When it comes to Genesis 1, Christians tend to divide into two major camps: old earth and young earth creationists. The former sees the days as long periods of time (e.g. Hugh Ross) while the latter insists on literal twenty-four hour periods (e.g. Ken Ham). Professor John Walton of Wheaton College advocates for a different reading of the bible’s first chapter. By carefully comparing Genesis to other ancient near eastern creation texts, he proposes that it’s talking about God providing functionality to the already-existing cosmos rather than creating structures ex nihilo.
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- For a much more in depth explanation of Walton’s perspective on Genesis 1, see his book The Lost World of Genesis One
- Visit his faculty page at Wheaton College
- See podcast Off Script 30: Stewarding the Earth or 84: Kingdom Restoration
- Intro music: Jazzy Frenchy by bensound.com. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
Wow. Really investing and thought provoking. Many times as a child I imagined God creating time, and the back pedal from gen 5-1 shed some “light” on the subject, lol. It works because he (God)set it up to work and he is behind it’s operations. Not the creation but the function. I’ll be getting this book ASAP.
Very interesting indeed, God creating the functionality of the cosmos in Genesis 1 and then the Temple aspect of His resting.
Immediately my mind thinks about the future the Kingdom with the possibility of God restoring righteous functionality to the universe rather than a simple physical restoration of the created order. Very thought provoking message.
Since my previous comment I have had a look online for any info on John Walton and his theory. Although his overall theory would not fall into the traditional view of young earth advocates like myself, I still found myself intrigued by the idea of seeing God providing functionality to the cosmos in the creation account and I do not see a tension between that aspect of Walton’s views on Genesis and a literal six day interpretation.
I still wonder if the future Kingdom could be viewed in this way also, God restoring or recreating righteous functionality in the Universe through the work and future rule of Jesus Christ and the joint heirs, I suspect there is some merit in approaching the Kingdom texts in this way.
Still a very interesting audio that should stimulate ideas among people with different views on Genesis 1, and perhaps open up new ideas on how to view other concepts by using the same framework.
Thanks for posting this… it was definitely an intriguing take that’ll take more research. I found his books already in an ebook format for download from my local library so I’ve got them on the backburner. Always great to hear some different views that claim to scour the entire bible for more consistent definitions of terms.
Interesting. I thought of the future heaven and earth where there will be no time, there will be no darkness:
Rev 22:5 KJV – And there shall be no night there; and they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light: and they shall reign for ever and ever.
I agree with Walton on a couple of points. I appreciate his statement that the “natural” world is actually all supernatural. Good point to remember. Secondly, I agree that he provided functionality during the creation week. However, that does not mean he also did not create. I see no logical or Biblical reason to believe that God created everything long before the creation week, and decided to only tell us about the later functionality decrees. What were the light, water, and plants and animals doing before they were given functionality? As well as the humans. What were they up to? When it was proclaimed in Exodus 20:11 that God created the earth and everything in it in six days, and then rested, basing the six day work week on that very principle, it seems to be very unlikely that a scenario of God working before the creation week, then later adding functionality, would fit this verse.
To my knowledge, Hebrew scholars generally agree that Genesis 1 is speaking of six literal 24 hour days in which God did what He said He did. I don’t really buy into the idea that finally, after all these years, Walton figured out what God really meant. His is another attempt to try to fit millions of years into the Bible because science has convinced him and many others that science has proven the age of the earth to be very old. However, the evidence does not actually support this claim, and much evidence exists to indicate a very young earth indeed. We can trust Genesis 1 to mean exactly as it reads. A six day creation, including functionality. And then, by bringing in the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11, not that long ago.
Very interesting perspective of God, creation. Don’t know if we have to think about things pertaining to age of the cosmos or earth. Couldn’t help to think about the use of creation as pertaining to Jesus Christ setting the functions right in the kingdom.
In addition to the Lost World of Genesis One, one might also enjoy The Lost World of the Israelite Conquest (by John Walton and his son), especially if there is an interest in how such ancient worldview perspectives might apply to understanding Joshua and other related texts. There is a lot of modern controversy about this subject.
I also recommend a couple of other scholarly, thought-provoking books that were helpful to me along these lines (even if they contain ideas with which I might not agree): Seriously Dangerous Religion by Iain Provan and The Unseen Realm by Michael Heiser. Ken
One of the geatest hate crimes against men is evolution. This crime continues to be pushed in schools where vulnerable children are taught there is no God by those who have authority over them, those they look to for direction in life. This evolution gets you thinking there is no God no hope.
We are created by a creator who loves us and cares for us, Our creator is super powerful and clearly claims He created this world in 6 days.
Watering down the Creation account seperates men from there Creator and says to the average reader of scripture ” you are too stupid to understand the Bible “.
Eugene
. Very interesting concept that has merit. I think this view makes God more personal. I was always told God was not part of creation though He created everything. Maybe that is why God is so against idols. People claiming that a block of wood is responsible for giving them functionality.