Thursday, October 16, 2014

10-16-14 GENESIS (UPDATED)




READING ASSIGNMENT FOR 10-23:  Genesis 4-35

Roxie's Notes added

GENESIS


"Genesis" means "The beginning."

In the bible, Genesis is a narrative book. Its theology is conveyed through features such as plot, structure, and characterization.

It is not conveyed through "Divine promulgation" such as the legal texts.

The theology in Genesis, as in most narrative books, is subtle. Be alert to this subtlety. We are in danger of missing the greater theological message if we get bogged down in details . We should allow the Spirit to guide us through the plot, narrative, and characterization to see the theology.

CREATION

The first 11 chapters are referred to as "the creation account" AKA the "primeval" or "primordial" story. No matter how its referred to it is arguably a story about bringing order out of disorder. It commences with a picture of Earth in total disorder.  The Hebrew word is "tohu wobutu": a cosmos without function, purpose, or meaning.

Our creation story is not unique. There are many creation stories in Ancient Cultures, and many of them parallel ours.  One example is the Epic of Gilgamesh, a flood and creation story.  (The text was discovered in the Nineveh Library, see last week's notes on biblical archaeology)




Another is the Enuma Elish



Another is the Atrahasis




These are among countless creations stories in the literature of Mesopotamia and Canaan, and many of them pre-date ours.

Read Genesis plus Gen 2:1 & 2

Summary of the "days" described:

Day 1:  Light
Day 2:  Sky & water
Day 3: Land & vegetation

(in the next 3 days, God populates His Creation)

Day 4:  Moon & sun
Day 5: Birds of the air & fish in the sea
Day 6: Animals & man.
Day 7:  Rest

In Genesis 1:26 it says:

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”

God created man as a God shaped blank---like a key blank one might get at a hardware store to be made into a new key, something to be filled in later so that it can function as it was intended. He made us a God shaped blank because he wanted us to fill it with Godlike things--to be a worshipful being.  Unfortunately, we try to fill this blank with worldly things and end up not functioning as intended and we end up being unsatisfied because we are not what we should be.

(Personal note, not from class, this quote from CS Lewis: 



The only things  that works in a God shaped blank is God like things. Filling the blank with the things it was intended for is the only path to peace & contentment.

THEORIES OF CREATION

~Literal  AKA the "Young Earth Theory".  This is a literal interpretation of Genesis 1 & 2.  If we also take Old Testament genealogies literally the Beginning can be dated to between 4-6000 years ago. One danger in this theory extends from the translation of the Hebrew word that is translated in most Bibles as "In the beginning' can also be translated as "at a certain time." There is no eternal translation and no specific time in this translation.

It is also informed by the Ptolemaic System of understanding of how the Universe worked used in Biblical times.  



This is a "Geocentric" system, meaning that the Earth is the center of the Universe. This was accepted as fact until the 15th Century when Copernicus theorized that the Sun was the center of our planetary system--a "Heliocentric" system.



The theory was proven after improvements to telescopes were made by Galileo



However, the Ptolemaic system was a belief so closely held by both scientific and religious scholars he was convicted of heresy and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest.

~Gap Theory   Holds that there was an indeterminate time between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2---possibly millions of years. This theory harmonizes the Earths geological age with the bible

~The Day Age Theory  Holds that there was no gap. The days described in Genesis are not literal 24 hour days.  Each could be millions, if not billions of years.  This is supported in Scripture in 2 Peter 3:8

But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

Note that this is a simile (See notes from 10-2-14 regarding Figurative Language in the Bible) in that Peter says a day to God is like a thousand years, not exactly a thousand years.  This is similar to saying "A pretty girl is like a melody." Once again, we have an inexact and indeterminate time being expressed.

~Theistic Evolution  This theory is just a notch above Atheistic Evolution. It holds that Evolution is axiomatic, that god used Evolution to Create, and that the Creation account in Genesis is symbolic.

~Progressive Creationism  A theory by a man named Cuvier



It holds that God used "successive Creation Events". God created Heaven and Earth over billions of years through natural processes and "catastrophism". He destroyed previous forms using regional catastrophe such as floods and ice then re-populated these regions with new forms. This does away with the Global Flood, a young earth, and the recent appearance of humans. It rejects Darwinism & macro evolution and allows for Intelligent Design.  It accepts micro evolution.

Narrative Truth

"Narrative Truth is the truth about values that is presumably not determinative by the existence or non-existence of things or logic alone without reference to something further." (Like Faith in God and Jesus Christ).

We cannot apply human values to God.  Sometimes we get bogged down in minutia, and we miss the greater theological truth.

(Personal note: "If you spend a lot of time picking the fly poop out of the pepper, you might miss a good pastrami sandwich) 


Roxie's Notes below:

The Bible: Genesis

The word Genesis means “The Beginning”.


Narrative

-It’s a narrative book conveyed through features such as plot, structure and characterizations.

-It is not conveyed through “Divine Promulgation” such as legal texts.

-Be alert to the subtle theological movements we may encounter. We are in danger of missing the greater theological message if we get bogged down in details. We should allow the Holy Spirit to guide us through the plot, narrative, and characterization to see the theology.


Creation

-The first 11 chapters are considered the Creation Account also known as the Primeval Story.

-It’s a story of order from disorder.

-It commences with a depiction of Earth as total disorder.

-“Tohu Wabohu” is Hebrew for formless and empty. It was describing a cosmos that had no form, function, purpose, meaning, order or intelligence.


Not Unique

-There are MANY creation stories in ancient cultures. Many of them parallel the creation story told in the bible.

-There are countless creation stories that occur in the literature of Mesopotamia, Eqypt and Canaan and many of them pre-date ours.

-Epic of Gilgamesh: Cuneiform writing found in Neneveh. It’s a Creation and Great Flood story.

-Enuma Elish and Atrahasis: other examples of creation stories


(Read Genesis 1 – Genesis 2:2)



Order of Creation


Day 1:  Light

Day 2:  Sky and Waters

Day 3:  Land and Vegetation


(The next 3 days God populated His creation)


Day 4:  Moon and Sun

Day 5:  Birds and Fish

Day 6:  Animals and Man

Day 7:  He rested



-Imago Dei means that Man was created in God’s own image.

-God created man to be a God-shaped “blank” because He wanted us to fill it and shape it with Himself and the things of God. Unfortunately, we fill the “blank” with other worldly things such as money, fame, fortune, philosophy, and pleasure but it doesn’t work. He created us so that we could be a worshiping being. This is the reason why the things of the world don’t satisfy us. You can only have true happiness and peace if you fill the “blank” with the things of God.











Creation and Evolution Theories

1. Literal (Young Earth)

-Literal interpretation of Genesis creation account in chapters 1 and 2.

-If you were to read through the Old Testament, the Earth is around 4,000 to 6,000 years old.

-One danger of this theory is that in translating the words “In the beginning” the Hebrew text actually says “From Eternity”. Eternity is not time specific. However, “In the beginning” is.

-You can’t interpret everything literally in the bible.

-Ptolemy and his Ptolemaic System (Earth Centered Model): the earth is at the center of the universe with the sun, moon, planets, and stars revolving about it in circular orbits.

-Copernicus and his Copernican Model (Sun Centered Model): the retrograde loops of the planets as seen from the Earth occur naturally as a result of the Earth's motion combined with the motions of the planets. The model was proven after improvements to telescopes were made by a man named Galileo. However, the Ptolemaic system was a belief so closely held by both scientific and religious scholars he was convicted of heresy and spent the remainder of his life under house arrest.


2. Gap Theory (Old Earth)

-There is a lot of time between Genesis chapter 1 verse 1 and verse 2. Millions and millions and millions of years could have passed between those 2 verses.

-This theory lines up the Earth’s geological age with the bible.



3. Day-Age Theory (Old Earth)

-There is NO GAP in time between the days mentioned in the creation story BUT the days mentioned are not literal “days”.

-Each “day” could’ve been ages if not millions of years.

-Scripture supports this in 2 Peter 3:8 which states: But, beloved,  do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. This is also an example of a simile. Peter says a day to God is like a thousand years, not exactly a thousand years.


4. Theistic Evolution

-This is right above atheistic evolution.

-God used evolution to create and the Genesis account is just symbolic.



5. Progressive Creationism

-A French anatomist, Georges Cuvier, theorized this notion of God using successive creation events.

-Basically, God created Heaven and Earth over billions and billions of years through natural processes and catastrophism.

-Catastrophism: God destroyed preceding forms of life by regional catastrophes such as floods and ice and then repopulated with new forms.

-This does away with the necessity of the young earth, global floods and humans.

-It accepts Microevolution.

-It rejects Darwinism and Macroevolution because the intelligent adaptation of species to their environment.






Normative Truth

-The truth about values that is presumably not determinable simply by the existence or nonexistence of things or by logic alone without reference to “something further” (aka God and Jesus Christ).
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