Just a couple of thoughts regarding the role of Moses as a historian:

1.  Genesis is the only (historical) book in the Old Testament in which the author is not present during the events described.  Obviously, he would have written it down in the most factual way possible, using the most reliable historical reference material available at the time - oral tradition.  Considering the painstaking care that ancient cultures put into memorizing their history, he would have had no alternative than to believe that creation as he understood it was completely factual in every way.  The same probably applies to the story of Noah and the flood, just a few chapters later.  However, the same story  (of Noah) is also told in "The Epic of Gilgamesh", an even more ancient text originating in the Babylonian culture. 

Most Christians point to this earlier text as "proof", or at least indicative of  the Bible's accuracy.  However, if the Epic of Gilgamesh proves the accuracy of the Bible, then the same reasoning applied in reverse says that The Epic of Gilgamesh must be divinely inspired.  Right?

Yeah, whatever.  It simply means that one of the many conclusions one could reach about the Book of Genesis is that Moses wrote down history as he knew it to be true, and the morals of the stories served God's purpose.  The important points were conveyed - God created the universe, God punishes sin, God wants us to fellowship with Him, etc.  Interestingly enough, Jesus made all of these same points in His ministry on earth.  When adamantly proposing the Genesis creation as the only possible way, Christians should keep in mind that if Jesus said that God created the earth, then that statement would be true even if the book of Genesis had never been written.  As I mentioned in my last post, the "how" of creation is not as important as the purpose of it.

So, where am I going with this?  I believe that God does not care if we ever find out how the universe was created.  The furtherance of our own knowledge of ourselves is simply not important to him.  Increasing our knowledge of Him, is.

I want to go in a slightly different direction now -

Nothing existed before the creation of the universe.  It is simply not scientifically possible to  quantify, qualify or explain its cause.  How does one measure what does not exist?  Attempting to explain creation is as futile as attempting to explain the very nature of God.  It can not be done.  So for a Christian, simply believing that God created everything should be enough.  No amount of evolutionary theory can possibly contradict the fact that God created the universe - it can only contradict the story as Moses told it.  And history as he wrote it in Genesis was not necessarily serving as a scientific account of creation, but as the basis for setting up the great doctrinal themes of the Christian faith.

So, what role does Creation Science play in this day and age?  For one thing, it misleads Christians into believing that science can prove the mysteries of the divine.  It gives them a false hope that someday we may come to understand what is not understandable.  It is a diversion from the true purpose of a relationship with God, which is to serve Him.  Trust me, He doesn't need our help to prove that He is the author of the universe.

And what about evolution?  Where does it fit in?  It is what it is.  Let science take us where it may, it doesn't matter.  Why can't a Christian, secure in faith, be the most objective scientist of all?  Because, if in some hypothetical future, when all the evidence is there for reviewing, and all the pieces have been put together, the result will still fit into the framework of God's creation.  And the world's most enlightened experts still will have no idea what caused creation to begin.  They will only have more theories, while Christians will still have God.

Note - more to follow in this series.  Please send your comments, I want to hear what you think.