A commitment to historical-grammatical hermeneutics often has been confused with a commitment to literal language. Time, in our modern conception, has been construed as a measurement of temporal units, and the numbers assigned to them, as merely counting those units. However, a study is needed to explore whether this is the Genesis author's use of time, and whether numerical values utilized suggest something other than tracking simple measurements. This book attempts to offer an answer to this question by analyzing the ancient Near Eastern and literary context of the Book of Genesis in terms of its use of temporal language in determining its value within the narrative. It is the contention of this book that both of these concepts have been misunderstood to such an extent that these misperceptions often obstruct interpreters from understanding the sociological and theological intent of the author to convey a theology of God, man, creation, and chaos that addresses concerns of both the ancient and the modern reader.

A commitment to historical-grammatical hermeneutics often has been confused with a commitment to literal language. Time, in our modern conception, has been construed as a measurement of temporal units, and the numbers assigned to them, as merely counting those units. However, a study is needed to explore whether this is the Genesis author's use of time, and whether numerical values utilized suggest something other than tracking simple measurements. This book attempts to offer an answer to this question by analyzing the ancient Near Eastern and literary context of the Book of Genesis in terms of its use of temporal language in determining its value within the narrative. It is the contention of this book that both of these concepts have been misunderstood to such an extent that these misperceptions often obstruct interpreters from understanding the sociological and theological intent of the author to convey a theology of God, man, creation, and chaos that addresses concerns of both the ancient and the modern reader.

Challenging modern skepticism, Francis A. Schaeffer shows why Genesis provides solid ground for answering the questions of humanity's origin and purpose.

The Days of Creation examines the history of Christian interpretation of the seven-day framework of Genesis 1:1–2:3 in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament from the post-apostolic era to the debates surrounding Essays and Reviews (1860). Included in the survey are patristic, medieval, Renaissance/Reformation, eighteenth-century Enlightenment and finally early to mid-nineteenth-century interpretations of the days of creation. This study enables an insight into the mighty career of a biblical text of seminal importance, and fills a significant niche in reception-historical research.

The ancient Near Eastern mode of thought is not at all intuitive to us moderns, but our understanding of ancient perspectives can only approach accuracy when we begin to penetrate ancient texts on their own terms rather than imposing our own world view. In this task, we are aided by the ever-growing corpus of literature that is being recovered and analyzed. After an introduction that presents some of the history of comparative studies and how it has been applied to the study of ancient texts in general and cosmology in particular, Walton focuses in the first half of this book on the ancient Near Eastern texts that inform our understanding about ancient ways of thinking about cosmology. Of primary interest are the texts that can help us discern the parameters of ancient perspectives on cosmic ontology—that is, how the writers perceived origins. Texts from across the ancient Near East are presented, including primarily Egyptian, Sumerian, and Akkadian texts, but occasionally also Ugaritic and Hittite, as appropriate. Walton’s intention, first of all, is to understand the texts but also to demonstrate that a functional ontology pervaded the cognitive environment of the ancient Near East. This functional ontology involves more than just the idea that ordering the cosmos was the focus of the cosmological texts. He posits that, in the ancient world, bringing about order and functionality was the very essence of creative activity. He also pays close attention to the ancient ideology of temples to show the close connection between temples and the functioning cosmos. The second half of the book is devoted to a fresh analysis of Genesis 1:1–2:4. Walton offers studies of significant Hebrew terms and seeks to show that the Israelite texts evidence a functional ontology and a cosmology that is constructed with temple ideology in mind, as in the rest of the ancient Near East. He contends that Genesis 1 never was an account of material origins but that, as in the rest of the ancient world, the focus of “creation texts” was to order the cosmos by initiating functions for the components of the cosmos. He further contends that the cosmology of Genesis 1 is founded on the premise that the cosmos should be understood in temple terms. All of this is intended to demonstrate that, when we read Genesis 1 as the ancient document it is, rather than trying to read it in light of our own world view, the text comes to life in ways that help recover the energy it had in its original context. At the same time, it provides a new perspective on Genesis 1 in relation to what have long been controversial issues. Far from being a borrowed text, Genesis 1 offers a unique theology, even while it speaks from the platform of its contemporaneous cognitive environment.

"How does the rest of the Bible relate to Genesis 1 and 2? Do the various biblical authors portray creation theologies that align or diverge? In this volume, the first of two, ten scholars--each addressing a different section, genre or topic from the Old Testament--grapple seriously with this question. Collectively, they find that the weight of the textual data of the Old Testament clearly portrays an overarching understanding and theology of creation that permeates every biblical genre and book. These findings should inform the thinking of every honest Christian, whether layperson, theologian, or scientist. At its core, creation theology is all about Who God is, who we are, what our destiny is, and how God chooses to save a world that is in direct rebellion to its Creator." -- Back Cover.

In this provocative book two authors--one a scientist, the other a biblical scholar and pastor--recount the pilgrimages of understanding that have led them from the young-earth, "scientific creationist" position they were taught in their youths to new perspectives on what it can mean to believe in God as Creator.