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The Purpose of the Creation Account in Genesis 1
Samuel Lee Marsingill
June 2022
Since the publication of Darwin’s theory of evolution in the nineteenth century, religion, particularly that of the Judeo-Christian faith, and science have been in direct conflict with one another in the public space. As science has become the dominant worldview within Western culture, many people regard the Bible’s account of creation as contradictorily versus what science indicates about the formation of the Earth and universe. One focus of the perceived discrepancy tends to be on the seven days of creation described in Genesis 1. These arguments have led many within the faith to develop arguments and theories as to how the days of creation can be rectified with scientific data. However, science is not the message of the Bible, and Genesis is not intended to be a scientific account of creation. This is not to say that there are no scientific indicators for the creator God of the Bible, but when examining Genesis in its proper historical and literary context, its intended meaning is revealed. Though the scientific nature of Genesis 1’s creation narrative is debated today, its transcendent nature demonstrates that its purpose is to convey a message to all people, at all times, about God, His relationship with them, and their role within creation.
Science may not be the purpose of Genesis, but it does support the fundamental message it conveys; there is a creator, and life, particularly conscious life, is special within creation. Genesis starts with the creation of the heavens and Earth, and science dictates that the universe did have a beginning. Some scientists of the past thought that the universe was eternal and feared that the idea of it having a beginning would lend too much support to the Biblical account. John Maddox, the editor of the scientific journal Nature, wrote in 1989, “Apart from being philosophically unacceptable, the Big Bang is an over-simple view of how the Universe began, and it is unlikely to survive the decade ahead.” Scientists have also found that the universe has a fine-tuned element for its existence. It functions under a set of strict laws and scientists do not know how the values of these laws are set. These laws and parameters are so precise that they are seemingly fine-tuned for the universe and life to exist. Famous physicist Stephen Hawking once explained that if the density of the universe was changed by less than a fraction of a decimal point, stars and galaxies could not form. The Earth and its solar system are also special in comparison to other systems in the cosmos, with several circumstances happening at just the right time for life to flourish. The notion that the universe, solar system, and planet were formed by chance within these parameters seems unlikely. When contemplating this scientific data, one cannot help but think of the writings of Paul the Apostle; “in Him all things were created,” and “in Him all things were held together.” (Col. 1:16-17, New International Version) Books such as Job and Isiah are explicit about God’s measuring, creating, and maintaining existence with precise accuracy.
With scientific discovery pointing to the God of the Bible, many within the faith try to force science into the creation account using different theories. This is known as “concordism” and not only misses the purpose of Genesis but also takes it out of its proper context. These ideas are normally built around the interpretation of the Hebrew word for day (yom). Theories such as the gap, day-age, and revelation have all been explored and debated, but none are a perfect scientific explanation. In his book debating these different theories, scientist John Lennox gives this important warning on concodism: “There is a danger of understanding the text as saying less than it does, but also a danger of trying to make it say more.” He goes on to stress that the purpose of Genesis is that “both Genesis and science say that the universe is geared to supporting human life. But Genesis says more. It says that you, as a human being, bear the image of God.” The Bible has transcended time and location because of the fundamental truth that is conveyed, not the science that is projected onto it.
When reading the Bible, one is taking part in a cross-cultural experience and must remember that affective communication only occurs in its historical context; it should not be separated from what is being conveyed within the message being given. The book of Genesis was written in an ancient time, by an ancient author, with the spirit of God providing inspiration. Walton describes how to approach interpreting scripture in the present world: “Sound interpretation proceeds from the belief that the divine and human authors were competent communicators and that we can therefore comprehend their communication. But to do so, we must respect the integrity of the author by refraining from replacing his message with our own.” With this in mind, the argument over the meaning of “yom” in a present-day context seems trivial. Viewing the Biblical creation narrative in its historical context, the purpose becomes clear, it is a polemic against Israel’s neighboring pagan nations, including the nation that the Israelites escaped from.
There is a disagreement of Genesis 1 as a polemic, and it can be just as decisive as the argument over the meaning of ancient Hebrew words in a modern context. Some scholars reject this idea entirely, as it is believed that one could never learn the intended meaning of the author. However, the polemic argument does warrant consideration as Genesis does share many similarities with other Near Eastern creation myths. For example, the ancient Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish, starts with a living deity, an original mass of water separated by fermentation, celestial bodies being created, and humans being made afterward. In his research, W. G. Lambert finds that “Parallels to Genesis can indeed be sought and found there [i.e. Mesopotamia], but they can also be sought and found among the Canaanites, the ancient Egyptians, the Hurrians, the Hittites, and the early Greeks.” Genesis is in dialogue with other ancient Near Eastern cosmologies but rejects their meaning and polytheism.
The Israelite creation narrative was a concept that was radical in its time, particularly in the way it portrayed the value of human life and its monotheism. Other Near Eastern cosmologies often depicted deities as tyrants who were at war with one another and viewed humanity as servants or annoyances. Enuma Elish depicts man as a creation to serve the gods. The flood in the Epic of Gilgamesh is initiated because humans made too much noise and the gods were irritated by the uproar. Genesis rejects these views of human life and states that all mankind was made in the image of God and has a divine purpose to be God’s stewards on Earth, to rule and subdue it. (Gen. 1:26-28) This revelation is Genesis 1’s intended purpose. God created the world and made all mankind in His image to help manage His creation.
However, the phrase “image of God” was not exclusive to Israel, it was also used in other Near Eastern cultures as well. In his commentary on Genesis, John Hartley notes that both the Egyptians and Mesopotamians used the phrase for exalted positions or those with ruler status. Therefore, Genesis 1’s use of the phrase “has a democratizing force as it assigns a high status to all humans.” The idea that humans are made in the image of a deity that made everyone for a purpose changed the view that only the powerful had divine rights. This idea that all humans have a God-given royal status was completely groundbreaking. Middleton sums up the titanic shift that this brought about: “Whereas power in the Babylonian and Assyrian empires was concentrated in the hands of a few, power in Genesis 1 is diffused or shared. No longer is the image of God applied only to a privileged elite. Rather, all human beings, male and female, are created as God’s royal stewards, entrusted with the privileged task of ruling on God’s behalf.” This worldview exalts people of all socioeconomic standings to a higher standing. Though slaves and peasants were still at the bottom of society in Israelite culture, they were allowed to think of themselves as more, and those who were above them were commanded to remember their worth.
The literary context also has much to say about Genesis 1’s purpose. Walton argues that its purpose is to show God as making a universe that functions as opposed to a material-based one. In the first two verses, God brings order out of chaos, then starts to set the universe in a functional state in the verses that follow. In reading the creation of the world in seven days, ancient Israelites would have viewed the world as a cosmic temple with God as the supreme ruler over it. Walton brings the ideas of a functional cosmic temple and the climax of creation together: “The account can then be seen to be a seven-day inauguration of the cosmic temple, setting up its functions for the benefit of humanity, with God dwelling in relationship with his creatures.” Hartley states the literary design of the chiastic arrangement of Genesis 1:27 shows how important it was for man and woman to be made in “the image of God” as it is placed in the center, as well as the repetition of “the image.” It is important to study the way ancient Hebrews used literature to better understand the text being studied, as opposed to only viewing it through a modern cultural framework. It is worth noting that the exact meaning of the image is never explicitly stated and seems to be purposefully ambiguous.
Many commentators have argued that the meaning of being made in the image of God is more of a spiritual and conscious nature than a physical representation. This notion seems logical as Genesis 1 portrays God as a creator who took great care to make something beautiful. Dorothy Sayers, a member of the Inklings, believed that this is the heart of what it means to be made in God’s image. “The characteristic common to God and man is apparently that: the desire and ability to make things.” She argued that man was never more like the Maker than when artistic creation was transpiring because “the artist, more than other men, is able to create something out of nothing.” The emotion that is felt from artistic expression is often cited as apologetic of the Christian faith. It would seem that when humans are moved by beauty, a connection to the Maker is felt.
The message that Genesis 1 conveys is one of purpose and divine meaning. The text is making a statement about why humans are here more than exactly how everything came to be. Science can be fluid, what was believed to be true a hundred years ago is laughable by today’s standards, it is possible that what is held as fact today will seem silly to the scientifically minded in the future. Likewise, forcing a modern-day worldview and cultural mindset onto a text that was written over two millennia ago is likely to miss the overall message of the text. The purpose given to all humans because of Genesis 1’s message cannot be understated; it has changed culture after culture where it has been introduced. Only fundamental truth can transcend time and location in this way.
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