Creation

By David Fergusson

This book explores anew the theme of creation in Scripture, tradition, and contemporary theology. David Fergusson defends the classical account of creation out of nothing but gives more sustained attention than the Christian tradition typically has given to the holistic significance of the created world.

Offering both doctrinal exposition and apologetic argument, Fergusson discusses creation in relation to the problem of evil and the fall, divine providence, deism, Darwinian evolution, environmental ethics, animal rights, and other matters. Unusually, the book also touches on the topic of extraterrestrial intelligence. Concise and accessible, Fergusson’s Creation will be particularly useful to students and others seeking a well-informed overview of this important subject.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eerdmans
• Release date: Sep 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781467442107

David Fergusson

David Fergusson is professor of divinity and principal of NewCollege at the University of Edinburgh. He is also the authorof Faith and Its Critics: A Conversation.

Book preview

GUIDES TO THEOLOGY

Sponsored by the Christian Theological Research Fellowship

EDITORS

Alan G. Padgett • Luther Seminary

David A. S. Fergusson • University of Edinburgh

Iain R. Torrance • University of Aberdeen

Danielle Nussberger • Marquette University

Systematic theology is undergoing a renaissance. Conferences, journal articles, and books give witness to the growing vitality of the discipline. The Christian Theological Research Fellowship is one sign of this development. To stimulate further study and inquiry into Christian doctrine, we are sponsoring, with the William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, a series of readable and brief introductions to theology.

This series of Guides to Theology is written primarily with students in mind. We also hope that pastors, church leaders, and theologians will find them to be useful introductions to the field. Our aim is to provide a brief introduction to the chosen field, followed by an annotated bibliography of important works, which should serve as an entrée to the topic. The books in this series will be of two kinds. Some volumes, like The Trinity, will cover standard theological loci. Other volumes will be devoted to various modern approaches to Christian theology as a whole, such as feminist theology or liberation theology. The authors and editors alike pray that these works will help further the faithful study of Christian theology in our time.

Visit our Web page at

http://apu.edu/CTRF

CREATION

David Fergusson

WILLIAM B. EERDMANS PUBLISHING COMPANY

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN / CAMBRIDGE, U.K.

© 2014 David Fergusson

All rights reserved

Published 2014 by

Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.

2140 Oak Industrial Drive N.E., Grand Rapids, Michigan 49505 /

P.O. Box 163, Cambridge CB3 9PU U.K.

19 18 17 16 15 147 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Fergusson, David.

Creation / David Fergusson.

pagescm(Guides to Theology)

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN 978-0-8028-7196-1 (pbk.: alk. paper)

eISBN 978-1-4674-4210-7

1. Creation.I. Title.

BT695.F382014

231.7′65—dc23

2014013046

www.eerdmans.com

Contents

Preface

1.Creation in Scripture

2.Creatio Ex Nihilo

3.Creation and Fall

4.The Providence of God

5.Deism and Natural Theology

6.Evolution and Cosmic Fine-Tuning

7.Animals, the Environment, and Extraterrestrials

Annotated Bibliography

Index

Preface

In the McManus Galleries in Dundee, there hangs a painting by the artist James McIntosh Patrick. Titled A City Garden, it was painted in 1940 and depicts a bright autumn morning in the back garden of the artist’s house near the River Tay. A scene of natural beauty and order, the painting also shows his wife hanging the washing on the clothesline while their daughter plays beside her on the lawn. Their facial expressions are hard to discern. This is a moving evocation of the artist’s home life surrounded by great natural beauty and shaped by the bonds of his household companions. Yet it is also a threatened landscape. War has been declared and the artist will soon leave his home for military service in the Middle East. Across the garden wall, an Anderson air raid shelter is being constructed, in anticipation of the imminent bombing of the ship-building industry on the Tay estuary. Only by attending to all the details in their particularity and interrelatedness can we understand the painting. McIntosh Patrick’s work illustrates for me something of importance about the theology of creation. It is neither a preamble nor an introduction to the other more important articles of Christian faith, although you might derive this impression from the creeds of the church. The created world is integral to who we are and how we live with our companions. We are embodied persons who live in community and share a natural environment with other creatures. This is our home, even amidst threats to its peace and order. In what follows, I have sought to register these convictions in introducing the theology of creation, sometimes at the risk of departing from traditional approaches and emphases.

This book has been too long in gestation but its material has been enhanced by the responses of several generations of students at New College in Edinburgh. I am also grateful for comments and chance conversations with a wide range of colleagues and friends who may be quite unaware of their contributions. Mention should be made of Wentzel van Huyysteen, Wilson Poon, Mark Harris, Alexandra Parvan, Sara Parvis, Michael Northcott, and Graeme Auld. A particular debt of gratitude is owed to Dr. Simon Burton, who invested much time and skill in compiling an initial draft of the annotated bibliography.

I am also grateful to my fellow series editors—Alan Padgett, Iain Torrance, and Danielle Nussberger—for awaiting this long-overdue project with such patience. And finally my thanks also to David Robinson for his careful preparation of the index.

In what follows, I have drawn upon a succession of earlier writings on the subject, including the following.

The Cosmos and the Creator: Introduction to the Theology of Creation (London: SPCK, 1998).

Divine Providence and Action, in God’s Life in Trinity: Festschrift for Jürgen Moltmann, ed. Michael Welker and Miroslav Volf (Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2006), pp. 153–65.

Karl Rahner and the Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence Question, coauthored with Christopher Fisher, Heythrop Journal 47 (2006): 275–90.

Creation, in Oxford Handbook of Systematic Theology, ed. John Webster, Iain Torrance, and Kathryn Tanner (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), pp. 72–90.

Providence after Darwin, in Theology After Darwin, ed. Michael Northcott and R. J. Berry (Milton Keynes: Paternoster: 2009), pp. 73–88.

Theology of Providence, Theology Today 67 (2010): 261–78.

The Reformed Doctrine of Providence: From Calvin to Barth, in Van God gesproken: Over religieuze taal en relationele theologie; Festschrift for Luco van den Brom, ed. Theo Boer, Heleen Maat, Alco Meesters, and Jan Muis (Zoetermeer: Uitgeverij Boekencentrum, 2011), pp. 233–45.

Creation and Providence, in Dictionary of Christian Theology, ed. Ian McFarland, David Fergusson, Karen Kilby, and Iain Torrance (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011), pp. 120–22, 416–19.

Interpreting the story of creation: A case study in the dialogue between theology and science, in Genesis and Christian Theology, ed. Nathan McDonald, Mark W. Elliott, and Grant Macaskill (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 2012), pp. 155–74.

Natural Theology After Darwin, in Darwinism and Natural Theology: Evolving Perspectives, ed. Andrew Robinson (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012), pp. 78–95.

Providence and Its Secular Displacements, in Oxford Handbook of Theology and Modern European Thought, ed. George Pattison, Graham Ward, and Nick Adams (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2013), pp. 655–74.

Humans Created According to the Imago Dei: An Alternative Proposal, Zygon (2014): 439–53.

DAVID FERGUSSON

1. Creation in Scripture

Creation has reemerged as a major topic of theological inquiry in recent times. As a shared doctrine of the Abrahamic faiths, it is celebrated and provides common ground for interfaith conversation. In debates with new atheists, much attention (perhaps too much) has been devoted to the cosmological and design arguments for God’s existence. These tend to argue from the world to God, thus identifying God primarily as the creator. Culture wars involving those who favor a literal reading of Genesis 1 have received wide publicity. These have been revived in recent years, as we shall shortly see, over the historical Adam. Above all, awareness of the fragility of the earth’s ecosystem and the damage that is caused it by human populations has led to a much greater concentration on the theme of creation in contemporary theology. A reinvestigation of Scripture and tradition is now underway in the face of pollution, extinction of species, and depletion of natural resources.

In exploring the central themes in the theology of creation, this volume engages extensively with Scripture and the traditions of the church. But it does so in conversation with recent scholarship, and with the intellectual and ethical challenges faced by contemporary constructions. An overriding conviction is that the doctrine of creation has suffered from inadequate exposure in the history of the church because it has too long been merely the stage for the enactment of the theology of sin and redemption. A wider space now needs to be excavated within which it can be more fully articulated. This might achieve a greater theological balance that can generate some ethical, pastoral, and liturgical gains for the benefit of the church in the world today.

The Hebrew Bible

Biblical scholars have recently noted the ways in which the Scriptures are replete with references to the character of God as creator far beyond the opening chapters of Genesis.¹ These inform other scriptural themes so that we cannot see the story of creation simply as an account of how the world got started. Creation is about the nature of God, our own identity as creatures of the earth, and the future of the world as it is re-created. The doctrine of the person of Jesus Christ, as it develops already within the New Testament, is determined in important ways by the Hebrew account of creation. As the Word of God, he is identified with the creative agency celebrated throughout the wisdom literature. And the defeat of evil in the Apocalypse at the end of the Bible echoes the creation of the world from the waters of the deep in Genesis 1. We will explore these various scriptural themes in this chapter.

The appearance of two creation stories at the opening of the Bible can suggest to the reader that a belief in creation precedes other articles of faith. Acting as a preface to a more distinctive revelation in history, the account of creation can appear as little more than a scene-setting for an ensuing narrative—this tendency can even be seen among some distinguished biblical interpreters of the twentieth century.² But this is a mistaken assumption. Both creation stories are embedded in wider beliefs about the nature of God, the environment, human beings, animals, and the redemption that awaits the cosmos. Moreover, despite their location in Genesis 1–2, we cannot suppose that they were written or originated in advance of other portions of the Bible.

Genesis 1 famously recounts the story of a creation in six days. The formal structure of the story suggests its use in liturgy, while the emphasis on the Sabbath rest is redolent of later Israelite religion. The genre is that of proclamation and confession—God’s good creation is to be celebrated in prayer and praise. We should note that the climax of the story is not the creation of human beings on the sixth day, but the day of rest that follows. On the Sabbath, the world and its maker rejoice in the harmony of the good creation. There are several other significant features of this story. While there are debates about the grammatical structure of its opening phrase—these are mirrored in the different English translations of the text—it is in any case uncertain whether Genesis 1:1–2 offers a description of creation out of nothing. The formless void and the deep appear already to exist prior to the creative action of God. The divine Word initially creates light from darkness and order out of chaos. As we shall see, this textual uncertainty became a point of doctrinal debate in later centuries. What is clearer, however, is that for Genesis 1 the creation of the world proceeds majestically by a series of divine commands. There is no temporal interval, let alone struggle, between the speaking of God’s Word and its execution. God speaks and it is accomplished. In this respect, the Hebrew creation story here contrasts with other ancient near eastern creation myths that depict the making of the world as a struggle between rival forces. At most, there may linger a residual surd element in the references to the formless void and the face of the deep. This is confirmed by other references to the divine overcoming of evil in the Old Testament. For example, Isaiah 51:9 recalls the imagery of the Babylonian creation myth by which Marduk creates the world through splitting the body of the sea monster, Tiamat. Further echoes of this are found in Job 26:13. Yet this is a marginal theme in the account of creation in the Hebrew Bible, although not without force in other contexts. By contrast to the powerful image of struggle, creation in Genesis 1 is a serene and effortless happening that bears testimony to the goodness and majesty of God. A similar testimony is offered in the spare first article of the Apostles’ Creed—I believe in God the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.

Animals are accorded a central place in the opening story of the Bible, and their creation is one of God’s good works. Their survival is guaranteed by the mission of Noah to save them from the flood; the subsequent covenant that God establishes with him includes a promise never again to destroy every living creature (Gen. 8:21). Elsewhere in the Hebrew Scriptures, provision is made for their care and well-being in the law (Deut. 22:6–7). God’s blessing of the world includes a generous providing of food and shelter for animals (Psalm 104). The appearance of nonhuman creatures in the Bible may be unobtrusive, but it is surprisingly frequent; a creation without them is unthinkable.

The second creation narrative (Gen. 2:4b–25) is more anthropological in focus. There is a different ordering of events, with the first human being (Adam) created prior to the other creatures. The story is continuous with the fall narrative in the succeeding chapter, and it describes the journey from Eden into a harsher, more familiar environment. The story is rich in symbolism, with its magical trees, talking serpent, and angels guarding the tree of life. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil seems to represent the power and knowledge that belong properly to God alone (cf. 2 Sam. 14:17, 20). Adam’s eating of the tree at the behest of his wife signifies a usurping of God’s place in the created order. By an act of willful disobedience, the first couple are cast into a state of shame and disorder, resulting in expulsion from the garden.

Once again, the creation story is best understood in terms of its theological and ethical significance. It reflects the importance of companionship for human identity, but also the need for obedience before the divine command. The history of Adam and Eve is the history of everyone, and the struggles they face as they venture into the wider world are those of people everywhere. The serpent is another ancient near eastern symbol of evil. Its presence in the garden at the very outset is problematic, since evil already seems to menace the creation. Like the waters of the deep, the serpent testifies to the way in which from the beginning God’s created order is threatened by destructive forces. These have to be curbed and overcome by divine action, and the later history of salvation testifies to this.

Both creation stories are narratives of grace. The making of the world in Genesis 1 is a free and unconstrained act of God. There is no sense of divine compulsion or necessity, nor is there any description of struggle. Creation is not an embattled event. God speaks spontaneously and the world is brought into being. In Genesis 2, Adam is given the garden with its diverse plant and animal life. Eve is created from him to become his lifelong helpmate. Following their disobedience, they do not die as earlier predicted (Gen. 2:17). Instead they are spared, provision being made for their survival and the propagation of the species.

Elsewhere in the Old Testament we find a further integration of creation theology with other central themes in Israelite religion. The Hebrew verb bara is used to denote the creative work of God at the beginning. But it is also a term reserved for the salvific actions of God in history. This linguistic usage connects the past, present, and future activity of God. For I am about to create new heavens and a new earth (Isa. 65:17–18). In this context, the making of the world can be seen as the first of God’s creative works. The creator’s activity continues in nature and history, achieving its end only with the making of a new world. There is no suggestion here of a creator who lights the blue touch-paper and then retires. The world that is made is one in which the creator continues to be present and active. Creation and covenant are closely related theological concepts, for example in Hosea 2:21 and Jeremiah 31:12. Conversely, threats of disorder and disruption in the life of Israel are also linked to the notion of chaos and the corruption of nature itself. The most striking use of borrowed creation motifs to describe the deliverance of God’s people from exodus and exile is found in Isaiah 51:9–11, a passage referred to earlier for its use of Babylonian imagery. Was it not you who cut Rahab in pieces, who pierced the dragon? Was it not you who dried up the sea, the waters of the great deep; who made the depths of the sea a way for the redeemed to cross over? So the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing.

In the Psalms, there is a wealth of reference to the world as God’s creation, yet this is also integrated with other themes of cosmic order, social justice, kingly rule, and the gift of divine law. Attention is sometimes given to the created order as reflecting the greatness and goodness of its Creator. This is a prominent feature of the wisdom literature elsewhere, with its more philosophical style of reflection upon the world and human affairs. Psalms 8, 19, and 104 testify to the beauty and order of the world, the providential care of creatures, and the regulation of human conduct by the divine law. Psalms 96–98 celebrate the kingship of God as creator and executor of justice. Creation is again linked to the sovereignty of the Lord and the future redemption of the world. Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar, and all that fills it; let the field exult, and everything in it. Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy before the Lord; for he is coming, for he is coming to judge the earth (Ps. 96:11–13). The order of creation is known, affirmed, and represented in the worship of Israel. In singing God’s praise, we not only acknowledge but display the divine ordering of the world. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created (Ps. 148:5). God’s good work invites responses of human wisdom, ethical obedience, and public celebration.

What is sometimes overlooked in the theology of creation is the extent to which divine law in the Hebrew Bible is concerned with both natural and social order. These are indivisible for a people whose way of life is on earth and under the rule of God. Margaret Barker points to the way in which the Decalogue—the Ten Commandments (Exod. 20:1–17; Deut. 5:1–21)—is concerned with the wider realm of creation