A reminder for
today
Know ye that the
LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are his
people, and the sheep of his pasture. (Psalm 100:3)
The age-old debate will never end where people think that
Genesis is a metaphor. Now let’s look at that for today with the help from my
friend at answers in Genesis.
There have been many Christians through history who believed
in a literal interpretation of Genesis 1. Basil of Caesarea (AD 329–379) wrote
that in the context of “morning” and “evening” a “day” in Genesis 1referred to
a day of “twenty-four hours.” Ambrose (c. AD 339–397) wrote in his
commentary on Genesis, “The length of one day is twenty-four hours in
extent.” The English historian and theologian Bede (c. AD 672–735)
commented on Genesis 1:5 that the first day was “without a doubt a
day of twenty-four hours.”
On the other hand, other Christians read Genesis 1 as
an allegory or symbolic story. Origen (c. AD 185–254) rejected a literal
interpretation of Genesis 1. The great theologian Augustine (AD 354–430)
believed that the six days were not periods of time but the way God taught the
angels about creation. Why did they believe this? First, they were influenced
by an ancient book of Jewish wisdom that is not part of the Bible,
misunderstanding it to say that God created all things in an
instant. Second, they wanted to reconcile Christianity with Greek
philosophy much as the Jewish writer Philo of Alexandria (20 BC– AD 50) had
tried to do, while not rejecting the major biblical doctrine that one God
created all things.
Luther’s advice is sound. When the Bible speaks of God
creating Adam on the sixth day, teaching Adam His command about the trees, and
bringing the animals to him, these are not just spiritual parables or eternal
principles but “all these facts refer to time and physical life.” Genesis
presents itself to us not as a poem or allegory, but as an account of real
history. We should accept it as such, even if we cannot answer every question
one might raise about the origins of the universe. The words of the Bible are
infallibly given by the Holy Spirit (2 Timothy 3:16; 2 Peter 1:21). God is
the teacher, and we must be His students.
Calvin was aware that some people said that the six days of
Genesis 1 were a metaphor. But he believed this did not do justice to the
text of Scripture. He wrote, “For it is too violent a cavil [objection] to
contend that Moses distributes the work which God perfected at once into six
days, for the mere purpose of conveying instruction. Let us rather conclude
that God himself took the space of six days, for the purpose of accommodating
his works to the capacity of men.” He went on to explain that God “distributed
the creation of the world into successive portions, that he might fix our
attention, and compel us, as if he had laid his hand upon us, to pause and
reflect.” Joseph Pipa writes, “Calvin’s commitment to six days and the
order of the days stands in bold contrast to modern theories such as the
framework hypothesis and the analogical view of Genesis 1. He emphatically
insists on the order of the six days as both advantageous to man and
instructive about the character of God.”
Girolamo Zanchi (AD 1516–1590) was a professor of Old
Testament and theology who taught at Strassburg and Heidelberg. A few years
before he died, Zanchi published a detailed confession of faith, which said
that God created the world “in the space of six days.” He also published a
massive book titled Concerning the Works of God in Creation during the
Space of Six Days, in which he argued that Genesis 1clearly says God
created the world in six literal days.
Though all Christians believe that God created the world,
through the history of the Church a literal reading of Genesis has competed
with an allegorical reading. In the Reformation, Luther, Calvin, and other
major Reformers embraced the literal reading of Genesis, with the result that
they believed in a six-day creation some six thousand years ago. We also find
evidence of the literal view in the Belgic Confession, the Confession
of Faith by Zanchi, the Irish Articles, and the Westminster Confession
of Faith.
It is clear that Genesis is a literal document portraying
the events as they occurred in history. It is given to Moses through the Holy
Spirit so that we can know God is the creator of all and He did this in six
days
Lord, thank you for your amazing Bible and that we are
fortunate to read it each and every day. Please open your Word for us and clear
away any and all confusion by the false leaders of this world. In Jesus name.
Have an awesome day, dear friend of Jesus.
Cheers