THEORIES OF CREATION
The Church was very early forced to attempt an explanation
of the universe, in order to bridge the chasm between the finite and the
Infinite. With the advance of modern science, many of its discoveries
apparently, came into conflict with the scriptural account of creation.
However, this conflict was only apparent, for as scientific theory has become
more exact there has been a closer approach to the biblical positions. The
subject demands only brief attention.
The Mechanical Theory. This
theory holds that the world was formed in a purely external and formal manner.
It stresses the thought of transcendence and wholly disregards the divine
immanence. This was never the theory of the early Church. It arose only in
modern times, and came as a protest against the extreme rationalism of the critico-historical movement. Irenaeus
speaks of creation in this manner. "But He himself after a fashion which we can
never describe nor conceive predestinated all things and formed them as He
pleased." "Thou createst heaven and earth," says
Augustine, "things of two kinds; one near to Thee, the other near to nothing."
Again he says, "Thou createst heaven and earth; not
out of Thyself, for they should have been equal to Thine only begotten Son, and thereby equal to Thee also." Athanasius taught that creation was through the Logos or
the Divine Word.
The Physical or Materialistic Theory of
Creation. This theory is closely related to dualism in that
it presupposes the eternity of matter. It rejects, however, the architectonic
idea of a creator, in the sense of a demiurge or fashioner of this material
into the created forms as we know them; and substitutes instead the theory of
spontaneous generation. It holds that matter has in itself the power of taking
on new functions, and under proper conditions of developing into organic forms.
It therefore assumes that all things may be explained on the basis of material
changes. The theory is merely an application of materialistic philosophy to the
idea of creation, and arose out of the rationalism of the early nineteenth
century. It was held by Feuerbach, Vogt, Moleschott, Buchner, Bastian and
Owen. Closely related to this is the revival of ancient Greek hylozoism which
acknowledges a formative principle in the world, but regards this principle as
confined within matter itself and a characteristic of its true nature. Matter
it regards as imbued with life as in a plant which unfolds from a seed, and
intelligence pertains to it in at least some of its combinations. In so far as
God is acknowledged, He is merely the universal life of nature. The theory
must therefore end in either pantheism or materialistic atheism. "If the soul
of the world is an unconscious one," says Van Oosterzee,
"how is the order and design in creation to be explained? If it is a conscious
one, wherefore not, at the same time a free Agent? and
if a free Agent, how does it become and remain so inseparably bound to its
gigantic material raiment?"
The Emanation or Pantheistic Theory.
At the other extreme is the theory of emanation which holds that the world
was neither created nor fashioned out of preexistent material, but is to be
regarded as an extension of the divine substance. It flows from God as a stream
from a fountain, or as rays of light from the sun. This was the theory held by
the ancient Gnostics, and in modern times has been revived as a consequence of
the renewed emphasis upon idealistic philosophy. Lotze distinguished between
emanation and creation by saying that creation necessitates a Divine Will,
while emanation flows by necessary consequences from the being or nature of
God. On this theory the world would either become in nature like God, or the
cleavage in the substance of God would destroy the divine unity. The objections
to this theory were presented in our discussion of pantheism and need not be
repeated here.
The Theory of Eternal Creation.
This theory arose as an attempt to guard against dualism and yet preserve
the emphasis upon the eternity of God. Origen held to
creation by the will of God and yet taught the theory of eternal creation. According
to him, this world was not the first world God created; there never was a first
and there never will be a last. The schoolmen revived the theory on the ground
that the thoughts of God were necessarily creative. For he
spake, and it was done; he commanded, and it stood
fast (Psalm 33: 9). But to say that God's word must of necessity issue in creation, would be to identify the purpose of God with the
creative fiat. This would be but another form of pantheism. It did, in fact,
take this form in the teachings of Scotus Erigina, but others of the medieval school-men avoided the
pantheistic tendencies by maintaining that the world was in essence different
from God, though eternally dependent upon Him. In so far as creation is independent
of time, and the "birth of time" is regarded as taking place in the creative
fiat, we may hold that creation took place in eternity. By this, however, it
is not meant that the world had no beginning but that time began with creation.
It rejects the idea that time was pre-existent, and that the creation of the
world occupied merely a moment in that time scheme.
The Theory of Natural Evolution.
This theory is similar if not identical with that of spontaneous generation,
but has assumed a more philosophical form. When presented by Darwin and his
school the evolutionary hypothesis was received with great applause. However,
it could hardly be expected to hold its ground against the Christian belief in
creation. It does not solve the problem. It merely pushes it back into time and
therefore must rest ultimately in either creation or emanation. Naturalistic
evolution breaks down at three vital points: (1) it has not been able to bridge
the chasm between the inanimate and the animate; (2) it cannot pass from the
diffused life of the vegetable realm, to the conscious somatic life of the
animal kingdom; and (3) it cannot pass from the irrational life of animals to
the rational self-conscious life of man. Only the creative activity of God
could have originated vegetable, animal and personal life. The theory of the
differentiation of species breaks down further in the case of the sterility of
hybrids. The declaration in the Genesis account that each shall bring forth
after its kind is an acknowledged fact, both in the realm of science and in the
world of experience.
The Theory of Continuous Creation.
In recent times, the idea of creation as an event, immediate and complete,
has been challenged in favor of creation as a continuous process. The theory
is the outgrowth of the renewed emphasis upon the divine immanence, and due to
the influence of the evolutionary hypothesis, took the form of theistic
evolution. While closely related to the theory of spontaneous generation, it
regards the divine immanence as the basic reality in contradistinction to the
eternity of matter. It insists that organic development is due, not to the
spontaneity of the materialistic or hylozoistic principle, but to divine power
working within the organism. The divine activity is sometimes identified with
the entire process, and sometimes limited to merely the points of crisis in
development.
THE SCRIPTURAL DOCTRINE OF CREATION
The scriptural doctrine of creation maintains that the
universe had a beginning, that it is not eternal in either matter or form, that
it is not self-originated, and that it owes its origin to the omnipotent power
and the unconditioned will of God. This is the Christian conception. It
involves, first, a belief in the Almighty God, whereby the world once
began to be out of nothing, solely through the divine will; second, the
concept of God in the Trinity of His essence; third, a display of the
attributes of God-omnipotence, wisdom and love; and fourth, belief in
creation through the Divine Word as a Mediator, the Logos forming the
connection between the finite and the Infinite, between God and the world.
Creation and the Trinity. The very
idea of Fatherhood which constitutes the Christian conception of God, suggests
creatorship. It is, however, the love and not the creatorship which forms the
essence of the Divine Fatherhood. In the act of creation God brings forth that
which before had no existence, and which is different in essence from Himself.
While creation originates in the love of God
and is made effective by the divine will, the Scriptures specifically state
that in this work both the Son and the Spirit are associated with the Father.
Hence we read, that to us there is
but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him (I Cor. 8: 6). The Scriptures record also, that in the
dawn of creation, the Spirit moved
upon the waters, that is, brooded
over the waters in the sense of bringing order and beauty out of chaos (Gen. 1:
2) ; and the psalmist said, Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created (Psalm 104:30). The Trinity, therefore, is
revealed in creation as it is revealed in redemption, is in fact, the ground
of the whole redemptive process. Love as the originating cause of redemption
has its source in the inner freedom of the Trinity, which, existing there in
infinite perfection, is expressed by the term blessedness. The love existing
between the Father and the Son is ad
intra, expressed in the Holy
Spirit as the "bond of perfectness"; while that same love ad extra, is the originating cause of both creation and redemption. The Son is the
"exact" or "express" image of the Father, and therefore
under one aspect, the pleroma or the infinite range of possibilities existing
in the Father, the kosmoV nohtoV or world
of ideas which form the archetypes of creation. St. Paul sums up the relation of the Trinity to the
created universe in these words, For of him [as the originating
cause], and through him [as the mediating or efficient cause], and to him [as the final cause or purpose], are all things: to whom be glory forever. Amen (Rom. 11: 36). But Christ as the Logos
is more than the spoken word or
revelation of God, He is the speaking Word or the efficient
cause of creation. To the Word or Logos
as the mediating cause of
creation we must later direct our attention.
Creation
and the Attributes o f God. Creation as we have shown, has its origin in the love of God and not in mere
metaphysical necessity. It is the consequence of the overflowing fullness of
love which seeks new objects upon which to expend itself. If the fundamental
principle of theology is the self-revelation of God as we have all along
maintained that it is, then creation may be regarded primarily as designed to
display the perfections of God. The world is what it is because God is what He
is. It is the ground for the manifestation of those attributes which can arise
only out of a relation existing between the Creator and the creature. By this
means only can they be brought within the range o£ means comprehension. Here
love manifests itself most prominently in omnipotence and omniscience as
connected with primary creation; and in wisdom and goodness as associated with
secondary creation. It is the divine omnipotence which furnishes the ground of
causality and efficiency, and the divine omniscience which gives reason, order
and purpose to the universe.
It is the wisdom and
goodness of God which have adapted all things to the promotion of happiness and
enjoyment on the part of His creatures. It has been aptly said that there are
no devices in nature for the promotion of pain for its own sake, but the
manifestations of design for the production of happiness are beyond computation.
O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou
made them all: the earth is full of thy riches (Psalm 104:24).
Creation
and the Logos. By what means did
God create all things? To this the Scriptures give answer, "By the
word of his power." By the word of the Lord' were the heavens made;
and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth (Psalm 33:6). He sendeth forth his commandment upon earth: his word runneth very swiftly (Psalm
147:15). But this word must not be thought of as impersonal. It is rather, the Logos, the
word and wisdom of the Father. It is an essential element in Christian belief,
that Christ as the Logos or Word is the Mediator in creation, without which
He could not have been the Mediator of Redemption. This is clearly taught by
both St. John and St. Paul. In
the beginning was the Word [Logos], and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God..... All things were made by him;
and without him was not anything made that was made (John 1:1, 3). But to us there is but one God, the
Father, o f whom are all things, and we in him; and one Lord Jesus Christ, by
whom are all things, and we by him (I Cor. 8:6). For by him were all things created, that are
in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be
thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by
him, and for him: and he is before all things, and by him all things consist
(Col. 1:16, 17). "That which many a philosopher dimly conjectures,"
says Van Oosterzee, "namely, that God did not
produce the world in an absolutely immediate manner, but some way or other, mediately, here presents itself to us as invested with the
luster of revelation, and exalts so much more, the claim of the Son of God to
our deep and reverential homage."
It is just here that the thought of the Logos is so compelling.
Without a mediating cause, the idea of creation must lead directly to dualism
with its eternity of matter, or to pantheism as a mere extension of the divine
essence. This would be an emanation rather than a creation. There must be, both
for thought and for reality, an intermediate idea; and as the Christian
doctrine of creation maintains an essential difference between God and the
world, so also it maintains a distinction between the eternal idea of
creation, and the creative Word or Logos. It is by the latter as the efficient
Agent, that the idea of creation becomes a reality in actual existence.
Otherwise, to maintain that the divine purpose and the execution of this
purpose are necessarily simultaneous, resolves the absoluteness of God into
physical necessity, and cannot therefore escape its logical issue in pantheism.
God is not merely the Father of the idea of creation, but the Father of the Logos which is the vehicle of the idea.
Jewish thought as represented in the Alexandrian school, regarded the Logos as merely a cosmos noetus (kosmoV nohtoV) or world of ideas, as we have previously
indicated. St. John makes bold to affirm
that the Logos is not an idea only,
but a Person, and as such the vehicle of the idea by which the world is given reality.
Thus the Logos becomes the sole link
between the Infinite and the finite, between the realm of ideas and the realm
of actual existences. Here, then, is the mystery hid from the ages but made
manifest in the incarnation, namely, that the Logos or creative Word is Himself God. The Word veiled in the Old
Testament in the expressions "God said," and "Let there be"
is now seen to be not only the spoken Word but the speaking Word. It is through
Him that God's word of wisdom passes into created reality. Creation, therefore,
demands a Mediator, both for thought and reality. It was because the Logos was the Mediator of both purpose
and efficiency in the work of creation, that the Logos incarnate as the Son,
became the Mediator of both the revealing and the enabling grace of redemption.
THE HYMN OF CREATION
The Book of Genesis opens with an inspired Psalm, sometimes
known as the "Hymn of Creation," and sometimes as the "Poem of
the Dawn." By this it is not meant that the account is an allegory or
fiction, but a true historical description, poetically expressed. It is fitting
that the harmony of creation, at which the morning stars sang together, and
all the sons of God shouted for joy, should be revealed to us in the harmonies
of poetical description. Dr. Miley denies the
poetical form of the chapter, and quotes Dr. Terry as saying that "every
thorough Hebrew scholar knows that in all the Old Testament there is not a more
simple, straightforward prose narrative than this first chapter of Genesis"
(MILEY, Syst. Th.,
I, 298). We may admit that it is not cast in poetical form, but the balanced
rhythm, the stately movement, the recurrent refrains and the blend of beauty
and power, all indicate that it is of the nature of poetry. "The
rhythmical character of the passage," says Dr. Whedon,
"its stately style, its parallelisms, its refrains, its unity within
itself all combine to show that it is a poem." Dr. Cocker holds that it
contains the same unity as the 104th Psalm, or the Lord's
prayer or the Parable of the Laborers in the Vineyard. Dr. Thomas C. Porter says that "to him
who could grasp the mighty idea and take in the whole at one view, ;he entire creation would appear like a solemn hymn, like
some grand oratorio which, starting on a few low, faint notes, gradually gains
strength and fullness, and swelling louder and louder, rolls on from harmony to
height of harmony until it reaches its loftiest outburst and expression, the
diapason closing full in man." Dr. Pace maintains that the whole Book of
Genesis has a typical metrical octad style which he
calls the metric composition of the Holy Spirit.
Exordium
In the beginning God
created the heavens and the earth.
I.
Now the earth had become
waste and wild (or formless and empty)
And darkness was on the
face of the abyss (or roaring deep)
But the Spirit of God was
brooding upon the face of the deep (waters or vapors)
(I) And God said,
Light be (or Light exist) And
light was.
First Refrain: And God saw the light that it was good.
And God divided the light
from the darkness,
And called the light, day
But the darkness, called
he night.
So there was evening and there was morning: one day.
II.
(II) And God said,
Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters,
And let it be a division of waters from waters (or vapor)
And it was so.
And God made the expanse,
And it divided the waters
which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse.
So there was evening
and there was morning: a second day.
III.
(III) And God said,
Let the waters under the heavens be gathered into one
place,
And let the dry ground appear.
And it was so.
And God called the dry
ground, Land,
But the gathering together
of the waters, called he, Seas.
Second
Refrain: And God saw that it was
good.
(IV) And God said,
Let the land put forth vegetation (shoot forth shoots)
Herb yield seed after its kind,
And tree bearing fruit, after its kind,
Wherein is the seed thereof, upon the land.
And it was so.
And the earth brought
forth vegetation (desche, tender
grass)
Herb yielding seed after
its kind,
And tree bearing fruit
wherein is the seed thereof after its kind,
Third
Refrain: And God saw that it was
good.
So there was evening and there was morning: a third day.
IV.
(V) And God said,
Let there be luminaries in the expanse of the heavens,
To divide between the day and the night,
And let them be for signs and for seasons,
And for days and for years,
And let them be for luminaries in the expanse of the
heavens
To give light upon the earth.
And it was so.
And God made two great
luminaries (places or instruments of light)
The greater luminary to
rule the day,
The
lesser luminary to rule the night.
(He made) also the stars.
And God set them in the
firmament of the heaven (or expanse)
To give light upon the
earth,
And to rule over the day
and over the night,
And to
divide the light from the darkness.
Fourth
Refrain: And God saw that it was
good.
So there was evening and there was morning: a fourth day.
V.
(VI) And God said,
Let the waters swarm forth swarming things, living souls
And let birds fly over the earth,
Over the face of the expanse of the
heavens.
And it was so (Septuagint
translation)
And God created the great
leviathans (sea-monsters)
And every living soul that
moveth,
Which the waters swarmed
forth after their kind,
And
every winged bird after its kind.
Fifth Refrain: And God saw that it was good.
And God blessed them,
saying,
Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the
seas,
And let the birds multiply in the land.
So there was evening
and there was morning: a fifth day.
VI.
(VII) And God said,
Let the land bring forth living soul after its kind,
Cattle (dumb or tame beasts) and creeping things,
And land-animals after their kind.
(Wild as opposed to tame on account of vital energy.)
And it was so.
And God made the beast of the land after its kind,
And the cattle after their kind.
And everything that creepeth upon the ground
after its kind.
Sixth Refrain: And God saw that it was good.
(VIII) 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 (or birds) of the air,
And over all the land (W. Syriac,
wild beasts of the land)
And over every creeping thing that creepeth
upon the land.
And God created man in his
own image,
In the image of God
created he them.
Male and female created he
them.
And God blessed them.
(IX) 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.
(X) And God said,
Behold, I have given you every herb yielding seed, which
is upon the face of all the earth,
And every tree wherein is seed-inclosed
fruit.
To you it shall be for food
And to every living thing of the land,
And to every bird of the heavens,
And to every thing that moveth
upon the land, wherein is a living soul,
(I have given) every green herb for food.
And it was so.
Seventh Refrain: And God saw everything that he had made, and behold it was very good.
So there was evening
and there was morning: a sixth day.
Epode
Thus were finished the
heavens and the earth,
And all
the hosts of them.
And on the seventh day,
God finished (put period to) his work which he had made,
And he rested on the
seventh day from all his work which he had made;
And God blessed the
seventh day, and hallowed it:
Because that therein he
rested from all his work,
Which
God by creating had made.
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It will be noticed that at
the beginning of each work of creation there the formula "And God
said." If we include the two providential formulas found in verses 28, 29, the
expression occurs ten times, giving rise to the Jewish dictum, "By ten
sayings, the world was created" (ABOTH,
v. 1).
The three terms used to
express the idea of vegetation cover the broad divisions. (1) The term desche is rendered tender grass (II Sam. 23:4)
and tender herb (Job 38:27) (2) "Herbs" refer to the larger plants
(Gen. 3:18) and (3) fruit trees with seed-enclosed fruit, this expression
intending to convey the idea of self-propagation.
The words "And it was
so" found in Verse 7 are misplaced and should be placed at the end of
Verse 6 as in the Septuagint translation. We have so placed them in the above
Hymn of Creation.
There are seven refrains in
the Hebrew text, but the Septuagint translation has an additional refrain,
"And God saw that it was good" at the end of verse 8. The refrains
found in the Hebrew text are in verses 4, 10, 12, 18, 21, 25, 31. Those in
vs. 28, 29 are usually regarded as providential rather than creative
refrains.
The
writer states the threefold purpose of the luminaries as follows: (1) to
divide day from night, or the light from the darkness (v. 18). (2) For signs
and for seasons, and for days and years. Signs refer to the cardinal points
of the compass and the help which the stars give in finding these points.
Seasons refer to the fixed times for migration of the birds (Jer. 8:7), seedtime, flowering and harvest-practically
what we mean by the four seasons. It refers also to fixed religious
festivals. The "days and years" are fixed as to their length by the
heavenly bodies. (3) To give light upon the earth, the expression doubtless
having reference to the furnishing of the necessary conditions for the
existence and progress of the race.
Living
souls is an expression which has reference to individualized somatic life.
The term soul (nephesh)
in Hebrew
psychology is not peculiar to man, but represents the principle of life and
sensibility in
any animal organism. It is therefore, frequently
transferred to the sentient organism itself (Cf. Ezek. 47:9, Lev. 24:18).
The
expression "Let the earth bring forth" is not intended to convey
the idea of spontaneous generation, but represents merely the adaptation
necessary to the next stage of development. It emphasizes the fact that all
life originated at the command of God, whether immediate or mediate.
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THE MOSAIC COSMOGONY
The Hymn of Creation which
furnishes the basis of the Mosaic cosmogony has been interpreted in various
ways. (1) The Mythological
Interpretation. Modern critics
regard the first chapter of Genesis as a mythological account written by a
highly cultured Israelite who gives his reflections concerning the origin of
all things. But neither the tone nor the contents warrant this construction.
Both Jesus and the apostles treat the chapter as sacred history (Cf. Matt. 19:4). (2) The Allegorical Interpretation. Due to the influence of the Alexandrian School,
many of the earlier Christian writers adopted the allegorical method of
interpretation. To modern thought, however, with its scientific background,
this method is scarcely less objectionable than the mythological
interpretation. As late as the nineteenth century, Herder defended the method,
regarding the creation account as an optical representation of the beginning of
all things which reappears every morning at sunrise. (3) The Vision Hypothesis. This theory was advocated by Kurtz, Keerl and others, who regarded the account as being made
known in a series of retrospective visions, given in such a manner that the objective
truth of revelation blended with the subjective conception of the seer. While
this form of revelation is of course possible, it finds no support by other
instances of retrospective vision, and has never been an accepted theory in the
Church. (4) The Historical Interpretation.
This account was a portion of the
Scriptures which existed in the time of our Lord, which He pronounced holy and
appealed to as divine. It is therefore authoritative. Interpretations may
vary, but for us, this account is the truth concerning the origin of the
world.
The
Days of Creation. The Genesis account of creation is primarily a
religious document. It cannot be considered a scientific statement, and yet it
must not be regarded as contradictory to science. It is rather, a supreme illustration
of the manner in which revealed truth indirectly sheds light upon scientific
fields. The Hebrew word yom
which is translated "day" occurs no less than 1,480 times in the Old
Testament, and is translated by something over fifty different words, including
such terms as time, life, today,
age, forever, continually and perpetually. With such a flexible use of the original term, it is impossible to either
dogmatize or to demand unswerving restriction to one only of those meanings. It
is frequently assumed that originally orthodox belief held to a solar day of
twenty-four hours, and that the church altered her exegesis under the pressure
of modern geological discoveries. This as Dr. Shedd points
out is one of the "errors of ignorance." The best Hebrew exegesis has
never regarded the days of Genesis as solar days, but as day-periods of
indefinite duration. The doctrine of an immense time prior to the six days of
creation was a common view among the earlier fathers and the schoolmen. Only
with the scholastics of the middle ages and the
evangelical writers of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries was this idea
current. Previous to this a profounder view was taught by the acknowledged
leaders of the Church. Thus Augustine says, "Our seven days resemble the
seven days of the Genesis account in being a series, and in having the
vicissitudes of morning and evening, but they are multum in pares. He calls them naturae (natures
or birth), and morae (delays
or solemn pauses). Hence they are God-divided days in contradistinction to sun-divided
days; they are ineffable days (dies
ineffabiles) as in their true nature transcendent, while the sun-divided days (vicissitudines coeli) are due
merely to changes in planetary movements. He affirms, therefore, that the word
day does not apply to the duration of time, but to the boundaries of great
periods. Nor is this a metaphorical meaning of the word, but the original,
which signifies "to put period to" or to denote a self-completed
time. Origen, Irenams,
Basil and Gregory Nazianzen taught the same doctrine
during the patristic period, as did also many of the learned Jewish doctors
outside the 'Christian Church. Later writers holding this view are Hahn, Hensler, Knapp, Lee, Henry More, Burnett and others. Of the
more recent writers we may mention Hodge, Pope, Miley,
Cocker, and Stearns. Some writers, recognizing that the word for
"day" as found in the Hebrew text may mean either a definite or
indefinite period of time, leave the question open. Dr. Wakefield holds to the
theory of solar days, while a number of theologians regard the subject of
creation as belonging to the field of science rather than theology, and mention
it but briefly or omit it altogether.
Creation and
Cosmogony. The Genesis account of creation establishes a
distinction between the first production of matter in the sense of origination,
and secondary creation, or the formation of that matter by subsequent
elaboration into a cosmos. These distinctions are usually known as primary and
secondary, or as immediate and mediate creation. While primary creation is a
direct origination, secondary creation is always indirect, that is it is
accomplished by means of a Law behind other laws. The term mediate creation
better expresses the thought, and conveys the idea that God creates through
creation itself. Bishop Martensen points out that it
is involved in creation that God brings forth not something dead, but something
alive, and consequently able to reproduce itself. There is therefore a certain autonomy in the created universe, derived and
dependent, indeed, but nevertheless an autonomy, with the capacity of being set
up in opposition to God himself. St. Paul recognizes this limited creaturehood
when he says, that the creature
itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious
liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain
together until now (Rom. 8:21, 22). When, therefore, God created the vegetation
He did not say, "Let there be vegetation" but "Let the earth put
forth vegetation"; when He created somatic life He said, "Let the
waters swarm forth swarming things," and again, "Let the land bring
forth living soul after its kind." This is mediate creation. As previously
pointed out in a note on the Hymn of Creation, these expressions are not
intended to convey the idea of spontaneous generation, but to emphasize a truth
that all things either immediately or mediately were
created at the command of God. Each of the new days was ushered in solely by
virtue of the omnipotent word spoken by the Creator, and was therefore creatura; but
each new day dawned only when the time was full and
the conditions perfect, and was therefore, natura. There is here, also, a
suggestion that the progress of the entire creation depends upon the progress
made by the creatures in their natural development. The idea of creation
dominant among the Hebrews was that of creatura; that
among the Greeks, natura. The former was a direct creative act, an
origination; the latter an unfolding or development in time. It is evident that
the tendency of the former is toward Deism, while that of the latter is toward
Pantheism. It is the glory of Christianity that it presents both the
transcendent and the immanent aspects of creation in their balanced harmony.
Thus St. John in his teaching concerning the Logos, regards the
world (1) as a production through the Word, an origination of that which before
had no being; and (2) as a transition from not-being to being through the Logos. Through it everything was done [gegonen]; and without it not
even one thing was done, which has been done (John 1: 3, Emphatic Diaglot). The word ginomai (ginomai) occurs
in the New Testament more than seven hundred times, and fifty-three times in
this Gospel; and as the Emphatic Diaglot points out,
is never translated create, but signifies to be, to become, to come to pass;
also to be done or transacted. It is translated "made" in the sense
of "to be born" in Romans 1: 3 and Galatians 4: 4 which gives the
true import of the word as a birth or a becoming. The word for create is ktizo (ktizw).
It is clear then that according to the
teachings of the Scriptures there has been both a creative and a cosmogonic beginning-the one supernatural and infinite,
the other relative and finite, both
being comprehended in any true
Christian concept of the origin of the world.
THE ORDER OF CREATION
In considering the order
of creation as given in the Genesis account, three things demand attention, first, Primary
Creation or Origination; second, Secondary Creation or Formation; and third, Gradual and Cumulative Creation.
Primary
Creation or Origination.
The word "created" is
used three times in the Genesis account, and is a translation of the word bars, which
signifies origination, or creation de
novo. This word occurs in the
three following verses: In the
beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). And God created great whales (leviathans or sea monsters) (Gen. 1: 21). So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created
he him (Gen. 1:27). Dr. Cocker
makes the statement that a careful study of this and the following chapter led
him to the conclusion that there was something fundamental and distinctive in
the word bara which did not attach to the words yetsar and aysah. "It
is in reality," he says, "the distinction between origination de novo, and formation out of pre-existing materials. There are three instances in
which bara occurs in Genesis 1. We are fully convinced that
in each case it denotes the origination of a new entity-a real addition to the
sum of existence (COCKER, Theistic Conception of the World, p. 157). Dr. Miley
questions this position and cites Isaiah 43: 7 where all three words occur and
are applied to the same divine act. It is not that he denies that the primitive
act of creation was the origination of matter itself, but insists that there is
no conclusive proof of it on purely philological grounds (Cf. MILEY, Systematic Theology, I, p. 283). Dr. Adam Clarke throws the weight of his
authority on the side of the former position. He interprets the word bara as
causing that to exist which, previous to this moment, had no being. He says,
"The rabbins, who are the legitimate judges in a
case of verbal criticism of their own language, are unanimous in asserting that
the word bara expresses commencement of the existence of a
thing: or its egression from nonentity to entity. It does not in its primary meaning,
denote the preserving or new forming things that had previously existed, as
some imagine: but creation, in the proper sense of the term, though it has some
other acceptations in other places (CLARKE, Commentary, Gen. 1:1) . If then we examine the three instances where this word
occurs, we shall find each of them an origination of a new entity.
The first origination was
that of material substance, or the prima
materia of
all physical existences. Dr. Adam Clarke's rendering of this verse is, God in the beginning created the substance of the
heavens, and the substance of the earth, i.e., the prima
materia, or
first element out of which the heavens and the earth were successively
formed. He substantiates his position by referring to the Hebrew word eth which
is usually regarded as a particle denoting that the word following is in the
accusative or oblique case, but which the rabbinical literature uses in a more
extensive sense. "The particle eth,"
says Eben
Ezra, "signifies the substance of a thing." Kimchi, in his Book
of Roots, gives a like
definition. It is used by the Cabbalists to signify the beginning and the end
as the words alpha and omega
are used in the Apocalypse. Dr.
Clarke states further that "it argues a wonderful philosophic accuracy in
the statement of Moses, which brings before us, not a finished heavens and
earth as every other translation appears to do, though afterward the process of
their formation is given in detail, but merely the materials out of which God
built the whole system in the six following days" (ADAM CLARKE, Commentary, Gen. 1:1) . The first
origination therefore, was that of matter in its chaotic or unformed state.
The second origination
was that of somatic or soul life. And
God created the great leviathans [or
sea monsters], and every living
soul [nephesh or soul of life] that moveth (Gen.
1: 21). Here is the appearance of a new entity. The diffused life found in the
vegetable realm is individualized and separated from the universal life of
nature. It is called somatic life (from soma, a body), in that the
individualized life is given a body separate and distinct from diffused life;
and it is a nephesh or
soul of life, in that the soul is the individualized center of force and the
body is immediate field of activity. This soul is an immaterial entity, having
sensation, feeling and will. It is therefore properly expressed by the word tiara, in
that a new power or principle was infused into the then existing nature.
The third origination was
that of spirit or personal being. And
God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and
female created he them (Gen. 1:
27). As the second origination was that of individualized
life characterized by consciousness, so the third origination is a further individualization
which may be characterized as self-consciousness. If then we understand
by the soul, that principle which individualizes life, the soul must take on
the character of the life thus individualized. We may regard the soul of an
animal, therefore, as consciousness dominating a field of instinct; while the
soul of man, is a self dominating a field of consciousness. Man not only knows,
but he knows that he knows, and thus becomes responsible for his actions. It is
this quality which constitutes man a free moral agent and thus makes him
Godlike. This is the image of God in man.
We may say, then, that
the three created entities expressed by the word tiara are
matter, soul and spirit, or matter, life and mind. They may be equally well expressed
by the words matter, consciousness and self.
Secondary
Creation or Formation. Deep as is the mystery of creation in the primary
sense, it is no less so in the secondary sense of formation. God does not originate
the material of creation, and then in an external manner form it into
individual objects with no relation to each other, except that of a common
fashioner or architect. He creates through creation itself. He creates that
which has life in itself and consequently the power of self-propagation. Thus
the world has both a supernatural and a natural beginning. It is a cosmos in
which all the parts which compose one whole are arranged in order and beauty.
They are not disconnected, but one emerges out of the other at the command of
God so that all things are related both in nature and as a consequence of
their supernatural origin. There is no place in the account for the theory of
spontaneous generation. This is the fallacy of the evolutionary hypothesis. If
now we note the various stages which are introduced by the creative fiat, Let there be, and concluded with the refrain, And God saw that it was good, we
shall have before us the seven formative acts of God as found in Genesis
account. These will constitute the sevenfold series of natural beginnings or
births out of pre-existent and prepared material which through the Divine Word
or Logos transformed the world from chaos to cosmos and
united the universe in a true cosmogony.
(1) Let there be light (Gen. 1: 3). This is the formation of cosmic
light, sometimes regarded as radiant heat and light. The Hebrew word is our and
is translated "fire" in Isaiah 31:9 and Ezekiel 5:2; it is translated
"sun" in Job 31:23 and "lightning" in Job 37:3. (2) Let there be an expanse (or firmament) (Gen. 1:6), and Let the waters under the heaven be gathered into
one place, and let the dry land appear (Gen. 1:9). It will be noted that here there are two fiats included in
the one refrain. In the Septuagint a refrain follows verse 6, but the best
Hebrew exegesis holds that this formative period was not completed on the
second day, and therefore the refrain was added only after the creation of the
seas and land which began with the formation of the firmament. Dr. Cocker holds
that the firmament represents a mechanical combination of chemical elements,
while the sea and land represent chemical compounds and their molar
aggregation. (3) Let the land put
forth vegetation (Gen. 1:11).
Here there is an introduction of a new force within matter, a vital element
giving rise to vitalized germinal matter, and making possible the organic
realm. (4) Let there be luminaries
in the expanse of the heavens (Gen.
1:14). It is a significant fact that
the organic realms as well as the inorganic begin with the introduction of
light. Here the light is an adjustment of the cosmical
relations, furnishing the conditions for the further development of the organic
realm. (5) Let the waters swarm
forth swarming things, living souls, and let birds fly over
the earth (Gen. 1: 20). This
fifth formative act or birth out of the waters and the atmosphere can refer
only to the material organisms which embody the living souls, for conjoined
with this formative act there is the use of the word tiara as
the origination of living soul which forms the second entity. (6) Let the land bring forth living soul after its kind
(Gen. 1: 24). The sixth formation
is the emergence out of the earth of the material organisms of the animal, by
the fiat of God. This appears to be the last of the purely emergent acts of
God's mediate creation, for the next following combines with it the
introduction of a new formative as well as a new creative element. (7) Let us make man (Gen. 1: 26). Of the creative statement, this portion only refers to the
formation of the material organism of man. But the formative act is not
entirely mediate as in the former instances, for the word is not "Let the
earth bring forth man," but Let
us make man. Hence in the word
"made," we find the formative act which relates man's body to the
cosmos, while in the word "create" (tiara) as previously
indicated, we find the origination of man's spiritual being in the image and
likeness of God. Thus each stage of development is the condition for each
succeeding stage in orderly arrangement, until all are gathered up in a final
refrain, And God saw everything
that he had made, and, behold, it was very good (Gen. 1: 31).
The
Creative Periods. Perhaps the most outstanding feature of the Mosaic
cosmogony is the orderly arrangement in stages and periods known as creative
days. In the sense of origination, creation is instantaneous; but as formation
it is gradual and cumulative. There is a progressive revelation in an ascending
scale of creative acts. Each stage is preparatory to that which succeeds it, as
well as a prophecy of that which shall
follow. The study of the Genesis account reveals certain facts which
take on added significance with each new scientific discovery. First, there
are two great eras mentioned, each with three creative days-the Inorganic and
the Organic. Second, each of these great eras begins with the
appearance of light-the one with the creation of cosmic light, the other with
light emanating from created luminaries. Third, each of these eras
ends with a day in which a twofold work is accomplished, the first the completing
or perfecting act of that which precedes it, and the second a prophecy of that
which is to be. This arrangement may be set forth in schematic form as
follows:
The Inorganic Era
1st Day-Cosmical Light
2nd Day-The Firmament
water and atmosphere
3rd Day-Dry Land (or the outlining of land and seas) Creation of Vegetation (transitional and prophetic)
The Organic Era
4th
Day-The Luminaries
5th Day-The lower
animals-fishes and birds
6th Day-Land animals
Creation of Man (transitional and prophetic)
The creation of
vegetation, which for physical reasons belongs to the third day, is the
culmination of the Inorganic Era and the prophecy of the Organic Era which
immediately follows. We may say also that man, the culmination of the work of
the sixth day, is likewise prophetic of another aeon,
the new age in which the will of God shall be done on earth as it is in heaven.
With the rapidly
increasing discoveries of science, the Genesis account was soon called in
question by men who appeared to be authorities in their fields of investigation. But Christian men,
eminent in science also, after prolonged study and research declared that not
only is there no conflict between Genesis and modern science but that there is
a remarkable parallel between them. Hugh Miller, eminent in geology, found no
misplacement of facts in the Genesis account. Professors Winchell,
Dana, Guyot and Dawson, among the earlier men of science, maintained that
the order of events in the Scripture cosmogony corresponds essentially with the
discoveries of modern science. One of the earlier parallels between Genesis and
geology is that of Professor Dana who gives the following geological order
(Cf. DANA, Manual
of Geology, HODGE, Syst. Th., I, p.
571):
1. Light.
2. The dividing of the
waters below from the waters above the earth.
3. The dividing of the land
and water on the earth.
4. Vegetation, which
Moses, appreciating the philosophical characteristics of the new creation,
distinguishes from previous inorganic substances, and defines as that which has
seed in itself.
5. The sun, moon and stars.
6. The lower animals,
those that swarm in the waters and the creeping and flying species of the land.
7. Beasts of prey.
8. Man.
Later discoveries in
science demand new statements of these parallels, but we may believe, with
James Ward, that there is not and never can be any opposition between science
and religion, any more than there can be between grammar and religion. Sir
William Ramsey once said, "Between the essential truth of Christianity and
the established facts of science there is no real antagonism." We are
indebted to Dr. L. A. Reed for the following parallels between the Genesis
account of creation, and the more recent discoveries of modern science.
"When the Nebular
Hypothesis was advocated in the early part of the nineteenth century by Pierre
Simon
Laplace, French mathematician and astronomer, it was quite
universally received by the scientific world. Almost any one of Laplace's original researches is alone sufficient to stamp
him as one of the greatest of mathematicians. Some of his accomplishments are
the discovery of the invariability of the major axes of the planetary orbits;
the explanation of the great inequality in the motions of Jupiter and Saturn;
the solution of the problem of the acceleration of the mean motion of the moon;
the theory of Jupiter's satellites and many other important laws including this
Nebular Theory, which was an attempt to explain the development of the solar
system. `This theory supposes that the bodies composing the solar system once
existed in the form of nebulae; that these had a revolution on their own axis
from west to east; that the temperature gradually diminishing, and the nebulae
contracting by refrigeration, the rotation increased in rapidity, and zones of
nebulosity were successively thrown off in consequence of the centrifugal
force overpowering the central attraction. These zones being condensed, and
partaking of the primary rotation, constituted the planets, some of which in
turn threw off zones which now form their satellites. The main body being condensed
toward the center, formed the sun. The theory
afterward was extended so as to include a cosmogony of the whole universe' (Cf.
WINSTON, Encyl., Vol. VII, Neb. Hypoth.).
"Many objections were
raised to this hypothesis, because it did not satisfy the demands of the
interpretation of the first chapter of Genesis. With the discovery of the
spectroscope, much in the above hypothesis was proved fact, for now nebulous
matter is recognized to be in existence all through the universe. It was also
discovered that much of the nebulae is black and dark, and it was further
discovered that the spiral nebulae have a planetesimal
organization. This brought forth the theory that the solar system was formed
from nebulae consisting of planetesimals. These
formations still may be found in the universe. Hence, quite a change is noted
from the old Nebular Hypothesis and instead of the blazing nebulous mass of 'Laplace,' we have the dark nubulae
building up a universe of planets, planetoids, asteroids* and meteors. As formally
stated, this building process may still be discovered going on in the universe.
Thousands of meteors fall on the earth each year and the magnetism of the
various spheres builds them up by attracting the planetesimals
to them. All this fits in beautifully with the second verse of the first
chapter of Genesis, which says, And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face o f
the deep. And so the planets were
formed from these shapeless masses. The smaller the nebulae the quicker the
contraction, hence this would explain why the earth is mentioned as being
created before the sun, for it would not have begun to function until the earth
was fairly well formed as a sphere. The earth also preceded the moon, for
satellites were supposed to have come into existence through centrifugal force
and it was mentioned in relation with the sun as being a `lighter of the
earth.' Thus in the first day this nebulous light was the universal
illumination. The character of this light is somewhat of a mystery, but
astronomers think it was electrical and phosphorescent. Suffice it to say that
in the treatment of the planetesimal explanation (or
hypothesis), the account of light being given before the mention of the sun
and the moon, substantiates scientifically the claim of the creation
story."
*About
six hundred asteroids have their orbits between Mars and Jupiter, the largest
of them, Ceres, having a diameter of not more than 500 miles.
When one orients himself
as to the first day of creation, then the other days follow in exact
scientific order. These periods of time have never been arranged by scientists
in any other manner than the first chapter of Genesis arranges them. Paleontological evidence substantiates the order and
arrangement of life as laid down in Genesis. The
creative fiat, in its triple expression in the first chapter of Genesis, is
sufficient explanation for being, both inanimate and animate, and with the increasing
discoveries of science is being verified each day by earth's greatest minds.
The
Restoration Theory. In order to account for the great geological
periods, it has been held more or less extensively in the church, that the
first verse of the creative account is an introductory statement without
reference to a time order; and that between this and the following verses an
immense interval of time elapsed. Thus Dr. Shedd
makes the assertion that between the single comprehensive act of the creation
of the angels and of the chaotic matter mentioned in Genesis 1:1 an interval of
time elapsed; and he further declares that this was a common view among the
fathers and the schoolmen. In this way the long creative periods which geology
demands are accounted for without regarding the days of Genesis as other than
solar days of twenty-four hours each. Modern writers such as John W. McGarvey and G. Campbell Morgan take this position, setting
aside the two introductory verses as expressive of an immeasurably long period
of time. This was followed by a great catastrophe in which everything upon the
earth was destroyed. After this God recreated the earth and revivified it in a
week of six solar days. In substantiation of this the words of Isaiah are
cited, God himself that formed the
earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain [i.e., He created it not a waste], he formed it to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18). Dr. Coggins
calls attention to the Hebrew words tohu wabohu as implying such a catastrophe, the former meaning "wasteness" and the latter "voidness"
or "emptiness."
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Whether St. Paul meant only
to summarize the various orders of the animal creation, or whether he meant
to teach distinctions in kind, the following verse is worthy of study. All flesh, he says, is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of
flesh of men, another flesh of beasts, another of fishes, another
of birds (I Cor. 15:39).
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THE PURPOSE OF CREATION
We have considered the world as cosmos, it remains now to direct our
attention to the world as aeon. By this we mean that succession of epochs and periods
running throughout the course of the ages, and involving both the physical and
ethical aspects of the world. One such aeon is past,
the second eon is the present age, and we have the promise of an age to come.
What is beyond this we cannot know, although St. Paul refers to the ages to
come (Eph. 2:7).
The first aeon on the physical plane is that
indefinite formative age which
antedates the present heavens and earth (Gen. 1:1). The second aeon is the present economy. As the prehistoric aeon was superseded by the action of persistent forces,
which at the command of God issued in the current aeon,
so both the observations of naturalists and the words of divine revelation
teach, that there are now mighty agencies held in check, which anticipate
tremendous convulsions, and which when the fullness of time shall have come,
will break forth into a new heavens and a new earth. But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the
night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a
great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and
the works that are therein shall be burned-up. Seeing then that all these
things shall be dissolved[luqhsontai], what
manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,
looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens
being on fire shall be dissolved [luqhsontai],
and the elements shall melt with fervent
heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new
earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness (II Peter 3:10-13). In one
sense therefore the present world will come to an end and pass away to make
room for a different organization; but in another sense it will not come to an
end, for at the command of God, all that hinders its progress, all that links
it with the curse of man, will be melted away or dissolved, and it will then
emerge into the heavens and the earth which are to be. For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth:
and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind (Isa. 65:17). And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the
first heaven and the first earth were passed away
