By Fred Gilley
Retired Minister
Genesis, the first of the bible’s 66 books, means beginning, first, origin, etc. “In the beginning,” we are informed by Genesis 1:1, “God created the heaven and the earth.” (King James Version — KJV.)
Many biblical scholars attribute this first of two biblical creation stories (1:1–2:4a) to the “Priestly” writer(s), who was (or were) active after the Babylonian Exile began in 598-7 and 587-6 B.C.E. Exiles began returning to Judah in 538 under Persian rule.
Most cultures have creation stories, with biblical similarities and differences. Chaos is a popular obstacle to creation progress. Verse 2 indicates biblical creation is no exception. “And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” Literal interpretations of the bible’s creation stories encounter problems immediately, such as the origin of chaos.
Did God create or conquer and use chaos? The Priestly writers, frequently referred to by the letter P, seem to be self-contradictory. We know persons, plants, animals, and things by forms, images, and we understand void to mean empty, nothing. Although we may be prepared to believe “with God all things are possible” (Matthew 19:26), darkness and water were present. Land also was under water, we learn later. All water sources, including humans, cover 71% of today’s earth.
“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.” A better translation for moved is brooded, according to Cuthbert A. Simpson, Genesis introduction author and text explainer in The Interpreter’s Bible, Volume 1. In verse 3, God either thinks or says “Let there be light.” God (in verses 4 and 5) “sees” the light, approves, separates light from darkness, names the light day and labels darkness night. “…evening and morning were the first day.”
God’s day can be an instance of less than a single second or a million years. As Second Peter 3:8 reminds us, “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.” God, without beginning or ending, is timeless. Humans invented time for convenience. “Evening and morning” is the opposite of our understanding and common expression, but for biblical Jews, tomorrow begins at sundown today.
By the time this pulpit offering is scheduled to appear in print, we will be close to completing the first month of another year. Present times are as good as any for thinking about the created universe with other Christians, including believing scientists. Churches that follow the Revised Common Lectionary encountered our text (Genesis 1:1-5) January 1 – the circumcision of Jesus, eight days after observing his birth.
How did we get from chaos to cosmos? Chaos can be defined as reckless, unpredictable, lacking order, and without any pattern. Expectations earth will eventually collide with a meteor (or other object) may indicate space is not as orderly as we sometimes suppose. Reputable scholars dispute whether God created ex nihilo – out of nothing (if at all), but neither can prove the other wrong. Personally, I prefer saying God’s method willed and/or spoke the initial universe that has grown to more than 100 billion galaxies. Mind boggling, isn’t it?
Orbiting more than 300 miles over Planet Earth for almost three decades, the Hubble telescope has proven the universe is growing and speeding. For 10 days in 1995 (December 18-28) Hubble was aimed at supposed emptiness near the Big Dipper’s handle and revealed more than 3,000 unknown galaxies, some 12 billion years old. Instead of appreciating growth and speed, some scientists fear the universe will do a Big Rip to end the Big Bang in a billion years or so.
Christians expect God’s control of any universe ending to at least equal (if not surpass) the dawn of creation, which, in spite of many atrocities and other flaws, has not turned out too badly. Simpson (cited earlier) suggests “In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth” is a more accurate translation than “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth,” although some clarity of meaning is lost. With unaided eyes, especially on a dark night, we can see enough to be in awe with the Psalmist in 8:3-4:
“When I consider…[your] heavens…which…[you have] ordained; what is man that…[you are] mindful of him? And the son of man, that…[you visit] him? (KJV, paraphrased.)
