Creation and Genesis: An historical survey (original) (raw)

Related papers

Creation and Genesis: A Historical Survey

Creation Research Society Quarterly, 2007

Analysis of the historical development of doctrines and theological motifs is a crucial but often neglected element of the interpretive process. Such investigations protect the interpreter from making the common mistake of reading later ideas back into the biblical text. This survey outlines the major views on Creation and the age of the earth advocated by Christians and Jews throughout history. I also analyzed the influence of scientific naturalism and evolutionary theory on biblical interpretation. Although the survey is by no means exhaustive, it is, nevertheless, intended to be a fair and faithful repre- sentation of the major views and their adherents.

206 Creation Research Society Quarterly Creation and Genesis: A Historical Survey

2010

Analysis of the historical development of doctrines and theological motifs is a crucial but often neglected element of the interpretive process. Such investigations protect the interpreter from making the common mistake of reading later ideas back into the biblical text. This survey outlines the major views on Creation and the age of the earth advocated by Christians and Jews throughout history. I also analyzed the influence of scientific naturalism and evolutionary theory on biblical interpretation. Although the survey is by no means exhaustive, it is, nevertheless, intended to be a fair and faithful representation of the major views and their adherents.

Interpreting Genesis: A Defense of the Young Earth View

The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 2019

Various evidences from astronomy, biology, and geology have given the scientific community confidence to declare that the world is billions of years old. The Christian community must decide how to respond to this assertion. The Hebrew word יום is translated into English as “day” in Genesis 1. For those who believe that this word is meant to be interpreted figuratively as an “age,” they see no contradiction between the assertion of the scientific community and the testimony of Scripture about the age of the earth. The traditional interpretation of יום understands the word to refer to a literal twenty-four-hour day. Therefore, the creation week consisted of six literal twenty-four-hour days. If the universe and humanity were formed during the same week, then the age of the earth could not be said to be more than a couple of hundred thousand years. Those holding this view have concluded that the majority of the scientific community is mistaken about the age of the earth. This writer recognizes that this is a difficult position to take and that this position requires biblical and theological warrant.

Creation in the Biblical Tradition

Zygon®, 1987

This paper summarizes the current state of the debates in biblical criticism concerning the nature of Genesis, the genre and setting in life of Genesis 1:1-2:4a, and the reasons for the continuing significance of creation motifs in the biblical period. In identifying creation as a vital part of the traditions associated variously with the cult, with wisdom, and with prophecy (even in its later scribal and eschatological forms), Genesis 1: 1-2:4a is seen to be the necessary description of how the particularity of Israel is dependent on God, of how humanity is privileged, andof how hope is tinged with judgment.

Comments on the Genesis narrative and some controversies surrounding it.

The Genesis narrative remains the most controversial record of the "creation" of humankind and the entire natural world. Science and Religion are still at loggerheads over the credit for bringing about life on Earth (even the Earth itself!). This short paper contains a personal verdict on the matter.

The Biblical Doctrine of Creation

The doctrine of creation stands as the foundation of all major doctrines in the Bible and in Christian theology. This paper examines the traditional view, that the universe was created in seven 24-hour days within the past ten thousand years. We next look at objections to this view from various sciences and from biblical scholars. After a careful presentation of evidence both for and against the traditional view, the paper affirms that position, claiming that it accords best with both the scientific evidence and with proper principles of biblical exegesis.

The Genesis Account of Origins

2015

S have increasingly recognized that Genesis 1 through 3 is set apart from the rest of the Bible, constituting a kind of prologue or introduction.1 These opening chapters of Scripture are now widely regarded as providing the paradigm for the rest of the Bible. John Rankin summarizes the growing conviction among biblical scholars: “Whether one is evangelical or liberal, it is clear that Genesis 1– 3 is the interpretive foundation of all Scripture.”2 The most prominent theme displayed in Genesis 1 through 3 is that of creation, which involves various issues of origins.3 Here in the

Since the Beginning: Interpreting Genesis 1 and 2 through the Ages

Few passages in the Hebrew Bible have been subject to more scrutiny than Genesis 1 and 2. In this volume, a diverse international team of experts guides readers through interpretations of the Genesis creation stories throughout history, inviting readers to consider perspectives from the earliest times to the present. Written with the capabilities and needs of students in mind, this book offers an accurate description of how Genesis 1 and 2 have been read through the centuries and explains each interpretive approach in its own terms. Each chapter includes sidebars and suggestions for further reading. Since the Beginning is well suited for courses on the Old Testament, Genesis and creation, the history of interpretation, and science and religion. It will also appeal to teachers, pastors, and others following the creation debates and discussions. http://bakerpublishinggroup.com/books/since-the-beginning/376810

NATURE AND GOD, BIBLE VERSUS NATURAL SCIENCE? SOME EXEGETICAL CONSIDERATIONS ON GEN 1–2

Studia Universitatis Babes-Bolyai-Theologia Catholica …, 2010

The article proposes an exegetical discussion of the creation accounts, addressing some of the issues used by creationism, creation science and intelligent design to claim an alleged antagonism between bible and science, particularly evolution. In the case of the priestly creation account such critical aspects concern the (mis)interpretation of the six (seven) day scheme, the understanding of the goodness of creation, the inappropriateness of using Gen 1 to defend a special, immediate, ex nihilo creation in the way creationism does. The same creation account speaks not only of the creative acts of God, but also refers to the agency of creatures. With respect to the second creation account the essay addresses the meaning of the details referring to the creation of humans, and the relation between humans and their environment.

The Biblical Account of Origins

2003

Introduction The basic elements in the biblical account of origins are summarized in the opening verse of the Bible, Gen 1:1: I. ÒIn the beginningÓÑthe ÒwhenÓ of origins; II. ÒGodÓÑthe ÒWhoÓ of origins; III. ÒcreatedÓÑthe ÒhowÓ of origins; IV. Òthe heavens and the earthÓÑthe ÒwhatÓ of origins. In this paper we will take up each of these elements in turn, with special emphasis upon the ÒwhenÓ1 and aspects of the other elements that impinge upon the relationship between Scripture and science.