Creation - the Light and the Firmament
Contents
Creation: the Light and the Firmament
This article, Creation: the Light and the Firmament reflects my personal journey to understand and believe the Biblical account of Creation in Genesis Chapter 1.
The scope is only the first few verses of Genesis, to the separation of waters by an expanse called a firmament. These are the verses I found most challenging.
This article is in four parts: the text of the Creation account is presented below in a format similar to editions published in the early 1800s; several issues, which arise from the way the story was traditionally published, are expanded in Part 2; some thoughts about the Light which preceded the sun, moon and stars in Part 3; and a suggestion that the waters (verse 6) is a metaphor and the firmament separates the temporal from the atemporal or eternal, described in Part 4.
Grant
January 2023
Introduction
A belief that In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth is fundamental. I believe this to be true. The statement is made clearly in the book of Genesis, the first book in the Christian Bible; the first of the Five Books of Moses known as the Torah compiled in the pre-Christian era and revered by those with Jewish heritage or practising Judaism; and repeated in the Qu'ran written by the Prophet Muhammad in the 7th century CE. Three major religions with a common belief, representing millions of followers world-wide.
It is, however, difficult to believe. Our world has, for several generations now, been viewed through the lens of evolution and the processes of our origin and development have been described by science as fact, evidence-based and irrefutable: there is no need to believe in a God; the transhumanist goal may even enable us to become as gods, attain new heights of development and perhaps even an eternity.
Such opposing views or frameworks cause an internal stress known as cognitive dissonance and the easiest way forward for most people is to choose to join the majority and adopt the prevailing view that there is no God or, if there is, the processes we generally call evolution have brought us to where we are today.
Nearly forty years ago I chose to believe in Creation and, like Jesus' disciple Thomas, I asked for help to believe that which seemed impossible. Knowledge and understanding followed that step of faith. That was around forty years ago and this article is the first time I have written it down.
Creation is a Religious Belief
The concept of an act of Creation requires the existence of a Creator, whom we call God, Yahweh, Jehovah and other holy names. A belief in God is a religious belief. I cannot prove that God exists. I cannot prove that God created the heavens and the earth. Just as I cannot prove that Jesus who was crucified, dead and buried (placed in a tomb) was resurrected - raised to life after three days. Nor can I prove that Jesus is still alive and seeks a relationship with each one of us now; or that the Holy Spirit can reside within us and lead us into all truth. These are religious, not scientific, beliefs.
Cognitive dissonance is real. A few years ago I travelled to the north-west of Australia to an area known as the Kimberley. There the landscape is ancient. It feels ancient and it had an interesting affect on me. I found myself wondering how long the earth has existed; how much time passed between creation and the population of the earth with people, and whether the indigenous Australians really had been here for 40,000 years. They refer to the ancient past as the Dream-time. A book on the geology of the Kimberley region confirmed my observation that this really is an ancient landscape.
Do those observations conflict with my religious belief? Yes. Is that resolved? Yes, because I recalled how I first understood what happened when the heavens and the earth were created.
When I chose to believe in creation I prayed for help to believe, and that led to a short journey of discovery.
My Journey
When I was at High School the general science syllabus actually allowed the science teacher to discuss creation as an alternate theory alongside evolution. Now I think creation would be dismissed and the word never uttered. Through school years 11 and 12 I studied geology as well as physics and chemistry. This was followed by tertiary studies in mechanical engineering. So I missed out on a background in biology, preferring the physical sciences. I became a Christian and learned that the Bible is the 'word of God'. And I faced a dilemma - how could I believe the Bible but ignore sections of it (like the opening chapters of Genesis) because it didn't fit with my understanding based on my level of education and subsequent reading?
The solution was not in learning more science; the solution came when I learnt more about the Bible.
Genesis Chapter 1
The first Bible I bought (in the 1970's) is a black leather-bound copy of the King James Version (KJV), the first English translation to be made available to everyone, and still loved for its' language. Known also as as the Authorised Version - because it was 'authorised' by King James I - and first published in 1611, this is the version that Charles Darwin would have known. The layout of printed versions was often in two columns; many editions have additional text for explanatory purposes; and some editions used paragraph indents. The KJV separated the English text into chapters and verses, similar to the Geneva Bible (1560) which was the first English Bible to have both chapter and verse divisions[1].
For the example below I have used the text from my own KJV Bible, but in a single column for easy reading; a preamble copied from images of other old editions; and indented paragraphs which feature the word And. In my small Bible these instances are capitalised. But as I recall from a very old family Bible these instances were featured with indents which I have used here. The narrative actually extends into Chapter 2, as shown.
THE FIRST BOOK OF MOSES CALLED
GENESIS
CHAPTER 1
1 The creation of heaven and earth, 3 of the light, 6 of the firmament, 9 of the earth separated from the waters, 11 and made fruitful, 14 of the sun, moon and stars, 20 of fish and fowl, 24 of beasts and cattle, 26 of man in the image of God. 29 Also the appointment of food.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
2 And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
3 And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
4 And God saw the light, that it was good; and God divided the light from the darkness.
5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
7 And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
8 And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.
9 And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
10 And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
11 And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so.
12 And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
13 And the evening and the morning were the third day.
14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
15 And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so.
16 And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also.
17 And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth,
18 And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good.
19 And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.
20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.
21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth.
23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.
24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so.
25 And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.
28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.
29 And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.
30 And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.
31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.
CHAPTER 2
Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.
Issues with Genesis Chapter 1 (as Published)
Several facts about the Bible have influenced my current understanding. These issues are summarised below and expanded in the next Section:-
- The Chapter and Verse divisions were not in the original text, are often inappropriate, and may be misleading.
- The frequent use of the word And, and the emphasis on some instances of this conjunction, implies a sequence of events which may be incorrect, particularly after accepting point (3).
- Verses 1 and 2 are an Introduction only. The book of Genesis is structured into sections each introduced by a heading so why not see Gen 1:1-2 as an Introduction too. And,
- Preamble text such as the one in italics above are added by translators and publishers to be helpful but are not part of the original text and can therefore be misleading - particularly if, as stated in (3) the first sentences of Genesis is already an Introduction. Another introduction is not necessary.