Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 132:527 (Jul 1975)
Article: The Creation Account in Genesis 1:1-3 Part III: The Initial Chaos Theory and the Precreation Chaos Theory
Author: Bruce K. Waltke

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BSac 132:527 (Jul 75) p. 216

The Creation Account in Genesis 1:1-3
Part III:
The Initial Chaos Theory
and the Precreation Chaos Theory

Bruce K. Waltke

[Bruce K. Waltke, Professor of Semitic Languages and Old Testament Exegesis, Director of Doctoral Studies, Dallas Theological Seminary.]

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This is the third in a series of articles first delivered by the author as the Bueermann-Champion Foundation Lectures at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, Portland, Oregon, October 1–4, 1974, and adapted from Creation and Chaos (Portland, OR: Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, 1974).]

In the preceding article in this series,1 the first of three views of biblical cosmogony was discussed. That view was the restitution theory, popularly known as the “gap theory.” The present article discusses the other two theories, which may be called the initial chaos view and the precreation chaos theory.

The Initial Chaos Theory

The initial chaos view of cosmogony interprets Genesis 1:1 as a declaration that God created the original mass called heaven and earth out of nothing, and verse 2 as a clarification that when it came from the Creator’s hand, the mass was unformed and unfilled.

Looked at grammatically, verse 1 is construed as an independent clause and verse 2 as three circumstantial clauses describing the condition of the earth when it first came into existence. Calvin wrote, “For Moses simply intends to assert that the world was not perfected at its commencement, in the manner in which it is now seen, than that it was created an empty chaos of heaven and earth.”2 Some who hold this view regard verses 1 and 2 as a chronological

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unity separated by a gap in time from the first day of creation described in verse 3, whereas most think of verses 1–5 as a chronological unity.

Support

This is the traditional view, and according to Gerhard Hasel it has the support of the majority of Jewish and Christian interpreters. Although this view is still supported in modern times, its number of adherents is diminishing.3 Moreover, the classic grammar by Gesenius-Kautzsch-Cowley construed verse

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