Many thanks to Adrienne and the IVP folks for this review copy.
Dr. John Walton, Old Testament Professor at Wheaton College, sets forth eighteen propositions in this book. Proposition 1, Genesis 1 Is Ancient Cosmology, sets the stage for the rest of the book. Regarding Proposition 1, Prof. Walton says, “If we accept Genesis 1 as ancient cosmology, then we need to interpret it as ancient cosmology rather than translate it into modern cosmology” (p. 17).
By Ancient Cosmology, Proposition 2, Prof. Walton means “Functional ontology,” bring something into existence to function within an ordered system (p. 26), over aganist “Material ontology,” “the belief that something exists by virtue of its physical properties and its ability to be experienced by the senses” (p. 24).
So our English word “create,” Hebrew bara’, in Proposition 3, Prof. Walton argues that the ancient Israelites understood the word “to convey creation in functional terms” (p. 43).
Propositions 5-6 are taken up with the “Six Days of Creation” and how they are ultimately concerned with the functional rather than the material. While Prospositions 7-11 view the Seven Days of Genesis 1 as Cosmic Temple Inauguration, that is, “the entrance of the presence of God to take up his rest that creates the temple ” (p. 92).
Professor Walton argues that if this functional reading of Genesis 1 is adopted, as he has argued through the first 11 Propositions, then Concordism, the belief that “the Bible must agree–be in accord with—all the finds of contemporary science,” must be rejected. The ancients simply did not view the world in our scientific terms.
From Propositions 12-18, Prof. Walton takes on Science and other theories of Genesis 1. While Young Earthers and Old Earthers have made some good points for their respective positions, Prof. Walton essentially argues that they have been going in the wrong direction all along. Why? Because Genesis 1 is not about “Material origins,” which is the basis of dating the earth and so on.
But I found it surprising the Prof. Walton doesn’t reject Biological evolution, the leading evolutionary view, altogether. In fact, Dr. Walton says, “Biological evolution is capable of giving us insight into God’s creative work” (p. 138).
Proposition 18 is a word of advice to scientists and the educational system and how science should be handled in the classroom. Essentially, science should stick to its closed system of the material world and should not pass judgment on “anything outside the material universe” (p. 155). A Q & A follows the Proposition 18.
If Prof. John Walton is correct about a “functional” reading of Genesis 1, then most of the evangelical world has been both misreading and as a result, engaging in some silly fights regarding Genesis 1.
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