Board index ‹ Creation and Evolution

[Silky]

We all know that god created the sun on the fourth day, but how could there be a fourth day without a sun before that?

[jimwalton]

As we examine the text of Genesis 1 in its ancient cultural context, we learn that it is a temple text, and what God is doing is ordering the chaos, giving it functionality and purpose. In other words, Genesis 1 is about functionality and order, not God manufacturing anything. In the ancient mindset, it was a given that God was the cause of the material universe. Where the differences came in were in how God ordered the universe to make it functional. The Biblical text is worlds apart in this regard from the mythological accounts, for in the Bible God is sovereign over the chaos, and orders it with the mere spoken words. The light and darkness (day 1) function to give us day and night, viz. time. The function of the land is to bring forth plants (day 3). The sun and moon are not deities, but luminaries given their function by God. Humans are not the slaves of the gods, but in God's image and given the function of co-regency ("rule and subdue" with responsible stewardship).

As far as the 7 days, temple dedication ceremonies in the ancient world were 7-day ceremonies. The temple had the function of providing a place for the god to dwell ("rest") in the middle of his people and to engage them in life. What the Bible does is teach that God doesn't live in a temple made by human hands, but the cosmos is his temple (Isa. 66.1). The earth is his holy place, and the Garden of Eden was his "Holy of Holies," where he met with humans and revealed himself to them. Adam and Eve were created not to be His slaves, but to be his priest and priestess (Gn. 2.15, the words "work it" and take care of it" are priestly terms, not agricultural ones). The seven days of "creation" are the 7 days of dedication of the temple (the cosmos), and on the 7th day God rests (comes to live in his temple and engage humanity and reveal himself) in the temple that he has ordered.