Genesis 1—Book of Beginnings

Significance of beginning, middle, end format

Creation:  so what?

                What difference does it make whether the world was created or evolved?

Could God have used evolutionary processes to accomplish his purposes?

How does that affect your weltanschauung (world view)? 

How old does the Bible say the earth is?

What is the relationship of Gen 1:1 to Gen 1:2?

1:1 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth;
                1:2 and the earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the face of the deep…
                                and God said let there be light”

Independent Clause Discussion

               In the beginning, God                                                                 And the earth was
                created the heavens                                                                   formless and empty

                                                                                                                                  And God said,

                                                                                                                                                Let there be light

Context:  How does Moses write?  Note literary pattern

Gen 2:4-7 comparison: 

– Gen 2:4  Independent summary statement

– Gen 2:5-6 Negative Circumstantial clause

– Gen 2:7 Main clause  (cf. Gen 3:1-3)

Does the creation argue for the existence of God?

Ps 19:1ff Heavens declare God’s glory

Modernity:  universe is rational and natural no room for God – close system,  a machine of cause and effects, no miracles, science rules

Post-modernity – each has its story but the “God” story is irrelevant to most/me
miracles-sure why not? PC-ized truth?
“I” am the center of the universe

Where did Moses get his material? ANE backgrounds

Divine voice or zapping?

Enuma Elish parallels (Gilgamesh)

– Divine spirit --> primeval chaos

– Light emanated from the gods

– firmament, dry land, luminaries, man

– Gods rested (note similar sequence)

Was Moses aware of it?

Could Moses have borrowed from it? 

10-fold Toledoth structure of Genesis

These are the generations (toledoth)  Gen 2:4; 5:1; 6:9; 10:1; 11:10, 27; 25:19

Tablet structure:   textual rhythm  

                                Front of tablet:  Title, History, Colophon
                                Back of tablet:  Genealogy, Summary

Why did Moses include the creation?

Polemic

– Fight against evolutionary theory?

– Hermeneutic:  original intent

– Polemic against polytheism

– Cosmogony (why) versus cosmology (what)

Doxology:  Ps 136:5-9; Ps. 19:1-6; Ps. 8; Rev 4:11

Does “create” always mean “out of nothing” 

Bara:   Gen 1:1 out of nothing (ex nihilo) -- yes (but not always)

Ps 33:6 By the word of the LORD were
                    the heavens made,       
   their starry host by the breath of his
                       mouth”

Man was “formed” out of the dust of the ground (Gen. 2:7)—many ways to create and describe the creation process, science can help describe those processes