And God said, "Let there be light," Genesis1:3
(I realise this dev might have some of you are clutching your chests in horror - bear with me...)
In the evolution-creation debate, well-meaning Christians often try to explain Genesis 1 as a scientific step-by-step. But it comes across as contrived.
Just two small examples of how this comes unstuck:
Firstly if the sun and moon where only created on day four, then where did the day and night come from? And for that matter, where did the light from light and dark on day one come from?
Secondly if Gen 1 is the exact explanation of how creation took place then why is there a second creation account in Gen 2 and how we explain the differences?
As we said at the beginning of the series, Genesis is not about the HOW but the WHO of creation.
The first hearers and readers of Genesis 1 had a pre-scientific world-view: they believed the earth was flat, had four corners and stood on pillars with a dome above it that held back the water that sometimes fell as rain. Bearing this worldview in mind we can't make Gen 1 speak into the language of modern day physics and quantum mechanics.
So we don't get into debates about how long a creation day was or where light came from when there was no sun. Rather we have to recognise the timeless principles of creation.
1. Creation was spoken into being
2. Creation was orderly and systematic
3. Creation was wonderfully diverse
4. Creation of humankind was wonderfully unique.
This doesn't diminish Gen 1 in any way - in fact, when we stop trying to use Scripture as a science text book and we allow it to speak of who God is and not how He did it, we get an even more glorious picture.
We'll look at the above-mentioned principles in more detail in the next few days.
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Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
