Coming thoughts on the first few chapters of Genesis
I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the Christian metanarrative, particularly the question of how the human orientation to God has been set wrong by the Fall and is set right in Christ. With that in mind, I’ve determined to read through Genesis and the following early books of the Bible with a particular eye toward the way in which the stories fit into the overall narrative of the relationship between God and man. I’ll post any observations as I go – mostly just to help clarify my own thoughts, but also in the hope that some of my comments may be at least thought-provoking.
And, for what it’s worth, here’s a quick thought that doesn’t really deserve a post of its own: I don’t have a problem, prima facie, with semi-mythical readings of the creation account, but it seems hard to square such an interpretation with – among other things – God’s explanation of the Sabbath: “For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:11, cf. Exodus 31:17). With so many other reasonable justifications for the consecration of the Sabbath, some of which are offered in other portions of scripture, choosing to ground it in a historical episode that never happened seems rather pointless, at best.