Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 79:316 (Oct 1922)
Article: The Point Of View In The First Chapter Of Genesis
Author: David L. Holbrook

BSac 79:316 (Oct 1922) p. 452

The Point Of View In The First Chapter Of Genesis

David L. Holbrook

A notable motion-picture is that of the blooming of a rose. A tiny bud appears on the screen. It begins to swell, the leaflets part, one after another the sepals and petals unfold, the flower expands, a blush suffuses it, and the full-blown rose is displayed. A similar phenomenon, on a magnificent scale, is exhibited in the cinema of creation. The first chapter of Genesis is a motion-word-picture in which the majestic progress of unmeasured aeons is displayed in six reels which may be viewed in as many minutes.

A picture, to make a true impression, must be viewed at the correct angle, that is, from the direction in which the camera was placed. To look upon the screen from a seat far at one side occasions distortion. Much misapprehension has resulted from viewing this picture of creation from a standpoint far removed from that of the age in which it was produced. When the writer of this document contemplated the heavens and the earth he had his feet on the solid ground and beheld the world with which he was familiar, with the skies arching overhead; but modern interpreters have very naturally assumed a modern standpoint from which the heavens are viewed as a vast space in which worlds and systems revolve and the earth appears as a globe hanging upon nothing. A motion-picture, even when viewed at an angle, may, by a mental allowance, be made to correspond to the figures and objects represented; but it is better to avoid the distortion by getting in front of the screen. It is also true that even a distorted view of this chapter reveals some notable coincidences between it and the series of geological landscapes with which we may illustrate the story of the rocks.

These coincidences have been pointed out by many eminent scientists and exegetes. The scientific view as pre-

BSac 79:316 (Oct 1922) p. 453

sented by them is very informing; but the interpretation of the Bible narrative to bring it into accord with this view seems, at certain points, to be unwarrantedly forced. A succinct outline of such a modernized scheme of the days of creation may be found in the earlier editions of Dana’s Manual of Geology. His arrangement is as follows:

1. The Inorganic Era

1st Day.—LIGHT cosmical.

2d Day.—The earth divided from the fluid around it, or individualized.

3rd Day__ 1. Outlining of the land and water.

2. Creation of vegetation.

12. Creation of vegetation.

2. The Organic Era

4th Day.—LIGHT from the sun.

5th Day.—Creation of the lower orders of animals.