GenesisNemesis

002:005 And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew: for the Lord God had not caused it to rain upon the earth, and there was not a man to till the ground.

God doesn't make it rain upon the Earth. Rain is a form of precipitation, other forms of which include snow, sleet, hail, and dew. Rain forms when separate drops of water fall to the Earth's surface from clouds. Not all rain reaches the surface, however; some evaporates while falling through dry air. When none of it reaches the ground, it is called virga, a phenominon often seen in hot, dry desert regions.

Rain plays a major role in the hydrolic cycle in which moisture from the oceans evaporates, condenses into clouds, precipitates back to Earth, and eventually returns to the ocean via streams and rivers to repeat the cycle again. There is also a small amount of water vapor that respires from plants and evaporates to join other water molecules in condensing into clouds. As you can see, rain doesn not magically appear because of God.

Roger Pearse

No doubt there are atheists who choose to suppose that Christians believe that God stands there with a bucket, simply because the text can be read in such a manner if you are sufficiently perverse.

Is this topic appropriate to BC&H, tho?

All the best,

Roger Pearse

Doug Shaver

None of that contradicts the proposition that God makes it rain.

GenesisNemesis

But why would he use a complex natural process?

Chris Weimer

It probably evolved that way.

Roger Pearse

For fun. Think of the universe as God's equivalent to a website.

All the best,

Roger Pearse

mountainman

In a court of law, I will refuse to swear on the bible
because it is basically hearsay. I would prefer to instead
use the "TIRUKURAL" which was written c.100 BCE by
a weaver in Southern India, and which is used as a book
upon which to swear "truth" in a court of law in Southern
India today....


CHAPTER 2:
The Importance of Rain

Verse 11
It is the unfailing fall of rain that sustains the world.
Therefore, look upon rain as the nectar of life.

Verse 12
Rain produces man's wholesome food;
And rain itself forms part of his food besides.

Verse 13
Though oceanic waters surround it, the world will be deluged
By hunger's hardships if the billowing clouds betray us.

Verse 14
When clouds withhold their watery wealth,
Farmers cease to pull their ploughs.

Verse 15
It is rain that ruins, and it is rain again
That raises up those it has ruined.

Verse 16
Unless raindrops fall from the sky,
Not a blade of green grass will rise from the earth.

Verse 17
The very nature of oceans, though vast, would diminish,
If clouds ceased to take up water and give back rain's gifts.

Verse 18
Should the heavens dry up, worship here of the heavenly ones
In festivals and daily rites would wither.

Verse 19
Unless the heavens grant their gifts, neither the giver's generosity
Nor the ascetic's aloofness will grace this wide world.

Verse 20
No life on earth can exist without water,
And the ceaseless flow of that water cannot exist without rain.


See further:
http://www.mountainman.com.au/kural/



Pete Brown