Christian Creationists believe the Bible’s Genesis story of creation — that God created life, Earth and the rest of the universe in six days — is literally true. That certainly is not the belief of all or even most Christians (or Jews). Even so, SMU biblical scholar Mark Chancey points out that the new Bible curriculum from Museum of the Bible, a nonprofit created by Hobby Lobby President Steve Green, would teach public school students that science actually backs up the Genesis creation story.
From Chancey’s review of The Book: The Bible’s History, Narrative and Impact:
At one point, Albert Einstein makes a surprising appearance to shore up a biblical story’s seeming inconsistency. To reconcile Genesis’s description of the creation of light on the first day of creation with the fact that the sun is not created until day four, the book appeals to the Theory of Relativity: Because “energy and mass are equivalent and transmutable” and “all matter is also energy,” then “could it be that creation begins with the advent of energy?” Such reasoning, it suggests, “seems to correlate nicely with the Big Bang Theory of creation, a mighty explosion releasing tremendous amounts of energy.” The section closes by asking, “Could it be that light on day one refers to the initial energy [of the Big Bang] released into our cosmos?” This is obviously an impossible interpretation to attribute to the authors of Genesis or to any readers before 20th-century scientists developed the Big Bang theory. Its function is to attempt to reconcile a six-day creation and modern science, an urgent concern for religious communities that associate the Bible’s authority with its complete accuracy.
Chancey reviewed the new curriculum for the Texas Freedom Network Education Fund. Click here for the review, Can This Class Be Saved? The ‘Hobby Lobby’ Public School Bible Curriculum, and his other reports on public school Bible courses for the TFN Education Fund.
Mr. Green is a possessor of what is called “special knowledge.” The term “special knowledge” refers to any body of supposed knowledge that is contrary to what is called “actual knowledge,” which is knowledge that has been extensively tested and peer reviewed by qualified subject matter experts and is generally held to be true by most people with a lick of common sense.
For example, “actual knowledge” is knowing that the insertion of 87 octane gasoline into the empty gas tank of a Jeep will allow the engine to start and run.
On the other hand, “special knowledge” is knowing that the insertion of Coca-Cola into the empty gas tank of a Jeep will allow the engine to start and run. This is knowledge that most people do not have, but it has been given to you by some “authoritative source” because he wanted just you to know this and no one else. The possession of “special knowledge” is so important because it makes the person who possesses it feel as if they too are “special.”
Here are some examples of other special knowledge:
Atlantis the Lost Continent
Ancient Gods from Outer Space
Lost Continent of Mu
The Planet Nibiru
UFO Abductions
Foo Fighters
The Abominable Snow Man
Can you name some other types of “special knowledge” that make people feel…well… special?
The phrase “esoteric knowledge” appears the more common jargon parlance.
The classical “mystery cults”, such as the Eleusinian, would seem historical examples.
Also, the trick with Coca-Cola only works for the 1953 model Jeeps when painted chartreuse.