An Evaluation of the Biosphere Model of Genesis 1 -- By: Douglas C. Bozung

Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 162:648 (Oct 2005)
Article: An Evaluation of the Biosphere Model of Genesis 1
Author: Douglas C. Bozung


An Evaluation of the Biosphere Model of Genesis 1

Douglas C. Bozung

Douglas C. Bozung is Coordinator of Missionary Preparation, Greater Europe Mission, Monument, Colorado.

As the issue of origins and the proper interpretation of Genesis 1 continues to challenge the Christian community, a proposal has recently been advanced in an effort to reconcile a literal view of the six days of creation with the idea of a very old universe. In The Age of the Universe, Gorman Gray, a retired aircraft tooling engineer and graduate of Multnomah Bible College, argues for what he terms the “undefined age” or “biosphere model” of Genesis 1.1 In this model the six days of creative activity are viewed as literal twenty-four-hour days with the implication of a relatively recent work of God in which the earth was fashioned and populated with life.2 However, the mineral or pre-Flood earth, as well as the entire universe, is left with an unspecified time of origin. In this way Gray distinguishes his model from the Gap Theory or Ruin and Reconstruction view of Genesis 1:1–3, which he says suggests that life originated long before the six days of creative (or re-creative) activity.3 However, while Gray does not postulate a gap of time between 1:1 and 1:2, he does argue for an undefined period of time—possibly billions of years—between verses 2 and 3.4

An obvious question is whether Gray’s model is consistent with the teaching of Genesis 1. Though he admits that he is not technically trained in Hebrew,5 several key arguments rely on a particular and somewhat novel reading of the Hebrew text. Accordingly three appendixes in the book offer a more technical justification for the semantics and syntactical rendering of the Hebrew. David Eckman, associate professor of Hebrew at Western Seminary, writes a favorable foreword to the book.

Gray describes and defends what he calls “four foundational imperatives” for his interpretation of Genesis 1.You must have a subscription and be logged in to read the entire article.
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