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[#25] Summary of Genesis 1 – The Redemption of Religion

By Jeremy Myers
1 Comment

[#25] Summary of Genesis 1 – The Redemption of Religion
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/242850099-redeeminggod-25-genesis-1-summary.mp3

This is a summary episode for everything we have looked at in Genesis 1–2 so far.

Genesis 1 SummaryThe reasons for this summary are numerous:

  1. To remind you of what we have seen so far.
  2. To provide the big picture overview of what we have seen. Sometimes it is easy to miss the forest for the trees, and while my detailed explanations of individual verses are important for the study of Scripture, we don’t want to miss out on the overall theme and focus of Scripture.
  3. New listeners might get overwhelmed with having to listen to 23 podcast episodes on one chapter of the Bible. If you are new here, these summary episodes can help get you up to speed more quickly. Of course, after hearing the summary, you may want to go back and listen to several of the more detailed episodes to the get the fuller explanation of what these verses mean.
  4. Even if you have listened to all the other episodes, you will still want to listen to this one, because in this episode I tie together all the strands and themes that we have looked at so far and present you with the overall big picture truth.

In this Discussion of Genesis 1 we look at:

  • How Christmas, Easter, the cross, and the Gospels helps us understand Genesis 1
  • The truth that redemption is a key theme in Scripture
  • A summary of how Moses interacts with the religions of his day
  • How God sought to redeem the religions of Moses’ day
  • How God can also redeem our own religion – especially the Christian religion

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God is Redeeming God, Redeeming Scripture Bible & Theology Topics: creation, Genesis 1, One Verse Podcast, redemption, religion

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[#24] Genesis 1 Q&A

By Jeremy Myers
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[#24] Genesis 1 Q&A
https://media.blubrry.com/one_verse/feeds.soundcloud.com/stream/242787583-redeeminggod-24-genesis-1-qa.mp3

As we worked our way through Genesis 1 and the first creation account in Genesis, numerous people sent in questions about what they were learning.

Before we move on in our study of Scripture, I wanted to take an episode to answer some of these questions. I have already personally answered most of the questions sent in to the people who sent them, but I figured I would ask and answer these questions in a podcast episode as well since you might have similar questions.

Genesis 1

To ask your own questions on future episodes, feel free to comment on the blog post of any episode, contact me through the contact form, message me on Facebook, or send me an email.

Here are some links I referenced in this episode:

  • Hamilton, Genesis 1–17 – Amazon or CBD
  • Hasel Article on Genesis 1
  • Johnston Article on Genesis 1
  • Miller and Soden, In the Beginning – Amazon or CBD
  • Walton, Lost World of Genesis One – Amazon or CBD
  • Wenham, Genesis – Amazon or CBD
  • Nobody Believes the Bible – Not Even You
  • What Genesis 1 says about death before the fall
  • Subscribe to my free email newsletter

God is Redeeming God Bible & Theology Topics: Bible questions, creationism, evolution, Genesis 1, One Verse Podcast

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The Waters of the Flood and ANE Cosmology

By Jeremy Myers
12 Comments

The Waters of the Flood and ANE Cosmology

the waters of the floodIn seeking to understand what is going on in the account of the flood and why the waters that came upon the earth, we must understand the Ancient Near East cosmology. That is, what they thought about how the world worked, and what connections existed between the spiritual realm and the physical realm.

The Waters in the Ancient Near East Cosmology

In reference to the flood, one of the most important points to grasp is that in ancient Middle Eastern cosmology, the waters of the world—especially large bodies of water such as the ocean and the sea—were considered to be the dwelling places of powerful deities.

Though he goes by different names in different cultures one of the more prominent pagan deities was Yamm, the god of the sea. As such, when we read in numerous places in the Bible about the raging waters, and God’s control of them, it is not that God is fighting the waves of the ocean, but that God is viewed to be at war with Yamm, the god of storms and chaos (cf. Ps 69:1-2; 74:13; 77:16).

In his book, God at War, Greg Boyd shows the depth and breadth of this imagery throughout the Hebrew Scriptures. In reference to Genesis 1, he says that all ancient Near Eastern people would have understood the imagery of the “the deep” and “the waters” which covered the earth.

Such imagery was prevalent in ancient creation myths, and typically, when the gods of these myths set out to bring order to the chaotic waters, they did so through war, battle, and violence (Greg Boyd,  God at War, 159-164). The Hebrew God of Genesis 1, however, needs no violence. He brings order to the chaos with nothing more than His voice (Greg Boyd,  God at War, 86). He simply commands the anticreation chaotic waters to retreat, and they do! Yamm is shut up behind closed doors by the command of God.

At the end of the creation account, God gives dominion over the earth to mankind—the pinnacle of His creation. The dominion over the earth is understood as the rulership, control, or authority over the earth. But when Adam and Eve sinned, when they fell to the temptation of the serpent, they forfeited their dominion over the earth, and gave that authority to a different “god of this world.”

[Read more…]

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: cosmology, Genesis 1, Genesis 6, Genesis 6-8, Greg Boyd, the flood, the waters, Theology of Angels, Theology of Sin, When God Pled Guilty, Yamm

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Did Moses Teach Creationism in Genesis 1?

By Jeremy Myers
22 Comments

Did Moses Teach Creationism in Genesis 1?

The April-June 2008 issue of Bibliotheca Sacra has  an article by Dr. Gordon Johnston about the connections between Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths. 

moses creationismI sat under Dr. Johnston while I was in seminary, and along with this information about Genesis 1, he taught seveeral other ideas that challenged some of my traditional theology. I wrote about some of these areas here, which led to me getting fired from a ministry job… Thanks Dr. Johnston! (Ha!)

Anyway, when it comes to Genesis 1, Johnston argues that Moses borrowed heavily from some Egyptian Creation Myths.

Dr. Johnston concludes his article with this statement:

This suggests that Genesis 1 was originally composed, not as a scientific treatise, but as a theological polemic against the ancient Egyptian models of creation which competed against Yahwism for the loyalty of the ancient Israelites.

I agree with Dr. Johnston.

But notice what he is not saying. He is not saying that creation did not occur in six 24-hour periods. He very well may believe that it did. But it seems that there are only two possible ways to believe that Genesis 1 teaches that creation occurred in six 24-hour days while knowing what we now know about the many parallels with Egyptian Creation Myths.

Genesis 1 and 24-hour Creationism

First, it could be argued that creation happened, and the account was passed down by oral tradition through the centuries, being slowly changed over time, until the Egyptians recorded their version. When Moses came on the scene, God revealed to him what really happened, and this is what Moses wrote down. This would partially account for other similarities in other pagan creation myths found around the world.

But even under this understanding, Moses did not write Genesis 1-2 to disprove evolution. No ancient person ever imagined that everything simply came about by chance. Everybody believed that a God or gods created all that was. So to read Genesis 1 as a scientific treatise defending creationism against evolution is nothing short of reading modern issues back into ancient texts (aka eisegesis).

If Dr. Johnston is correct, people who use Genesis 1 to argue against evolution should start admitting that they are using this passage in a way neither Moses nor the original audience would have understood. Only then are we being honest with the text.

Genesis 1 and Egyptian Creation Myths

Which brings us to the second possible way Genesis 1 could be read in light of the parallels with Egyptian Creation Myths. It is possible, I suppose, that God, as the divine author, could have intended more than Moses, the human author, and the Israelites, the original human audience understood.

It is possible that God, peering down the corridors of time, foresaw that Charles Darwin would invent his theory of evolution and God wanted to show this for the error that it is. And so He had Moses write a “creation account” that kept the Israelites 3500 years ago keep from worshipping Egyptian deities, and keeps Christians today from believing in evolution.

It’s possible.

But again, if that is how you want to view Genesis 1, you need to admit it.

The Message of Moses in Genesis 1

Genesis 1-2Personally, I think the strongest way to teach Genesis 1 is to teach it with the message Moses originally intended. And what is that message?

Here are a few suggestions:

Our God is more powerful, loving, kind, personal, immanent, and transcendent than any other god there is.

God made humanity the center of His creation. That’s how much He cares for us and wants to relate to us.

We are not here by accident, but He made us and put us here for a reason. You have purpose. You matter to God.

This world was made for you to enjoy, and God wants to enjoy it with you.

Out of the chaos of your life, God creates order, light, and beauty. God fills the voids with meaning and significance.

To me, that is a much greater message than “God created the world in six days and evolution is evil.”

But in my opinion, no matter how you view Genesis 1, it’s nothing to get fired up over…

God is Uncategorized Bible & Theology Topics: Bible Study, creation, creationism, evolution, Genesis 1

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