Group 2 — Mini Biography: Thomas Edison

Group 2

A reproducible PDF file of this material is available here.

Before watching the video, reread Genesis 1:26-28.

1²⁶Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” (NKJV)

Remember the significance of Genesis 1:28. With His command in this verse, God turns over the management of the earth and its resources to the members of His highest creation, mankind. With the raw materials God gives them, the members of the human race are to get busy and use their God-given abilities — abilities that reflect the Creator’s image, by the way — to make the world a better place.

They do this by (using the words and phraseology of Genesis 1:28) being fruitful and multiplying; filling the earth and subduing it; and having dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.

While all members of humanity showcase God’s image, inventors often do so in ways that are especially evident. Consider Thomas Edison, for example.

Quotes from the video with discussion starters:

- “Without Thomas Edison, we wouldn’t even recognize the world as we see it today. Every time we turn on a light switch or an electric motor, we see the fingerprints of his innovation.…In 1880, Edison came upon a really practical incandescent bulb using a carbon filament and also an electrical generating system to distribute the electricity to these light bulbs, which fundamentally changed the way that we live. Our society suddenly became a 24-hour society. Thomas Edison acquired a staggering 1,093 patents in his lifetime. [He invented or improved the performances of t]he storage battery, the motion picture projector, the motion picture camera, the phonograph or record player as we would call it nowadays.” — Paul Ronney, professor of aerospace & mechanical engineering, University of Southern California, and the narrator
- “We take for granted that we can listen to any music we want to hear at any time without having to go to a concert hall, but that was not possible before Edison. Thomas Edison made music and pictures more accessible.” — Dr. Laura Danly, curator, Griffith Observatory

How have the work and discoveries of Thomas Edison made your life different? How have they made it better?

- “Edison’s first invention to sell was an improved stock ticker, which was a huge success. With his proceeds, Edison created a research laboratory at Menlo Park, New Jersey, in 1876.” — narrator

Observation: It wasn’t just Edison’s inventive work, but also his management of resources and profits that provide evidence God made him in His image. In other words, management and organizational skills, when they are properly applied, help create additional opportunities to accomplish and succeed. Application: How have you used successes in your past to create even more opportunities to succeed?

- “Most of Thomas Edison’s research was not to understand why something behaved the way it did, but to try to understand how to make it better. Edison said that genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration. And I think we could all learn from that.” — Paul Ronney

Consider the word subdue in Genesis 1:28. God told Adam and Eve and their descendants to “fill the earth and subdue it.” The Hebrew word translated subdue is כָּבַשׁ or kâbash (pronounced kaw-BASH). It means “to bring into bondage” or to “make a servant of.” How did Edison make the elements with which he worked serve him and others?

In your own words, describe why this is a good thing.

- Even though he apparently wasn’t a Christian, his use of his God-given abilities is instructive for us. What insights does it offer us?

What lessons do we learn from observing the lives and contributions of Edison and others like him?

This page is part of a Bible study at Discover Bedrock Truth.