ADVANCE PRAISE FOR
CREATION IN SCRIPTURE
In this brief and concise volume, Dr. Weiss demonstrates the importance of exploring the entirety of Biblical evidence on this all too often divisive topic. With clarity and concrete example, he makes clear that this subject does not lend itself to simplistic answers. This volume makes a significant contribution to conversations regarding creation and the Bible. It is my hope that people of faith will use this helpful book to further future dialogue among those who value both Scripture and the human reason with which we have been graced by our loving Creator God! For those who believe that one can be both scholarly and faithful, this is a ‘must read’ book!
Rev. Dr. Robert R. LaRochelle Author, Crossing the Street and Part Time Pastor, Full Time Church Pastor, United Church of Christ
Most studies of creation in the Bible have focused on the first two chapters of Genesis, with little reference to the rest of Scripture where much discussion of creation is found. With characteristically wide understanding of the languages, and the historical and cultural contexts in which the Bible was written, and with deep theological insight and spiritual sensitivity, Dr. Weiss has made an important contribution toward rectifying this imbalance. Reading this book will reward everyone concerned with issues regarding the doctrine of creation.
Earle Hilgert Professor of New Testament Emeritus McCormick Theological Seminary, Chicago.
This is a “must read” book for anyone interested in the current discussions on the concept of creation in the Bible, its cultural context, and its relation to current views in science and evolution. It is authoritative, cogent, masterfully articulated. I’ve read widely on this topic and have never read anything its equal. It pulls no punches. Better yet, it is timely, wise, and faith affirming.
Lawrence T. Geraty, Ph.D. President Emeritus, La Sierra University
Wading into the often truculent conflicts over creationism and evolution, Herold Weiss offers up the refreshing input of a biblical scholar who is fully attentive to the cultural contexts and religious variety of biblical traditions. While insisting that the life of faith and scientific inquiry each be given their proper respect, Weiss challenges those who would speak theologically about creation to consider more broadly the entire range of biblical evidence, rather than privileging a few chapters from Genesis. Crafted with great clarity and a wealth of knowledge, readers are treated to a lavish feast of biblical views of creation, from the prophets and Wisdom literature to the letters of Paul and the apocalyptic world of Revelation. What a remarkable little book: at once a bold challenge to creationism, exposing its reactionary impulses and indicting its ideological abuses of the Bible; and, at the same time, a generous invitation for thoughtful Christians to celebrate the amazingly rich and varied portraits of creation, and thereby to bolster their faith in the Creator in a way that is both well-conceived and biblically based.
Terence J. Martin, Ph.D. Professor of Religious Studies St. Mary’s College, Notre Dame, Indiana
In Creation in Scripture Herold Weiss presents the essential message that the creation story is complex and is addressed in many ways throughout scripture. As it is, much of the hot debate occurs when people take one particular part of scripture, sometimes out of context and sometimes misinterpreted and then baptize this passage as the one and only infallible description of how God really created or creates. This is the first book I have seen that takes this “overview” approach and considers all the Bible’s commentary on Creation. Kudos to Weiss for this contribution.
Richard Colling, Ph.D. Author of Random Designer
CREATION
IN
SCRIPTURE
A SURVEY OF ALL THE EVIDENCE
Herold Weiss
Energion Publications
P. O. Box 841
Gonzalez, FL 32560
www.energionpubs.com
2012
Copyright © 2012, Herold Weiss
Cover Design: Henry Neufeld
Cover Image: © Jorisvo | Dreamstime.com
Kobo Edition: 978-1-63199-671-9
Print ISBNs:
ISBN10: 1-893729-48-6
ISBN13: 978-1-893729-48-3
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012938684
This Book is Dedicated
to
my grandchildren
Jacqueline, Andrés, Elena
Daniel and María
PREFACE
All Christians agree that the human world is God’s by creation and redemption. For centuries Christians debated among themselves how exactly redemption has been, is or will be accomplished. The “how” of redemption is now no longer debated with much passion. These days at the forefront of Christian debates is the “how” of creation, which for centuries had been commonly understood and neglected as a given.
The current debate about creation, which has aroused passionate denunciations and strong animosities, has been caused by the perception that the scientific theory of evolution presents a direct challenge to traditional biblical Christianity. The basis and the contours of this debate have been analyzed already many times and people have taken positions on them. It may legitimately be questioned whether science and faith operate in the same arena, and therefore can challenge and criticize each other. People also debate the significance of specific scientific pieces of evidence, or the over all import of the theory of evolution. Among believers there has been a long standing conversation about the literal and the symbolic value of specific biblical statements. Since I am not a scientist, nor a systematic theologian, I do not intend to enter into these debates.
It seems to me that any one wishing to teach a biblical view of the “how” of creation must take into account the whole Bible, and not arbitrarily limit the evidence to Genesis 1–3, much less to Gen. 1:1–2:4. To limit the biblical evidence to “creation week” is a myopic reduction of the evidence that cannot legitimately be sustained by any one who affirms the Scriptures are the Christian’s rule of faith and practice. Unexplainably, however, this has been the case in the debates about creation and evolution.
There are those who seem to think that if they find a text of scripture that supports what they wish to believe or do that is all it takes to prove adherence to the Bible. Even if in some quarters until today the “proof-text” method of biblical study is common usage, its inadequacy has been recognized since the end of the eighteenth century. It is, therefore, high time for Christians who claim to be scripturally based to adopt positions on doctrine or morals only after having taken a serious look at all the biblical evidence on the matter. To propound a doctrine based on one text of Scripture, many times taken out of context, is not a responsible way to represent what the Bible teaches. This book is an attempt to give a representative overlook of the biblical evidence about creation so that readers may adopt well-conceived conclusions that are truly biblically based.
An earlier version of the chapters of this book first appeared as monthly columns in www.spectrummagazine.org between July 2010 and May 2011. Those columns have been re-written for this book taking into account the expanded horizon gained once they had all appeared and the different audience this book wishes to address. The re-writing of the columns has benefitted from comments posted by various readers in the web and more specifically by friends and family who read and criticized the early drafts of the revised chapters. I owe much to Jean and Don Rhoads. They saved me from both syntactical and idiomatic malpractice, and from less than clear sentences. Edward