The Biblical Story - From Creation to New Creation - Creation: “In the beginning a story”

How stories start shape where they’re headed...

Genesis “1 In the beginning God created the heavens [the sky] and the earth [the land]. 2 Now the earth was [ a ] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters [Hebrew “tohum”]. 3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.”

There’s More Than One Way to ‘See’ Creation.

Modern vs. Ancient Ways of ‘Seeing’ Creation The modern scientific battles over creation between Darwinistic Evolution and Supernatural Creation. The Ancient Near Eastern battles over who’s myth was true regarding the creation of the gods and of all things.

Genesis as History & Myth “Christians recoil from any suggestion that Genesis is in any way embedded in the mythologies of the ancient world. On one level this is understandable. After all, if the Bible and the gospel are true, and if that truth is bound up with historical events, you can’t have the beginning of the Bible get it so wrong. It is important to understand, however, that not all historians of the Ancient Near East use the word myth simply as shorthand for “untrue,” “made-up,” “storybook.”...

Genesis as History & Myth... It may include these ideas for some, but many who use the term are trying to get at something deeper: A more generous way of defining myth is that it is an ancient, premodern, prescientific way of addressing questions of ultimate origins and meaning in the form of stories: Who are we? Where do we come from?” - Peter Enns, Inspiration & Incarnation

Are We Reading Genesis Literally on Ancient Terms or Modern Terms? Genesis is Historically, Scientifically, and Literally True.

A Glimpse of Human Culture in the Ancient Near East People moving from City- States to Tribes to the beginning of Empires. People who wove the sacred and the secular together. People who in part because they were agrarians saw heaven and earth as very close together.

Biblical Creation in its Ancient Near Eastern Context Egyptian Creation Stories - Shabaka Stone Mesopotamian Creation Stories - Enuma Elish Canaan Creation Stories - Baal Cycle

Biblical Creation in its Ancient Near Eastern Context Comparing the Biblical Story with ANE Myths: Conflict vs Order The “gods” vs YHWH Humans as an afterthought vs Humans as co-regents (i.e. Kings) Generic chaotic primordial creation as setting vs temple setting

Biblical Creation Read in Light of the Pentateuch (First 5 Books of the OT) Genesis is the first of a five-book division in Scripture known as the Torah or the Pentateuch. The story of creation is the story of the “Promise Land”, the reason why “exile” was so bad (Jeremiah ). The story of creation is the story of “The Tabernacle and Temple” (Gen. 2.2 & Exo 31.5).

Small Group Questions Read Genesis chapters 1- 2 What does this passage tell you about God the Creator? What does it tell you about the origin of the world, about why we’re here? How does the writer of Genesis tie the beginning to the end?

Stories Count Stories Count More Than More Than We May Have We May Have Imagined. God’s Story Is God’s Story Is About Order = Wholeness About Order = Wholeness About Power = Abundance About Power = Abundance About Difference = Dignity About Difference = DignityAbout Holiness = Beauty

The Biblical Story - From Creation to New Creation - Creation: “In the beginning a story”