Genesis and Evolution

The author of Genesis 1 never heard of evolution. It wasn't on his radar screen. The issue would never have crossed his mind. So his creation account was obviously not written as a polemic to refute scientific theory. Yet some apply the text exclusively to that issue as if that were its purpose for being written. We can miss the author's intent by too quickly associating the ancient text with current debates.

Genesis 1 is polemical, but the author is not combating evolutionary theory. He is combating pagan idolatry. Contrasted with the pagan mythology of "the gods," Genesis testifies to a single God who is both above creation, yet intimately involved with it. The powers of chaos pose no threat to him. So he doesn't have to fight sea monsters or confer with a divine committee to get things done. The celestial bodies do not control human destiny, but God controls the celestial bodies for the benefit of humans.

Genesis argues against pagan worldviews that compete with Judaic monotheism. So is it fair to evoke Genesis 1 against other worldviews which undermine the biblical concept of prime reality? Can Genesis be employed against pantheism by which everything is viewed as divine or against deism in which God is viewed as the watchmaker who sets the universe in motion but then leaves it to run on its own?

Once we have a clue about the authorial intent of Genesis 1, can we responsibly bring it to bear on the discussion regarding evolutionary theory? Is Genesis 1 relevant to the discussion at all?

Comments

[Frank]

Wade,

A provocative post. I agree with your basic idea. And, in what follows, I realize that I don't necessarily disagree with what you've put forward, although I am responding to some of your questions.

It's one thing to say that the biblical creation account wasn't written to combat Darwinism or Deism or Pantheism. It's another thing to say that, therefore, the claims of the biblical text cannot or should not be posited over against these and other systems.

[Bobby Valentine]

Wade have you read through John Walton's book The Lost World of Genesis One? This is the view that i have held for quite sometime but he does such a good job placing Gen 1 in its ancient context.