The implications then of the opening words of the Bible, in the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth’, are immense, greater than anything we can conceive. The first words of John’s Gospel re-echo the words in the beginning‘. The beginning of what? The author of Genesis doubtless meant the beginning of the world, or better the beginning of God’s creative activity. It is a theme unimaginable to Greek philosophers or contemporary secular science.
Greek understandings of the beginning
Thoughtful Greeks, in the five or six centuries before Christ, had great interest in the question, in what sense did the world have a beginning? Read more
We begin then by looking at creation from the differing perspectives of the biblical narrative and some other ancient stories.
This will help to show the distinctiveness and power of the Bible’s account of creation.
Creation in the ancient Near East
The recitation of creation stories in the ancient world bore little resemblance to our detached discussions on creation today. To these ancient peoples it was a matter of worship. Their sagas were not like the telling of fairy tales, but recitations of the annual religious festivals. Recounting these stories had the serious purpose of seeking both to preserve the order of society and to guarantee order and life before the threats of chaotic forces. Read more
During the first part of the nineteenth century, scientists began the serious study of fossils. This showed a clear succession of life on earth, with some forms (such as the dinosaurs) becoming extinct and new ones arising. At the same time geologists, looking at the natural processes at work on rocks, began to suggest that the world was older than the traditional 6,000 years.
Charles Lyell, who was staunchly opposed to evolution, calculated in 1859 that life had been on earth not less than 300 million years’. Speculations that extinct species had perished in Noah’s flood or that they were remains of previous creations destroyed by God seemed increasingly improbable. But those who denied that God had created each species uniquely did not at this stage find general acceptance. This was because no one could envisage how biological change (evolution) could take place. Read more
In recent years there has been a widely-reported resurgence of occultism in the West. This has coincided with a strong movement, in other parts of the world, to return to traditional religious practices. Far more people are now aware of the reality of the spirit world than a generation or two ago. And when we look at the Bible, we find that God has created a universe of which non-material beings form a very real part.
Today people would acknowledge the influence of outside forces on human beings. We are not so autonomous as we once supposed. To an extent, we can be controlled, and sometimes we are. People’s experience, in many parts of the world today, goes along with Jesus‘ teaching to suggest that personal outside forces (angels, demons, spirits) can and do influence the behaviour of human beings. Read more
