Here begins a series of brief studies on the first chapters of Genesis.
These texts have held a continual fascination for me since the days of seminary, when I studied Hebrew and OT under John Sailhamer at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School (Deerfield, IL). Much of what you will read here will reflect the approach (though not necessarily the details) he takes in his stimulating commentary on Genesis (Expositor's Bible Commentary), his work on the Torah called The Pentateuch as Narrative, and in his specific study of Genesis 1-2, Genesis Unbound.
A word about the nature of this study...I am interested in the meaning of the text, not in its application to apologetics. Many modern studies of Genesis are undertaken in order to help Bible-believing people understand the relationship between Scripture and science. That is the realm of apologetics and it is not unimportant. However, it is secondary. My goal is different, and more foundational. I want to know what the text says and means in the context of the Bible, and what the author wanted his audience to gain from reading this text.
With this in mind, here are three essential positions I believe one must take to approach this part of the Bible correctly:
- We must try to read this text through pre-scientific eyes. The author and original readers of this passage knew nothing of Ptolemy, Copernicus and Galileo, Newton or Einstein. They knew only the world they could observe. If you had spoken to one of them about something as basic to us as "planet Earth," he would have had no concept of what you were saying. When we as moderns read "heavens and earth" in our English-language Bibles, we have a much more sophisticated picture in mind than someone in Moses's day (c. 1200BC), who saw "the skies and the land."
- We must try to read this text through an earthly observer's eyes. The perspective I think many of us have in our minds when we read Genesis 1 is that of the Apollo 8 astronauts, who gazed at the magnificent blue ball of planet Earth while orbiting the moon. In other words, we imagine that the author is taking us to some divine balcony seat where we can view the action from a cosmic point of view. However, the chapter is actually written from the vantage point of an ordinary human being on the ground, hearing and observing the words and works of God.
- We must try to read this text as through the eyes of its first audience and as part of the entire book that was given to them. I take the traditional view of authorship and composition of Genesis and the Pentateuch. Genesis is part one of a five-part book, the Torah, put together by Moses and given to the generation of Israelites that was preparing to enter the Promised Land. If the early part of Genesis introduces this work that was written for them, how does it do that? What message, pertinent to those people, begins with Genesis 1?
9 comments:
Howdy Mike...Jeff again,
When you say pre-scientific, you presume that many of these ancient societies did not have
knowledge of the earth and it's movement through the heavens. This is an incorrect assumption.
Many ancient societies studied the movement of the heavenly bodies and understood their place in
the heavens. Some with a level of sophistication that has only been match recently.
In fact, ancient societies like the Egyptians, the Sumarians and the Mayans had advanced knowledge
of the heavens and the earth. They could accurately track the alignment of the stars and
planets. Plus, some of the cosmological discoveries that have only been made in the past few
hundred years were already known by the ancients (i.e. the two small moons around Mars, a
companion star around Sirius, the center of the Milky Way containing a dense mass star [a
black hole], etc.).
Plus the oldest book in the Bible, Job, accurately describes heavenly and earthly processes that have only been discovered in the past few hundred years (i.e. oceanic currents, meteorology, the earth's hydrologic cycle, a close gravitation bond among the stars in Orion's belt, the outward expansion of the universe in all directions, the smelting of metals (brass, copper, steel) etc.)
Also, many ancient maps of the earth have shown a level of sophistication that only now we can
match with GPS. Plus an accurate map of Antarctica without a glacier covering. (see the website: http://www.beforeus.com for more examples – he's a bit sensational, but accurate in his findings)
Therefore, since God, not Moses, is the author of Genesis, (and the first audience/observer to His
creation), why don't we try to look at it through His eyes?
God Bless,
Jeff
So, Jeff, did God just drop Genesis from heaven? How do you understand the doctrine of inspiration?
Every word was ordained by God. So..yes...Genesis and all the other books of the Bible dropped down from heaven. Moses took dictation as God wrote His Word.
Jeff
Please clarify who you are speaking about when you say author. Are you referring to John Collins, Moses or God, because if you are referring to more than one, it is unclear at times.
I have to admit that I am unfamiliar with John Collins.
Question, from what I read about the land referring to the promise land, do you also believe in the first earth age?
Nila
Where does Genesis 1 end?...
"Our first task in studying Genesis 1 is to observe and mark the extent of the text that the author has given us."
As I finish reading, again please clarify who you refer to as author.
2Ti 3:16 All scripture [is] given by inspiration of God...
Jos 23:6 Be ye therefore very courageous to keep and to do all that is written in the book of the law of Moses...
Nila
Thank you Jeff and Nila for your comments.
Nila, when I speak of the "author" I am usually referring to the human author, in this case, Moses.
I have a conservative, evangelical view of inspiration, which means that I believe the Holy Spirit superintended Moses and the other authors of Scripture so that they wrote God's words without error in the original writings.
This is sometimes called "verbal" inspiration (the words of Scripture themselves and not just the thoughts are inspired) and "plenary" inspiration (all Scripture in every part is inspired).
However, Jeff, the idea of "dictation" is not the normally accepted Christian view of inspiration. The conservative evangelical view allows for the author's personal involvement, intentions and style as part of the process.
I don't think it without reason that God chose one of the best educated and gifted men in the ancient world to write the Torah!
So when did “normal” equate to truth? I only care for what is the Bibles view of inspiration; every word and letter is ordained from above. Also, when did scholarship equate to being qualified? You do realize that God used a bunch of unqualified fishermen, sheep herders, farmers, murderers, liars, and thieves to write portions of Scripture as well as doctors, attorneys, kings, noblemen, and the like.
Jeff
The Bible's own view of inspiration is not that of dictation.
And when I speak about the "normal," accepted orthodox view, I am attempting to respect what the Holy Spirit has taught the church through the ages, based on the Bible's own teaching and recorded in the conservative, evangelical creeds and statements that have been written down to summarize sound doctrine. And the "scholars" I refer to are those that, in my opinion, most faithfully represent those positions.
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