A Biblical Theology of Creation

by

Richard M. Davidson

Andrews University

26th Seminar on the Integration of Faith and Learning

Loma Linda, CA

Tuesday, July 18, 2000

 

Introduction

A biblical theology of Creation is summarized in the four basics of reality contained in Genesis 1:1:

I.          In the beginning"                                   –the "when" of creation

II.         "God"                                                   –the "Who" of creation

III.       "Created"                                             –the "how" of creation

IV.       "The heavens and the earth"                  –the "What" of creation

I.    The "When": "In the beginning"

A.  An Absolute Beginning? –Two major translations/interpretations

1.   Independence clause–"In the beginning God created . . ." (KJV, RSV, NIV)

2.      Dependence clause–"When God began to create . . ." (NJV,NAB, NEB, Anchor Bible).

3.      Implications of these two views:

Independent

Dependent

a. creatio ex nihilo (creating out of nothing)

a. No creatio ex nihilo mentioned

b. God before matter

b. Nothing about this

c. God creates heaven, earth, darkness, deep, water

c. These already exist at beginning of creative activity

d. Absolute beginning of time for this cosmos

d. No absolute beginning mentioned

4.   Evidence for the traditional view (independent clause)

a.       Hebrew Bible accents (disjunctive accent tiphe)

b.      All ancient versions (LXX, Vg, Symm, Aq, Theod, Targl, Sam.)

c.       Grammar and syntax–natural Hebrew reading (no article in Hebrew with pre. + word "beginning," cf. Prov. 8:23; Isa 46:10)

d.      Short stylistic structure of Gen 1 (versus Gen 2)

e.       Theological thrust–transcendent God

f.        Parallel with John 1:1 "In the beginning" (Ex archē–no article but clearly an independent clause)

5.   Evidence for the new view (dependent clause)

a.       Based mainly on ancient Near Eastern parallel creation stories which all start with dependent clause. E.g. "Enuma elish" "When on high..." (Ca. 1000 B.C., found in Niveveh in Ashurbanipal's library; see Alexander Heidel, The Babylonian Genesis  [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1951]).

b.      But–no ancient Near Eastern creation stories start with a word like "beginning"–the Biblical account is unique!

c.       Ancient Near Eastern parallels cannot be the norm for interpreting scripture

6.      Detailed discussion: Bible Translator 22 (1971): 154-168; Ministry, January

      1976, 21-24

7.      Conclusion: an absolute beginning

a.   In contrast to the cyclical view of reality in the ancient Near East

b.   In contrast to the ancient Near Eastern view that matter is eternal

B.   A Literal Beginning? Or nonliteral/symbol/poetry?

1.      Importance:

a.       Without a literal beginning (proctology), there is no literal end (eschatology)

b.      b.  Doctrines of man, sin, salvation, judgment, Sabbath, etc., all hinge upon a literal interpretation of creation.

2.      The literary genre (or type) indicates the intended literal nature of the account

a.       Genesis is structured by the word "generations" (toledoth) in connection with each section of the book (13x)

b.      This is a word used in the setting of genealogies concerned with the accurate account of time and history.

c.       The use of toledoth in Gen 2:4 shoes that the author intends the account of creation to be just as literal as the rest of the Genesis narratives.

d.      See Jacques Doukhan, The Genesis Creation Story: Its Literary Structure (Andrews University Press, 1978) for details.

3.      In Hebrew thought, the historicity of an account is often underscored by its poetic nature, and historical accounts are pregnant with theology, which builds upon their historicity. For further discussion, see R. M. Davidson, "In the Beginning: How to Interpret Genesis 1", Dialogue 6/3 (1994): 9-11.

4.      Evidence for seven literal days in creation

a.       "Evening and morning"

b.      The word "day" may mean an extended period (e.g., Gen 2:4b) but with an ordinal number (first, second, etc.) It always is a literal 24 hour day; also when plural, always literal.

c.       Visionary days do not fit context or syntax

d.      Exodus 20:8-11

e.       Other Biblical evidence for literal creation (all New Testament writers refer affirmatively to Gen 1-11 as literal history: Matt 19:4, 5; 24:37-39; Mark 10:6; Luke 3:38; 17:26,27; Rom 5:12; 1 Cor 6:16; 11:8, 9, 12, 21, 22, 45; 2 Cor 11:3; Eph 5:31; 1 Tim 2:13, 14; Heb 11:7; 1 Peter 3:20; 2 Peter 2:5; 3:4-6; Jas 3:9; 1 John 3:12; Jude 11, 14; Rev 14:7)

f.        For further discussion, see Gerhard F. Hasel, "The 'Days' of Creation in Genesis 1:Literal 'Days' or Figurative 'Periods/Epochs' of time?," Origins 21/1 (1994): 5-38; reprint, Creation, Catastrophe, and Calvary, ed. John T. Baldwin (Hagerstown, MD: Review and Herald, 2000), 40-68.

C.     Relation of Gen 1:1 to vss. 2ff.

1.      Modern "Active Gap" theory: (Arthur Custance, Weston Fields, Scofield Bible, etc.)

a.       Vs. 1 is previous creation ("In the beginning God created . . .")

b.      Vs. 2. is civilization corrupted (by Satan?) And destroyed ("And the earth became without form and void")

c.       Vs. 3ff. Is a second act creation ("And God said, Let there be . . .")

d.      Evidence against this theory: vs. 2 contains three circumstances noun clauses which describe a state and not a sequence; must be translated throughout as "was" and not "became" (see Gesenious, Hebrew Grammar, p. 454, par. 14 li)

2.   Flow of thought in Gen 1:1-3

a.       God is before all creation (vs. 1)

b.      There is an absolute beginning of time with regard to this world and its surrounding heavenly spheres (vs. 1)

c.       If "heaven and earth" refers to the whole universe (see below), this "beginning" (at least for part of the "heavens") must have been before the first day of earth's creation week, since the "sons of God" were already created and sing for joy when the foundations of the earth are laid (Job 38:7).

d.      The text leaves open when the absolute beginning was for this earth; either at the commencement of the seven days of creation (= "no gap") or sometime before (= "passive gap"). Cf. Prov 8:22-23 for hint of "passive gap."

e.       God creates the heavens and the earth (vs. 1) but (at least) the earth is at first different than now; it is "unformed" and "unfilled" (tohu and bohu) (vs. 2)

f.        On the first day of creation, God begins to form and fill (vs. 3ff).

g.       While matter could have been created before the creation week (a possibility in light of vs. 1), the activities beginning with verses 3ff., including the creation of all life on this earth occurred during the 7 literal days of creation.

h.       For further discussion, see Richard M. Davidson, "In the Beginning: How to Interpret Genesis 1", Dialogue 6/3 (1994): 9:12.

D.     A Recent Beginning (at least for life on this earth)

1.      The Chronogenealogies of Genesis 5 and 11

a.       These are unique, with no parallel among the other genealogies of the Bible and the ancient Near Eastern literature (for other biblical genealogies, see especially Gen 4:16-24; 22:20-24; 25:1-4, 12-18; 29:31 - 30:24; 35:16-20, 22-26; 39:9-14, 40-43; 46:8-12; 1 Sam 14:50-51; 1 Chro 1-9; Ruth 4:18-22; Mt 1:1-17; Lk 3:23-28).

b.      Unlike the other genealogies which may contain gaps, the "chronogenealogies" of Genesis 5 and 11 have unique interlocking features which indicate a specific focus on chronological time and reveal and intention to make clear that there are no gaps between the individual patriarchs mentioned: a patriarch lived x years, begat a son; after the begat this son, he lived y more years, and begat more sons and daughters; and all the years of this patriarch we z years. These tight interlocking features make it virtually impossible to argue that there are significant generational gaps. Rather, they purport to present the complete time sequence from father to direct biological son throughout the genealogical sequence from Adam to Abraham.

c.       To further substantiate the absence of gaps in the genealogies of Genesis 5:11, the Hebrew grammatical form of the verb "begat" (yalad in the Hifil) used throughout this chapter is the special causative form that always elsewhere in the OT refers to actual direct physical offspring, i.e. biological father-son relationship (Gen 6:10; Judg 11:1; 1Chro 8:9; 14:3; 2Chro 11:21; 24:3). This is in contrast to the use of yalad in the simple Qal in many of the other biblical genealogies in which cases it can refer to other than direct physical fathering of immediately succeeding offspring.

d.      There is clearly a concern for completeness, accuracy, and precise length of time in Genesis 5 and 11.

e.       There are several different textual versions of the chronological data in these two chapters: MT (Hebrew Text) LXX (Greek translation), and Samaritan Pentateuch. The scholarly consensus is that the MT has preserved the original figures in their purest form, while the LXX and Samaritan versions have intentionally schematized the figures for theological reasons. But regardless of which text is chosen, it only represents a difference of about a 1000 years or so. If following the MT, the period of history from Adam to the Flood is about a millennium and a half (1656 years to be exact) and from the Flood to Abraham about another several hundred years (352 to be exact), for a total of about 2000 years (2008 to be exact). (For the LXX, the total from Adam to Abraham is 3184 years, and for the Samaritan Pentateuch the total is 2249 years.)

f.        For discussion, see especially Gerhard Hasel, "Genesis 5 and 11: Chronogenealogies in the Biblical History of Beginnings," Origins 7 (1980): 23-37; "The Meaning of the Chronogenealogies of Genesis 5 and 11," Origins 7 (1980): 53-70; and "The Genealogies of Gen 5 and 11, and their Alleged Babylonian Background," AUSS 16(1978): 361-374.

2.      The Chronology from Abraham to the Present

a.       There is disagreement among Bible-believing scholars whether the Israelite sojourn in Egypt was 215 years of 430 years, and thus whether to put Abraham in the early second millennium or the late third millennium BC; but other than this minor difference, the basic chronology from Abraham to the present is clear from Scripture, and the total is only some 4000 (+/- 200) years. See SDABC Vol. 1 (1953 ed.), "The Chronology of Early Bible History," 174-196).

3.      Thus the Bible presents a relatively recent creation (of life on this earth) a few thousands years ago, not tens of thousands or millions/billions. While minor ambiguities do not allow us to pin down the exact date, according to Scripture the six-day creation week unambiguously occurred recently. This recent creation becomes significant in light of the character of God, the next point in our outline. God is not a God who would allow pain and suffering to continue any longer than necessary to make clear the issues in the Great Controversy.

II   The "Who": "In the beginning God"

A.  Creation accounts emphasize the character of God

1.      Gen 1: Elohim–generic name, universal God, cosmic all-powerful, self-existent, mighty transcendent Being, the Infinite God

2.      Gen 2: Yahweh–the covenant God, personal, enters into personal relationship with creatures, bending down, immanent

3.      Only the Judeo-Christian God is both Infinite and Personal to meet man's need of an infinite reference point and personal relationship

B.     No proof of God, but bold assertion of His existence

C.     The ultimate foundation: Ed 134,–"'In the beginning God.' Here alone can the mind in its eager questioning, fleeing as the dove to the ark, find rest."

D.     Polemic against the polytheism of the ancient Near East

1        Many gods

2        Moral decadence like man

3        Rivalry and struggle

4        Mortality

5        Pantheistic–part of the uncreated world-matter

E.      Intimations of the Trinity in Creation

6        Gen 1:2–the "Spirit of God" (rûah elohîm)–elsewhere in Scripture always refers to "Spirit of God," not "mighty wind"; merahepet "hovering," cf. Deut 32:11

7        Gen 1:26–"Let us . . ." a plural of fullness–"within the divine being a distinctness of personalities, a plurality within the unanimity of intention and plan; germinal idea of intra-divine deliberation among persons within the divine Being." See Gerhard Hasel, "The Meaning of 'Let Us' in Gen 1:26," AUSS 13 (1975):58-66; Derek Kidner, TOTC, Genesis, 33.

8        Elohim–plural of majesty or fullness?

9        Compare the "angel of the Lord" passages later in Genesis: Gen 16:7-13; 18:1-2 & 19:1; Gen 31:11-13; 32:24, 30; Hosea 12:3-6; 48:15-16 (see Kidner, Genesis, 33).

F.   Perhaps the greatest reason to reject (theistic) evolution is that it maligns the character of God, making Him responsible for millions of years of death/suffering, natural selection, and survival of the fittest, even before sin.

III. The "How": "In the beginning God Created"

A.  By divine bārā (= "create")

10    Exclusively God's action

11    Never with accusative of matter; something totally new

12    Vs. creation by sexual procreation

13    Vs. pantheism, emanation, or immanence

B.     By divine fiat–"Let there be"/"and God said" (Ps 33:6, 9): cf. Gen 1:3, 6, 9, 11, 14, 20, 24, 26

14    Universe not self-existent, random, struggled for

15    Word of God = concrete, power

16    Blessing–empowering to fulfill intended function

C.  Portrayed as polemic against mythological struggle with chaos monster

1.   Tiamat vs. tehôm in Gen 1:2 (unmythologized masculine rather than mythological feminine sea monster)

2.      No name for sun and moon (vss 14-19) = polytheistic names

3.      Tanninim ("sea monsters", vss 21-22; name for mythological creatures and natural sea creatures/serpents); the strongest term bārā (implying something totally new, no struggle) is employed here for the second time in Gen 1, to dispel any thought of a rival god

D.  Dramatically and aesthetically and joyfully/playfully

1.      Prov 8; Eccl 3:11 (note the use of the word meaning "play/sport/rejoice" in Prov 8:30-31)

2.      Poetic structure in creation (synthetic parallelism)

Introduction (Gen 1:1)

(Gen 1:2

Tohu ("unformed")

Bohu ("unfilled")

Gen 1:3ff.:

Forming