Questions of Life, the Universe and Everything
Some of you, like me, are old enough to remember ‘A Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’, a popular TV comedy which we enjoyed in the early 1980s. And you may also remember that the show ended with the hero’s discovery that the answer to his questions of “life, the universe and everything” was, simply, “42”! It was both brilliant and very funny of course. Yet behind it lies the assumption that it is simply not possible to find answers to these big questions.
In the last few weeks at King’s, our preaching series has been focussing on the book of Genesis. Called ‘ORIGINS – Stories of Hope’, each week we have taken an in-depth look at a different character from Genesis. It has been fantastic to revisit some very familiar stories and discover how much we can still learn from them. But of course, as well as having some great Biblical characters, the book of Genesis also covers some big issues: the creation of the earth, the universe, mankind and all other creatures – life, the universe and everything!
Reading Genesis inevitably raises questions – how should we read and understand the book of Genesis? How old is the earth? Where do Christians stand on evolution and creation? How do more recent scientific discoveries influence our understanding of Genesis? These are big questions, ones which we have not had time to address on Sundays. So that’s why we asked Andrew Wilson, Teaching Pastor at King’s, to host an ‘ORIGINS’ seminar last week for anyone who wanted to go deeper into Genesis. There was a fantastic turnout, and some great questions were asked (and answered – thankyou Andrew) but if you were unable to be there, you can listen to the podcast. As well as explaining the different Christian positions on creation and evolution, you will also hear an excellent clip from John Walton, who helps us understand Genesis in its context.
So if, like me, you are not convinced that the answer to ‘life, the universe and everything’ can be found in the number 42, I highly recommend taking some time out to listen.
