For the past month, I have gone
swimming each evening at the A&M
outdoor pool. The two dollar admission
fee (for myself and son) seemed a small
enough payment for a relaxing swim af
ter a long day of classes and studying.
This past Wednesday I had a very ir
ritating experience when I paid our ad
mission with two dollars worth of pen
nies, nickels, and dimes. The lifeguard
collecting the money made me put the
coins in groups of tens because I didn’t
bring any coin rolls. He said they don’t
take pennies without coin rolls.
If the pool staff is not able to handle
loose change, they should post a notice
stating so.
Eve Totin Escobedo
Class of’80
geology
instantaneously or through many age
Was it done in thousands of years?!]
what shape and how large? We oil'
know that God created the heavensat:
the earth in the beginning.
We also do not know how many yen
elapsed between the time of the fc
verse and that of the second verset
Genesis 1. We do not know whenCtt
created the heavens and the earthf
how long the period of desolationi
scribed in verse 2 lasted.
But we do believe that the origiffi
perfect creation must have passe!
through many, many years before ill*
came waste and void. $uch a long pern
would be enough to cover the so-callei
pre-historic age. All the years whichp
ology demands and all the so-calledge
ologic periods which it distribute
among those years can fall into thistim
frame.
We do not know how long the eattl
underwent change nor how man'
changes there were before it becaim
waste and void because the Scripture
do not tell us these things.
Yet we can affirm that the Bible neve
states that the age of the earth isbutss
thousand years in length. - It mere!'
shows that the history ot man isa|
imately six thousand years old.
We believe that this is the bestintff
pretation of Genesis 1:1-2 because./!? I
more consistent with the restoftheBt
ble and with the meanings of theHf
brew words. But the reason we wantd
to present this argument here is tl
many have been needlessly frustrate?
by geological evidence from believing!
the literal truth of the Bible.
The Bible was not intended asasn
ence book, but to lead us to God Him
self. Caref ul study shows that the Bil
places no upper bound constraint ot|
the age of the earth, therefore ge
places no constraint on the trustwortfi
ness of the scriptures.
Mark Lupo is a graduate student in^
ophysics. Gary Barbee is a technic0
in the soil and crop sciences depart'
ment. Both are members of theorgsii
zation of Christians on Campus.
The Battalion
USPS 045 360
Member of
Texas Press Association
Southwest Journalism Conference
The Battalion Editorial Board
Kellie Dworaczyk, Editor
Kay Mallett, John Hallett, News Editors
Loren Steffy, Opinion Page Editor
Sarah Oates, City Editor
Travis T ingle, Sports Editor
The Battalion Staff
Assistant City Editor
Katherine Hurl
Assistant News Editors
Cathie Anderson, Trent Leopold
Entertainment Editors
Cathy Riely,WdlterSmitli
Copy Editor Trent Leopold
Make-up Editor Ed Cassavoy,
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