OBSERVATION:

3/5/2010

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Table of Contents

BECAUSE THERE IS A BEGINNING AND AN END, THE UNIVERSE IS HERE FOR A REASON.

WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?

THE 17TH & 18TH CENTURY ENLIGHTMENT AND THE ADVENT OF MODERN SCIENCE CAUSED NEW QUESTIONS TO BE ADDRESSED TO GENESIS 1-2

NEVER BEFORE HAD PEOPLE OF FAITH BEEN CONCERNED WITH HARMONIZING GENESIS 1-2 WITH ANYTHING

IT IS IMPORTANT THAT WE UNDERSTAND THE SOURCE OF TENSIONS

DRIVEN BY SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS, CHRISTIANS HAVE READ THE DAYS OF GENESIS IN THREE BASIC WAYS.

LITERAL 24 HOUR DAYS

OFTEN THE LITERAL INTERPRETATION FITS INTO A LARGER THEOLOGICAL SCHEME

STRENGTHS OF THE LITERAL DAY VIEW

WEAKNESSES OF LITERAL INTERPRETATION OF DAYS

FIGURATIVE INTERPRETATION OF DAYS IN GENESIS 1

Literary Movementin Genesis chs. 1-2

Forming the World Filling the World Items Created Items CreatedDay Day

As Genesis 2:4 begins there is a name change. Up to this point the Creator has simply been called God, Elohim. After Genesis 2:4 he is Lord God, Yahweh Elohim.

Comparison of Creation Accounts in Genesis 1 & 2

WHAT IS THE POINT?

INTERPRETATION IS THE POINT

DO SCIENTIFIC QUESTIONS DRIVE THE NARRATIVE?

THE BREVITY OF THE ACCOUNT SUGGESTS A METAPHORICAL TELLING.

What Are The Questions That Genesis 1-2 Address?

DO EFFORTS TO HARMONIZE THE CREATION NARRATIVE WITH SCIENCE PRODUCE FRUITFUL RESULTS?

THE QUESTION ANCIENT PEOPLE ASKED

The Creation Account in Genesis 1-2 Competed with Other Versions of Creation

The Akkadian/Babylonian Creation Epic

Akkadian Creation EpicEarly 2nd Millennium

WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

THE EPIC CONTINUES

LATER IN THE SAME EPIC

Apparently the Babylonian Creation Account Was Popular in the Ancient World. It Was a Common Theme in Literature and Other Art Forms

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS

ETHICAL IMPLICATIONS (CONT.)

IMPLICATIONS FOR THE GOD/MAN RELATIONSHIP

THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

THEOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS (CONT.)

ANTHROPOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS

Scientific Questions Are of No Concern to the Author

The Creation Narrative and History

FRANK AND ERNEST REMIND US THAT WHETHER WE ARE INTER-PRETING EVENTS OR WORDS IT ALL COMES IN A CONTEXT!

THE DAYS OF GENESIS 1

What Does the Scientific Data Require?

Ought Scientific Research Determine the Meaning of the Creation Account in Genesis?

What Does Faith Require?

The Wrong Way to Form the Question: Are We to Accept Science or the Bible?

The text of Genesis 1 is not compromised when readers understand the creation days to fit into an overall literary, poetical, metaphorical design. One may take the Bible ser-iously, believe it to be absolutely true, and take the days of Genesis 1 as figurative expressions.

The text of Genesis 1 is not compromised when readers understand the creation days to fit into an overall literary, poetical, metaphorical design.

ARE THERE OTHER PASSAGES IN THE BIBLE THAT REQUIRE THE READER TO INTERPRET THE DAYS OF GENESIS 1 LITERALLY?

The Bible offers many examples where words for time periods are used in a figurative sense:

THE MEANING OF “DAYS” IN GENESIS IS CRUCIAL FOR DECIDING BETWEEN INTERPRETATIVE APPROACHES

What are the implications when we suggest the days of Genesis 1 are part of a figurative/poetical narrative?

Attempts to Rescue the 24-hour Days of Genesis

Allowing the Text to Speak for Itself

AN ILLUSTRATION

Doesn’t the Phrase “Evening and Morning” Require That the Author Meant 24 Hour Days?

The Ethical & Religious Concerns of the Author Assume These Facts

Genesis 1-2 Isn’t All

Colossians 1:15-16

AT SOME POINT IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO LOOK AT THE UNIVERSE AND ASK QUESTIONS. AT SOME POINT THE UNIVERSE BECOMES THE QUESTION.

It is as it should be when:

CONCLUSIONS FROM WORD STUDY

For Discussion: What Do You Think of the Following:

Author: DWARDEN

Email: jmackey@harding.edu

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