The Lost World of Genesis One (10 page)

Likewise in Marduk's creative activity in Enuma Elish tablet
five:

• Lines 38-40: night and day

• Lines 47-52: creation of the clouds, wind, rain and fog

• Lines 53-58: harnessing of the waters of Tiamat for the purpose of providing the basis of agriculture, piling up of dirt, releasing the Tigris and Euphrates, and digging holes to manage
the catchwaters

But these functions feature prominently not just in other ancient cosmologies. In Genesis, after the cosmos is ordered, a crisis
leads God to return the cosmos to an unordered, nonfunctional
state by means of a flood. Here the cosmic waters are let loose
from their boundaries and again the earth becomes nonfunctional. What follows is a re-creation text as the land emerges
again from the waters and the blessing is reiterated.' Of greatest
interest, in that context God makes the Creator's promise in Genesis 8:22:

Here we find the same three major functions in reverse order: food,
weather and time, never to cease. The author is well aware that these
are the main categories in the operation of this world that God has
organized.

In this chapter we have attempted to establish, first, that functional concerns rather than material ones dominate the account.
Indeed the only appearance of what might be considered material
in these three days is the firmament-the very thing that we are
inclined to dismiss as not part of the material cosmos as we un derstand it. In contrast the functions of time, weather and food
can be clearly seen in the text and recognized as significant in
ancient Near Eastern cosmologies. More importantly, we can see
that the prominence of these three functions is common to the
ancient world. Perspectives on the material universe will vary
from era to era and culture to culture. It would be no surprise then
that God's creative work should be proclaimed relative to those
issues that serve as the universal foundation of how people encounter the cosmos.

We should not worry about the question of "truth" with regard
to the Bible's use of Old World science. As we mentioned before,
some scientific framework needs to be adopted, and all scientific
frameworks are dynamic and subject to change. Adoption of the
framework of the target audience is most logical. The Old World
science found in the Bible would not be considered "wrong" or
"false" as much as it would just offer a perspective from a different
vantage point. Even today we can consider it true that the sky is
blue, that the sun sets and that the moon shines. But we know
that these are scientifically misleading statements. Science, however, simply offers one way of viewing the world, and it does not
have a corner on truth. The Old World science in the Bible offers
the perspective of the earthbound observer. One could contend
that there are some ways in which it is more true that the earth is
the center of the cosmos. This does not mean to suggest that there
are many truths, but that there are many possible different perspectives that can each offer truthful information. The way any
culture describes the makeup of the material cosmos may vary
considerably from how another might. A century ago the idea of
an expanding universe would have seemed ludicrous, while today
the steady-state universe has fallen into disfavor. This is all part of
fine-tuning cosmic geography.

God did not give Israel a revised cosmic geography-he re vealed his Creator role through the cosmic geography that they
had, because the shape of the material world did not matter. His
creative work focused on functions, and therefore he communicated that he was the one who set up the functions and who keeps
the operations going, regardless of how we envision the material
shape. This creation account did not concern the material shape
of the cosmos, but rather its functions.

TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Seely, P. "The Firmament and the Water Above." Westminster
Theological, journal 54 (1992): 31-46.

. "The Geographical Meaning of `Earth' and `Seas' in Genesis 1:10." Westminster Theological Journal 59 (1997): 231-55.

IN THE ACCOUNT OF DAYS FOUR THROUGH six we see a shift in
the focus. While a functional orientation is still obvious, God is
not setting up functions as much as he is installing functionaries.
In some cases the functionaries will be involved in carrying out
the functions (especially the role of the celestial bodies in marking
periods of time), but in most cases the functionaries simply carry
out their own functions in the spheres delineated in the first three
days (time, cosmic space, terrestrial space). The assignment of
functionaries to their tasks and realms is equally an act of creation. Days four through six are literarily parallel to days one
through three, as has long been recognized, but the literary structure is secondary (see chapter 13).

DAY FOUR

In the report of this day the functional orientation can be clearly
seen. The text offers no indication of the material nature of the
celestial bodies, and all that it says of their material placement is
that they are in the firmament/expanse. This is, of course, prob lematic if one is trying to understand the text scientifically. On
the functional side of the equation, we find that they separate day
and night (thus the link to day one), that they provide light and
that they serve for "signs, seasons, days and years." Finally we are
told that their function is to govern the day and night-the closest
the text comes to personification.

Again we point out that these are not scientific functions but
human-oriented functions. In this regard it should be noted that
the fourfold description of functions (signs, seasons, days, years)
are pertinent only to humans. The one that may seem not to belong is "seasons"-but here we must not think of seasons like summer and winter. The Hebrew word when it is used elsewhere designates the festival celebrations that are associated with the sowing
season, the harvesting season and so on.'

Days four to six continue to be driven by the spoken word. This
spoken word can easily be understood in connection to the establishment of functions. In the ancient Near East the cosmos is organized by the decrees of deity (reflected in the importance of the
Tablet of Destiny). Genesis 1 also emphasizes the spoken decrees
of the Creator, and these decrees initiate the functions and give
the functionaries their roles. Such spoken decrees are also acts of
creation. In ancient Mesopotamia the establishment of control attributes (Sumerian me) by decree and the functional aspects of the
celestial bodies are combined in texts such as the Great Astrological Treatise: