Few topics provoke so many questions among Christians and stir so much debate with secularists as Biblical creation. Are the six days of creation a valid reason to dismiss faith all together and Christianity in particular?
Both groups instinctively know, but often take for granted, that the Bible is an ancient book and should therefore be approached with humility – acknowledging assumptions that may hinder understanding its message. One would not read âAtlas Shruggedâ in hopes of understanding how to build a railroad, nor âAnimal Farmâ to learn of the social habits of livestock. Doing so would violate the purpose of those books. So, what is the purpose of the biblical creation account?
Babylon, Assyria, Egypt and other ancient cultures each developed cosmological accounts of creation to provide answers to questions that people still ask today: what does it mean to be human? What is humanityâs purpose? What went wrong? How can it be made right?
The first eleven chapters of Genesis provide the ancient Hebrew answer to the first three questions and the rest of the Bible is dedicated to answering the last. Because this book was written by ancient Hebrews, its literary style is unfamiliar and somewhat confusing to modern Westerners. While Christian and secular Americans alike search for timelines and scientific processes in the first two pages of Genesis, the text itself appears problematic to that reading. Consider the following:
The term âin the beginningâ elsewhere in the Bible can refer to a general starting period, occasionally as it pertains to the establishment of a kingâs reign (an interesting observation considering the kingdom motif in Scripture). In Jeremiah, âin the beginningâ covers a time period of four years in Zedekiah’s reign. While the term in Genesis is certainly laden with philosophical implications, itâs focus does not appear to be dating a momentary chronological starting point.
Following the introductory sentence, the author of Genesis recounts that the earth (or land) was âformless and void.â One should not interpret this to mean there was no planet Earth because the text acknowledges the presence of land. The Hebrew words for âformless and voidâ â which rhymes in Hebrew – imply wilderness or bareness rather than literal nothingness. According to Deuteronomy 32:10, God found Jacob in a desert that was âformless and void.â
Rather than providing a scientific playback of the origins of the universe, the Hebrew account paints a word-picture to convey truth of Yahwehâs character and the purpose of his creation. According to these passages, God addressed creation being âformless and void.â He does so by giving form to three domains: time, the âwatersâ (sky and water), and land over three days, respectively. To parallel those domains, in days four through six, he makes inhabitants to fill their voids: luminaries that govern time, fish and birds, and finally land animals and humans. On the seventh day, God ceases creating and enjoys his creation. The language itself, in form and content, demonstrate a lyrical image to reveal deep meaning.
In contrast with other ancient cosmological accounts, Yahweh is an artist creating out of joy and love rather than out of hostility and violence. Humans are a pinnacle of creation, not a species created by accident or for the purposes of divine slave labor. Women are not less than men; they are co-image bearers of God himself (more on this later). Creation (the material world) is not less important than the spiritual realm nor inherently evil, but the workmanship of a devoted creator.
But there is deeper meaning. Biblically, the stars, sun, and moon serve as âsigns for the seasons, days, and years,â and the luminaries are routinely used to determine religious feasts (Zech 8:19). The Genesis account of creation itself took place over 7 days, just as the Hebrews had a 7-day dedication for the Tabernacle (Lev 8:33-35) or how Ezekiel prophesied a seven-day dedication to a new temple in Jerusalem (Ez 43:25-27).
In this context, creation itself is a temple for Yahweh. From the smallest bug to the galaxies not seen (Psalm 19:1), it all serves to glorify its creator and therefor has deep worth and implications for mankind. Just as ancient temples would have idol statues for their deities (Ra, Marduk, Baal, etc.), Yahweh created his own idols, or images of himself, to place in his temple – humans. Whereas the other statues represented âgodsâ to their worshipers, the Bible explains that humans are to physically represent God to each other and creation (obviously, this is what went wrong).
As a contemporary American Christian, a paradigm shift away from Genesis being a scientific account can be disorienting. Admittedly, the omnipotent God of the Bible could certainly create the Earth and universe in six literal days, yet that does not appear to be point of Genesis 1. Revealing God’s love, devotion, intellect, and creativity does.
Does this interpretation make Genesis less true? Not at all. The human heart often finds more truth in rich narratives, songs, and poems than it does in textbooks and manuals. The latter can examine that humans are personal, relational creatures, but Genesis tells us why – they reflect a creative being. Genesis 1 provides answers to why humanity longs for eternal youth and life, enjoys creation, yearns for purpose, but desires rest.
Doubtless, many questions and debates arise by examining the first page of Biblical creation, but Christians and secularists alike need to do so with intellectual integrity by analyzing what the Bible actually claims. As the late RC Sproul said, âwe should not shout where God has whispered.â
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