Religion in an Age of Science by Ian Barbour
Chapter 5: Astronomy and Creation
II. Creation in Judaism and Christianity
2. The Interpretation of Genesis Today
What is essential theologically could be stated without reference to a beginning or a singular event. To be sure, one of the versions of his cosmological argument did assume a beginning in time: every effect has a cause, which in turn is the effect of a previous cause, back to a First Cause, which initiated the causal chain. But in another version, he asks, Why is there anything at all? He replies that the whole causal chain, whether finite or infinite, is dependent on God. God’s priority is ontological rather than temporal.
But we must note also that there has been a subordinate theme of continuing creation from biblical times to the present. Edmund Jacob has said that while there are many biblical texts referring to a primordial creation in the beginning, "Other texts, generally more ancient, draw much less distinction between the creation and conservation of the world, and make it possible for us to speak of a creatio continua."15 There is a recurring witness to God’s continuing sovereignty over both history and nature. God is still creating through natural processes. "Thou dost cause the grass to grow for cattle and the plants for man to
cultivate. . . . When thou sendest forth thy Spirit, they are created; and thou renewest the face of the ground" (Ps. 104: 14 and 30).
The Spirit was mentioned in the opening verses of Genesis and in the psalm just cited. I will point out later that the Bible refers to the Spirit in relation to nature, history, prophetic inspiration, corporate worship, the life of Christ, and the Christian community. It is thus an important concept in any attempt to give a unified account of God’s activity in these diverse realms. I will suggest that the Spirit, which is God’s presence and activity in the world, is crucial in understanding creation and redemption as two aspects of a single divine purpose and activity.
Jaroslav Pelikan shows that the continuing creation theme was present but subordinate throughout the Middle Ages, the Reformation, and the Enlightenment. He holds that it assumes great importance in considering evolution and contemporary science.16 I will suggest that astrophysics, along with geology and evolutionary biology, shows us a dynamic world with a long history of change and development and the appearance of novel forms. Coming-to-be is a continuing process throughout time, and it continues today. We can see the emergence of new forms as signs of God’s creativity.
How then are we to understand the opening chapter of Genesis? A literal interpretation of the seven days would conflict with many fields of
science, as we saw in chapter 1. The attempt to find scientific
information in Genesis is dubious theology as well as dubious science.
By treating it as if it were a book of science ahead of its times, we tend to neglect both the human experiences that lie behind it and the
theological affirmations it makes.
I would list the human experiences that lie behind the idea of creation as follows: (1) a sense of dependence, finitude and contingency; (2) a response of wonder, trust, gratitude for life, and affirmation of the
world; and (3) a recognition of interdependence, order, and beauty in the world. These were all part of the experience of the astronauts as they looked at the earth from the moon, and their reading of Genesis seems an appropriate expression of their response. The religious idea of creation starts from wonder and gratitude for life as a gift.
What are the basic theological affirmations in that chapter of Genesis? I would list the following: (1) the world is essentially good, orderly, coherent, and intelligible; (2) the world is dependent on God; and (3) God is sovereign, free, transcendent, and characterized by purpose and will. Note that these are all assertions about characteristics of God and the world in every moment of time, not statements about an event in the past. They express ontological rather than temporal relationships. 17 The intent of the story was not to exclude any scientific account but to exclude, in the first instance, the nature gods of the ancient world. In later history it stood against alternative philosophical schemes, such as pantheism, dualism, and the belief that the world and matter are either illusory or evil or ultimate. Against these alternatives it asserted that the created order is good, an interdependent whole, a community of being, but not the object of our worship. These theological affirmations were expressed in Genesis in terms of a prescientific cosmology that included a three-level universe and creation in seven days. But the affirmations are not dependent on that physical cosmology. Reform and
Conservative Judaism, the Catholic church, and most of the mainline Protestant denominations today maintain that we do not have to choose between theism and science. We can look on the Big Bang and
subsequent evolution as God’s way of creating.18
But should we take a beginning of time literally, even if we do not interpret the seven days in Genesis literally? Here theologians are
divided. For one thing, the biblical concept of finite linear time has contributed to the Western view of history. The West has differed from the ancient cultures and the Eastern religions, which assumed an infinite succession of cycles; these cultures have generally evidenced less
interest in historical development. But other theologians suggest that even a beginning of time is not crucial to the theological notion of creation. David Kelsey, for instance, says that the basic experience of gratitude for life as a gift has no essential connection with speculations about unique events at the beginning. Science and religion, he
maintains, address different question, which should not be confused.19 Without denying the distinctive features of Genesis, we can note that creation stories in various cultures fulfill similar functions. They locate human life within a cosmic order. The interest in origins may be partly speculative or explanatory, but the main concern is to understand who we are in a framework of larger significance. Anthropologists and scholars of the world’s religions have looked at a variety of creation stories, studying their function in the ordering of human experience in relation to a meaningful world. These stories provide patterns for human behavior, archetypes of authentic human life in accord with a universal order. They portray basic relationships between human life and the world of nature. Often they express structures of integration and creativity over against powers of disintegration and chaos.
A religious community appropriates and participates in its sacred stories in various ways. Often the stories are symbolized or enacted in rituals.
Streng speaks of one generation passing on to another stories that
"manifest the essential structure of reality." Eliade says that exemplary patterns in primordial time are made present in ritual and liturgy.20 Consider an example from the traditional Jewish morning prayer, which uses the present tense:
Praised are You, O Lord our God. King or the universe.
You fix the cycles of light and darkness;
You ordain the order of all creation.
In Your goodness the work of creation Is continually renewed day by day.21
The prayer goes on to express gratitude for the world and the gift of life, continuing into the present. The Statement of Faith of the United
Church of Christ also uses the present tense: "We believe in God. . . . You call the worlds into being, create persons in your own image, and
set before each one the ways of life and death." Or consider the prayer in one of the communion services in the Episcopal prayer book. These lines could not have been written before the space age, yet they express traditional themes. The celebrant (C) is at the altar and the people (P) respond:
C: God of all power, Rule of the Universe, you are worthy of glory and praise.
P: Glory to you for ever and ever.
C: At your command all things came to be: the vast expanse of interstellar space, galaxies, suns, the planets in their courses, and this fragile earth, our island home.
P: By your will they were created and have their being.
C: From the primal elements you brought forth the human race, and blessed us with memory, reason, and skill. You made us the rulers of creation. But we turned against you, and betrayed your trust; and we turned against one another.
P: Have mercy, Lord, for we are sinners in your sight.22
Here again the focus is on the significance of human life in relation to God and the world. That is what is important religiously.