Cosmic Temple
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Cosmic Temple
Abstract
The book of Genesis 1 is significant because it tells about God's creation where he bought the universe into existence. The relationship of God with his creation is presented and especially how he intends humankind to live. We see God at work and also we should work in obedience following his commands. God can speak and things come into being since creation is an act of God himself, not a mistake or accident. God perfects the earthly kingdom and dwells there with humanity in the creation that he renewed. We find out that, sometimes the earth is corrupted and people go against the purpose of God but the world remains the creation of God that he said, it is good.
“Overview of [Non-traditional View]” section that documents the view’s origin and its specific take on the days of Genesis 1
Where and when this view entered the theological discussion on origins?
The foundation of the theological discussion is in the book of genesis and is based on the chapters in the book. This is where there is a story of how God carried out the work of creation and he brings it into reality. God shows the relationship he has with his creatures especially human beings. Genesis presents how God worked and how he expects us to work with obedience to Him. In the beginning, God spoke to things and they came to being, those things that were not there before starting with the universe. The work of theology begins with creation because all the things we work with are started by God (Boice 1998)
The specific view of how the Hebrew word “day” is translated or understood in Genesis 1
In Genesis 1 the Hebrew word day means a 24 hour day that was used when recording the time that God took in creation which was 6 days. Genesis 1 shows that each day God completed an event and said it was good and that continued for six consecutive days until He finished the work of creation. When God created light and separated it from darkness, He formed day and night which is 24hours (Boice 1998).
How Creation Week is treated as a whole (e.g., as a historical sequence, literary convention, non-historical myth, etc.)
The creation week shows a series of incidents that are arranged in a given time. It shows that it's only God who existed at this time and no one else was available to narrate the story. The bible has many creation stories to ensure that everything is narrated well without holding anything back. In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth shows that He did it alone and there were no rivals. At the end of the 6th day, God completed the creation and gave humanity the role to worship him.
Does this view make specific claims about the timing of creation in history or not? For example, does the view require an ancient Earth and universe, or does it specify if/when the days correspond to Earth history?
The teachings in Genesis 1 are that all things were created by God and said that His creation was good. The ordinary universe was created within one week according to earth creationists. According to the day view, each day represents a period that was extended which may mean millions of years that overlap. The seven days that are referred to in Genesis 1 are of temple dedication according to ancient practice. This is where there is seven days ceremony and God comes to rest in the temple once it is completed (Ross and Gleason 2001).
A “Response to [Non-traditional View]” section that critically evaluates the nontraditional view from young-Earth creation sources
How the non-traditional view interprets “day” accurately or inaccurately in Genesis 1
There are Christians who think creation according to Genesis 1 should not be recorded as sequential days because they take them as God’s workdays. God is taken as a workman in the three days he used to form and another 3 days of filling when He created the earth and there are many similarities between the Garden of Eden and the tabernacle. The special revelation about the day is to help us know what God did at a particular period. Other interpreters replace biblical timeline of six days of creation to mean billions of years.
Points of agreement/disagreement with the sequence of creation events in Genesis 1 as espoused by young-Earth creation
Disagreements arise among Christians on the way they interpret Genesis 1 where they think about it as either history or metaphor. They agree that the view of Genesis 1 is a narrative that has a combination of repetitions as well as rhythms of worship text that has a theological declaration. This narrative rejects theologies of polytheistic neighbors of Israel, who lived there as free people together with Babylonians who were in exile. Many biblical scholars agree that Genesis 1 as a hymn in theology praises as well as celebrates the creation of God. The six days show a framework in which, inanimate, as well as living things, are created in an orderly manner. There was a problem of undifferentiated mass when creation was begun and God solved it immediately through separation and filling it with creatures who were animate as well as inanimate (Jordan, 1999).
Implications for changes to historical Biblical timelines, such as the age of creation, time of the creation of Adam, and/or other events recorded in the early passages of Genesis (e.g., Noah's flood).
When God created mankind he commanded him to multiply and fill the earth but when the earth was filled with violence God sent a universal flood to wipe out the whole creation except eight souls. After the flood God made a new covenant with Noah that He will never again cut off life using flood and the earth will not be destroyed by flood again. The flood was used to destroy the sinful nature of human beings when they became wicked and full of evil thoughts (Whitcomb and Morris 1961). Everywhere is filled with water as a result of flood implies how the earth was at creation when the water submerged everything and after the flood, nothing was left on earth similar to the beginning before creation (Ross 1994).
Does this view require significant changes to, or rethinking of, important Christian doctrines?
When the argument is based on revelation, it falls under theology, if not, it is philosophy. Since the world was created by God and it is accessible to philosophers and reveled to theologians through the written texts the claims by both should not conflict unless either theologian or philosopher makes an error. This view does not require changes to or rethinking of important Christian doctrines because theologians can think as well as speak about God in a meaningful way without abandoning traditional Christian doctrines (Ross 1994).
Conclusion summarizing my findings and providing my perspective of the views presented
God is the creator of the universe and everything in it and should be taken as the king, commander as well as the high priest. God lives in the universe and commands his blessing to humankind when they obey Him. God is sovereign with power to create and therefore human beings created in God's image have to rule over creation and create children of their own. The story presented by theologians’ shows how powerful God is and how humans share that power. God was very orderly in his creation that is why every day from the first to the sixth day there is a sequence of events. After the end of every day, God said that what He created was good to show that He appreciated what He did. God expects us to lead a righteous life and always obey his commands and when we do wrong he is angered and can punish us. This is portrayed in the times of Noah when God sent floods to destroy the earth due to the sinful nature of human beings (Ross 1994).