Paul of Eugene
New Member
One of the points we here over and over again by those who oppose the consideration of the theory of evolution on biblical grounds is that we are constrained by the literal interpretation of the Genesis account. I thought therefore it would be good to set forth just what the literal account in Genesis actually is, and show that hardly anybody feels constrained to accept it today, because it calls for a pre-Copernican view of the way the cosmos was created and a pre-Darwinian view of the way life was created.
There is an obvious parallel between day one and day four. Day one saw the creation of light; day four sees the creation of the objects that now give us light.
It is unfortunate to see some who claim to be literal interpreters of the Bible spoil the beautiful symmetries here by insisting that some stars were created back on day one. That would be impossible anyway since there was no firmamant to even hold the stars until day two.
Now this is the literal story of creation from Genesis. As for the literal statements concerning the nature of space, nobody believes that part is literally true today. We find ourselves unable to believe there is a solid dome over our heads that holds back the waters above. We find ourselves unable to believe that the bottom of the dome, which would have to be a disk shape, is all there is of the earth. We find ourselves unable to believe that the earth is suspended over waters under the earth. The biblical writers believed all that to be literally true:
But today, we do not believe there is a solid dome over our heads that holds back the waters above the expanse of the sky. We do not believe the sun and moon and stars are luminaries stuck on the underside of said dome. We believe that instead of being a flat disk shape under a dome the earth is a sphere. We believe that the Sun and Stars are great spheres in their own rights. We have all left off from believing the literal story of Genesis.
Is this narrative from Genesis that we no longer literally believe worthless? Something to be tossed aside, with no lesson for us today? God forbid! Today we call the writing inspired. We take from it the lesson that God is creator of all. We take from it that God has a plan. We take from it that we are created in the image of God. All this we are assured in our hearts to be true by the Spirit of God as we read, even as we realize the cosmology is a pre-scientific cosmology, and cannot possibly be literally true.
There was nothing, and then God created the formless and void earth; we are also introduced to the waters. Note the first reference is to the heavens and the earth, and then the next reference is to the waters only. Where is the earth? Not specified. The waters, however, are to be identified at this stage with the heavens. There isn't anything else. There is nothing really to distinguish location; there is only the water. Water, of course, is shapeless and adapts itself to whatever shape it's container has. Before there is anything to give it shape, all is undefined.
Gen 1:1-2:3
1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.
Here nothing is done to the earth or the water; instead, we simply have the creation of light. It is light alone, no source is created; the source is God Himself. We also have the first day taking place; the Hebrews always counted the beginning of the darkness as the beginning of a day and this they trace back to this very beginning narration of the creation itself.
3 Then God said, "Let there be light"; and there was light. 4 And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5 And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.
Here we have a seperation of the waters. The waters are seperated between that are below the firmament and those that are above the expanse. The expanse is a solid dome that creates a space where there isn't any water. It is our sky. The light comes again, just as before, divinely created by God for the occasion as before. The fact that it is solid is shown first from the derivation of the word and second by how it functions to hold back the water above it. It is pictured as capable of having "windows" in it in later references. The waters above the dome continue to be identified with the heavens that are the abode of God.
6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning--the second day.
On the third day, we have form finally given to the earth. The location of the earth turns out to be under the dome of the sky. God causes dry land to finally appear under the expanse, and sets boundaries for where the seas and land shall be. All the plants are caused to grow out of the ground. There is no real problem about light without the sun, because God is still simply causing the light to come on schedule by His direct action. At this time, now, we have the waters under the earth, the earth, the great dome of the sky providing the space for dry land to exist, and the waters that are above the earth. And vegetation. Concerning the earth, Peter wrote:
9 Then God said, "Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear"; and it was so. 10 And God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit after their kind, with seed in them, on the earth"; and it was so. 12 And the earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit, with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening and there was morning, a third day.
In Peter's interpretation of this day, it would appear that the very water itself is what became dry land in this process.
2 Peter 3:5 For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
NAS
Now we have the lights put into the expanse of the sky. The two great lights, which are the sun and moon of course; and also the stars. These lights now take over the formation of night and day. Seasons are also announced, although of course we'll have to wait for a whole year to unfold to see the seasons come and go in their turns.
14 Then God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years; 15 and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth ";and it was so. 16 And God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17 And God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18 and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening and there was morning, a fourth day
There is an obvious parallel between day one and day four. Day one saw the creation of light; day four sees the creation of the objects that now give us light.
It is unfortunate to see some who claim to be literal interpreters of the Bible spoil the beautiful symmetries here by insisting that some stars were created back on day one. That would be impossible anyway since there was no firmamant to even hold the stars until day two.
And on day five, the pattern continues. Where day two saw the separation of the waters below from the waters above, day four sees the waters populated. The space created by the raising up of the expanse is also filled with flying creatures.
20 Then God said, "Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens." 21 And God created the great sea monsters, and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22 And God blessed them, saying, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth." 23 And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day.
The final day of creation sees the land - that same land that on day three was made solid and of definate form - even with its living creatures as well. And then we have the culmination of the creation, still in the same day:
24 Then God said, "Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind"; and it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good.
Man is created, the last of the animals, the only one made in God's own image. God pronounces it all very good. Nothing eats meat yet. That doesn't happen until after the flood of Noah.
26 Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27 And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 And God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky, and over every living thing that moves on the earth." 29 Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30 and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food ";and it was so. 31 And God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.
On the seventh day God rests from His labors. The day is blessed because it gave God rest.
2:1 Thus the heavens and the earth were completed, and all their hosts. 2 And by the seventh day God completed His work which He had done; and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had done. 3 Then God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it, because in it He rested from all His work which God had created and made.
Now this is the literal story of creation from Genesis. As for the literal statements concerning the nature of space, nobody believes that part is literally true today. We find ourselves unable to believe there is a solid dome over our heads that holds back the waters above. We find ourselves unable to believe that the bottom of the dome, which would have to be a disk shape, is all there is of the earth. We find ourselves unable to believe that the earth is suspended over waters under the earth. The biblical writers believed all that to be literally true:
In addition to the biblical references cited there are extra-biblical writings that describe the world and universe along that line, enough to confirm what the ancients believed. We have the book of Enoch, for example, which was lost in the original text, but we have the syriac translation and a web search will get you an english translation of that. The Apochraphal book of 2 Esdras chapter 6 summarizes creation consistently with the literal interpretation as we outlined it here.
Ps 148:4
Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
NAS
Job 37:18
18 can you join him in spreading out the skies,
hard as a mirror of cast bronze?
NIV
Josh 10:14b
And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky, and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. NAS
Eccl 1:5
5 Also, the sun rises and the sun sets; And hastening to its place it rises there again.
NAS
Ps 19:4-6
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth, And their utterances to the end of the world. In them He has placed a tent for the sun, 5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber; It rejoices as a strong man to run his course. 6 Its rising is from one end of the heavens, and its circuit to the other end of them; and there is nothing hidden from its heat.
NAS
But today, we do not believe there is a solid dome over our heads that holds back the waters above the expanse of the sky. We do not believe the sun and moon and stars are luminaries stuck on the underside of said dome. We believe that instead of being a flat disk shape under a dome the earth is a sphere. We believe that the Sun and Stars are great spheres in their own rights. We have all left off from believing the literal story of Genesis.
Is this narrative from Genesis that we no longer literally believe worthless? Something to be tossed aside, with no lesson for us today? God forbid! Today we call the writing inspired. We take from it the lesson that God is creator of all. We take from it that God has a plan. We take from it that we are created in the image of God. All this we are assured in our hearts to be true by the Spirit of God as we read, even as we realize the cosmology is a pre-scientific cosmology, and cannot possibly be literally true.