In modern Western culture, we have two very different narratives swirling around the first two pages of the Bible. In the first narrative, the creation story in Genesis 1-2 represents a literal seven days, and this all happened only a few thousand years ago. In the second narrative, earth and its inhabitants took billions of years to evolve into their present form—and therefore, Bible-believing Christians are fools. What if both these narratives miss the main point of what Genesis 1-2 is all about? In this lecture, Tim explores the Bible’s creation story alongside other ancient creation stories, revealing a very different narrative about the origin of life, our purpose and identity as humans, and what all of this tells us about the God of the Bible.

Tim taught this lecture in January 2016 at Bridgetown Church in Portland, Oregon.

REFERENCED RESOURCES

• Nothing: A Very Short Introduction by Frank Close
• The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate by John H. Walton
• The Seven Pillars of Creation: The Bible, Science, and the Ecology of Wonder by William P. Brown
• Check out Tim’s extensive collection of recommended books.

SHOW MUSIC

• “Nob Hill (Instrumental)” by Drexler

SHOW CREDITS

Production of today’s episode is by Lindsey Ponder, producer, and Cooper Peltz, managing producer. Aaron Olsen edited and remastered today’s episode. JB Witty writes our show notes. Powered and distributed by Simplecast.

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