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Genesis 1 & 2 – Two creation accounts

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Why do the first two chapters of Genesis give two very different accounts of creation?

A sceptical approach is to say that they are contradictory, and therefore neither can be relied on as divinely inspired.

Among believers, an attempt is quite often made to fit the two together by making the account in chapter 2 part of the events of Day 6 as recorded in chapter 1.

Another approach is to regard the narrative in chapter 2 as introductory to the longer narrative about the Fall:

‘Many writers have sought to find a second creation story in Gn.

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Genesis 1 – The six days of creation

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As summarised here, Genesis 1 describes seven days of creation:

  • in the beginning – God started creation
  • the first day – light was created
  • the second day – the sky was created
  • the third day – dry land, seas, plants and trees were created
  • the fourth day – the Sun, Moon and stars were created
  • the fifth day – creatures that live in the sea and creatures that fly were created
  • the sixth day – animals that live on the land and finally humans, made in the image of God were created
  • by day seven – God finished his work of creation and rested, making the seventh day a special holy day.
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If Genesis doesn’t teach science, what does it teach?

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Andy Karplus

In a panel discussion on the origins of life  Dr Andy Karplus (Professor of Biochemistry, Oregon State University) advocated a ‘theistic evolution’ position.

Such a position raises the question, ‘If you do not think that the first two chapters of Genesis teach science, what do they teach?’  Dr Karplus gave a helpful summary of the main doctrines taught in these chapters:-

  1. There is one all-powerful God, who is distinct from creation and created all things.
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Mt 28; Mk 16; Lk 24; Jn 20 – Do the resurrection accounts add up?

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[This is an update of a piece first posted in 2013]

The difficulties involved in reconciling the details of the resurrection narrative of the four Evangelists are well known.

Let us begin with the question of how many women went to the tomb.

Mt 28:1 Now after the Sabbath, at dawn on the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to look at the tomb.

Mk 16:1 When the Sabbath was over, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought aromatic spices so that they might go and anoint him.…

That’s not what I call preaching 5

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The UK press loved it.  ‘Hysteria!’  ‘Heresy!’  The Express, Daily Mail and others gushed:

‘Worshippers left “in tears” as Cambridge dean claims Jesus was transgender.’

What was it all about?

Michael Banner, Dean of Trinity College, Cambridge, had backed a ‘sermon’ which had been ‘preached’ at Evensong on November 20th, 2022, by research fellow Joshua Heath.

The full text of the sermon doesn’t appear to be widely available, but Joshua Heath evidently based his talk on a 1993 book entitled ‘Christs’, which includes some depictions of Jesus on the cross and observed that in some of these the wound in our Lord’s side ‘takes on a decidedly vaginal appearance’.…

Dealing with doubt

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Michael J, Kruger has some helpful advice for those dealing with (or helping others to deal with) doubt.

Here’s his advice, mainly in paraphrase form.

1. ‘Doubting is normal.’  It is a normal part of the Christian life.  The Scriptures are full of instances of doubt.  So is church history.  To doubt is not to reject your faith.  The Christian says, with the worried father in Mark 9:24: “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.”…

1 Corinthians 11 – was Paul quoting his opponents?

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It has long been recognised that Paul, in 1 Corinthians, sometimes quotes his opponents before giving his own response to their objections and protestations.

It is generally agreed that Paul has written an earlier letter to this church, and is now addressing issues they have raised in response to that letter.  He is, it is thought, voicing their questions and objections back to them in at least the following verses: 1 Cor 6:12, 13; 7:1; 8:1, 8:4; 10:23; and 15:12.…

Mt 16:23; Mk 8:33 – “Get behind me, Satan!’

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Mt 16:23 ‘He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me, because you are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”’

Mk 8:32f ‘Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 8:33 But after turning and looking at his disciples, he rebuked Peter and said, “Get behind me, Satan. You are not setting your mind on God’s interests, but on man’s.”’

The actual words of Peter’s rebuke are recorded in Mt 16:22 – “God forbid, Lord!…

The magi – Nabatean courtiers?

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In his book Mystery of the Magi, Dwight Longenecker develops a case for the Magi of Matthew 2 being courtiers from the kingdom of Nabatea.

Longenecker writes:

‘At the time of Jesus’ birth, the city of Petra was the thriving capital of the Nabatean kingdom, a major power in the Middle East. Covering most of the Sinai Peninsula and extending halfway along the eastern coast of the Red Sea, the Nabatean kingdom, at its height, spread across northern Arabia and present-day Jordan to Damascus in Syria.’

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Topical expository preaching

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Is it possible for topical preaching to be expository?

Yes, answers Timothy S. Warren, in chapter 112 of The Art and Craft of Biblical Preaching (eds Robinson & Larson).

Topical preaching is popular.  Hearers appreciate preaching that addresses their immediate interests and concerns.

Topical preaching is biblical.  With the exception of Ezra (in Nehemiah 8) and our Lord himself (in Luke 4), no other preacher in the Bible began with a text.  Peter (in Acts 2) and Paul (in Acts 13) wove multiple texts into a single message.…