A Response to a Student This Week About Genesis 1:28: Let’s start with Genesis 1:28: God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.” The phrase “fill the earth and subdue it” is very broad and easily encompasses “all nature” which is stated as an answer option. What would the “earth” refer to if it was not, at least in part, also referring to the “plants, soil, leaves, etc.” as you write? Secondly, you are right to say that the “his” in the third answer option refers to Adam (the third answer option not shown here in the blog). However, I think that you are underestimating just how mind-blowing this verse is. God was handing over the keys to his image-bearers to rule with wisdom, goodness, and care. Adam and Eve were to rule all else while allowing themselves to be ruled by God.
Brittney Griner: I was so happy to read that the United States secured BG’s freedom. By now, she should be back on U.S. soil. What is interesting is that one day before she was freed, I had written the following. I thought that I would still share it since it pertains to evangelical Christians: I have been following Brittney Griner’s situation for months. It grieves me. The principle that so many Americans endorse—the punishment must fit the crime, nothing more–is being deeply violated. There is little doubt that with Russia’s barbaric—a bully move—invasion of Ukraine and the U.S.’s assistance to Ukraine in the form of weapons, BG is a political causality. That being said, I wonder if a lot of conservative/evangelical Christians are not thinking about this case, praying for her, or the like because she is gay. I have not heard one Christian mention this situation. Why? Have we forgotten that while BG may not be a Christian, she is—like all people—made in the image of God no matter how much of that image is obscured due to a lifestyle that evangelicals deem sinful? Christians should care deeply about the unjust detainment of BG. Lord, have mercy.
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe: Besides the wardrobe, what is the other item that was in the room that contained the wardrobe? Do you know? Just a fun trivia question!
C.S. Lewis on Work: When C.S. Lewis was 25, he wrote a letter to his dad. In it, he makes an honest statement about work: “Work is our drug and we run to it as others do to drink.”
Monday’s Blog Post: I am already excited about my upcoming post on Monday. Like I did for the Brash’s a while back who serve as missionaries in Japan, I will be sharing about another friend I met during the Ph.D. who is preparing to head back to Thailand with his family in the summer of 2023. I hope that you will pray for them and consider giving to them financially. More details to come on Monday. In my view, giving money to missionaries is a way to gain a spiritual inheritance in the nations of the earth. I want this for me and my family!
B.J. Condrey, Ph.D. 