In the beginning
[Under development: 10 June 2005 ]
Geology formed the major part of my university degree. I have viewed through a microscope thin sections of rock from the Moon, and through my binoculars the four Galilean moons of Jupiter. I am comfortable with a heliocentric solar system orbiting the Milky Way galaxy in somewhat distal spiral arm, and that the age of planet earth is 4.6 billion years rather than 6,009 years according to biblical calculations. Having read A Brief History of Time by Professor Stephen Hawking, I am familiar with the concepts of black holes, worm holes, the big bang, the big crunch and warped space time. It might appear odd, therefore, that I should have several reasons to be interested in Genesis 1, 2:1-3. First, the passage inspires a deep reverence for what has been created, according with my profound environmental concerns and interests. Second, the passage involves conceptualising and naming the world into existence. Third, I sometimes wonder how I would make sense of the natural world were it not for the libraries of learning that are modern education.
· To what extent do you nurture a belief in the literal truth of this Genesis creation story?
· To what extent do you take notice of
1. cosmological issues (such as how the universe formed and developed, how stars are created and destroyed)?
2. space exploration (such as the international space station; the various Mars rovers; examining the rings and moons of Saturn; the forthcoming trip to a comet)?
3. environmental issues (such as global warming; pollution and recycling)?
4. your relationship with, and interaction with, the environment in which you live?
Genesis 1
1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2And 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.
3And God said, Let there be light: and there was
light.
4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God
divided the light from the darkness.
5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he
called Night. And the evening and the morning were the
first day.
6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst
of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which
were above the firmament: and it was so.
8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9And God said, Let the waters
under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land
appear: and it was so.
10And God called the dry land Earth; and the
gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the
herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose
seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12And the earth brought forth grass,
and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed
was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14And God said, Let there be
lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let
them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the
heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16And God made two great lights; the greater light to
rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to
give light upon the earth,
18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to
divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19And the evening and the morning were the fourth
day.
20And God said, Let the
waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that
may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21And God created great whales, and every living
creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth
abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw
that it was good.
22And God blessed them, saying, Be
fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply
in the earth.
23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living
creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth
after his kind: and it was so.
25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it
was good.
26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after
our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the
fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27So God created man in his own image, in the image
of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and
subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the
air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth.
29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb
bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the
which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl
of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the
earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it
was so.
31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
Genesis 2:1-3
1Thus the heavens and the earth
were finished, and all the host of them.
2And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day
from all his work which he had made.
3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:
because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
