Origins - Genesis Flashcards
Genesis 1- Day 1
God decides he wants to make a world and says “let there be light” and there is light and God separates it into day and night.
Genesis 1- Day 2
God separates the waters above and the waters below
Genesis 1- Day 3
God organises the world in to sea and land and creates the plants
Genesis 1- Day 4
A great light, presumably the sun, and a lesser a light, presumably the moon, are created, as are stars
Genesis 1- Day 5
The sea is filled with fish and the sky with birds
Genesis 1- Day 6
Land animals and humans are created
Genesis 1- Day 7
God is happy with his creation and rests
Imago dei
“in the image of god”, mankind is unique as they are created in gods image
God creates “by fiat”
By command
Got creates “ex nihilo”
From nothing
In what way does Genesis one and 2 differ?
- In gen 1, mankind is created last, simultaneously (man + woman together) ex nihilo and by fiat.
-In gen 2, man is created and the world is created to fit his needs - created from something (dust/mud) + life breathed into him
-woman is created later in gen 2 as a suitable companion
Gardens
No garden in gen 1, one garden in gen 2
How do the genres differ between genesis 1 and 2?
Gen 1 is written in poetry
Gen 2 is written in prose
Young Earth creationists believe . . .
That the Bible (particularly genesis 1+2) actually happened as it claims. This is because God’s word is Infallible, meaning it cannot be wrong.
Examples of the bible being taken literally
1) The world was created in 6 days lasting 24 hours.
2) Man was made from mud.
3) The garden of Eden was a literal place.
Theistic Evolutionists believe that . . .
The bible should be interpreted metaphorically. This is he idea that Genesis 1 + 2 are a complex metaphor for God’s relationship to man, to his creation and for man’s relationship to the creation.
Examples of the bible being taken metaphorically
1) The days are representations of the time and pleasure God took in creating.
2) The creation of man from mud symbolises his closeness to the Earth
3) The garden of Eden is a ‘symbolic place’ where life was perfect. This was God’s original intention for us.
Ken Ham quote “No apparent . . .”
“No apparent, perceived, or claimed evidence in any field, including history and chronology, can be valid if it contradicts the Scriptural record.”
Key Ham believes . . .
- That the days were 24 hours long. Like days are today. He thinks this is because it was God setting up time as we know it from the beginning. It would undermine the fourth commandment - to keep the sabbath holy - because if days are figurative then God did not rest on the seventh day.
- Ham argues that you cannot have millions of years of death and suffering before the fall because it was the first humans who brought this into the world.
- He believes Genesis 1-11 must be taken literally, otherwise the rest of the Bible can be doubted, including the resurrection of Jesus.
- It was read as literal for many centuries.
When did Bishop Ussher conclude the Earth began?
Ultimately Ussher concluded that the Earth began on 23/10/4004 BCE at 6pm.
How did Ussher conclude the supposed date of the earth’s creation?
In the 17th century Bishop Ussher worked backwards using the genealogies the Bible and a set of known dates.
Ham claims that scientific evidence supports a young earth, for example
1) Galaxies wind themselves up too fast
2) Too few supernova remnants
3) Comets disintegrate too quickly
4) Not enough mud on the sea floor
5) Not enough sodium in the sea
6) The earth’s magnetic field is decaying too fast.
7) Many strata are too tightly bent
