The Biblical Account of Origins: A Critical Analysis of Genesis 1:1
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By Richard M. Davidson
THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF ORIGINS
JOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
14/1 (SPRING 2003) 4-43
BASIC ELEMENTS IN THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT
•
“In the beginning—the “
when
” of origins
•
“God”—the “
Who
” of origins
•
“created”—the “
how
” of origins
•
“the heavens and the earth”—the “
what
” of
origins
WHEN WHO HOW WHAT
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
Absolute or Relative Beginning?
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS
Independent Clause
Dependent Clause
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
”In the beginning God
created the heavens and
the earth.”
•
KJV, NIV, NJB, NLT,
NASB, NKJV, REB,
RSV
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS
Independent Clause
Dependent Clause
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
“When God began to
create the heavens and
the earth….”
•
NJPS , NAB, NRSV,
NEB
”In the beginning God
created the heavens and
the earth.”
•
KJV, NIV, NJB, NLT,
NASB, NKJV, REB,
RSV
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS
Independent Clause
Dependent Clause
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
•
No
creatio ex nihilo
is
mentioned.
•
Matter is already in existence
when God begins to create.
•
The heavens, earth, darkness,
the deep, and water already
exist at the beginning of God’s
creative activity.
•
No absolute beginning is
indicated
.
•
Creatio ex nihilo
is explicitly
affirmed.
•
God exists before matter.
•
God creates the heavens,
earth, darkness, the deep,
and water.
•
There is an absolute
beginning of time for the
cosmos.
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS
Independent Clause
Dependent Clause
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
IMPORTANCE
•
“The issue between these two options…is not esoteric
quibbling…does Genesis 1:1 suggest that
in the
beginning
there was one—
God
;
or
does it suggest that
in the beginning there were
two—God and preexistent
chaos
?”
Victor P. Hamilton,
The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
•
According to Hebrew
grammar
and
syntax
, the natural
reading of Genesis 1:1 is as an independent clause:
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the
earth.”
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
EVIDENCE
FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
•
The
short, stylistic structure
matches the rest of the
chapter.
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
•
The
theological thrust
of a God who transcends matter
matches the rest of the chapter.
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
•
All the
ancient versions
(LXX, Vulgate, etc.) use the
independent clause.
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE
•
John 1:1 alludes to Genesis 1:1 and uses the
independent clause.
•
“In the beginning was the word…”
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
CONCLUSION
—
ABSOLUTE BEGINNING
•
“I find the weight of evidence within Scripture decisive
in pointing toward the traditional translation of Genesis
1:1 as an independent clause: ‘
In the beginning
God
created the heavens and the earth.’”
WHEN
--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
IMPORTANCE
•
Without a literal beginning, there is no literal end.
•
The doctrines of humanity, sin, salvation, judgment,
Sabbath, etc., presented already in the opening
chapters of Genesis, all hinge upon a literal
interpretation of origins.
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
Literary genre of Genesis 1-11
points to the literal
historical nature of the creation account.
•
Best genre designation is “historical narrative prose”
•
The narratives of Genesis 1-2 lack any clues that they
are to be taken as non-literal
•
The creation narratives are different than later biblical
narratives, but this is because of their subject matter
(creation) and not their literary form (narrative)
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
The literary structure of Genesis as a whole
indicates the
intended literal nature of the creation narratives
•
Genesis structured by the word
“generations
”
•
Used in the setting of genealogies concerned with the
accurate account of time and history
•
“These are the
generations
of the heavens and of the
earth” shows the author intends it to be literal
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
The use of
specific temporal terms
•
“Evening and morning” at the conclusion of each of the
six days of creation
•
Use of “evening” and “morning” together outside of
Genesis 1, invariably, without exception in the OT (57
times) indicate a literal solar day
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
The use of
specific temporal terms
•
The occurrence of the Hebrew word for day (
yom
) with
ordinal numbers (first day, second day, third day, etc.)
elsewhere in Scripture reveals that such usage always
refers to literal days
•
References to the function of the sun and moon for
signs, seasons, days, and years indicates literal time
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
•
The divine Lawgiver
unequivocally interprets the first
week as a literal week, consisting of seven
consecutive, contiguous twenty-four-hour days.
•
Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy…six days
shalt thou labor…but the seventh day is the Sabbath…
for in six days
the Lord made heaven and earth, the
sea, and all that in them is… Exodus 20:8-11
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
•
Jesus
refers to Genesis 1-11 with the underlying
assumption that it is literal, reliable history
•
Jesus refers to Genesis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
The
biblical writers
understood the six days of creation as
six literal, historical, contiguous, creative, natural twenty-
four-days.
•
All
NT writers refer to Genesis 1-11 with the underlying
assumption that it is literal, reliable history
•
Every chapter of Genesis 1-11 is referred to
somewhere in the NT
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR LITERAL BEGINNING
•
“The author of Genesis 1
could not have
produced
more comprehensive and all-inclusive ways to express
the idea of a literal ‘day’ than the one chosen.” (Hasel,
“The ‘Days’ of Creation in Genesis 1”)
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
CONCLUSION
—
LITERAL
•
Based upon the testimony of the Genesis account and
later intertextual allusions to this account, I must join
the host of scholars, ancient and modern—both critical
and evangelical—who affirm the literal, historical nature
of Genesis 1 and 2, with a literal creation week
consisting of six historical, contiguous, creative, natural
twenty-four-hour days, followed immediately by a literal
twenty-four-hour seventh day, during which God rested,
blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath as a memorial of
creation.
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
•
Even critical scholars protest non-literal interpretations
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
LITERAL
•
…so far as I know there is no professor of Hebrew or
Old Testament at any world-class university who does
not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1-11 intended
to convey to their readers the idea that creation took
place in a series of six days which were the same as
the days of 24 hours we now experience…
James Barr, critical scholar
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
LITERAL
•
Everything that is said here [in Genesis 1] is to be
accepted exactly as it is written; nothing is to be
interpreted symbolically or metaphorically.
Gerhard von Rad, critical scholar
WHEN
—Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
•
It is not the text that causes people to think otherwise,
only the demands of trying to harmonize with modern
science.
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
Multiple of Single Beginnings?
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
ACTIVE GAP THEORY
•
“The earth
became
without form and void”
•
Active Gap Theory—”ruin restoration”
•
Satan ruled an originally perfect creation some
unknown time ago, before his rebellion
•
Earth
became
chaotic because of
•
Satan’s experimentation
•
God’s judgment
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
ACTIVE GAP THEORY
•
Theory flounders on grammatical grounds
•
“The earth
was
without form and void”
•
Hebrew grammar leaves no room for this interpretation
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
INITIAL “UNFORMED-UNFILLED” VIEW
•
Traditional view, supported by majority of Jewish and
Christian interpreters through history
•
God created “the heavens and the earth” out of nothing
at the time of their absolute beginning
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
CONCLUSION
--
INITIAL UNFORMED UNFILLED
•
God is before all creation (v 1)
•
There is an absolute beginning of time (v 1)
•
God creates the heavens and earth (v 1) but (at least) the earth is at first
different than now—it is unformed and unfilled (v 2)
•
On the first day of the seven-day creation week, God begins to form and fill
(v 3ff)
•
The forming and filling creative activity of God is accomplished in six
successive, literal, 24-hour days
•
At the end of creation week, the heavens and earth are finally finished (Gen.
2:1) What God began in v 1 is now completed)
•
God rests on the 7
th
day, blessing and sanctifying it as a memorial of creation
(2:1-4
)
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
•
Genesis 1:1-2 go together
but are separated from
verse 3 by a gap
•
Raw materials of the earth
in their unformed-unfilled
state were created before—
perhaps long before—the
seven days of creation
week
•
Genesis 1:1-2 are on day
one
•
Raw materials are included
in the first day of the seven-
day creation week
WHEN WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNING?
No Gap
Passive Gap
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR PASSIVE GAP
“And God said…
…and there was evening and there was morning”
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR PASSIVE GAP
1. If the description of the first day is consistent with the
other five, this would place verses 1-2 outside of the first
day.
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR PASSIVE GAP
1. If the description of the first day is consistent with the
other five, this would place verses 1-2 outside of the first
day.
2. The dyad “heavens and earth” (entire universe) are to
be distinguished from the triad (heaven, earth, and sea”
(the three earth habitats).
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR PASSIVE GAP
3. The Hebrew word for “beginning” in 1:1 does not refer
to a point in time, but to a period or duration of time which
falls before a series of events.
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR PASSIVE GAP
3. The Hebrew word for “beginning” in 1:1 does not refer
to a point in time, but to a period or duration of time which
falls before a series of events.
4. Already in the creation account, there is an emphasis
upon God’s creating by differentiation or separation
involving previously-created materials.
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE
FOR PASSIVE GAP
5. The complementary creation account of chapter 2
reveals such a two-stage process of creation. Beginning
with the raw materials—the clay—He formed Adam and
breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. God also used
a two-stage process to create Eve from the raw material
of Adam’s rib.
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
•
Genesis 1:1-2 go together
but are separated from
verse 3 by a gap
•
Raw materials of the earth
in their unformed-unfilled
state were created before—
perhaps long before—the
seven days of creation
week
•
Genesis 1:1-2 are on day
one
•
Raw materials are included
in the first day of the seven-
day creation week
EITHER OPTION POSSIBLE
No Gap
Passive Gap
WHEN
—Multiple or Single Beginning?
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
Recent or Remote Beginning?
(thousands or millions of years)
WHEN
WHO HOW WHAT
EVIDENCE
FOR RECENT BEGINNING
Genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 have no parallel among
the other genealogies of the Bible or ANE literature.
Repeating pattern:
•
A patriarch lived
x
years
, then begat a son;
•
After he begat this son, he lived
y
more years
, and
begat more sons and daughters;
•
And all the years of this patriarch were
z
years
.
WHEN
—Recent or Remote?
EVIDENCE
FOR RECENT BEGINNING
•
Unlike the other genealogies which often do contain gaps,
the interlocking features of these “chronogenealogies”
indicate that they are to be taken as complete genealogies
with no gaps between the individual patriarchs mentioned
•
“Begat” is the special causative form that always in the OT
refers to actual direct physical offspring. (in contrast to a
different use in other biblical genealogies)
•
Scholarly consensus is that the Hebrew MT has preserved
the original figures in their purest form
WHEN
—Recent or Remote?
EVIDENCE
FOR RECENT BEGINNING
•
From Abraham to the present, there is disagreement
among scholars about the Israelite sojourn in Egypt
(215 years or 430 years)
•
From Abraham to the present is clear from Scripture,
and the total is only some 4000 (+/- 200 years)
•
Creation week unambiguously occurred
recently
WHEN
—Recent or Remote?
EVIDENCE
FOR RECENT BEGINNING
Character of God
•
It is totally out of character with the God of the Bible to
It is totally out of character with the God of the Bible to
allow a history of cruelty and pain to go on for long
allow a history of cruelty and pain to go on for long
periods of time—millions of years—when it would serve
periods of time—millions of years—when it would serve
no purpose in the cosmic controversy against Satan
no purpose in the cosmic controversy against Satan
•
Thus the genealogies, pointing to a recent creation, are
Thus the genealogies, pointing to a recent creation, are
a window into the heart of a loving, compassionate God
a window into the heart of a loving, compassionate God
WHEN
—Recent or Remote?
WHEN
WHO
HOW WHAT
TWO NAMES FOR GOD
•
Two names for God appear in the Creation accounts:
•
Elohim
•
Generic, all-powerful One
•
Emphasizes transcendence
•
Yahweh
•
Covenant name
•
Emphasizes immanence
WHO
NOTICE
1.
No proof of God is provided, but the assertion of His
existence is bold.
2.
God is the ultimate foundation of reality.
3.
The portrayal of God in the creation account provides a
polemic against the ANE gods:
•
Polytheism
•
Moral decadence
•
Rivalry
•
Mortality
•
Pantheism
WHO
NOTICE
4.
There are i
ntimations of the plurality of the Godhead:
•
“Spirit of God” in Genesis 1:2
•
The creative Word (ten times in Genesis 1)
•
“Let
us
” of Genesis 1:26
5
. It would be natural for the plurality of persons within the
deity, whose character is one of covenant love, to wish to
create other beings with whom He could share fellowship.
WHO
WHEN WHO
HOW
WHAT
DIVINELY
•
By
Divine
bara
•
Exclusively God’s action
•
Creating something totally new and effortlessly
produced
HOW
DIVINELY
•
By
Divine
bara
•
Exclusively God’s action
•
Creating something totally new and effortlessly
produced
•
By
Divine Fiat
•
By the word of the Lord were the heavens made,
and all the host of them by the breath of his
mouth…For He spoke and it was done; He
commanded and it stood fast (Psalm 33:6, 9)
HOW
AS A POLEMIC
•
As a
polemic
against ideas in Mesopotamian creation
texts:
•
Struggle between dieties
•
Struggle with forces of chaos
•
Sexual activity between the gods
•
Worship of sun and moon
HOW
•
Luminaries
•
Birds and fish
•
Animals and man
•
Light
•
Sky and waters separated
•
Dry land and vegetation
DRAMATICALLY AND AESTHETICALLY
Forming the unformed
Filling the unfilled
HOW
•
Luminaries
•
Birds and fish
•
Animals and man
•
Light
•
Sky and waters separated
•
Dry land and vegetation
DRAMATICALLY AND AESTHETICALLY
Forming the unformed
Filling the unfilled
HOW
•
Luminaries
•
Birds and fish
•
Animals and man
•
Light
•
Sky and waters separated
•
Dry land and vegetation
DRAMATICALLY AND AESTHETICALLY
Forming the unformed
Filling the unfilled
HOW
•
Luminaries
•
Birds and fish
•
Animals and man
•
Light
•
Sky and waters separated
•
Dry land and vegetation
DRAMATICALLY AND AESTHETICALLY
Forming the unformed
Filling the unfilled
HOW
•
Luminaries
•
Birds and fish
•
Animals and man
•
Light
•
Sky and waters separated
•
Dry land and vegetation
DRAMATICALLY AND AESTHETICALLY
Forming the unformed
Filling the unfilled
HOW
•
Luminaries
•
Birds and fish
•
Animals and man
•
Light
•
Sky and waters separated
•
Dry land and vegetation
DRAMATICALLY AND AESTHETICALLY
Forming the unformed
Filling the unfilled
HOW
•
Luminaries
•
Birds and fish
•
Animals and man
•
Light
•
Sky and waters separated
•
Dry land and vegetation
DRAMATICALLY AND AESTHETICALLY
Forming the unformed
Filling the unfilled
HOW
WHEN WHO HOW
WHAT
•
Cannot be absolutely ruled
out
•
The
Heaven and
the
Earth
•
Both have articles (v 1)
•
But not separately (v 8,
10)
“THE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH”
The Universe
Earth & Solar System
WHAT
Totality of all creation, entire
universe
Like…
•
Young and old (everyone)
•
High and low (everywhere
)
DYAD OR TRIAD?
The heavens and the earth
WHAT
•
Three basic habitats of
earth
•
Sky
•
Land
•
Water
Totality of all creation, entire
universe
Like…
•
Young and old (everyone)
•
High and low (everywhere
)
DYAD OR TRIAD?
The heavens and the earth
Heaven, earth, and seas
WHAT
THE UNIVERSE
•
Genesis 1:1 refers to the creation of the entire
universe, prior to the six-day creation week (Implies
creatio ex nihilo
--creation out of nothing)
•
If the “passive gap” interpretation is correct, then the
creation of “the heavens and the earth” during the span
of time termed “in the beginning,” encompassed the
whole galactic universe,
including
the planet earth in its
“unformed and unfilled” condition
WHAT
HEAVEN, EARTH, AND SEA
•
“The earth” (by itself) in v 2 shifts focus to our planet
•
Heavens, earth, sea—three basic habitats of our planet
WHAT
LIGHTS
•
One option: Sun not present till 4
th
day--God’s presence was
the source of light the first 3 days
•
1:4 God divided the light from the darkness
•
1:18 luminaries divide the light from the darkness
•
Psalm 104—God described as covering Himself with light
•
Another option: Sun present but unused before 4th day
•
Became visible, given purpose, or became fully functional on day 4
•
Stars
•
Syntax does not require the creation of stars on day 4 (could be
parenthetical)
WHAT
THE UNIVERSE
•
The whole process of creating “the heavens and the
earth” is finished or completed at the end of the
creation week. (indicated by the repeated merism in
Gen 2:1 and 2:4a)
WHAT
OTHER ISSUES
TWO DIFFERENT ACCOUNTS?
•
Beginning in 2:7, more detailed description of day 6
•
Focusing attention on humanity’s personal needs
DEATH/PREDATION BEFORE SIN?
•
Not only is there no death on this world before creation
week, there is no life!
•
Genesis 1:1-2 make no room for living organisms to be
present upon planet earth before creation week, let
alone death and predation.
By Richard M. Davidson
Summary and Narration:
Carol Raney
THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF ORIGINS
JOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY
14/1 (SPRING 2003) 4-43
The Biblical Account of Origins, by Richard M. Davidson
The study examines the pivotal verse Genesis 1:1, exploring the implications of different translations and interpretations regarding the absolute or relative beginning of creation. The analysis delves into the theological and philosophical implications of the text, shedding light on the nuanced perspectives of creation ex nihilo and the nature of God’s existence pre-matter.
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Presentation Transcript
THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT OF ORIGINS JOURNAL OF THE ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SOCIETY 14/1 (SPRING 2003) 4-43 By Richard M. Davidson
BASIC ELEMENTS IN THE BIBLICAL ACCOUNT In the beginning the when of origins God the Who of origins created the how of origins the heavens and the earth the what of origins
WHEN WHO HOW WHAT
WHEN WHO HOW WHAT Absolute or Relative Beginning?
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS Independent Clause Dependent Clause WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS Independent Clause Dependent Clause In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. KJV, NIV, NJB, NLT, NASB, NKJV, REB, RSV WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS Independent Clause Dependent Clause In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. When God began to create the heavens and the earth . KJV, NIV, NJB, NLT, NASB, NKJV, REB, RSV NJPS , NAB, NRSV, NEB WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
TWO MAJOR TRANSLATIONS Independent Clause Dependent Clause No creatio ex nihilo is mentioned. Matter is already in existence when God begins to create. The heavens, earth, darkness, the deep, and water already exist at the beginning of God s creative activity. No absolute beginning is indicated. Creatio ex nihilo is explicitly affirmed. God exists before matter. God creates the heavens, earth, darkness, the deep, and water. There is an absolute beginning of time for the cosmos. WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
IMPORTANCE The issue between these two options is not esoteric quibbling does Genesis 1:1 suggest that in the beginning there was one God; or does it suggest that in the beginning there were two God and preexistent chaos? Victor P. Hamilton, The Book of Genesis: Chapters 1-17 WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE According to Hebrew grammar and syntax, the natural reading of Genesis 1:1 is as an independent clause: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE The short, stylistic structure matches the rest of the chapter. WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE The theological thrust of a God who transcends matter matches the rest of the chapter. WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE All the ancient versions (LXX, Vulgate, etc.) use the independent clause. WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR INDEPENDENT CLAUSE John 1:1 alludes to Genesis 1:1 and uses the independent clause. In the beginning was the word WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
CONCLUSIONABSOLUTE BEGINNING I find the weight of evidence within Scripture decisive in pointing toward the traditional translation of Genesis 1:1 as an independent clause: In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. WHEN--Absolute or Relative Beginning?
WHEN WHO HOW WHAT Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
IMPORTANCE Without a literal beginning, there is no literal end. The doctrines of humanity, sin, salvation, judgment, Sabbath, etc., presented already in the opening chapters of Genesis, all hinge upon a literal interpretation of origins. WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING Literary genre of Genesis 1-11 points to the literal historical nature of the creation account. Best genre designation is historical narrative prose The narratives of Genesis 1-2 lack any clues that they are to be taken as non-literal The creation narratives are different than later biblical narratives, but this is because of their subject matter (creation) and not their literary form (narrative) WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING The literary structure of Genesis as a whole indicates the intended literal nature of the creation narratives Genesis structured by the word generations Used in the setting of genealogies concerned with the accurate account of time and history These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth shows the author intends it to be literal WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING The use of specific temporal terms Evening and morning at the conclusion of each of the six days of creation Use of evening and morning together outside of Genesis 1, invariably, without exception in the OT (57 times) indicate a literal solar day WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING The use of specific temporal terms The occurrence of the Hebrew word for day (yom) with ordinal numbers (first day, second day, third day, etc.) elsewhere in Scripture reveals that such usage always refers to literal days References to the function of the sun and moon for signs, seasons, days, and years indicates literal time WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING The divine Lawgiver unequivocally interprets the first week as a literal week, consisting of seven consecutive, contiguous twenty-four-hour days. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days shalt thou labor but the seventh day is the Sabbath for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is Exodus 20:8-11 WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING Jesus refers to Genesis 1-11 with the underlying assumption that it is literal, reliable history Jesus refers to Genesis 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING The biblical writers understood the six days of creation as six literal, historical, contiguous, creative, natural twenty- four-days. All NT writers refer to Genesis 1-11 with the underlying assumption that it is literal, reliable history Every chapter of Genesis 1-11 is referred to somewhere in the NT WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR LITERAL BEGINNING The author of Genesis 1 could not have produced more comprehensive and all-inclusive ways to express the idea of a literal day than the one chosen. (Hasel, The Days of Creation in Genesis 1 ) WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
CONCLUSIONLITERAL Based upon the testimony of the Genesis account and later intertextual allusions to this account, I must join the host of scholars, ancient and modern both critical and evangelical who affirm the literal, historical nature of Genesis 1 and 2, with a literal creation week consisting of six historical, contiguous, creative, natural twenty-four-hour days, followed immediately by a literal twenty-four-hour seventh day, during which God rested, blessing and sanctifying the Sabbath as a memorial of creation. WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
Even critical scholars protest non-literal interpretations WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
LITERAL so far as I know there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1-11 intended to convey to their readers the idea that creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience James Barr, critical scholar WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
LITERAL Everything that is said here [in Genesis 1] is to be accepted exactly as it is written; nothing is to be interpreted symbolically or metaphorically. Gerhard von Rad, critical scholar WHEN Literal or Non-Literal Beginning?
It is not the text that causes people to think otherwise, only the demands of trying to harmonize with modern science.
WHEN WHO HOW WHAT Multiple of Single Beginnings?
ACTIVE GAP THEORY The earth becamewithout form and void Active Gap Theory ruin restoration Satan ruled an originally perfect creation some unknown time ago, before his rebellion Earth became chaotic because of Satan s experimentation God s judgment WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
ACTIVE GAP THEORY Theory flounders on grammatical grounds The earth was without form and void Hebrew grammar leaves no room for this interpretation WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
INITIAL UNFORMED-UNFILLED VIEW Traditional view, supported by majority of Jewish and Christian interpreters through history God created the heavens and the earth out of nothing at the time of their absolute beginning WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
CONCLUSION--INITIAL UNFORMED UNFILLED God is before all creation (v 1) There is an absolute beginning of time (v 1) God creates the heavens and earth (v 1) but (at least) the earth is at first different than now it is unformed and unfilled (v 2) On the first day of the seven-day creation week, God begins to form and fill (v 3ff) The forming and filling creative activity of God is accomplished in six successive, literal, 24-hour days At the end of creation week, the heavens and earth are finally finished (Gen. 2:1) What God began in v 1 is now completed) God rests on the 7th day, blessing and sanctifying it as a memorial of creation (2:1-4) WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
WHEN WAS THE ABSOLUTE BEGINNING? No Gap Passive Gap Genesis 1:1-2 are on day one Genesis 1:1-2 go together but are separated from verse 3 by a gap Raw materials are included in the first day of the seven- day creation week Raw materials of the earth in their unformed-unfilled state were created before perhaps long before the seven days of creation week WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR PASSIVE GAP And God said and there was evening and there was morning WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR PASSIVE GAP 1. If the description of the first day is consistent with the other five, this would place verses 1-2 outside of the first day. WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR PASSIVE GAP 1. If the description of the first day is consistent with the other five, this would place verses 1-2 outside of the first day. 2. The dyad heavens and earth (entire universe) are to be distinguished from the triad (heaven, earth, and sea (the three earth habitats). WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR PASSIVE GAP 3. The Hebrew word for beginning in 1:1 does not refer to a point in time, but to a period or duration of time which falls before a series of events. WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR PASSIVE GAP 3. The Hebrew word for beginning in 1:1 does not refer to a point in time, but to a period or duration of time which falls before a series of events. 4. Already in the creation account, there is an emphasis upon God s creating by differentiation or separation involving previously-created materials. WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
EVIDENCE FOR PASSIVE GAP 5. The complementary creation account of chapter 2 reveals such a two-stage process of creation. Beginning with the raw materials the clay He formed Adam and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. God also used a two-stage process to create Eve from the raw material of Adam s rib. WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
EITHER OPTION POSSIBLE No Gap Passive Gap Genesis 1:1-2 are on day one Genesis 1:1-2 go together but are separated from verse 3 by a gap Raw materials are included in the first day of the seven- day creation week Raw materials of the earth in their unformed-unfilled state were created before perhaps long before the seven days of creation week WHEN Multiple or Single Beginning?
WHEN WHO HOW WHAT Recent or Remote Beginning? (thousands or millions of years)
EVIDENCE FOR RECENT BEGINNING Genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 have no parallel among the other genealogies of the Bible or ANE literature. Repeating pattern: A patriarch lived x years, then begat a son; After he begat this son, he lived y more years, and begat more sons and daughters; And all the years of this patriarch were z years. WHEN Recent or Remote?
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