Possible Interpretations of Genesis Chapter One
This post is the fifth in a series. If you’ve just stumbled onto this series, you may want to start here.
The first two chapters of Genesis have been the subject of much discussion. There is enough debate about possible interpretations that some have decided these chapters, along with chapters 3 – 11 are allegorical or simply Christian myth. As part of the groundwork for this series, I agreed to approach this subject as if all of Scripture, including these chapters, is both infallible and inerrant. I am also taking for granted that God is the creator of all things and that the first two chapters of Genesis are reliable accounts written so that we might learn something about the nature of God and His plan for us.
With that in mind, what interpretations are available for chapter one? In my opinion, we start by answering three questions.
- How long are the days?
- Do the days represent actual sequential days of creation or something else?
- When did all of these things take place?
Depending on your answers to those questions, you might come to one of five conclusions.
- God created the universe and everything in it over six twenty-four hour days relatively recently.
- God created the universe and everything in it instantaneously at some point in the recent or distant past.
- God created the universe at some point in the distant past. Everything we see today evolved from that beginning state over billions of years.
- God created the universe and everything in it progressively over many years without the use of evolution of any kind.
- Some combination of numbers three and four.
The days of Genesis one and two are interpreted as twenty four hour days in number one. In the others, the days might represent categories of God’s creation or days of revelation.
Note that I am only concerned today with presenting possible interpretations. Some, or all, of the interpretations might present difficulties theologically or philosophically. I’d like to postpone discussion of those issues for a later date.
For now, have I left anything out?