The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John H. WaltonMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
This book was a bit challenging, and I knew that going in. This book strikes at a very traditional view that I have been a proponent of for many, many years. But I wanted to at least consider the position, and having finished Walton's other book Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament: Introducing the Conceptual World of the Hebrew Bible I figured I would follow up with this title. I will say that having read his other book prior to this one was a huge help and made it that much easier to understand his position from the get-go.
Here is a very fundamental overview of the main thrust of this book: word for "create" is bara and when understood as the original ancient audience would have, does not give a meaning of material creation, but is a term used for establishing function. His previous book went into incredible detail in understanding how the ancient's understood things, and so this aspect of this book was therefore easier to grasp than it may be for others.
Overall this was a very interesting discussion, with a very compelling argument for his case. Still, it is a real hard pill to swallow after 30+ years of a traditional view. Some noteworthy quotes from the book:
Through the entire Bible, there is not a single instance in which God revealed to Israel a science beyond their own culture. No passage offers a scientific perspective that was not common to Old World science of antiquity. (Pg 19)Worth a read even if you disagree. understanding ancient thought on issues of cosmology is always a plus for understanding other biblical truths.
It has long been observed that in the context of bara no materials for the creative act are ever mentioned, and an investigation of all the passages mentioned above substantiate that claim. (Pg 43)
All of this information leads us to conclude that the "beginning" is a way of talking about the seven-day period rather than a point in time prior to the seven days. (Pg 45)
All of this indicates that cosmic creation in the ancient world was not viewed primarily as a process by which matter was brought into being, but as a process by which functions, roles, order, jurisdiction, organization and stability were established. (Pg 53)
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A very little book packed with great stuff. The only place where I think he got off track was at the end when he entered into the debate about what to teach in public school. While I somewhat agreed with his conclusion that science can't teach teleology and therefore religion shouldn't be inserted into the science text book (very broad brush strokes in that statement) the libertarian inside of me says that there shouldn't be schools funded by tax payers period. So in essence, I agree with his conclusion but not the premiss. I do agree that the intelligent design movement is totally missing the mark. If you are scientist you simply can't say "an intelligent being did this so we no longer have to study it".
ReplyDeleteGlad you enjoyed the book.
Blessings,
Micah
Micah, I agree with you on the tax funded "state free school system" thought, but yeah, just letting that issue go, his comments can be somewhat agreed with.
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