I have undertaken a bit of reading around the book of Genesis these days, or mainly the early chapters of Genesis. The current popular discussions on early Genesis has created a whole hubbub of tension and debate amongst evangelical Christians of all types. And there is no doubt these opening chapters are important as an introduction to the biblical revelation of our God. If you want to understand any story, you need to start at the ‘once upon a time’, or ‘in the beginning’. And that’s just what Genesis provides.

In a lot of discussion around Genesis 1, a particular view has been brought forth surrounding the idea that this particular chapter describes the Hebrew God, Yahweh, as building his special temple. Some would advance this notion because of its somewhat parallel approach with other origins accounts of the ancient near eastern world where other peoples similarly described their god or gods building a temple. And, so, as God looked to make himself known to his people within such an ancient context, he accommodated, or utilised a particular method of the day, in communicating his revelation about the primal beginnings of the creation. As God always does, he ‘comes down’ into a particular contextual situation (see Ex 3:8) Continue reading →