Kenneth Piers wrote:
> I wrote:
>
> Why are the first 11 chapters of Genesis included in Holy Writ? In
> particular what should we understand about the scriptures recorded in
> Genesis 1, 2 and 3? Do the creation stories, and the fall story teach us
> anything at all? Presumably, (and I agree here) they do not teach us
> about the actual particular events that took place to get the universe
> to its present condition. That is, these stories do not record "literal
> history" in the sense that we could have captured it on a video camera.
> But what is the meaning of the repetitive "and God saw that it was good"
> recorded in Gen. 1? Was the creation really "good" in and of itself? - a
> goodness which did not, evidently, depend on the presence of humans -
> but continued to be good even after the creation (appearance) of humans?
> If so what was the quality of this goodness? Does it include some
> measure of harmony among creatures and between the Creator and His
> creation? Or is it sheer poppycock to think of the creation story in
> these terms?
>
> Howard replied:
>
> With a bit of playfulness I might suggest that the only way to get a
> definitive answer to your first and last questions, Ken, would be to go
> back
> in time & chat with the folks who made the decision to craft the
> "primeval
> history" literature of Genesis 1-11 and to include it in the Hebrew
> canon.
>
> More seriously, I would suggest looking at resources like Nahum
> Sarna's
> book, _Understanding Genesis_ (New York: Schocken Books, 1966). Sarna,
> a
> Jewish scholar, brings his familiarity with Ancient Near Eastern
> culture to
> bear on several of your questions.
>
> Now I reply:
>
> Thank-you Howard - I have just checked this book out of the library -
> it will no doubt be helpful. But my questions really were trying to get
> at something else - not so much how Gen. 1-11 got into the Bible in the
> first place - but why is it there today? What is the meaning of Gen 1-11
> (esp. Gen 1-3) for 21st century Christians? I know how "literalists"
> understand these texts since I was raised in an environment that assumed
> the literalism of these chapters. But since a literal reading of these
> verses seems quite out of kilter with nearly everything science has
> taught us about earth's history, I am interested in finding out if these
> texts carry any message at all for Christians today, and if so what is
> it?
I would give a three part answer to this question.
1) The texts speak authoritatively about God's origination and
preservation of the world. The dependence of the world on God alone,
creation by God's word, the goodness of creation, and the special place and
responsibilities of humanity are some of the themes which are brought out
clearly. While neither of the creation accounts shouls be read as an
accurate historical or scientific account,
they deal theologically with our world and not a mythical primordial era:
This is shown, e.g., by the continuity between those accounts and the later
ones in Genesis which are pictured as taking place on the stage of known
world history.
2) Your question is really part of the larger one, why do
Christians keep the Old Testament at all? It has not always been obvious
that they should, and from Marcion in the 2d century on there have been
those who wanted to jettison it. But that is a disastrous move, for it
separates Christ from creation and history. Keeping the OT affirms that the
God revealed and active in Christ is the creator and the one active in the
history of Israel, and thus the world. Christ is the savior of the world,
not a savior _from_ the world.
3) Both of the Genesis creation accounts are also _future_
oriented, in the first ending with the Sabbath as a symbol of the ultimate
reign of God and the second ending with marriage, which is the founding of
human community and a pointer to "the marriage supper of the lamb"
(Rev.19:9). The fact that these texts point toward the future makes it
clear (as I said in earlier posts) that we are not
given a picture of creation already perfect at its origin.
Shalom,
George
George L. Murphy
http://web.raex.com/~gmurphy/
"The Science-Theology Interface"
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