Greg Baugues

Genesis 1

Greg Baugues -

I’m exploring some of my doubts about my faith.

The first creation story. Here are the days:

  1. “Let there be light.” Separates light from the dark
  2. Creates an “expanse” to separate “waters under the expanse from waters above the expanse.” Calls the expanse “Heaven.”
  3. Creates vegetation.
  4. Creates “lights in the expanse.” The sun, moon and stars.
  5. Creates sea creatures and birds.
  6. Creates land creatures, man, and woman.
  7. He rests.

So God created man in his own image In the image of God he created him Male and female he created them

What Genesis 1 says about God

He creates things.

He says stuff, and stuff happens.

“Let there be light,” and there was light.

“Let the earth sprout vegetation,” and it was so.

There seem to be more than one of him:

Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness.”

He judges his work. His work is of differing quality:

“And God saw that it was good.”

“And God saw everything he had made and behold, it was very good.”

God finishes his work, then he rests.

Things that don’t make sense

  • How do plants (created on day 3) survive without the sun (created on day 4)?
  • What does “Heaven” mean in this context? Would seem that he’s referring not to the thing that we think of as “Heaven”, but more of a “sky.”
  • What does “waters above the expanse mean.” Was taught at one point about a “vapor canopy” which blocked radiation from the sun allowing folks like Noah to live to 900 years, the falling of which produced the great flood. Is that concept totally bunk?
  • What’s up with this “in our image” stuff? Is God a committee? How does that work with monotheism? Sunday school answer is that he’s referring to Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Is that revisionism? Why does the rest of passage / most of the Bible refer to God as a singular entity?
  • Is there any evidence that “day” refers to a 24 hour period of time? How does that work when there’s no Earth until Day 2 and no sun until Day 4? Though, it’s not like God needs the Sun to measure 24 hours, so “sun didn’t exist” probably isn’t best argument against. Fossils, science are though.
  • Is there a rational argument that this is intended to be a literal account of creation even with it’s stunning lack of detail?
  • Who documented this story? Adam and Eve didn’t exist til Day 6, so they didn’t see it. God was the only one around Days 1 through 5. He’d have to recount this story to someone. Why wasn’t that encounter documented?