Program / Course 6: Old Testament Theology and History / Lesson 1.4
What you will learn
- Describe the picture of the universe that Genesis 1 and other biblical texts assume.
- Name the main ways Jews and Christians have read the days of creation.
- Explain how Augustine, Basil and Maimonides approached the question of literal reading.
- State fairly the strongest argument for each major reading without choosing one.
The big idea
Genesis 1 describes a world with a solid-seeming dome overhead, waters above and below, and a flat land between. That picture is not the one modern astronomy gives. Jews and Christians have answered this in several ways: some read the days as ordinary days, some as long ages, some as a literary frame, and some as a teaching about God and not a report of mechanics. All of these readers claim to take the text seriously, and the lesson describes their reasons.
Key terms
- Cosmology
- A picture of the structure of the universe. Ancient cosmology describes the cosmos as the ancients imagined it.
- Firmament
- The English translation (from Latin) of the Hebrew raqia in Genesis 1:6 to 8, meaning something beaten out or spread, a dome or expanse over the earth.
- Sheol
- The Hebrew name for the realm of the dead, pictured as beneath the earth.
- Concordism
- The attempt to match the order of Genesis 1 with the findings of modern science.
- Accommodation
- The idea that God spoke through human authors in terms their audience could understand, without teaching their world picture as a doctrine.
- Allegorical reading
- A reading that sees a deeper meaning beyond the literal sense of the words.
- Literal sense
- In older Christian usage, the meaning the author intended in the words, which may include figures of speech. In modern usage it often means a plain, factual reading.
Background
People who lived before the telescope saw the sky as a vault. The Hebrew Bible speaks of windows of heaven (Genesis 7:11), foundations of the earth (Psalm 104:5) and waters under the earth (Exodus 20:4). Mesopotamian and Egyptian texts picture much the same. This was not a mistake peculiar to Israel. It was the common view of the age, and the biblical authors used it as the language in which to speak of God.
Once that picture was challenged by astronomy, readers had to decide what Genesis was teaching. The early church and the rabbis had already debated the question. Origen and Augustine doubted that the first days could be ordinary days, since the sun is not made until the fourth day. Maimonides, a medieval Jewish philosopher, held that Scripture’s language about God and the heavens must sometimes be understood figuratively. Others stayed with a plain reading of the days.
The debate sharpened after Galileo, and again after Darwin. Today the main question is whether Genesis 1 makes claims about the age of the earth and the origin of species, or addresses other questions. This lesson sets out the main options and reasons.
Step-by-step explanation
Step 1: The picture behind the text
Genesis 1:6 to 8 has God make an expanse that divides waters above from waters below. Verse 14 to 18 places sun, moon and stars in it. The land is surrounded by seas. Many scholars note that the text uses this picture without arguing for it, as one would use the word sunrise today without teaching that the sun moves.
Seeing this does not settle how to read the passage. It raises the question of whether the author meant to teach the structure of the sky or to teach that God made and orders it all.
Step 2: Six main readings of the days
The first reading takes the days as six ordinary days, a few thousand years ago. Its supporters point to the pattern of evening and morning, the link to the week in Exodus 20:11, and the idea that Scripture is clear to a plain reader. The second, the day-age view, takes each day as a long period and tries to match the order with geology. The third, the framework view, sees the days as a literary structure: three days of forming and three of filling, with a Sabbath at the end. The fourth, often tied to the study of ancient texts, holds that the days describe God preparing the cosmos as a temple for worship and not the material origin of things.
The fifth, found in Augustine, holds that God created everything at once and that the days are a way to present it in order for human minds. The sixth, held by some religious Jews and Christians, treats the chapter as theological poetry that teaches about God and the world and does not describe a mechanism.
Step 3: Voices from the tradition
Basil of Caesarea preached a series of sermons on the six days in the fourth century and read them as showing God’s wisdom in the created order, taking the days as real while using the science of his time. Augustine wrote at length on Genesis and warned in a famous passage that Christians who speak foolishly about nature in the name of Scripture bring Scripture into contempt. Maimonides wrote in the twelfth century that a believer need not read every text of the Torah literally if reason proves otherwise, though he held that the world was created.
In the seventeenth century, the Catholic Church condemned Galileo’s teaching of a moving earth, a judgment later widely regretted. Cardinal Baronio is credited with saying that the Bible teaches how to go to heaven and not how the heavens go. Many people use the line to express the view that Scripture and science speak to different questions.
Step 4: Testing a reading
Any reading should be asked three questions. Does it fit the words of the text in the original setting? Does it respect what the church or synagogue has taught? And does it deal honestly with what is known about the world? Different readers weigh these differently, and a fair student can describe each approach without declaring a winner.
- What picture of the universe does Genesis 1 assume?
- What reasons might an author have for using an ancient picture without teaching it as science?
- Which reading of the days is easiest to defend from the words of the text, and which from the history of interpretation?
- How did Augustine and Maimonides use reason in reading Scripture?
- What are the risks of tying faith closely to one scientific picture?
- What are the risks of treating the text as saying nothing about the physical world?
Examples
Light before the sun
Genesis 1:3 has light on the first day and the sun on the fourth. Augustine took this as a sign that the days cannot be ordinary solar days. A plain-reading defender replies that the text itself describes the sequence, and that God can provide light without the sun. The same detail is used by both sides.
The sun standing still
Joshua 10 speaks of the sun standing still. In Galileo’s time, some used it against a moving earth. Most readers today treat it as the language of appearance, as when a weather forecast speaks of sunrise.
Two readers at one table
A Christian who holds to six ordinary days and one who holds to a framework reading can agree that God made everything, that creation is good, and that humans bear God’s image. They disagree about the form of the text. That shared center is more important than the disagreement.
Different perspectives
Orthodox Jewish and other traditional Jewish readers
Many traditional Jews hold that the days are real and the world is created by God, while some respected authorities in the tradition, such as Maimonides and later writers, allow that parts of the narrative carry deeper or figurative meaning. Liberal Jewish movements generally read Genesis as ancient literature that teaches theological truths.
Catholic readers
The Catholic Church teaches that God created all things and that human beings have a special dignity. It allows a range of readings of the days and permits inquiry into evolution, while holding that each human soul is created directly by God. This was stated in Pope Pius XII’s 1950 encyclical Humani Generis and developed by later popes.
Orthodox Christian readers
The Orthodox have no single required reading of the days. They stress the patristic witness, in which Basil, Gregory of Nyssa and others differ on details, and the sense of creation as ordered toward communion with God.
Protestant readers
Protestants hold the range of views described above. Many evangelical churches teach six-day creation, others a day-age or framework view, and mainline churches commonly accept evolutionary science. Each group appeals to the authority of Scripture.
Secular and scholarly readers
Many scholars regard Genesis 1 as a priestly text from the exile or earlier, shaped by its ancient setting, which makes statements about God and order and not about physical science. Some secular critics hold that the conflict with science shows the text to be mistaken, which religious readers reject.
Why it matters
Disputes about Genesis divide families, churches and schools. Students who understand the options are better able to listen, to see the shared convictions beneath the disagreement, and to separate the question of what the text meant in its day from questions about modern science. The lesson does not tell anyone which reading to hold. It asks that whatever is held be held with understanding.
Common misunderstandings
Misunderstanding: Everyone before modern science read Genesis the same way.
Correction: Origen, Augustine and rabbis such as those in the medieval tradition differed on the days and on how literally to read some details.
Misunderstanding: Accepting an ancient cosmology means denying biblical authority.
Correction: Many who hold Scripture’s authority hold also that it used the picture of its time to teach about God. Others disagree. The point is debated within faith communities.
Misunderstanding: The church rejected science because of Galileo.
Correction: The Galileo case was complex, involving politics, personalities and methods of interpretation. The church later regretted the condemnation, and many Catholic clergy and scholars were scientists.
Misunderstanding: The only options are six ordinary days or no creator.
Correction: Faith traditions include many views on the days, while holding that God is creator. The question of how to read Genesis is separate from the question whether the world has a creator.
Knowledge check
What ancient picture of the universe lies behind Genesis 1?
The text assumes an expanse or dome that holds back waters above, with waters beneath the earth and the land in between. Sun, moon and stars are set in the expanse. This picture was common across the ancient Near East. Readers differ on whether the author meant to teach it or only to use it as the language of the time.
What does the framework view of the days say?
It holds that the six days are a literary structure and not a calendar. The first three days give form to the world, with light, sky and sea, and land. The next three days fill each realm with lights, creatures and humans. The seventh day crowns the pattern. Supporters think this explains the text’s careful symmetry.
What was Augustine’s concern about speaking of nature in the name of Scripture?
Augustine warned that when a Christian speaks foolishly about the natural world as though Scripture taught it, nonbelievers who know better will laugh and may dismiss the faith itself. He urged care and humility. He also thought the days of Genesis could not be ordinary days and allowed that God’s work was beyond human time.
Does the Catholic Church require a particular reading of the days?
No. Catholic teaching requires belief that God is creator of all things and that humans have a special dignity and a soul created by God. It allows several readings of the days of Genesis and permits scientific inquiry, including into evolution, so long as these truths are kept. Catholic scholars hold a range of positions.
Think it through
- Which reading of the days seems to you to treat the words of the text most seriously? Why?
- How would you explain to a friend the difference between what a text assumes and what it teaches?
- What do the readers of different views share that you could build on in conversation?
- Is there a belief of your own about Genesis that you have never examined?
Independent assignment
Two readings, fairly stated
In your own notebook, choose two readings of Genesis 1 from this lesson. Write 150 to 250 words for each, as a supporter of that reading would write it, including the best reasons from the text and from tradition. Then write a final paragraph of about 100 words naming the shared convictions of both readers. Do not argue against either one. Keep the pages for yourself.
Further study
- Augustine of Hippo, Confessions Read Book 12 and 13 for Augustine’s reflections on the many senses a text like Genesis can bear.
- Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Religion and Science Read for the history of the debate between religious readings of Scripture and scientific accounts.
- Catholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church Read the paragraphs on creation and on the Church’s reading of Scripture for the Catholic teaching in its own words.
- Basil of Caesarea, On the Holy Spirit (De Spiritu Sancto) Read to know Basil’s thought, then compare with his sermons on the six days if you can find them.
- Genesis 1 Read the whole chapter aloud and mark every repeated phrase.
- Psalm 104 A poem on creation that uses the ancient picture.
- Exodus 20 The link between the week and creation.