Biblical Theology
101: Only Genesis
John C. Rankin
December 1, 2011
It is my conviction
that the uniqueness
and power of the
biblical order of
creation, in Genesis
1-2,
can leverage
the nations for truth
and beauty in every
aspect of life, for
understanding any
given issue or
conflict. It is the
only complete
foundation for a
genuinely liberal arts
education.
I write on this from
various angles in
three books, Only
Genesis, The
Six Pillars of
Biblical Power and
The Six Pillars of
Honest Politics
– found at the
TEI webstore.
In Genesis 1-3,
the Bible sets forth
the storyline defined
by creation, sin and
redemption, or to
put it another way,
goodness, descent into
broken trust, and
rescue. The order
of creation is
entirely good and
trustworthy, and
defined in Genesis
1-2, in what I call
Only Genesis. In
Genesis 3, the
brokenness of this
goodness and trust
then enters by an act
of the human will.
Also in Genesis 3, the
promise of redemption
is given to restore
the promises of
Genesis 1-2, fulfilled
ultimately in Jesus
the Messiah. Jesus
literally buys us back
from the slavery of
broken trust.
Thus, only when we
understand the heights
of the goodness of the
order of creation, can
we then understand the
depths of the
injustice and evil
that breaks it. And
only then can we grasp
the height of being
rescued from the
depths, and receive
the good promise of
the resurrection.
The original
goodness of Only
Genesis involves ten
positive assumptions:
1.
Only Genesis has a
positive view of the
Creator’s nature.
The Hebrew language
for the one true
Creator is Yahweh
Elohim, and it
uniquely defines the
One who is greater
than space, time and
number. His power is
unlimited, his nature
is good and his
purpose is to bless
all people fully. In
being greater than
space and time, this
means Yahweh Elohim is
also great enough to
come into our human
world and relate to
us. In being greater
than number, Yahweh
Elohim is not
numerically restricted
in himself, and this
leads to the triune
understanding of
Father, Son and Holy
Spirit. From this
point, as manifest in
human community,
checks and balances on
power are derived, in
tripartite forms of
government, e.g.,
co-equal branches of
the executive,
legislative and
judicial. This equals
diversity in service
to unity, and thus a
healthy social order.
2.
Only Genesis has a
positive view of
communication.
The first words spoken
by the Creator in
Genesis are “Let there
be light.” This is the
nature of revelation
or communication –
where by definition,
light reveals what is
truly there. Part of
Yahweh Elohim’s
communication in the
Bible is that it is a
dialogue – he invites
us to ask him
questions as we learn
his ways. Yahweh
Elohim communicated
this way with Abraham
and all the biblical
prophets, many others
in the Bible, and
likewise to the
present through the
Holy Spirit, in accord
with what has been
revealed in the Bible.
In the Gospel of John,
Jesus declared himself
to be the “I AM,” to
be Yahweh Elohim, the
one true Creator in
human form, to
communicate with us as
the living Word, as
the Light of the
world. One of the
names for Jesus in the
Hebrew,
Immanuel,
means that Yahweh
Elohim is “with us.”
3.
Only Genesis has a
positive view of human
nature.
The whole structure of
Only Genesis is
designed to highlight
the creation of man
and woman as the
image-bearers of the
one true Creator, as
Yahweh Elohim breathed
the breath of life
into Adam and Eve. The
creation was made for
us, and to bear his
image means that in
our finite nature we
reflect the Creator’s
infinite qualities of
communication and
creativity. We were
made to govern the
good creation and take
care of it with
satisfaction in
building families and
nations. Or as it
declares in Psalm 8,
we are “crowned” with
“glory and honor” as
the highest purpose of
the creation. In other
words, central to the
greatness of Yahweh
Elohim is his joy in
making man and woman
to share his
glory.
4.
Only Genesis has a
positive view of human
freedom.
In fact, it is the
only proactive
definition of human
freedom in history.
The first words spoken
by Yahweh Elohim to
Adam in Genesis 2 are,
in English
translations, “You are
free …” More dynamic
is the Hebrew language
itself, a metaphor
translated “in
feasting you will
continually feast” (akol
tokel). In other
words, an unlimited
menu of good choices
in all of life is
presented, so long as
the forbidden and
poisonous fruit is not
eaten. To eat the
forbidden fruit means
“in dying you will
continually die” (moth
tamuth in the
Hebrew). Thus, feast
on what is good, or
eat poison and die –
the sovereign Creator
gives man and woman
dignity and honor in
giving us such a
freedom to choose.
Unless we are free to
say no, we are not
free to say yes. There
is no coercion in the
Gospel. We are free to
choose between truth and falsehood, between good and evil, between life and
death, between freedom
and slavery.
5.
Only Genesis has a
positive view of hard
questions.
When Yahweh Elohim
gave man and woman
stewardship over
creation, an endlessly
delightful learning
process was put in
place. We were made to
learn in his presence,
a central part of
which was asking
questions. Even after
the broken trust of
sin, the power to pose
hard questions in the
presence of Yahweh
Elohim and one another
is seen dramatically,
for example, in the
persons of Abraham,
Moses, Job, David,
Solomon, the Queen of
Sheba, Jeremiah,
Habakkuk and Paul, and
supremely in Jesus as
he modeled the
rabbinic teaching
method. No questions
were ever prohibited.
Yahweh Elohim allowed
himself to be directly
challenged, and Jesus
also invited the same
in the face of his
plotting enemies.
6.
Only Genesis has
a positive view of
human sexuality. The structures and
trajectories of both
Genesis 1 and 2 focus
on men and women as
full equals and
complements, as
image-bearers of the
Creator. They are
joint stewards of the
creation, and joint
heirs of eternal life.
Healthy human
sexuality is defined
by chastity outside of
marriage, and fidelity
within the marriage of
one man and one woman
for one lifetime. It
is within this
covenant of faithful
marriage that trust is
first learned, between
man and women, then
modeled for their
children, then to the
extended family and
local communities, and
then to the nations.
7.
Only Genesis has
a positive view of
science and the
scientific method. In
Genesis 1, the sun,
moon and stars are
treated as inanimate
objects, as opposed to
being deities as in
pagan religion. From
there on the Bible
views creation as it
is, setting the table
for honest scientific
observation of the
world in which we
live. The Law of Moses
also provides the
ethical basis for the
scientific method, the
principle of
falsification, where
100 percent accuracy
is required of Hebrew
prophets. If there is
one mistake, then the
prophet is not a true
prophet. In science,
if an experiment to
prove a theory
produces the same
result 1,000 times,
then a different
result the next time,
it has been falsified,
and must be reviewed
to find the error.
This is science’s most
exacting standard,
coming from the
Bible’s most exacting
standard. Thus, the
historical,
geographical and
observational claims
of the Bible are
relentlessly confirmed
by the discipline of
archeology and other
sciences, from the
Garden of Eden,
located at the
headwaters of the
Pishon, Gihon, Tigris
and Euphrates rivers
in ancient
Mesopotamia, through
ancient Israel and the
capitol of Jerusalem,
to the apostle John on
the island of Patmos.
8.
Only Genesis has a positive view of verifiable history. Beginning with Adam and Eve, the biblical revelation is always
ratified by multiple
eye-witnesses, rooted
in the Law of Moses,
all the way to Jesus,
along with very
detailed genealogies;
then from Jesus to the
end of the New
Testament. Indeed,
when Jesus appeared,
he did so in
accordance with
millennia worth of
recorded history
rooted in multiple
checks and balances to
certify truth. This
commitment to
verifiable history has
informed all Hebrew,
Jewish and Christian
scholarship across the
millennia.
9.
Only Genesis has a positive view of covenantal law. Here, Yahweh Elohim
first holds himself
accountable to being
just and fair and
loving, before he
requires man and woman
to obey his laws. The
original covenant in
the Garden of Eden was
that of freedom, and
all subsequent
covenants aimed to
restore such freedom,
finally fulfilled in
the Messiah.
Covenantal law on this
basis is a bulwark
against human despotic
governments. Then,
central to this
biblical witness is
the reality that the
covenantal people are
held to higher
standards than are the
pagans. The prophets
Moses, Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel,
Micah, Amos and
Habakkuk, among
others, first held
Israel and Judah
accountable for their
sins; as did the
apostles Paul and
Peter for the church.
10.
Only Genesis has a
positive view of
unalienable rights.
Yahweh Elohim gives
the gifts of life,
liberty and property
(stewardship of the
creation) to all
people equally in
Genesis 1-2.
“Unalienable” refers
to rights given by the
Creator, rights that
cannot be alienated,
rights that are above
the power of human
government to define,
give or take away.
These unalienable
rights are simply to
be honored. The
unalienable right of
liberty means
religious, political
and economic freedom
for all people,
regardless of
religious or
philosophical beliefs.
Biblically faithful
Jews and Christians
celebrate these
liberties for all
people equally,
under the rule of law.
Only
Genesis begins with
the assumption that
all things in creation
are made good (tov).
The “Gospel” of Jesus
the Messiah comes from
a word meaning “Good
News” (euangelion).
In the face of Muslim
rebellion against
despotic governments,
what will follow? And
where is any good news
to be found for the
establishment of a
healthy social order?
Below are summaries of
what I call The Six
Pillars of Biblical
Power and the
The Six Pillars of
Honest Politics.
The first four pillars
are drawn from Only
Genesis, and the
last two are drawn
from the words of
Jesus in the Sermon on
the Mount – he who
restores the promises
of Only Genesis.
The Six Pillars of
Biblical Power
-
The power to
give: We believe
that the Creator,
Yahweh Elohim,
the Lord God
Almighty, our
heavenly Father,
employs his
unlimited power to
give to and equally
bless all people as
image bearers of
God. The power to
give is modeled in
the faithful
marriage of one man
and one woman, in
parenthood, and is
the basis for trust
in human society.
-
The power to live
in the light: We
believe that the
Lord God said,
“Let
there be light,”
and there was light.
As darkness and the
prince of darkness
flee the light, we
embrace the power to
live in the light of
God’s
presence, open and
accountable to all
people in all we
believe, say and do.
-
The power of
informed choice:
We believe that the
Lord God gives us
all the power of
informed choice, to
say yes to the good
of freedom and life,
and no to the evil
of slavery and
death.
-
The power to love
hard questions:
We believe that the
Lord God gives us
the freedom and
power to pose hard
questions of him,
and of one another,
in Christian
community. This is
the power of
sanctifying
integrity.
-
The power to love
enemies: We
believe that the
Lord Jesus loved the
world when we yet
enemies of the
truth, drowning in a
sea of broken trust.
Now, as believers,
we are empowered by
the Holy Spirit to
love those who are,
at present, enemies
of the Gospel.
-
The power to
forgive: We
believe that the
power to give is
restored to the
broken world through
the power to
forgive, purchased
in the life, death
and resurrection of
the Lord Jesus.
Thus, we as
believers are called
to extend this
forgiveness to the
broken world, by the
power of the Holy
Spirit, in
celebration of the
mercy that triumphs
over judgment in the
second coming of
Jesus.
The Six Pillars of
Honest Politics
-
The power to give
affirms that the
unalienable rights
given by the Creator
belong to all people
equally, and leaders
in human government
should serve such a
gift.
-
The power to live in
the light
means leaders in
human government at
every level should
be as fully
transparent as
possible.
-
The power of
informed choice
is rooted in an
honest definition of
terms in political
debate, providing a
level playing field
for all ideas to be
heard equally, apart
from which political
freedom is not
possible.
-
The power to love
hard questions
is in place when
political leaders
honor and answer
those who pose them
the toughest
questions.
-
The power to love
enemies
recognizes that even
the harshest of
political opponents
share a common
humanity and are to
be treated with
respect.
-
The power to forgive recognizes the need to address our individual and societal
transgressions
against one another,
and to work toward
justice and
reconciliation.
My agenda is to see
such political ethics
advanced in every
nation, and for all
peoples – regardless
of our differences in
tribe or professed
religion.
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