THE BIBLE AS “STORY” # 2 “In the beginning…”
·
What is at stake in our understanding of Genesis chapter 1?
o The
“inspiration” of Scripture?
§ The
trustworthiness/accuracy of the Bible?
o 2 equal and opposite errors to avoid in
interpreting Gn. 1 (we “know” what
happened)
§ We “know”
that Gn. 1 tells us exactly how the universe came into existence and that
modern scientific theories are nonsense.
·
(This error assumes extra-biblical categories of
thought; we assume that the Bible gives us the kind of information that
modernity tells us we need to have in order to be confident that what we are
affirming is true)
§ We “know”
that modern cosmology tells us exactly how the universe came into existence and
that the Genesis story is nonsense.
·
(modern cosmological theories and Gn. 1 are both stories; scientists must assume the physical laws of the universe
as they study the universe’s origins; they cannot account for the laws
themselves or explain how they came into being, they can only use them to
extrapolate back [almost][1] to
the supposed point of origin)
o The fact of the matter is, no one
“knows” how the universe came into existence![2] Both the Bible and the modern cosmologists
are telling stories about the origin
of the universe.[3]
§ “to know”
·
Modernity: empirical
science is the only way to “know” anything.
If something can’t be verified by the scientific method, with results
that can be replicated in any laboratory, it cannot be accepted as true. (We cannot “scientifically” verify the Big
Bang!)[4]
·
The Bible: to “know”
something/someone is to be in
relationship to it/them. For Israel
to “know” Yahweh, she tells the story of her relationship to Yahweh – creation,
Abraham, Moses, etc. Biblical
relationships are based on “faith”, i.e. trust.
(Do we trust the Creator…that “He” is good?)
o “Meditation in a toolshed” …looking along
the beam
§ The Bible
calls us to see all of reality through its “eyes”, through its lens.
§ We must
look “along” the biblical worldview in order to grasp the “logic” of the
Bible’s understanding of reality.
§ We must
approach the Bible on its own terms.
·
The Ancient
Near Eastern worldview
o There is no
concept of the « natural » world in ancient culture. The dichotomy between « natural »
and « supernatural » is a product of modernity.
o In the
ancient world, nothing happened independently of deity (the gods). Then again, the gods were not seen as
« intervening » in a world that was somehow outside their
« proper jurisdiction ». The
ancients believed that every event was the act of deity.
§ Ex: “Sing
to the Lord …He …makes grass grow on the hills. He gives to the
animals their food, and to the young ravens when they cry” (Psalm 147.7-9).
o Therefore,
in the ancient (biblical) world, there were no « miracles »; there
were only signs of the gods’ activity.
o Since the
advent of modernity, the habit has developed among religious believers of
speaking of God’s « miraculous intervention » in nature…
·
The world
of Genesis: the Ancient Near East (ANE)
o ANE
cosmology
§ Naked-eye
cosmology
·
No
telescopes or microscopes
§ “functional”,
not “material”
·
Gn. 1 &
the “demotion” of the sun (and “the heavens”)
o Several
things strike us as being incongruous in the Gn. 1 account of creation:
§ Light without the sun (v. 3)
§ Days (time)
without the sun (vv. 5, 8, 13)
§ Earth and
vegetation without the sun (vv.
10-12)
§ The sun is
‘created’ on Day 4 (vv. 14-19)
o The sun was
worshipped as a divine being in the ANE
§ “the
heavens”[5]
were believed to be the abode of the gods, as possessing a kind of overall
“divinity”
·
Gn. 1 as
literary masterpiece
o Each
successive « step » of creation consists of dividing the previous
« category » into two:
§ Day 1: all created
things either lack place or have place (light).
§ Day 2: among
those things that have place, they either lack definite place/need to be
filled (sky, sea, earth) or have definite place (plants).
§ Day 3: among
those things that have definite place, they either lack local motion
(plants) or have local motion (sun, moon, stars).
§ Day 4: among those
things that have local motion, they either lack life (sun, moon, stars)
or have life (fish, birds).
§ Day 5: among
those creatures that have life, they are either nonterrestrial (fish,
birds) or terrestrial (land animals).
§ Day 6:
terrestrial creatures are either not created in god’s image (land
animals) or are indeed created in god’s image (mankind).[6]
·
Gn. 1 as a
creation account characterized by intelligible
hierarchy
o In the
hierarchy of creation, mankind is at the apex of the created order; mankind is
ranked « above » the « heavens », i.e. mankind is not to
exist in a state of helpless dread of « the gods », but is rather
commissioned as the vice-regent of the creator and tasked with the
« stewardship »/rule of the rest of the creatures.
o Also, the
creation is intelligible to mankind; i.e. it is designed in such a way as to be
accessible to human understanding. The
creation is indeed a mystery, but it is a mystery that invites exploration…
[1] One thousand-billionth of a second
from the “Bang”; cf. Gleiser, Marcelo, The Dancing Universe: From Creation
Myths to The Big Bang, New York: Dutton (Penguin Group), 1997, p. 304.
[2] Cf. Gleiser, Marcelo, The
Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to The Big Bang, New York: Dutton
(Penguin Group), 1997, p. 301.
[3] Cf. Gleiser, Marcelo, The
Dancing Universe: From Creation Myths to The Big Bang, New York: Dutton
(Penguin Group), 1997, pp. 3, 308-09; cf. also Gottschall, Jonathan, The
storytelling Animal: How Stories make us Human, New York: Mariner Books,
2012; All scientific research proceeds on the basis of the prevailing
“paradigm” at the time of research. Every once in a while, a “paradigm
shift” will occur, and newly-discovered data will force the crafting of a new
overarching theory which can account for the data – e.g. Einstein’s theory of
General Relativity, which called into question the then-current understanding
of the nature of the space-time universe. More recently, Quantum
Mechanics has called into question General Relativity’s capability to
adequately describe all the (up-to-now discovered) complexity of the universe;
cf. Kuhn, Thomas S., The Structure of Scientific Revolutions (50th Anniversary
Edition), Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, 2012 [1962,
1970, 1996].
[4] Although, through the construction
of enormous particle accelerators, the attempt is being made (cf. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Higgs_boson.
Accessed December 4, 2017).
[5] « The
heavens », unlike the rest of creation, are NOT said to be
« good »: Gn. 1.6-8; cf. also Gn. 1.26-28 (creation of mankind).
[6] Cf.
Kass, Leon R., The Beginning of Wisdom: Reading Genesis, Chicago
& London: The Chicago University Press, 2003, p. 34.
At issue:
ReplyDeleteGn1 & the "demotion" of the sun (and "the heavens")
Light without the sun
Days (time) without the sun
Earth and vegetation without the sun
The sun is "created" on Day 4
Day as used by Moses was meant to be a longer period (ie. Millions of years)
Hebrew and man would have had no concept of millions of years, billions in fact.
Hebrew dictionary limited, words many meanings and days in Hebrew also meant 'epoch'
Point of reference- not from outer space looking at big bang and formation of stars and planets
but on the surface of the earth ('power of God was moving on the water')
Day 1
Earth was a "water world" (as millions of planets can be now seen existing in space)
no land, only deep water
Earth's atmosphere 100 times thicker than now but by the end of day 1 atmoshphere was translucent
so there was overcast light
Day 2
"Let there be a dome to divide water (or as in Job 37, 38 which is oldest book of Bible)"
let there be all kinds of precipitation. So two levels water on earth and water in atmoshphere
Day 3
"Let water below sky come together in one place, so land will appear, then he commanded plants be produced"
Land formed through island volcanos and plate tectonics
vegetation began on land as there was water and light (albeit overcast light but plants & photosynthesis still take
place without direct sunlight.
Day 4
"Let lights appear in sky, so God made two larger lights, the sun to rule over day and moon to rule over night"
Sky turned from transluscent to transpartent. As cloud cover dissipated sun and moon 'appeared' for first time.
Sun and moon provided way for animals to regulate their activities
Day 5
Let water be filled with many kinds of living beings and air filled with birds
Day 6
let earth produce all kinds of animal life domestic, wild & small. And now we will make human beings.
animals - (mammals) physical and mind- possessing life
homo sapiens - physical, mind-possessing, and spiritual
Day 7
God stopped working, set it aside as special day
We are in the 7th day when God is redeeming souls
The 7th day will end at some time
Conclusion
Light without the sun - yes light existed but was not seen on earth until day 4
Days (time) without the sun - yes the sun was there but could not be seen on earth's surface
Earth and vegetation without the sun - yes translucent, overcast sky still produces vegetation
The sun is "created" on day 4 - no it is written "let there be light"
At first glance Gen 1 appears to be in error,
or something made up from its time but upon deeper analysis (given todays science)
Genesis 1 was inspired by God.