1.

Genesis as ANE critique of other Worldviews

a. Ch. 1 needs to be read in light of creation accounts from Mesopotamia. Although detailed
comparisons are relatively few, three basic parallels exist: the picture of the primeval
state as a watery chaos, the basic order of creation, and the divine rest at the end of
creation.
Identifying the genre of Gen. 1-11 is difficult because of its uniqueness. None of these
accounts belongs to the genre “myth.” Nor is any of them “history” in the modern sense
of eyewitness, objective reporting. Rather, they largely convey theological truths about
events, portrayed in a largely symbolic, pictorial literary style. This is not to say that Gen.
1-11 conveys historical falsehood. That conclusion would follow only if the material
claimed objective descriptions. [Based on ANE parallels in the flood and the Tower of
Babel] it is certain that such was not the intent. On the other hand, the view that the
truths taught in these chapters have no objective basis is mistaken. Fundamental truths
are declared: creation of all by God, special divine intervention in the origin of the first
man and woman, the unity of the human race, the pristine goodness of the created
world, including humanity, the entrance of sin through disobedience of the first pair, the
rampant spread of sin after this initial act of disobedience. These truths are all based on
facts. Their certainty implies the reality of the facts… The book’s purpose was not to
provide a biological and geological description of origins. Rather, it was intended to
explain the unique nature and dignity of human beings by virtue of their divine origin.
Hasel (1972, 1974) detects five areas in which Gen 1 appears to be attacking rival
cosmologies. First, in some Near Eastern cosmologies, dragons tnn are rivals whom the
Canaanite gods conquer, whereas in Gen 1:21 the great sea monsters are just one kind of
the aquatic animals created by God. Second, these cosmologies describe the struggle of
the gods to separate the upper waters from the lower waters; but Gen 1:6-10 describes the
acts of separation by simple divine fiat. Third, the worship of the sun, moon, and stars
was current throughout the ancient orient. Genesis pointedly avoids using the normal
Hebrew words for sun and moon, lest they be taken as divine, and says instead God
created the greater and lesser light. Fourth, Babylonian tradition sees the creation of
man as an afterthought, a device to relieve the gods of work and provide them with food.
For Genesis, the creation of man is the goal of creation and God provides man with food.
Finally, Genesis shows God creating simply through his spoken word, not through
magical utterance as is attested in Egypt. There thus runs through the whole Genesis
cosmology “a conscious and deliberate anti-mythical polemic” (Heidel, Babylonian
Genesis, 91). The author of Gen 1 therefore shows that he was aware of other
cosmologies, and that he wrote not in dependence on them so much as in deliberate
rejection of them.

2. Genesis as Ancient Cosmology

a. In light of other ANE worldviews, Genesis offers one that is no longer concerned solely
with how we have come to exist, but with who we are and WHY do we exist in this world?
b. If we follow the sense of the ancient literature and its ideas of creation, we find that
people in the ANE did not think of creation in terms of making material things–instead,
everything is function oriented. The gods beginning their own operations and are
making all of the elements of the cosmos operational. Creation thus constituted bringing
order to the cosmos from an originally nonfunctional condition. It is from this reading of
 the literature that we may deduce a functional ontology (existence) in the ancient
world–that is, that they offer accounts of functional origins rather than accounts of
material origins.
c. Consequently, to create something (cause it to exist) in the ancient world means to give it
a function, not material properties. Order to chaos….
d. We need to note the contrast: we tend to think of the cosmos as a machine and argue
whether someone is running the machine or not. The ancient world viewed the cosmos
more like a company or a kingdom. Who is the sovereign instead of the person directly
controlling it all?
e. Would the ancients have believed that their gods also manufactured the material?
Absolutely, for nothing can be thought to stand apart from the gods. But they show little
interest in material origins. Such issues were simply insignificant to them. Go back to the
house vs. home argument….some sorts of origins are more important than other sorts of
origins (material vs. functional).

3. Genesis as a Literary Masterpiece

a. The narrative begins with “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now
the earth was formless and empty…” This is a clear affirmation that all things are under
God’s dominion. He is providential. Also, here is a very clear artistic framework for the
creation narrative of chapter one of Genesis: the earth is 1) formless and 2) empty. God
will now create through “shaping” and “filling” this created world. God’s Spirit “hovers
over the surface of the deep” communicates an intimacy between God with his creation.
b. The first creation account (Genesis 1) is structured around two threes (“shaping” and
“filling”) plus one: God first creates 1) light, 2) sky-sea, and 3) land-vegetation; this is
followed by 1) sun-moon-stars, 2) birds-fish, and 3) animals of the earth and finally
humanity; then, God rests.
c. The contrast of “darkness” and “light” is interesting. Darkness as void, as nothingness, is
obliterated by the creation of light. Light is featured as something generously bestowed
on the world.
d. God creates by divine fiat, simple command, ex nihilo. Here is another affirmation of this
command and authority.
e. The refrain “there was evening, and there was morning” may suggest that God rested
every evening. This is important in that our week-rhythm either provides a narrative
structure for theological understanding or God’s creative act provides our rhythm
with intrinsic value.
f. Notice 1) the author does not mention the actual terms for sun and moon but prefers
greater and lesser light, 2) the recognized order of the created world where seed
produces like seed, 3) the lights in the “vault of the sky” are there to mark out “the day
from the night” and “serve as signs to mark sacred times, and days and years.”
g. At the end of each day God “saw that it was good.” God was pleased with what he had
made. After he created humanity God “saw that it was very good.” This demonstrates
that God’s intent was to enjoy the company of people and that humanity is special
from the rest of creation. Also, it demonstrates that life is imbued with intrinsic
aesthetic and moral value, important philosophical concepts. Imago Dei!
h. God gives his creatures the pleasure of participating in creating: we are commanded to
be fruitful and multiply. This idea that we are “co-creators” in a small sense, or
 participants in God’s created world is in line with God’s character. We are also called
co-heirs, and co-laborers with Christ.
i. The narrative builds, using repetition to create anticipation (see how the author talks
about the days).
j. Human dominion, or “rule” over the earth linked up with the idea of being made in the
image of God (imago dei).
k. The seventh day is holy because it is set apart for rest from the other six days. The
acknowledgment of work is quickly followed by the intentionality of resting.
l. Takeaways: God is Creator, both in the past AND ongoing; Creation as more than material
gives us room to see the sacredness of it; Sabbath becomes less about imitating God’s
rest and more about acknowledging his rule.
m. Appendix: Genesis 3-11.
i. Adam and Eve are removed from the Garden of Eden: alienation from God and
self.
ii. Cain Kills Abel: alienation from sibling.
iii. The Flood (because of human wickedness): There is so much similarity here with
the biblical account that the author clearly intended this scene to be thought of as
a 2nd creation of sorts. Noah is righteous and “blameless” (6:9)– he contends with
the wickedness inherited from Adam and Eve. He and his wife (along with his
family) board boat, a sort of protected environment reminiscent of the garden.
Noah takes inventory of the animals much like when Adam names them. The
earth returns to a watery chaos as before creation (7:19). God’s Spirit hovers over
the water in Genesis 1 and “God made a wind bow over the earth” in the Noah
account. God commands them, “be fruitful and multiply” (8:17 and 9:1). God puts
forth a new command in seeming response to the murderous act of Cain (9:6).
Finally, after leaving the ark Noah becomes drunk on wine and exposes his
nakedness to his son Ham (9:22). When we consider the introduction of Noah we
begin the see the clear intent the connect the two events in some way: “He will
comfort us in the labor and painful toil of our hands caused by the ground the
Lord has cursed” (5:29).
iv. The Tower of Babel: alienation from neighbor
v. “Is it not as clear as day that man’s condition is dual? The point is that if man had never
been corrupted, he would, in his innocence, confidently enjoy both truth and felicity, and,
if man had never been anything but corrupt, he would have no idea either of truth or bliss.
But unhappy as we are (and we should be less so if there were no element of greatness in
our condition) we have an idea of happiness but we cannot attain it. We perceive an image
of the truth and possess nothing but falsehood, being equally incapable of absolute
ignorance and certain knowledge; so obvious is it that we once enjoyed a degree of
perfection from which we have unhappily fallen.” –Pascal
vi. The rest of the Bible is about reconciliation with God. Period.