Answers in Genesis

Yesterday in Theology 101 we began to work our way through scripture, starting with creation. "And God said.....and it was so." What are we to do with Genesis 1? Some Christians argue for a six 24-hour creation, even to the point of making it a so called "salvation issue". The argument goes like this: if we cannot take Genesis 1 "literally" (meaning historically and scientifically in a modern sense), then we cannot trust anything in scripture. If God did not create the cosmos in six 24-hour days, then how can we trust the resurrection accounts found in the gospels? Thus, the entire Bible stands or falls on this issue.

But what if Genesis 1 has nothing to do with science? What if Genesis is not about history - in the modern sense? What if Genesis is really concerned with theology? Not the "how" but the "Who". As with any text if you begin with the wrong questions you end up with the wrong answers - and sometimes those wrong answers can be dangerous.

The beauty of Genesis 1 is how it engages the "stories" or "worldviews" of the reader. For the people of Israel - Genesis 1 undercut the ancient mythology of Egypt and later Babylon. The revelation of Genesis 1 concerns the identity of the God who led them out of Egypt. He is the Creator of all things, the one who brought order from chaos, who separated the waters and put the seas in their place. He is the one who merely speaks and creation happens. There is no struggle, no eternal conflict. He is not to be found in the sun, moon, and stars - they are not to be worshipped, for they are merely signs to mark the seasons. Finally, He is a God of grace and mercy. A God who makes a space for His creation - for His people - to exist in relationship with Him. A God who binds Himself to what he has made, establishing a covenant with all creation through the humans who bear His image.

The power of Genesis 1 is demonstrated in that it speaks the same Word to us in the 21st century. Genesis 1 competes with the modern myths of our day - consumerism, Freudian sexuality, atheistic existentialism, Darwinism, etc.... Maybe we don't realize how these "myths" have influenced us, as we end up making god, and religion, in our own image. Based upon these myths we define our human identity more in economic, competition, sexuality categories then by the revelation God has given us concerning who we are. In my own teaching experience , it is amazing how hungry young people are to hear the message of Genesis 1 - if only we would let it speak! If only we would get past these silly arguments about science, and leave those issues for the scientists to wrestle with!

Answers in Genesis? Yes! But not scientific ones. The answers we find are theological. They speak to the identity of the God we worship, and to our own place in creation as humans made in the image of this God. In this way the message of Genesis 1 under girds the entire Biblical story, and we can ultimately refer to Genesis as "gospel" - good news.