The Genesis Creation Account

byDavid C. Bossard19thPsalm.org

Part 1 – Creation Days One to FourA Haven for Life

Identified Genesis 1:3Fiat Lux = "Let there be light"With the Big Bang.

Pope Pius XII 1951 Address to the Pontifical Academy of Sciences

"It seems indeed that science today, rising suddenly [after] millions of centuries, has succeeded in being a witness to that primordial Fiat lux, when along with matter, there burst forth from nothing a seaof light and radiation, and the elements split and churned and formed into millions of galaxies."

"To the Members of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences", 22 novembre 1951 - Pio XII, Discorsi

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Key Bible Passages to be considered today:

• Genesis 1:1-2:3

• Proverbs 8:22-31

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A Basic Problem – hundreds of ways that the Creationpassages have been understood.

- My claim to consideration is that I believe that theinterpretation here is consistent (to the best of my understanding) with the Creation Narrative as given by Modern Science – beginning with the Science of Cosmology (the subject of my 19thpsalm.org website).

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Synopsis

• Day One: Create the universe

• Day Two: Carve out a haven for the Earth and Life

• Day Three: Form dry land on Earth; fill with plants for food • Day Four: Organize the heavenly bodies

• Fill the Earth with Animals:- Day Five: Ocean and Air- Day Six (a): Land

• Day Six (b): Create Man (male and female)

The Six Divine Workdays and Tasks

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Concepts

• How does Time figure in Creation?

• What is "Water"?

• What is the "Abyss" or "Deep"?

The Matter of Time & the Matter of Terms

--- PARTICULARLY IN THE FIRST TWO VERSES:

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

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Concepts

How does Time figure in Creation?

The Matter of Time & the matter of Terms

• TIME IS CREATED: it is part of the created universe.

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Concepts

How does Time figure in Creation?

The Matter of Time & the matter of Terms

• TIME IS CREATED: it is part of the created universe.

=> Before the Planck Time (BB + 5 x 10-44 s) nobodycan describe what things looked like.

IN PARTICULAR, the appearance of things isindescribable! BEFORE the Planck Time andbefore the Big Bang occurred.

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Concepts

How does Time figure in Creation?

The Matter of Time & the matter of Terms

• GOD IS TIMELESS. So…

• How do you write a Work Order? Howdescribe his creative activity?

=> Sequence of Activities???=> Duration of Activities???

BEFORE the BB?AFTER the BB?

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St. Augustine of Hippo,The Literal Meaning of Genesis

[ad lit.] ca. 415 AD.

Concepts

How does Time figure in Creation?

The Matter of Time & the matter of Terms

• GOD IS TIMELESS. So…

St. Augustine's Solution: (Ad. Lit. V.5.13)

• Instantaneous Creation of Everything "in Potential" -- God "Created potentially, for time would bring them into view in the ages to come."

- i.e. created "formless and empty",• Later, "fleshed out" – but that was not the

creation.

St. Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theol. Ques. 66, Art. 1)

"Whether formlessness of created matter preceded in time its formation?"

Today's Suggestion: God DID create in time (but not "by the clock"), for a very good reason… 10

Concepts

How does Time figure in Creation?

The Matter of Time & the matter of Terms

• … God DID create in time for anotherreason: To preserve the integrity of his Silent Voice.

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Concepts

How does Time figure in Creation?

The Matter of Time & the matter of Terms

• The Silent Voice –Einstein's "Incomprehensible thing"

"The most incomprehensible thing about the world is that it is at all comprehensible."

The Time component in Creation displays howGod Used Natural Processes when they would dothe job.

-- Creation of the universe 13.73 By ago-- Creation of the elements in stars over 9 By-- Formation of the Solar System and Earth (4 By)-- Preparation of the Earth & Atmosphere (3+ By)-- Preparation of Land with Plant Food (400+ My)-- etc.

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DESCRIBING THE INDESCRIBABLE

Concepts

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Preface - Genesis 1:1-2

22 “The Lord possessed me [Wisdom - dcb] at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. 23 Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. … 26 before he had made the earth with its fields,…27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,…

Proverbs 8:22-31

What is "water" and what is the "deep"? 13

Concepts

• How does Time figure in Creation?

• What is "Water"?

The Matter of Terms

"We might say that by the term 'water' the sacred writer wished to designate the whole of material creation. In this way he would show whence all things that we can recognize in their proper kinds had been made and formed, calling them water."

St. Augustine, Ad. Lit. I.5.10

Water Appears as Fluid or liquid "stuff"… (Whatever appearance means in an

indescribable context!)

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Hebrew words Related?:• "water" (Mayim – מ34ים)• "heavens" (Shamayim -- ש347מ6ים)

Concepts

• What is "Water"? – A more traditional (wrong?) view:

The Matter of Terms

image source:http://www.geocreationism.com/

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Concepts

• What is the Abyss or Deep? Symbolizes a vast, wild, dangerous, fickle,

lawless place with no place of safety, no safe haven.

The Matter of Time & the matter of Terms

1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.2 Now the earth was formless and empty, and darkness was over the face of the deep [abyss],And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

Preface - Genesis 1:1-2

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Creation Day One

• First Workday: Day One Task: Create the universe

3 And God said, "Let there be light" and there was light.4 And God saw that the light was good.And God separated the light from darkness.5 God called the light Day,

and the darkness he called Night.

And there was evening and morning, the first day.

Day One - Genesis 1:3-5

The Big Bang and Cosmic Inflation

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Creation Day One

• First Workday: Day One Task: Create the universe

Separating Light from Darkness:• The Cosmic Inflation?• The End of Ionization?

The Big Bang and Cosmic Inflation

3 And God said, "Let there be light" and there was light.4 And God saw that the light was good.And God separated the light from darkness.5 God called the light Day,

and the darkness he called Night.

And there was evening and morning, the first day.

Day One - Genesis 1:3-5

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Sistine Chapel

Creation Day Two

• Second Workday: Day Two Task: Carve out a Haven for Earth and Life

6 And God said, “Let there be an expanse* in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.”7 And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so.8 And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.

Day Two - Genesis 1:6-8

--- Compare with Proverbs 8:27: "when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,"

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* Hebrew Raqia ( 6ר3ק;יע) Translations "firmament", "Dome", "Vault" "carry baggage that tends to predispose how we English readers Interpret these verses, hindering our ability to derive their meaning."

Rick Lanser, Genesis 1 and the Raqia (2009).

The Shields protecting Life on Earth:

Ozone Shield

Earth's Magnetic Shield

Gravitational Deflection of Comets, Asteroids, etc.

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Creation Day Two

The False (retrojected) "Hebrew Cosmology"

Flammarian Woodcut (1888)

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Creation Day Two

• Second Workday: Day Two Task: Carve out a Haven for Earth and Life

So… What is the true cosmology intended in Genesis Day Two?

A haven that shields Earth. It exists at several nested havens:• Milky Way Galaxy• Solar System• Habitable Zone around the Sun• Shields around the Earth• Earth's Atmosphere

From the viewpoint of a person on Earth, theAtmosphere is the most immediate reference.

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Comment on Anthropic PrinciplesComment on Anthropic Principles

1903 Alfred Russel Wallace 1903 Alfred Russel Wallace Man's Place in the Universe.Man's Place in the Universe.1913 Lawrence J. Henderson 1913 Lawrence J. Henderson The Fitness of the EnvironmentThe Fitness of the Environment1988 Barrow & Tipler,1988 Barrow & Tipler, Anthropic Cosmological Principle Anthropic Cosmological Principle

The Anthropic PrincipleThe Anthropic Principle

Brandon Carter (1973): "Although our situation is not necessarily Brandon Carter (1973): "Although our situation is not necessarily centralcentral, , it is inevitably privileged to some extent."it is inevitably privileged to some extent."

Figure from http://knol.google.com/k/the-anthropic-principle#23

Creation Day Three

• Third Workday: Day Three Task: Create Dry Land and Vegetation

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.…11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.

Day Three - Genesis 1:9-13

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Creation Day Three

• Third Workday: Day Three Task: Create Dry Land and Vegetation

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.

Day Three - Genesis 1:9-13

Continent Formation --Subduction

Early Earth 25

Creation Day Three

• Third Workday: Day Three Task: Create Dry Land and Vegetation

9 And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so.…11 And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so.

Day Three - Genesis 1:9-13

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Creation Day Four

• Fourth Workday: Day Four Task: Organize the Heavenly Bodies

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,…16 And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars.17 And God set them in the expanse of the heavens….

Day Four - Genesis 1:14-19

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Creation Day Four

• Fourth Workday: Day Four Task: Organize the Heavenly Bodies

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years…

Day Four - Genesis 1:14-19

-- Clear out Cosmic debris-- Create stable planetary Orbits

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Creation Day Four

• Fourth Workday: Day Four Task: Organize the Heavenly Bodies

Day Four - Genesis 1:14-19

The most egregious mis-statement of the Scientific Age:

Napoleon: Does your mathematics include the hand of God?LaPlace: "I have no need for that hypothesis."

Fact: The Earth's Orbit is Chaotic.(LaPlace was in error).

Newton's Puzzlement: Why is the Earth's Orbit stable?Conclusion: God had to intervene occasionally.

Re. a copy of Celestial Mechanics, presented to Napoleon in 1799.

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Creation Day Four

• Fourth Workday: Day Four Task: Organize the Heavenly Bodies

14 And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years…

Day Four - Genesis 1:14-19

=> The first systematic Science – Astronomy.

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