The document discusses various interpretations of Genesis 1 and 2 in light of scientific discoveries. It describes how interpretations have changed over time from a young earth view to concordist and non-concordist views that see Genesis conveying theological rather than strictly scientific truths. The order of creation in Genesis is compared to the order inferred from modern science.

1. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

2. When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers

3. the moon and the stars which you have set in place…

4. What are human beings that you are mindful of them…

5. mortals that you care for them?

6. You have given them dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under their feet: The beasts of the field The fish of the sea

7. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!

8. Creation and Evolution #2 Interpretations of Genesis 1 & 2

9. Interpretations of Genesis Up to the 1600s , most Christians believed that the world was created a few thousand years ago. Justin Martyr (a.d. 155) Irenaeus (a.d. 189) day =1000 years. Augustine (a.d. 400): instantaneous creation

10. Interpretations of Genesis Then, discoveries in Geology Biology and Cosmology began to challenge that view.

11. Geology in the 1600s In the 1600s most geologists agreed that the earth was young and that the flood narrated in Genesis was a global one. River valleys larger than rivers were caused by receding flood waters Fossils of sea shells and fish found on high mountains were there because the flood lifted them to these higher levels

12. Geology in the 1600s Stratified rocks were caused by layers of sediment laid down by the flood, while rocks without strata were formed in the original creation. Denser sediment would be found in lower stratification layers because they sank more quickly during the flood.

13. Geology in the 1700-1800s New discoveries: Dense materials were found in all sedi- mentary layers. Very thick layers of sedimentary rock found (some up to 40,000 feet thick). A single year-long flood would not have eroded enough material to deposit layers that thick.

14. Geology in the 1700-1800s A long history of volcanic activity in areas not known for such activity (grasslands in France). Repeated eruptions, hardening, water erosions, pointed to a longer history than a few thousand years. Conglomerate rocks indicate multiple floods/ wet periods.

15. Geology in the 1700-1800s By 1840 “virtually all practicing geologists, including Christian geologists, believed that the earth must be at least millions of years old. Moreover, if a flood had occurred, it must have been local, not global.” ( Origins , 89 cf. “Centuries of Geological Evidence for an Old Earth” on website)

16. A Dynamic and Expanding Universe Astronomers have found that the universe is incredibly huge… Our sun is one of 100,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars There are some 10 billion galaxies in the universe.

17. An active stellar “nursery,” NGC346 in which new stars are forming within clouds of gas and dust. has a long and dynamic history…

18. is old… According to radiometric dating, the oldest Moon rocks are 4.6 billion years old. The universe must be as old as the time it takes for light to travel from its farthest galaxies. All stars in a star cluster form in the same nebula at about the same time but do not have the same life span. Studies show oldest star clusters to be about 12 billion years old.

19. … but not infinitely old. Evidence of expansion: The fabric of space is expanding in all directions and the galaxies are being pulled along with it. Tracing the expansion backwards we arrive at a moment when the universe was a densely packed and extremely hot gas. This hot, dense beginning, followed by expansion, is what astronomers call the Big Bang .

20. A Dynamic and Expanding Universe Heat radiation given off by the initial explosion was predicted and has now been detected. Astronomers calculate that all the matter in the universe must have been compressed together some 13.7 bya

21. Given geological, cosmological and biological evidence for a vast and old universe, how should we interpret Genesis 1 & 2 ?

22. Interpretations of Genesis According to Concordist interpretations of Genesis 1, God created the earth in the sequence of events recorded in Genesis: first light, then sky and ocean, then dry land and plants, etc. According to Non-concordist interpretations of Genesis 1, the sequence and timing of creation events convey important theological truths but not literal scientific truth.

23. Interpretations of Genesis Concordist Interpretations: Young Earth Interpretation: Creation occurred between 10,000 and 6,000 years ago, during six 24-hour days, in the order described. A scientific study of the earth should confirm this.

24. Interpretations of Genesis Earth was created long ago (Gen 1:1), became “formless and empty” (Gen.1:2) and was restored about 6,000 years ago during six 24-hour days. (Popularized by Scofield Bible) Concordist Interpretations, (con’t.) Gap Interpretation:

25. Interpretations of Genesis Concordist Interpretations, (con’t.) Creation occurred over billions of years. Each “day” of Genesis 1 corresponds to a long epoch. Events occurred in the order given in the text, but stretched out over a longer time period. Day-Age Interpretation:

26. Interpretations of Genesis Concordist Interpretations , (con’t.) Creation occurred about 6,000 years ago during six 24-hour days, but it was created to look like it had a long history of billions of years. Appearance of Age Interp:

27. Interpretations of Genesis Non-Concordist Interpretations: The days of Genesis 1 are not days in which God created, but days of prophetic vision to the original human author. Visionary Day Interpretation: On day 1, God inspired the author to write about the creation of light…, etc. When God actually created light is another matter.

28. Interpretations of Genesis Non-Concordist Interpretations (con’t): The days of Genesis 1 took place in God’s throne room, wherein God proclaimed to his court each step of creation. The throne-room days are not related to days or time periods on earth. Proclamation Day Interpretation: God experiences time differently than we do (“a thousand years is like a day”).

29. Interpretations of Genesis Non-Concordist Interpretations (con’t.): The number and ordering of the “days” of Genesis 1 are chosen for poetic and thematic reasons rather than historical reasons. Creation Poem Interpretation:

30. Interpretations of Genesis Creation Poem Interpretation of Genesis 1 Initial Problem Days of Forming Days of Filling Darkness Day 1: Separate Day 4: Sun, light & darkness moon, stars Watery Day 2: Separate the Day 5: Birds abyss waters into waters & fish above and waters below Formlessness Day 3: Separate the Day 6: Animals & empty earth dry land from ocean; and humans create plants

31. Interpretations of Genesis Non-Concordist Interpretations (con’t.): As the great King, God creates the “realms” of his kingdom on the first three days and populates them on the second three days; humans are given dominion as in a “land grant” covenant and are made God’s image- bearers as a sign of delegated divine authority. Kingdom-Covenant Interpretation:

32. Interpretations of Genesis Non-Concordist Interpretations (con’t.): Genesis 1 matches the physical picture of the world believed in Ancient Near East religions, but presents a dramatically different theological picture, proclaiming one God as creator of all rather than many gods. Ancient Near East Cosmology Interpretation:

33. Ancient Near East Cosmology waters above pillars sea sea earth waters below Firmament pillars Flood gates Flood gates sheol

34. Genesis 1 vs. Enuma Elish There is one God. There is a pantheon of gods. God created an The world was formed by ordered world by the battles among the gods. authority of his Word. No part of the physical The sun and moon and world is divine. other physical objects are gods that control the fate of humans.

35. Genesis 1 vs. Enuma Elish God declared all parts Some physical structures of creation good. are related to good gods, others to bad gods. God created humans Humans are made as an in his image as the afterthought at the end of culmination of the the story from the flesh of story and declared a defeated god, to be very them good. God gave slaves to the gods. them responsibility to be stewards of creation.

36. Biblical Interpretation Of the concordist interpretations, the Young Earth Interp . might come close to what intended audience would have understood. To best understand what the text means for us today , we need to understand how the original author and the intended audience understood the text. Of the non-concordist interpretations, Ancient Near East Cosmology and the Creation Poem Interpretations would seem to do that.

37. Evolution — what do people mean by it? Microevolution : Small changes in species, caused by the mechanisms of evolution, accumulate over a few decades or centuries, allowing species to adapt to an environment and sometimes to split into two or more species.

38. Evolution — what do people mean by it? Pattern of change over time: Common ancestry: All living and extinct species are linked in a “family tree”; modern species descended from earlier species and all species descended from a common ancestor. The fossil record shows that species go through changes over long periods of time, with some species becoming extinct and new species appearing from time to time.

39. Evolution — what do people mean by it? Evolutionism : Attempts to use the theory of evolution to support atheistic claims that there is no Creator and no purpose to human existence. A scientific model that says the mechanisms of evolution, operating over the long history of life on earth, explain common ancestry and the pattern of change over time. Theory of Evolution:

40. Christians and Evolution Young Earth Creationists (creation science): reject evolutionism reject the theory of evolution reject common ancestry reject that the fossil record shows a pattern of change over time say that the earth is young accept microevolution

41. Christians and Evolution Progressive Creationists: reject evolutionism reject the theory of evolution as a complete model for biological history, saying that while some evolution did happen, God must have miraculously guided or intervened at various points are split about common ancestry accept that the fossil record shows a pattern of change over time say that the earth is old accept microevolution

42. Christians and Evolution Evolutionary Creationists reject evolutionism accept the theory of evolution as a scientific model accept common ancestry accept that the fossil record shows a pattern of change over time say that the earth is old accept microevolution

43. Creation and Evolution # 3 Evidences of Evolution

45. Order of Creation Ambiguity in the sequence of created events? Heavens, earth, waters (vv. 1-2) Light (v.3) Sky (vv. 6-8) Dry land (vv. 9-10) Dry land, rivers (vv. 5-6) Plants (vv. 11-12) Man (vv. 7) Sun, moon, stars (vv. 14-17) Plants (vv. 8-9)* Sea creatures & birds (20-21) Land animals, birds v19 Land animals (vv. 24-25) Woman (vv. 20-22) Human beings (vv. 26-27) Genesis 1:1-2:3 Genesis 2:4-25

46. Order of Creation Gen. 1:1-2:3 Gen. 2:4-25 Modern Science Heavens, earth, water Matter, energy, space, time 13.7b Light Stars 13.5b Sky Sun 4.6 b Dry land Dry land, rivers Moon, earth, dry land Seed-bearing plants Oceans 4-4.5b Trees bearing fruit Man Single-celled life 3.8b Sun, moon, stars Multi-celled life 1-2b Sea creatures Plants Various sea creatures including early fish 520m

47. Order of Creation Gen. 1:1-2:3 Gen. 2:4-25 Modern Science Non-seed bearing plants on dry land 450 Land animals Land animals 380m Seed-bearing plants 370m Insects 350m Dinosaurs 230m Mammals 200m Birds Birds Birds 150m Land animals Fruit-bearing plants 130m Men & women Woman Men & women