Genesis 1
In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Genesis 1:1
"The divine record assumes the existence of God rather than seeking to prove it." -Believer's Bible
"And let our make and place, as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, which is always to keep heaven in our eye and the earth under our feet." -Matthew Henry
"These verses have traditionally been understood as referring to the actual beginning of matter, a Creation out of nothing and therefore part of day one. But the vocabulary and grammar of this section require a closer look. The motifs and the structure of the Creation account are introduced in the first two verses. That the universe is God’s creative work is perfectly expressed by the statement God created the heavens and the earth. The word bārā' (“created”) may express creation out of nothing, but it certainly cannot be limited to that (cf. Gen_2:7). Rather, it stresses that what was formed was new and perfect. The word is used throughout the Bible only with God as its subject." -BKC
"But Gen_1:2 describes a chaos: there was waste and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. The clauses in Gen_1:2 are apparently circumstantial to Gen_1:3, telling the world’s condition when God began to renovate it. It was a chaos of wasteness, emptiness, and darkness. Such conditions would not result from God’s creative work (bārā'); rather, in the Bible they are symptomatic of sin and are coordinate with judgment. Moreover, God’s Creation by decree begins in Gen_1:3, and the elements found in Gen_1:2 are corrected in Creation, beginning with light to dispel the darkness. The expression formless and empty (ṯōhû wāḇōhû) seems also to provide an outline for Gen_1:1-31, which describes God’s bringing shape and then fullness to the formless and empty earth
God. Hebrew. Elohim, plural. First occurrence connects it with creation, and denotes, by usage, the Creator in relation to His creatures. The Hebrew accent Athnach places the emphasis, and gives pause, on "God" as being Himself the great worker, separating the Worker from His work." -Bullinger
created--perfection implied (Bullinger)
I like foundational principles that Bible Knowledge Commentary extracts from this:
"The implications of this are great. First, it means that everything that exists must be under God’s control. The Creation must be in subjection to the Creator. Forces of nature, enemies, creatures and objects that became pagan deities - none of these would pose a threat to the servants of the living God."-BKC
"Second, the account also reveals the basis of the Law. If indeed God was before all things and made all things, how foolish it would be to have any other gods before Him! There were none." -BKC
"Third, the account reveals that God is a redeeming God. It records how He brought the cosmos out of chaos, turned darkness into light, made divisions between them, transformed cursing into blessing, and moved from what was evil and darkness to what was holy." -BKC
Some of the considerations a student of the Bible must face
The authorship of the Bible is distinct from any other book in that there are always two authors, one infallible:
1)God--a trinity, as the Christian understands His nature
2) The human author of each book
Additionally, the reader must consider the genre and its conventions.
The reader must also consider the context of that book among the other books as one contiguous story over many genres and a large time period.
In light of this, I like the way that the Bible Knowledge Commentary considers the intentions of Moses as he composed the account:
"In writing this work for Israel, Moses wished to portray God as the Founder and Creator of all life. The account shows that the God who created Israel is the God who created the world and all who are in it. Thus the theocracy is founded on the sovereign God of Creation. That nation, her Law, and her customs and beliefs all go back to who God is. Israel would here learn what kind of God was forming them into a nation." -BKC
Without Form and Void....then His Spirit
"The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2
without form--"from an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness." -Strongs
darkness--"the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity." Strongs
hovering--"A primitive root; to brood; by implication to be relaxed: - flutter, move, shake." -Strongs
The second half of the second verse creates a mysteriously beautiful, yet eerie word picture--the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. For me, it brings to mind our morning excursion on Lake Maligne this summer, when an inversion left clouds hovering over the lake with the peaks of the mountains visible in the backdrop. The setting was brooding, expectant.
A lovely devotional reflection on this from F.B. Meyer:
"Do not be discouraged, the Spirit of God is within you, brooding amid the darkness, and presently His Light will shine through. It is the blessed presence of the Lord Jesus that stirs in your heart and will presently rule your life, Joh_1:4. His Presence divides between the good and evil. You must distinguish between Christ and self. Follow the gleam, and you shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. God’s days begin in evenings, and always end in mornings."
Perfection--Chaos--Shaping? The complexities of the progression in Genesis 1:1-3
Verse one of Genesis presents a perfect creation, but verse two speaks of chaos:
"One of several conservative interpretations of the Genesis account of creation, the creation-reconstruction view, says that between verses 1 and 2 a great catastrophe occurred, perhaps the fall of Satan (see Eze_28:11-19). This caused God's original, perfect creation to become without form and void (t–hû wãv–hû). Since God didn't create the earth waste and empty (see Isa_45:18), only a mighty cataclysm could explain the chaotic condition of verse 2. Proponents of this view point out that the word translated was (hãyethã) could also be translated "had become." Thus the earth "had become waste and empty." -Believer's Bible
"Some have seen a middle stage of Creation here, that is, an unfinished work of Creation (Gen_1:2) that was later developed (Gen_1:3-25) into the present form. But this cannot be sustained by the syntax or the vocabulary.
Others have seen a “gap” between the first two verses, allowing for the fall of Satan and entrance of sin into the world that caused the chaos. It is more likely that Gen_1:1 refers to a relative beginning rather than the absolute beginning (Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament. 2 vols. Chicago: Moody Press, 1981, 1:5). The chapter would then be accounting for the Creation of the universe as man knows it, not the beginning of everything, and Gen_1:1-2 would provide the introduction to it. The fall of Satan and entrance of sin into God’s original Creation would precede this." -BKC
Other Passages That Speak of Creation
According to Proverbs, earth was founded by wisdom and knowledge:
"The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens. By his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. " Proverbs 3:19-20
"When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man." -Proverbs 8:27-31
"To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." Ephesians 3:8-10
The commentaries pick up on, though by no means resolve, some of the problems and questions that these verses have inspired.
"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, preparatory to the great creative and reconstructive acts to follow. The remaining verses describe the six days of creation and reconstruction which prepared the earth for human habitation. -Believer's Bible
"And God said," Genesis 1:3 This is surely a curious choice of verb, not incidental.
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
It's interesting to me that verse 1 is "God created..." and verse 3 "God said..." "God saw...." v 4 God called v 5"
The Conjunctive Power of And
And. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), by which, in the 34 verses of this Introduction, each one of 102 separate acts are emphasized; and the important word "God" in Gen_1:1 is carried like a lamp through the whole of this Introduction (Gen_1:1 Gen_2:3). -Bullinger
poly-SIN-duh-tawn
Nerdy literature stuff:
Polysyndeton is a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect. Polysyndeton examples are found in literature and in day-to-day conversations. The term polysyndeton comes from a Greek word meaning “bound together.”Effect: The repetition of the conjunctions adds power to the other words. Polysyndeton slows down the pace of the sentence. It can add rhythm and cadence to a sentence or series of sentences
the earth. Figure of speech Anadiplosis.
Anadiplosis is the literary term for a rhetorical device in which a writer or speaker uses a word near the end of the clause and then repeats that word to begin the next clause. Anadiplosis is used to bring attention to a specific thing or concept.
This makes me think that the earth in v. 1 and v2 are connected with NO GAP. So, is the idea of perfection in verse one not accurate?
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John Piper on Creationism
Notes from Desiring God
*We should teach without any qualification that God created the universe and everything in it. It wasn't always here. It didn't emerge from a big bang alone. God did it.
*Second I think we should preach that He made it good.
*Third I think we should preach that God made Adam and Eve directly...out of the ground.
*And that man had his beginning, not millions of years ago, but within the scope of the Biblical genealogies...those genealogies are tight around 6, 000 years and loose around 15,000 years. So I think we should honor those genealogies and not play fast with the origin of man. That's not the age of the earth issue--that's the issue of what is a human being and how did he come into existence. He came into existence by God's direct action and not millions of years ago, within the scope of genealogies.
How to construe Genesis 1 and 2....he's sympathetic of various views:
days are literal days, days are ages, or Sailhamer's view (which he likes)---all of creation happened to prepare the land for man in v 1....then you go, but day-by-day he's preparing the land......He's not bringing new things into existence....
This has the advantage of saying the earth billions of years old, whatever science says it is....but man is young and he was good and he sinned and he was a real historical person (Romans 5)
63 years old and never preached on Genesis yet.
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Alistair Begg--Perished Kingdom--Part 1
Notes on this sermon
Theme: Kingdom of God---not period of time, not geographical area, defines as "the sphere of God's supreme rule. God's people, in God's place, under God's rule, enjoying God's blessing."
Me: my first thought is that this agrees with the way Jesus expresses the Kingdom, outside of time
Genesis 1 & 2
Description of the world as God intended it to be. Why is the world the way it is? The world as we know it, is not the world as God created it, nor is it the world as God ultimately intends it to be. The world we know is a world that lives as a result of the implications of sin.
#1--God is the Author of creation. Always existed. Always a trinity. Expressed in Genesis 1:
God the Father, in taking the initiative
God the Spirit, hovering over the proceedings v 2
God the Son, Father's agent in the work of creation---John 1 "Without Him nothing was made that has been made" Colossians 1:16-17 "All things were created for Him and by Him...and in Him all things hold together."
God declared it all to be good.
Matter and physicality---some religions teach removal of matter and physical, but Genesis teaches the physical.
"God is transcendent. He is above and beyond all that he has made; he is different and distinct from it."-Alistair Begg
Different than pantheistic perspective
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Genesis Unbound suggests that we picture God creating the whole universe, “the heavens and the earth,” over some unspecified time in the past.
"However, despite admitting that Genesis 1 appears to indicate that God made the whole world and everything in it, as well as the sun, moon and stars in six days (p. 89), Sailhamer claims that Genesis 1:1 refers to the creation of the entire functioning universe, including the sun, moon and stars in the heavens, and the plants and animals on earth (p. 14). He goes on to argue that Genesis 1:2 onwards describes God preparing a land for man and woman to inhabit – the same land promised to Abraham and his descendants and the same land given to the Israelites after their wandering in the desert (p. 14). Sailhamer essentially holds to a kind of modified gap theory. He argues that “beginning” (Heb. reshit) can refer to an indefinite and possibly long period of time. He cites Genesis 10:10, and Jeremiah 28:1 for support." -
from Wikipedia
In Genesis Unbound: A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account (1996), Sailhamer argues for a view of creationism that he labels as "Historical Creationism", which contends that the creation week in Genesis 1 is a record of the preparation of the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve, not a record of the preparation of the whole planet Earth itself or the universe.[10] This view, along with the book Genesis Unbound, has been endorsed by major evangelical pastors and theologians (particularly in the New Calvinist movement), such as Matt Chandler,[11] Mark Driscoll,[12] and John Piper.[13]
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Tim Keller
summarizing arguments/theories on how old Genesis account is....
*general scholarship believes Genesis 2 was written much later than 1, but he's not sure that's correct.
*scholarship suggests
*Genesis 1--poetry
Genesis 2--history
Insists that if you don't just view the Bible as a compendium of contradictory mashed up verses, but that if you view the Bible as true, you must view the chapters as two different genres.
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Sermon: The Song of Creation--Tim Keller 10/15/2000
How is everyone's first question, "How did the world begin?" "How long did it take?"
He views that as unfortunate because "how questions are not as important as why questions."
You want to know the why, the design.
Why did God make it? What is it for?
You have to be careful not to push the details because it's not there to push the details.
That's only true if you don't read the rest of the Bible. There are many places where there are two accounts of something.
Miriam's song about crossing the Red Sea, Exodus 15 (poetry, lyrical) vs. Exodus 14 account (historical)
Judges 4--great victory of army against Cicero, Judges 5 Deborah's song (metaphor, more figurative language)
In a poetic genre, you don't press the literal details.
Genesis 1 is full of repetition, so we ask the general questions not the specific
Two things about how the world began:
1. God began the world. The world is not the result of chance.
created is a word only used by God.
2. God began the world out of nothing.
Modern mythology---nature is an accident, the material world is the only reality
Ancient mythology/religion (eastern)---the world is never created out of nothing in any creation myths--always derivative, comes out of ooze, mud, bodies of defeated gods, slaughter of sea monster body, etc.
Only in Genesis are the Heavens and Earth created out of "ex nihlo" out of nothing., gives it its own being.
They all say, including modern mythologies that this world isn't real, isn't that important, an illusion, you want to get beyond this world, the body is the prison house of the soul, you want to escape this world, this world is dew and we eventually get beyond all this.
Modern mythology
This world is all there is (materialism) and you live for matter.
Ancient mythology
This world isn't important at all. Never get science or social justice out of these religions. You resign yourself, you are passive, you just move beyond it, to get to the afterlife.
In the Bible, God created the world, so this world is important. It's good. Physical pleasure is fine. Christianity knows the world is good enough that we should try to fix it. We work for justice.
Salvation in other religions is that we escape earth to get to heaven.
In Christianity, heaven comes to earth. He'll restore the body.
We don't live for pleasure, but we don't fear these things.
There are Clues--
*eight times "and God said"
God never creates without speaking.
He creates through speaking. God's word is an agent; it has agency.
*Spirit of God hovers....
hover---word only used for mother birds hovering over babies/eggs. Spirit here is personified as personal
*"Let us make God in our image"
Who is He talking to? The angels? Isaiah 40---says God didn't take counsel with anyone, not angels, not animals...
The word of God is a person, the Son.
John 1--nothing was created without...
God is a community--Father, Son and Holy Spirit doing creation together. God for all eternity has been a community, and that community is a circle of love. Maybe the idea of the Trinity overloads your circuits, but Augusten pointed out than unless you have a triune being, love is not the ultimate reality, love is not intrinsic to the universe, it came in later. They were delighting in each other's being and enjoying each other's glory, and pouring love into each other's bosom, and one day they said "let's expand the circle, the community...let us create beings that can become part of the circle."
One thing people miss is Genesis 1 is a song.
Why is God speaking to creation? He wants a relationship.
Why does God make us in His image? So we that can reflect his glory.
Why does God make for example the moon and the stars and it says they govern as rulers over the light and darkness?
Everything to some extent images God.
God created in nature, a whole community of beings who can reflect His glory. "It is good." What does that mean? Was it an inspection of sorts? No....the climax of the narrative is "it is very good." He's enjoying it.
Then He completes the circle by looking at what He made and enjoying it. The purpose of nature is community. The purpose of nature is singing; this is why nature inspires and moves us so. Nature sings the praises of its maker.
Simone Weil (unconventional Christian mystic and idealist, lived in early 20th century and died young from TB at 34)---beauty of nature, 1940's author. This love for nature is incomplete and painful. We want to be united with the beauty we see (C.S. Lewis) but can't be. This is why we dream up pantheism and fairytales. We discern the freshness of the beauty but can't make ourselves fresh. Nature is choir.
Psalm 19
polytheists---Gods out of ooze
monotheist--God existed by himself, love comes in later
Christianity--God's a community
We are always trying to get back to the good. You won't/can't "join the song." Nature is talking to every human being about God. Deep down we all know it.
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Wayne Grudem--March 2018
his focus--theistic evolution from the standpoint of what the Bible teaches about the creation of the world and the creation of living things in this world.
Argues--theistic evolution denies 12 creation events in Genesis
1. Adam and Eve not first beings but perhaps never existed
2. Adam and Eve born from human parents
3. Adam not created from dust, Eve not created from rib
4. Adam and Eve not perfect and sinless
5. Death did not come about b/c of their sin
6. Not all descended from Adam and Eve
Question: Whether Genesis 1-3 is a historical narrative in the sense of reporting events that the author wants the reader to believe actually happened as opposed to figurative or allegorical literature
theistic evolution definition--The view that God created matter and that after that matter acted according to its ordinary properties, God sustained it, but it just mutated over time. God did not guide
Implication---not direct creation, but mutation
not descended from 2 but from about 10,000 human beings
3 Modern Proponents:
Francis Collins--Biologos, believes
Dennis Alexander--Cambridge England biologist
John Walton--views as archetypes
Genesis has a narrative structure, doesn't see much repetition except Genesis 1:28, not set out as poetry
Where did Cain find his wife? Obviously a sister.
"evolving in pursuit of what he said"
Ten Reinforcements in NT
Matthew 19--"You created them from the beginning, male and female, therefore..."Jesus affirms
Luke--traces Jesus' genealogy back to Adam, "made God and everything in it"
Romans-sin came into the world through one man
1 Corinthians--man not made from woman, but woman from man--directly affirms Eve's creation out of Adam
have to deny ten NT books in treating it as historical narrative--too big a price to pay
Eleven Christian doctrines that are undermined by it
1. Truthfulness of the entire Bible (10 NT books undermined)
2. Whole areas of human knowledge about which they will not allow the Bible to speak about--nature and source of evil, Christ's involvement in creation
3. Denies the overwhelming evidence of God in nature. Theistic evolution gives them the excuse--by which they know longer have to say that they are accountable to God, undermines evangelism, major barrier, excuse for
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Still reading on Genesis 1
"She agrees that Genesis 1 is not Hebrew poetry, but claims that it is not a literal chronology of events either. However, the Hebrew grammar of Genesis 1 is exactly what is expected if it were representing a series of past events. That is, only the first verb is perfect, while the verbs that continue the narrative are imperfect. In Genesis 1, the first verb is bara (create) which is perfect, while the subsequent verbs that move the narrative forward are imperfect.
Birkett seems to advocate the ‘Literary framework Hypothesis’ for Genesis 1, popular among compromising evangelical academics who can see the futility of day-age and Gap Theory compromises. But it’s strange, if it were the true meaning of the text, that no-one interpreted Genesis this way until Arie Noordtzij in 1924. Actually it’s not so strange, because a leading Framework proponent much admired by Moore College academics, Henri Blocher, admits:
‘This hypothesis overcomes a number of problems that plagued the commentators [including] the confrontation with the scientific vision of the most distant past.’ (In the Beginning, p. 50, IVP 1984)
Once again, the rationale for a bizarre, novel interpretation is a desperation to fit the alleged ‘facts’ of science.
" -Creation Ministries International book review
I guess one thing that I need to explore is why do the anti "literary framework hypothesis" presume the view that those who accept this theory believe in macro-evolution? Can we not take the perspective that Genesis 1 is somewhat poetic and must not be pressed as much for this reason? This, instead of making what I think it a leap, and saying that we are twisting the text to fit science?
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Kristen B interview
science as we know it began in the 17th century with empiricism
public, communal approach
Why did science start then and there
Protestants and Puritans were looking into natural sciences
they viewed the puritan interest in science as an extension of their interest in doing "good things" that help humanity.
If you believe the Bible, you believe:
*natural world is real
*natural world is good
worth studying, worth investigating
*the world is orderly, rational, comprehensible, we can make sense of it, not random
*worthwhile investigating the world, and there will be a point in doing it (will yield consistent, helpful results)
Protestant demystification of nature--catholic was more mystical, supernatural into natural, words have ceremonial power, priest is supernaturally different than others, saints can mediate, matter can be examined causally
Protestants teach words have meaning, a communication, we are to grasp it with our minds
Robert Boyle 17th century doing science as a religious duty because it's uncovering God's glory. New instruments, such as the microscope, reveal God's glory.
scientific method
theology of volunteerism---to do with God's freedom. God can create however he wants to create....so we observe--empirical method
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Biblical Illustrator
In considering the subject of creation we see, first of all, that a distinction must be drawn between what I would call primary and secondary creation.
Primary creation is creation proper. It is that grand act whereby Almighty God in the beginning called into being the finite world. Secondary creation, on the other hand, belongs to the sphere of Providence, or to the sphere of the history of the finite world.
. WHAT IS MEANT BY CREATION? The giving being to that which before was not. Creation is a mystery eminently satisfactory to reason, but strictly beyond it. We men can do much in the way of modifying existing matter, but we cannot create the minutest particle of it. That God summoned it into being is a truth which we believe on God’s authority, but which we can never verify.
I. WHAT IS CREATION? Creation is a work of free condescension on the part of God.
"The divine record assumes the existence of God rather than seeking to prove it." -Believer's Bible
"And let our make and place, as men, remind us of our duty as Christians, which is always to keep heaven in our eye and the earth under our feet." -Matthew Henry
"These verses have traditionally been understood as referring to the actual beginning of matter, a Creation out of nothing and therefore part of day one. But the vocabulary and grammar of this section require a closer look. The motifs and the structure of the Creation account are introduced in the first two verses. That the universe is God’s creative work is perfectly expressed by the statement God created the heavens and the earth. The word bārā' (“created”) may express creation out of nothing, but it certainly cannot be limited to that (cf. Gen_2:7). Rather, it stresses that what was formed was new and perfect. The word is used throughout the Bible only with God as its subject." -BKC
"But Gen_1:2 describes a chaos: there was waste and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. The clauses in Gen_1:2 are apparently circumstantial to Gen_1:3, telling the world’s condition when God began to renovate it. It was a chaos of wasteness, emptiness, and darkness. Such conditions would not result from God’s creative work (bārā'); rather, in the Bible they are symptomatic of sin and are coordinate with judgment. Moreover, God’s Creation by decree begins in Gen_1:3, and the elements found in Gen_1:2 are corrected in Creation, beginning with light to dispel the darkness. The expression formless and empty (ṯōhû wāḇōhû) seems also to provide an outline for Gen_1:1-31, which describes God’s bringing shape and then fullness to the formless and empty earth
God. Hebrew. Elohim, plural. First occurrence connects it with creation, and denotes, by usage, the Creator in relation to His creatures. The Hebrew accent Athnach places the emphasis, and gives pause, on "God" as being Himself the great worker, separating the Worker from His work." -Bullinger
created--perfection implied (Bullinger)
I like foundational principles that Bible Knowledge Commentary extracts from this:
"The implications of this are great. First, it means that everything that exists must be under God’s control. The Creation must be in subjection to the Creator. Forces of nature, enemies, creatures and objects that became pagan deities - none of these would pose a threat to the servants of the living God."-BKC
"Second, the account also reveals the basis of the Law. If indeed God was before all things and made all things, how foolish it would be to have any other gods before Him! There were none." -BKC
"Third, the account reveals that God is a redeeming God. It records how He brought the cosmos out of chaos, turned darkness into light, made divisions between them, transformed cursing into blessing, and moved from what was evil and darkness to what was holy." -BKC
Some of the considerations a student of the Bible must face
The authorship of the Bible is distinct from any other book in that there are always two authors, one infallible:
1)God--a trinity, as the Christian understands His nature
2) The human author of each book
Additionally, the reader must consider the genre and its conventions.
The reader must also consider the context of that book among the other books as one contiguous story over many genres and a large time period.
In light of this, I like the way that the Bible Knowledge Commentary considers the intentions of Moses as he composed the account:
"In writing this work for Israel, Moses wished to portray God as the Founder and Creator of all life. The account shows that the God who created Israel is the God who created the world and all who are in it. Thus the theocracy is founded on the sovereign God of Creation. That nation, her Law, and her customs and beliefs all go back to who God is. Israel would here learn what kind of God was forming them into a nation." -BKC
Without Form and Void....then His Spirit
"The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters." Genesis 1:2
without form--"from an unused root meaning to lie waste; a desolation (of surface), that is, desert; figuratively a worthless thing; adverbially in vain: - confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness." -Strongs
darkness--"the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness: - dark (-ness), night, obscurity." Strongs
hovering--"A primitive root; to brood; by implication to be relaxed: - flutter, move, shake." -Strongs
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| An early morning on Lake Maligne, Alberta, Canada |
The second half of the second verse creates a mysteriously beautiful, yet eerie word picture--the Spirit of God hovering over the waters. For me, it brings to mind our morning excursion on Lake Maligne this summer, when an inversion left clouds hovering over the lake with the peaks of the mountains visible in the backdrop. The setting was brooding, expectant.
A lovely devotional reflection on this from F.B. Meyer:
"Do not be discouraged, the Spirit of God is within you, brooding amid the darkness, and presently His Light will shine through. It is the blessed presence of the Lord Jesus that stirs in your heart and will presently rule your life, Joh_1:4. His Presence divides between the good and evil. You must distinguish between Christ and self. Follow the gleam, and you shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. God’s days begin in evenings, and always end in mornings."
Perfection--Chaos--Shaping? The complexities of the progression in Genesis 1:1-3
Verse one of Genesis presents a perfect creation, but verse two speaks of chaos:
"One of several conservative interpretations of the Genesis account of creation, the creation-reconstruction view, says that between verses 1 and 2 a great catastrophe occurred, perhaps the fall of Satan (see Eze_28:11-19). This caused God's original, perfect creation to become without form and void (t–hû wãv–hû). Since God didn't create the earth waste and empty (see Isa_45:18), only a mighty cataclysm could explain the chaotic condition of verse 2. Proponents of this view point out that the word translated was (hãyethã) could also be translated "had become." Thus the earth "had become waste and empty." -Believer's Bible
"Some have seen a middle stage of Creation here, that is, an unfinished work of Creation (Gen_1:2) that was later developed (Gen_1:3-25) into the present form. But this cannot be sustained by the syntax or the vocabulary.
Others have seen a “gap” between the first two verses, allowing for the fall of Satan and entrance of sin into the world that caused the chaos. It is more likely that Gen_1:1 refers to a relative beginning rather than the absolute beginning (Merrill F. Unger, Unger’s Commentary on the Old Testament. 2 vols. Chicago: Moody Press, 1981, 1:5). The chapter would then be accounting for the Creation of the universe as man knows it, not the beginning of everything, and Gen_1:1-2 would provide the introduction to it. The fall of Satan and entrance of sin into God’s original Creation would precede this." -BKC
Other Passages That Speak of Creation
According to Proverbs, earth was founded by wisdom and knowledge:
"The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens. By his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. " Proverbs 3:19-20
"When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man." -Proverbs 8:27-31
"To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places." Ephesians 3:8-10
The commentaries pick up on, though by no means resolve, some of the problems and questions that these verses have inspired.
"And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters."
The Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters, preparatory to the great creative and reconstructive acts to follow. The remaining verses describe the six days of creation and reconstruction which prepared the earth for human habitation. -Believer's Bible
"And God said," Genesis 1:3 This is surely a curious choice of verb, not incidental.
Psa 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host.
It's interesting to me that verse 1 is "God created..." and verse 3 "God said..." "God saw...." v 4 God called v 5"
The Conjunctive Power of And
And. Note the Figure of speech Polysyndeton (App-6), by which, in the 34 verses of this Introduction, each one of 102 separate acts are emphasized; and the important word "God" in Gen_1:1 is carried like a lamp through the whole of this Introduction (Gen_1:1 Gen_2:3). -Bullinger
poly-SIN-duh-tawn
Nerdy literature stuff:
Polysyndeton is a stylistic device in which several coordinating conjunctions are used in succession in order to achieve an artistic effect. Polysyndeton examples are found in literature and in day-to-day conversations. The term polysyndeton comes from a Greek word meaning “bound together.”Effect: The repetition of the conjunctions adds power to the other words. Polysyndeton slows down the pace of the sentence. It can add rhythm and cadence to a sentence or series of sentences
Anadiplosis is the literary term for a rhetorical device in which a writer or speaker uses a word near the end of the clause and then repeats that word to begin the next clause. Anadiplosis is used to bring attention to a specific thing or concept.
This makes me think that the earth in v. 1 and v2 are connected with NO GAP. So, is the idea of perfection in verse one not accurate?
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John Piper on Creationism
Notes from Desiring God
*We should teach without any qualification that God created the universe and everything in it. It wasn't always here. It didn't emerge from a big bang alone. God did it.
*Second I think we should preach that He made it good.
*Third I think we should preach that God made Adam and Eve directly...out of the ground.
*And that man had his beginning, not millions of years ago, but within the scope of the Biblical genealogies...those genealogies are tight around 6, 000 years and loose around 15,000 years. So I think we should honor those genealogies and not play fast with the origin of man. That's not the age of the earth issue--that's the issue of what is a human being and how did he come into existence. He came into existence by God's direct action and not millions of years ago, within the scope of genealogies.
How to construe Genesis 1 and 2....he's sympathetic of various views:
days are literal days, days are ages, or Sailhamer's view (which he likes)---all of creation happened to prepare the land for man in v 1....then you go, but day-by-day he's preparing the land......He's not bringing new things into existence....
This has the advantage of saying the earth billions of years old, whatever science says it is....but man is young and he was good and he sinned and he was a real historical person (Romans 5)
63 years old and never preached on Genesis yet.
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Alistair Begg--Perished Kingdom--Part 1
Notes on this sermon
Theme: Kingdom of God---not period of time, not geographical area, defines as "the sphere of God's supreme rule. God's people, in God's place, under God's rule, enjoying God's blessing."
Me: my first thought is that this agrees with the way Jesus expresses the Kingdom, outside of time
Genesis 1 & 2
Description of the world as God intended it to be. Why is the world the way it is? The world as we know it, is not the world as God created it, nor is it the world as God ultimately intends it to be. The world we know is a world that lives as a result of the implications of sin.
#1--God is the Author of creation. Always existed. Always a trinity. Expressed in Genesis 1:
God the Father, in taking the initiative
God the Spirit, hovering over the proceedings v 2
God the Son, Father's agent in the work of creation---John 1 "Without Him nothing was made that has been made" Colossians 1:16-17 "All things were created for Him and by Him...and in Him all things hold together."
God declared it all to be good.
Matter and physicality---some religions teach removal of matter and physical, but Genesis teaches the physical.
"God is transcendent. He is above and beyond all that he has made; he is different and distinct from it."-Alistair Begg
Different than pantheistic perspective
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Genesis Unbound suggests that we picture God creating the whole universe, “the heavens and the earth,” over some unspecified time in the past.
"However, despite admitting that Genesis 1 appears to indicate that God made the whole world and everything in it, as well as the sun, moon and stars in six days (p. 89), Sailhamer claims that Genesis 1:1 refers to the creation of the entire functioning universe, including the sun, moon and stars in the heavens, and the plants and animals on earth (p. 14). He goes on to argue that Genesis 1:2 onwards describes God preparing a land for man and woman to inhabit – the same land promised to Abraham and his descendants and the same land given to the Israelites after their wandering in the desert (p. 14). Sailhamer essentially holds to a kind of modified gap theory. He argues that “beginning” (Heb. reshit) can refer to an indefinite and possibly long period of time. He cites Genesis 10:10, and Jeremiah 28:1 for support." -
from Wikipedia
In Genesis Unbound: A Provocative New Look at the Creation Account (1996), Sailhamer argues for a view of creationism that he labels as "Historical Creationism", which contends that the creation week in Genesis 1 is a record of the preparation of the Garden of Eden for Adam and Eve, not a record of the preparation of the whole planet Earth itself or the universe.[10] This view, along with the book Genesis Unbound, has been endorsed by major evangelical pastors and theologians (particularly in the New Calvinist movement), such as Matt Chandler,[11] Mark Driscoll,[12] and John Piper.[13]
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Tim Keller
summarizing arguments/theories on how old Genesis account is....
*general scholarship believes Genesis 2 was written much later than 1, but he's not sure that's correct.
*scholarship suggests
*Genesis 1--poetry
Genesis 2--history
Insists that if you don't just view the Bible as a compendium of contradictory mashed up verses, but that if you view the Bible as true, you must view the chapters as two different genres.
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Sermon: The Song of Creation--Tim Keller 10/15/2000
How is everyone's first question, "How did the world begin?" "How long did it take?"
He views that as unfortunate because "how questions are not as important as why questions."
You want to know the why, the design.
Why did God make it? What is it for?
You have to be careful not to push the details because it's not there to push the details.
That's only true if you don't read the rest of the Bible. There are many places where there are two accounts of something.
Miriam's song about crossing the Red Sea, Exodus 15 (poetry, lyrical) vs. Exodus 14 account (historical)
Judges 4--great victory of army against Cicero, Judges 5 Deborah's song (metaphor, more figurative language)
In a poetic genre, you don't press the literal details.
Genesis 1 is full of repetition, so we ask the general questions not the specific
Two things about how the world began:
1. God began the world. The world is not the result of chance.
created is a word only used by God.
2. God began the world out of nothing.
Modern mythology---nature is an accident, the material world is the only reality
Ancient mythology/religion (eastern)---the world is never created out of nothing in any creation myths--always derivative, comes out of ooze, mud, bodies of defeated gods, slaughter of sea monster body, etc.
Only in Genesis are the Heavens and Earth created out of "ex nihlo" out of nothing., gives it its own being.
They all say, including modern mythologies that this world isn't real, isn't that important, an illusion, you want to get beyond this world, the body is the prison house of the soul, you want to escape this world, this world is dew and we eventually get beyond all this.
Modern mythology
This world is all there is (materialism) and you live for matter.
Ancient mythology
This world isn't important at all. Never get science or social justice out of these religions. You resign yourself, you are passive, you just move beyond it, to get to the afterlife.
In the Bible, God created the world, so this world is important. It's good. Physical pleasure is fine. Christianity knows the world is good enough that we should try to fix it. We work for justice.
Salvation in other religions is that we escape earth to get to heaven.
In Christianity, heaven comes to earth. He'll restore the body.
We don't live for pleasure, but we don't fear these things.
There are Clues--
*eight times "and God said"
God never creates without speaking.
He creates through speaking. God's word is an agent; it has agency.
*Spirit of God hovers....
hover---word only used for mother birds hovering over babies/eggs. Spirit here is personified as personal
*"Let us make God in our image"
Who is He talking to? The angels? Isaiah 40---says God didn't take counsel with anyone, not angels, not animals...
The word of God is a person, the Son.
John 1--nothing was created without...
God is a community--Father, Son and Holy Spirit doing creation together. God for all eternity has been a community, and that community is a circle of love. Maybe the idea of the Trinity overloads your circuits, but Augusten pointed out than unless you have a triune being, love is not the ultimate reality, love is not intrinsic to the universe, it came in later. They were delighting in each other's being and enjoying each other's glory, and pouring love into each other's bosom, and one day they said "let's expand the circle, the community...let us create beings that can become part of the circle."
One thing people miss is Genesis 1 is a song.
Why is God speaking to creation? He wants a relationship.
Why does God make us in His image? So we that can reflect his glory.
Why does God make for example the moon and the stars and it says they govern as rulers over the light and darkness?
Everything to some extent images God.
God created in nature, a whole community of beings who can reflect His glory. "It is good." What does that mean? Was it an inspection of sorts? No....the climax of the narrative is "it is very good." He's enjoying it.
Then He completes the circle by looking at what He made and enjoying it. The purpose of nature is community. The purpose of nature is singing; this is why nature inspires and moves us so. Nature sings the praises of its maker.
Simone Weil (unconventional Christian mystic and idealist, lived in early 20th century and died young from TB at 34)---beauty of nature, 1940's author. This love for nature is incomplete and painful. We want to be united with the beauty we see (C.S. Lewis) but can't be. This is why we dream up pantheism and fairytales. We discern the freshness of the beauty but can't make ourselves fresh. Nature is choir.
Psalm 19
polytheists---Gods out of ooze
monotheist--God existed by himself, love comes in later
Christianity--God's a community
We are always trying to get back to the good. You won't/can't "join the song." Nature is talking to every human being about God. Deep down we all know it.
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Wayne Grudem--March 2018
his focus--theistic evolution from the standpoint of what the Bible teaches about the creation of the world and the creation of living things in this world.
Argues--theistic evolution denies 12 creation events in Genesis
1. Adam and Eve not first beings but perhaps never existed
2. Adam and Eve born from human parents
3. Adam not created from dust, Eve not created from rib
4. Adam and Eve not perfect and sinless
5. Death did not come about b/c of their sin
6. Not all descended from Adam and Eve
Question: Whether Genesis 1-3 is a historical narrative in the sense of reporting events that the author wants the reader to believe actually happened as opposed to figurative or allegorical literature
theistic evolution definition--The view that God created matter and that after that matter acted according to its ordinary properties, God sustained it, but it just mutated over time. God did not guide
Implication---not direct creation, but mutation
not descended from 2 but from about 10,000 human beings
3 Modern Proponents:
Francis Collins--Biologos, believes
Dennis Alexander--Cambridge England biologist
John Walton--views as archetypes
Genesis has a narrative structure, doesn't see much repetition except Genesis 1:28, not set out as poetry
Where did Cain find his wife? Obviously a sister.
"evolving in pursuit of what he said"
Ten Reinforcements in NT
Matthew 19--"You created them from the beginning, male and female, therefore..."Jesus affirms
Luke--traces Jesus' genealogy back to Adam, "made God and everything in it"
Romans-sin came into the world through one man
1 Corinthians--man not made from woman, but woman from man--directly affirms Eve's creation out of Adam
have to deny ten NT books in treating it as historical narrative--too big a price to pay
Eleven Christian doctrines that are undermined by it
1. Truthfulness of the entire Bible (10 NT books undermined)
2. Whole areas of human knowledge about which they will not allow the Bible to speak about--nature and source of evil, Christ's involvement in creation
3. Denies the overwhelming evidence of God in nature. Theistic evolution gives them the excuse--by which they know longer have to say that they are accountable to God, undermines evangelism, major barrier, excuse for
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Still reading on Genesis 1
"She agrees that Genesis 1 is not Hebrew poetry, but claims that it is not a literal chronology of events either. However, the Hebrew grammar of Genesis 1 is exactly what is expected if it were representing a series of past events. That is, only the first verb is perfect, while the verbs that continue the narrative are imperfect. In Genesis 1, the first verb is bara (create) which is perfect, while the subsequent verbs that move the narrative forward are imperfect.
Birkett seems to advocate the ‘Literary framework Hypothesis’ for Genesis 1, popular among compromising evangelical academics who can see the futility of day-age and Gap Theory compromises. But it’s strange, if it were the true meaning of the text, that no-one interpreted Genesis this way until Arie Noordtzij in 1924. Actually it’s not so strange, because a leading Framework proponent much admired by Moore College academics, Henri Blocher, admits:
‘This hypothesis overcomes a number of problems that plagued the commentators [including] the confrontation with the scientific vision of the most distant past.’ (In the Beginning, p. 50, IVP 1984)
Once again, the rationale for a bizarre, novel interpretation is a desperation to fit the alleged ‘facts’ of science.
" -Creation Ministries International book review
I guess one thing that I need to explore is why do the anti "literary framework hypothesis" presume the view that those who accept this theory believe in macro-evolution? Can we not take the perspective that Genesis 1 is somewhat poetic and must not be pressed as much for this reason? This, instead of making what I think it a leap, and saying that we are twisting the text to fit science?
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Kristen B interview
science as we know it began in the 17th century with empiricism
public, communal approach
Why did science start then and there
Protestants and Puritans were looking into natural sciences
they viewed the puritan interest in science as an extension of their interest in doing "good things" that help humanity.
If you believe the Bible, you believe:
*natural world is real
*natural world is good
worth studying, worth investigating
*the world is orderly, rational, comprehensible, we can make sense of it, not random
*worthwhile investigating the world, and there will be a point in doing it (will yield consistent, helpful results)
Protestant demystification of nature--catholic was more mystical, supernatural into natural, words have ceremonial power, priest is supernaturally different than others, saints can mediate, matter can be examined causally
Protestants teach words have meaning, a communication, we are to grasp it with our minds
Robert Boyle 17th century doing science as a religious duty because it's uncovering God's glory. New instruments, such as the microscope, reveal God's glory.
scientific method
theology of volunteerism---to do with God's freedom. God can create however he wants to create....so we observe--empirical method
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Biblical Illustrator
In considering the subject of creation we see, first of all, that a distinction must be drawn between what I would call primary and secondary creation.
Primary creation is creation proper. It is that grand act whereby Almighty God in the beginning called into being the finite world. Secondary creation, on the other hand, belongs to the sphere of Providence, or to the sphere of the history of the finite world.
. WHAT IS MEANT BY CREATION? The giving being to that which before was not. Creation is a mystery eminently satisfactory to reason, but strictly beyond it. We men can do much in the way of modifying existing matter, but we cannot create the minutest particle of it. That God summoned it into being is a truth which we believe on God’s authority, but which we can never verify.
I. WHAT IS CREATION? Creation is a work of free condescension on the part of God.
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