<< Why are the first 11 chapters of Genesis included in Holy Writ? In
particular what should we understand about the scriptures recorded in
Genesis 1, 2 and 3? Do the creation stories, and the fall story teach us
anything at all? Presumably, (and I agree here) they do not teach us
about the actual particular events that took place to get the universe
to its present condition. That is, these stories do not record "literal
history" in the sense that we could have captured it on a video camera.
But what is the meaning of the repetitive "and God saw that it was good"
recorded in Gen. 1? Was the creation really "good" in and of itself? - a
goodness which did not, evidently, depend on the presence of humans -
but continued to be good even after the creation (appearance) of humans?
If so what was the quality of this goodness? Does it include some
measure of harmony among creatures and between the Creator and His
creation? Or is it sheer poppycock to think of the creation story in
these terms?
>>
The answers to these questions from Howard, George, Graham, and Iian today
were excellent. I would only add a few words about the goodness of creation,
something which is expressed a number of times in Gen 1 and in Ken's
question.
The goodness of creation seems to refer to the quality of the workmanship,
design and function of each part as well as the way all the parts fit
together. I gather this both from observation of the universe and from verses
like Gen 2:12 which speaks of a particular gold as being "good", Gen 2:18
which says it is "not good" that the man should be alone, Gen 40:16 where an
interpretation of a dream is "good," Gen 41:37 where Joseph's plan is
considered "good," Psalm 104:25-28 where animals receiving their food (and
implicitly predators their prey) is said to be "good" from the hand of God.
The goodness and harmony is not purely idyllic, but the magnificence of the
hawk soaring in the sky and having the eyesight to spot a mouse thousands of
feet below (See note on Gen 1:21), the harmony exemplified in the birds
eating the insects so as to prevent man's crops and general environment from
being overwhelmed with insects, the carrion-eaters cleaning up the dead so as
not to breed disease, and numerous other glories and balances of the natural
world.
NOTE that in Gen 1:21 it is after making fish and birds, even "every winged
bird after its kind" that God "saw that it was good." Every" "after its kind"
contextually includes birds of prey. (Gen 6:20; Lev 11:14)
Paul
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