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The “Days" of Creation in Genesis 1: Literal or Figurative?

The question of whether the six days of creation were actual 24-hour periods of time or only symbolic representations of millions of years has been debated for centuries. During the past century and a half, with recognition of the theory of evolution and its vast eons of time, the matter has been under more serious scrutiny. Published in Origins v. 21, n. 1.

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Literary Structural Parallels Between Genesis 1 and 2

This study addresses the problem that is presented by the common literary critical appraoch to the two creation narratives in Genesis 1 and 2. Published in Origins v. 16, n. 2.

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Does Genesis 2 Contradict Genesis 1?

One day a minister said to me, "There seems to be a contradiction between chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. Chapter 1 tells us that God created the animals first and then created man, but chapter 2 says that God created man before the animals. How do you ex plain this difficult problem?"

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The Theology of Sexuality in the Beginning: Genesis 1-2

The first two chapters of the Bible deal directly with the question of human sexuality. Not only is human sexuality presented as a basic fact of creation, but an elucidation of the nature of sexuality constitutes a central part of the Creation accounts.

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Some Notes on Translating Genesis 1:16

The translation of 1781 as the preposition "with" removes the anomaly of the stars being created on the fourth day of the creation week. It follows that the issue of the creation of the stars is not necessarily a specific topic within the horizon of the creation pericope of Gen 1:1-2:4a.

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Two Sides of Several Questions

A review of the book, The Genesis Debate. Several questions regrding interprations of Genesis 1-11 are addressed, with both Yes and No responses representing different points of view. Published in Origins v. 14, n. 1.

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Beyond Arithmetic: the Truth of Creation

Throughout the Old Testament the phrase, "the heavens and the earth," is used as the nearest Hebrew equivalent to our term, "universe."

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Genesis One in Historical-critical Perspective

I hope to illustrate how an approach that attends to the culture, history, philosophy and religion of the Bible's time and place can enhance our understanding of its message.

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The Doctrine of Beginnings

The way we perceive God, the way we look at the world around us, and the way we understand our own selves all have their roots in the opening verse of Scripture: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth."

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The Word "Earth" in Genesis 1:1

Does the word "earth" refer a) to the physical material of the earth; b) to the planet earth as a part of our solar system; c) to our earth in the sense of the land upon which life can exist? We will address this question very briefly by reviewing four problems. Published in Origins v. 8, n. 1.

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The Literary Structure of the Genesis Creation Story

The Documentary hypothesis and the so-called Tatbericht-Wortbericht theory have been the two main starting points of any relevant scholarly study of this text. Recently, under the influence of contemporary literary studies, attention has been drawn to the validity of the synchronic approach, and more and more scholars have thus become aware of the importance of the literary structure of this text.

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The Unity of the Creation Account

There is a distinct "name" theology involved in the distribution of the different names used for God in Genesis 1 and 2. The author who composed these two narratives as part of a larger whole wished to say something specific about God by using these names this way. Published in Origins v. 5, n. 1.

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Equality from the Start: Woman in the Creation Story

The first three chapters of Genesis are of crucial importance for both the origins of our world and for determining relationships between man and woman. Without these chapters, any understanding of the mutuality between man and woman is impaired and one-sided.

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