Biblical Creation Research Articles

What God Hath Put Together: Hurston, Black Queer Love, and the Act of Creation

ABSTRACT This discussion considers a literary genealogy that examines Zora Neale Hurston as a predecessor to Joseph Beam and Essex Hemphill, prefiguring their need for a process through which multiply-marginalized communities might create images that more accurately reflect their existence, and considers contemporary poets Danez Smith and Timothy DuWhite as inhabitants of the legacy that they left behind. Focusing primarily on how these artists invoke—and often revise and subvert—the biblical creation narrative within their own narratives of self-creation and image- making, this discussion is also concerned with these writers' articulation of love that is deemed unnatural due to its defiance of heteropatriarchal and cultural norms. These works, when read alongside and in dialogue with one another, collectively assert that love, defined as natural and divinely approved, functions as a challenge to restrictive ideologies and a tool of affirmation for themselves and their communities.

Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible by Paul K.-K. Cho

Reviewed by: Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible by Paul K.-K. Cho Eric Wagner paul k.-k. cho, Myth, History, and Metaphor in the Hebrew Bible (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2019). Pp. xii + 265. $105. In this revised dissertation (Harvard University, 2014; directed by Jon D. Levenson), Paul K.-K. Cho argues that biblical authors routinely appropriated various aspects of the ancient sea myth to construct metaphorically a new reality for themselves and their audiences. Significantly, C. maintains that not only verbal expressions and characters of this myth appear in the Bible, but themes and plot as well. Ultimately, the sea myth is presented as a unified and unifying feature of the Hebrew Bible. An introductory chapter sketches the monograph’s general argument, context, and approach. The second chapter presents the theory and method guiding the work. Here readers find a blend of Aristotelian narrative theory and the metaphor theories of Benjamin Harshav [Hrushovski] (“Poetic Metaphor and Frames of Reference: With Examples from [End Page 111] Eliot, Rilke, Mayakovski, Mandelshtam, Pound, Creeley, Amichai and the New York Times,” Poetics Today 5 [1984] 5–43) and Paul Ricoeur (The Rule of Metaphor: Multi-Disciplinary Studies of the Creation of Meaning in Language [trans. Robert Czerny; Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1977). Aristotle’s concepts of lexis (verbal expression), character, theme, and mythos (plot) are the primary aspects of narrative that permit identifying the sea myth’s unique traits. Harshav’s “frames of reference” explains how each aspect of the sea myth (including plot) can metaphorically transfer into the literary environment of the Bible. The result, following Ricoeur, is creation of a new world in which the Bible’s authors and audiences might discern/construct meaning from their lived reality. In the third chapter, C. articulates the ancient sea myth’s important verbal expressions, characters, themes, and plot based on the Enuma Elish and the Baal Cycle. Here, familiar characters like Tiamat and Yamm are identified as well as the paradigmatic themes of combat, creation, temple, and kingship (p. 63). Importantly, the plot of the myth is described as preorder → chaos and conflict → new order (pp. 43, 63). Subsequent chapters will refer to the last three themes (creation, temple, and kingship) as “goodly consequences” and equate their structured relationship to plot, though here they are distinguished as the “sea myth pattern” (p. 63). Ensuing chapters explore how biblical authors transferred various aspects of the ancient sea myth into accounts of creation (chap. 4), exodus (chap. 5), exile (chap. 6), and the eschaton (chap. 7). Treatment of biblical creation accounts in the Psalms (29, 74, 104) shows how they transfer the sea myth’s verbal expressions (e.g., thunderous divine voice in Psalm 29) and themes (e.g., temple and combat in Psalms 74 and 104). In Genesis 1, sea monsters (e.g., Tĕhôm, Tannîn) and the “firmament” are obvious verbal expressions of the sea myth, but the myth’s conflict is eliminated. As a result, Yhwh’s unassailable authority is emphasized. In chap. 5, C. examines Exodus 14–15, where the sea myth appears first in the Song at the Sea, and subsequently in the J/non-Priestly account, where the myth is repeated but altered. The Priestly account then updates both accounts without recapitulating the myth. Evidently, J’s account does not portray the myth’s temple theme, perhaps because the Deuteronomistic Historian replaced this idea. Moreover, the sea in Exodus is already defeated (p. 101), and the conflict is either between Yhwh and Egypt (pp. 101–2) or in the minds of Israelites (p. 120). But is it best to read the three sea accounts of Exodus 14–15 as sequential sources? Could J not have accepted the temple theme in the Song at the Sea unaltered? In the absence of combat with the sea, are readers encountering the sea myth? In chap. 6, C. explores how Isaiah 40–55 portrays the exile (and return) by repeating prior manifestations of the sea myth in the creation and exodus accounts, while also transforming them into prophecy. The new genre introduces a logical difficulty: seeing the sea myth plot in details of non-narrative text...

Loving the World We Are: Anthropology and Relationality in Laudato si’

AbstractThere is a tension between Laudato si's consistent emphasis on relationships and interconnectedness and its acceptance of anthropocentrism. While Laudato si’ does reject certain problematic forms of anthropocentrism, the encyclical does not assert an alternative to this traditional framework. This article contends that “relatiocentrism” provides the best avenue for developing the convictions expressed within Laudato si’ while moving beyond the limitations of the encyclical itself. In so doing, this essay explores the use of narrative as a means of shaping identity by mapping significant relationships and points of meaning. It examines the central anthropological claims of the encyclical and the tensions these create with anthropocentric narratives. And it examines relatiocentrism in light of the biblical creation accounts, the eschatological perspective of Laudato si’, and virtue ethics. The essay concludes by suggesting further theological and moral implications of this shift in perspective.

“All These Look to You”: Reading Psalm 104 with Animals in the Anthropocene Epoch

Psalm 104 is associated with biblical creation theology, but it seldom receives as much attention as the book of Genesis. Yet Genesis has been and continues to be used to justify human dominion over other animals, which has contributed to a new era in the earth’s history known as the “Anthropocene” epoch. In contrast, Psalm 104 provides an ecological representation of creation that recognizes God’s care for animals. Humans appear in the psalm, but only as one creature among others. A focus on Psalm 104 may foster an approach to biblical creation theology that is more attentive to animals and useful as an ecological frame for reading Genesis and other texts.

Fossilized Jews and Witnessing Dinosaurs at the Creation Museum: Public Remembering and Forgetting at a Young Earth Creationist “Memory Place”

The Creation Museum (Petersburg, KY) embraces dinosaurs and their bones as witnesses to the historicity of the biblical creation narrative. While many have critiqued the institution’s presentation of the past, approaching this space as a memory place reveals previously unrecognized implications that its historical claims entail. In particular, expanding the place of dinosaurs within the Young Earth creationist memory of the past has compelled a parallel diminution in the representation of ancient and modern Jews in exhibits and related literature. In other words, having incorporated paleontology into its theological worldview, the Creation Museum is compelled to present Jews as quixotic fossils with no particular function in the divine plan for history. As the museum’s profile as a memory place for American evangelicals grows, this could undercut the theological foundations that have encouraged robust relations between that group and Jews over the past half-century.

Fossilized Jews and Witnessing Dinosaurs at the Creation Museum: Public Remembering and Forgetting at a Young Earth Creationist “Memory Place”

The Creation Museum (Petersburg, KY) embraces dinosaurs and their bones as witnesses to the historicity of the biblical creation narrative. While many have critiqued the institution’s presentation of the past, approaching this space as a memory place reveals previously unrecognized implications that its historical claims entail. In particular, expanding the place of dinosaurs within the Young Earth creationist memory of the past has compelled a parallel diminution in the representation of ancient and modern Jews in exhibits and related literature. In other words, having incorporated paleontology into its theological worldview, the Creation Museum is compelled to present Jews as quixotic fossils with no particular function in the divine plan for history. As the museum’s profile as a memory place for American evangelicals grows, this could undercut the theological foundations that have encouraged robust relations between that group and Jews over the past half-century.

What Does the Bible Say? A Critical Conversation with Popular Culture in a Biblically Illiterate World ed. by Mary Ann Beavis and Hyeran Kim-cragg

Reviewed by: What Does the Bible Say? A Critical Conversation with Popular Culture in a Biblically Illiterate World ed. by Mary Ann Beavis and Hyeran Kim-cragg Gordon H. Matties mary ann beavis and hyeran kim-cragg, What Does the Bible Say? A Critical Conversation with Popular Culture in a Biblically Illiterate World ( Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2017). Pp. xvi + 186. Paper $25. "The Bible says," a popular expression in some circles, needs elucidation. Professors in universities and seminaries lament biblical illiteracy. For better or worse, movies and television shape religious and theological understandings. This book aims, therefore, to offer a critical perspective on a variety of contested theological and ethical topics, along with contemporary film. The authors bring their expertise to the conversation, with Mary Ann Beavis as biblical scholar and HyeRan Kim-Cragg as practical theologian. They write to teach and to warn. [End Page 721] The authors are concerned that growing biblical illiteracy is giving way to "dangerous" and "harmful" interpretations that foster "Fundamentalism or Anti-Semitism or … facile rejection of Christianity." In offering their perspective on "what the Bible actually says," the authors contest "how the Bible is being used, abused, and misused to oppress, exclude, and judge," and offer "other ways of reading" (pp. xi-xii). The authors are writing primarily for "Christian faith communities today," some of whom were drawn into conversation in small groups (church groups, student groups, women's groups) who viewed and discussed the movies together with the authors (p. xiv). The authors are worried that "lack of knowledge" among people in those communities will become "a chain that constrains us, makes us docile, and leads us to a cynical (or overly rosy) view of the Bible or the world or both" (p. xii). The book is a resource for those wrestling with, or even curious about, some of the pervasive themes and issues of our time. The authors hope that "knowing what the Bible really says or does not say, helps us to slip out of the chains of misinformation, which may in turn liberate us to find new insights in order to live out the faithful life" (p. xii; italics original). They suggest that their approach is "counter-cultural" in its challenging "popular understandings and misperceptions as disseminated in … film, advertising, television, etc." (p. xiv). The authors wish to expose and challenge simplistic readings of biblical texts and to offer alternatives that are healthy and hopeful. The first two chapters deal with easily misunderstood theological topics. Chapter 1, "Creation and Apocalypse," brings seven biblical creation texts into conversation with one another and with Miyazaki's film Princess Mononoke (1997). In chap. 2, the authors challenge popular notions of sin and salvation, particularly the concept of "original sin," while engaging with the film Jesus of Montreal (1989). Chapters 3 and 4 explore the critical issues of anti-Judaism and anti-Semitism through explication of "Moses and Jesus" and "Jews and Christians" in the Bible. The movies Prince of Egypt (1998) and The Chosen (1981) are contemporary conversation partners. In chaps. 5, 6, and 7 B. and K.-C. turn to the themes "Heaven and Hell," "God and Satan," and "Christ and Antichrist." The authors challenge the binary articulations of those topics in some contemporary readings of the Bible. Their engagement with Heaven Is for Real (2014), Spiderman II (2004), and Agora (2012) shows how popular cultural productions reinforce misguided biblical interpretation. Chapter 8, "Gender and God," challenges the practice of male-oriented language for God and offers the movie Babette's Feast (1986) for constructive insight. In chap. 9, "Purity and Sex," the authors question the idea that the Bible offers clear teaching on sexual purity and suggest, instead, that notions of honor and shame better reflect the cultural assumptions of biblical texts. The movie The Virgin Suicides (1999) provides a dark and challenging dialogue partner. Chapter 10, a bookend to the two opening theologically oriented chapters, challenges theology that associates Jesus's crucifixion with an overly simplistic understanding of sacrifice and atonement, and offers thoughtful reflection on The Passion of the Christ (2004) and Chocolat (2000). Although the book provides nuanced exegesis, the authors could have reflected more on the...

Gears and God: Technocratic Fiction, Faith, and Empire in Mark Twain's America by Nathaniel Williams

209 BOOKS IN REVIEW narrative field that may or may not respond differently than sf to a speculativerealist reading. Perhaps it is worth noting that Willems himself remains a relatively “dark” presence in this study. I do not recall a single instance in the text in which “I” appears; the passive voice (“it has been argued”) is prevalent and the author has disappeared. This tempts me to a discussion about the possible connections between the “dark author” and the “dark objects” of his analysis, but I lack space and so will simply note this as something intriguing to think about—among all the other intriguing ideas raised in Willems’s monograph. —Veronica Hollinger, SFS Imperial Fantasies and Biblical Literalism in Technocratic Exploration Fiction. Nathaniel Williams. Gears and God: Technocratic Fiction, Faith, and Empire in Mark Twain’s America. Tuscaloosa: U of Alabama P, 2018. xii+206 pp. $44.95 hc. Although it is widely acknowledged that the dime novel played an important part in nineteenth-century American popular culture and in establishing the antecedents of American sf, Nathaniel Williams’s carefully researched and lucidly presented study, Gears and God: Technocratic Fiction, Faith, and Empire in Mark Twain’s America, adds considerable, surprising detail to that claim. Williams’s subject matter is not the dime novel per se, but rather the subgenre of technocratic exploration fiction that flourished largely within that milieu from the 1860s to World War I. The type of story Williams calls technocratic exploration fiction will be immediately recognizable to any reader of early sf. It begins with the invention of a means of transportation and proceeds with the adventures of the inventor and crew in the territory to which the invention gives them access, usually one or another type of frontier. Verne’s Five Weeks in a Balloon (1863) is a familiar, influential early example; E.E. Smith’s The Skylark of Space (1928) establishes its importance in pulp sf. What is no surprise at all in Williams’s examination of the subgenre is that it often played out imperialist fantasies based on racist assumptions about the non-Western world and its peoples. Williams does add considerable detail and nuance to this aspect of the subgenre’s history. What is more surprising and original in his study, however, is the connection he establishes between these technocratic fantasies and the beginnings of modern American Christian fundamentalism. Where the scientific and technocratic subject matter of the subgenre would lead one to expect secularist views on religion, Williams shows there was instead an abiding concern with supporting literalist readings of the Biblical creation myth and other episodes in the Old Testament. One of the virtues of Williams’s study is his refusal ever to give in to easy generalizations, so this quick summary of the gist of his argument should be understood to give a quite incomplete sense of the fine detail and valuable specificity of his account. He begins with a reading of Edward E. Ellis’s The Steam Man of the Prairies (1868), which “established the narrative template for the hundreds of dime novels that followed” (28). Williams’s reading of this novel focuses on the prosthetic character of the eponymous steam man in 210 SCIENCE FICTION STUDIES, VOLUME 46 (2019) relation to the inventor-genius protagonist, a physically challenged dwarf named Johnny Brainerd. Williams puts the tale in the context of Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Man Who Was Used Up” (1839) and looks at both Poe and Ellis using Donna Haraway’s well-known “Cyborg Manifesto” as his point of departure. He argues that, while Poe’s satirical short story uses the figure of the cyborg to mock the American reader’s matter-of-fact acceptance of horrific violence and Ellis instead deploys the cyborg largely as an Indian-killing machine on the Western frontier, “the American culture presented by both authors embraces prosthetic technology, at least in part, because it enhances expansionist warfare and material gain” (43). A major turning point in the history of the technocratic exploration subgenre comes with the Frank Reade Jr. novels, beginning in 1876 and ultimately comprising close to two hundred volumes. These are the novels that “make up the...

Muzyka jako teofania? Pytania do George’a Steinera

Music occupies a special place in George Steiner’s thinking: “Three areas: the essence and name of God, higher mathematics and music (what is the connection between them?) are located at the limits of language” (Steiner, Errata). The seemingly rhetorical question in parentheses turns out to be a source of deep controversy, the essence of which is revealed in historical-genealogical reflection. Steiner attempts to incorporate Romantic metaphysics within the traditional scholastic symbiosis of Biblical creationism and Pythagoreanism, which reveals his philosophy of music to be entangled in a range of contradictions. On the one hand, a critical reading of Steiner's works uncovers the difficulties posed by the attempt to reconcile pre- and post-Enlightenment culture; on the other hand, the still unused opportunities offered by Romanticism and its modernist continuations are clearly visible. Musical aesthetics, rooted in the idea of infinity, plays a crucial role in these divagations.

‘Science disproves the biblical account of creation’: exploring the predictors of perceived conflict between science and religion among 13- to 15-year-old students in the UK

ABSTRACTThis study drew on data provided by 11,809 13- to 15-year-old students drawn from the four nations of the UK to explore the level of agreement with the view that science disproves the biblical account odf creation, and to explore the power of five sets of variables to predict individual differences in responses to that opinion. The five sets of variables were personal factors, psychological factors, religious factors, attitudinal factors (including ‘scientific fundamentalism’, understood as an exaggerated, uncritical, and unqualified belief in the inerrancy of science), and theological factors (distinguishing between differing implied theologies of religion). Blockwise multiple regression demonstrated that personal, psychological, religious, and theological factors all held significant power, but that the greatest variance was explained by the attitudinal variables. When the five sets of variables were assessed within the model, 25% of the variance was accounted for. Greater incompatibility between science and religion was associated with scientific fundamentalism (β = .37, p < .001), with anti-religious attitude (β = .16, p < .001), and with atheism (β = .07, p < .001). These findings suggest that young people who believe in science in an unqualified way are more distrustful of religion.

Nation Worship (A chronicle)

The imagination of the nation like the one in the Vishnu Purana traces its origin to the evolutionary journey of human species. Prof Yuval Noah Harari argues that the ability to communicate and imagine common myths has given us immense ability to cooperate on a large scale. He writes: “But fiction has enabled us not merely to imagine things, but to do so collectively. We can weave common myths such as the biblical creation story, the Dreamtime myths of Aboriginal Australians, and the nationalist myths of modern states. Such myths give Sapiens the unprecedented ability to cooperate flexibly in large numbers.” This cooperation originated as a process to survive has given immense power to the few amongst us to construct states, institutions, societies and nations to direct the cooperation of the remaining. This essay examines the diverse interpretations of nations’ imaginations and looks at the times that make this imagination oppressive. We shall also examine the potential imagination of a global identity to create self-sustaining human civilisation.

Can Origen Help Us Understand Adam?

AbstractThis paper examines Origen's views of “Adam” and considers whether aspects of Origen's views might prove helpful in contemporary debates about Adam and original sin. The question “who was Adam” presents difficult issues for Christian theology. In response to these concerns, many contemporary theologians suggest that “Eastern” traditions, which are less connected to the “Western”/Augustinian view of original sin, can more easily manage these tensions. These gestures towards “Eastern” thought are helpful in the sense that they do highlight the “mythic” dimensions of the Biblical creation narratives and the irreducibly social construction of human identity. They tend, however, towards broad generalizations that often do not account for the more nuanced and complex philosophical matrix that informed many of the Eastern Church Fathers as they thought about creation, humanity, and the Fall. In this regard, Origen is an interesting figure to study because of the historic anathemas against his supposedly aberrant neo‐Platonic views about the pre‐existence of souls. Origen did indeed draw heavily on Platonism, but his views about Adam and the Fall were far more subtle than is often supposed. Elements of Origen's views could be useful to a contemporary Christian theology of Adam and original sin.

The Christian faith and evolution: An evolving, unresolved debate

This article sketches how the debate on Christian faith and evolution has evolved. Seven challenges are identified and described in the debate, namely, regarding a recognition of deep (geological) time (challenging the historicity of the biblical creation narratives), understanding the role of chance in natural selection (posing questions about the nature of divine action, e.g., providence), human descent (challenging presumed human distinctiveness), a recognition of natural suffering (challenging the benevolence of the Creator), identifying the evolutionary roots of evil (challenging Christian views on the fall of humanity), a recognition of natural disselection (challenging notions of divine election) and, finally, evolutionary explanations of the emergence of morality and of religion (reiterating the challenge of atheism). It is argued that with each of these challenges, some of the underlying problems were provisionally resolved, only to reappear later in an even more challenging form.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: The contribution describes shifts in Christian discourse on evolution and challenges the tacit assumption that any one aspect of the debate has been fully resolved by articulating some of the questions that have been resolved and others that remain unresolved.

Interdependence and the Biblical Legacy of Anthropocentrism

This article engages with the biblical legacy of anthropomorphism from a contemporary perspective. First, it revisits the biblical creation myth and questions the deeply ingrained notion that what it offers is an account of ‘creation out of nothingness.’ Second, this rereading is followed by a closer look at how this particular theology was elaborated by Hans Jonas in his philosophy of life. In the final part of the paper, Jonas’s philosophy of responsibility is linked to a reflection on humanity’s unique capacity for destruction and self-destruction. Contrary to much of contemporary posthumanism, it is argued that a recognition of the interdependence between the human and the non-human worlds must never be a matter of erasing the distinction between them, since such a blurring of distinctions runs the risk of overshadowing the uniqueness of human destructiveness and thereby of undermining a serious discussion of human responsibility. (Less)

IN THE GREATER SCHEME OF THINGS. CREATION AND THE HUMAN CONDITION IN TERRENCE MALICK’S TREE OF LIFE (2011)

The oeuvre of the American film writer, director and producer, Terrence Malick has consistently traced themes related to creation and natural phenomena. Nowhere is it quite as spectacularly clear as in the critically acclaimed and 2011 Palme d ’ Or winner The Tree of Life. The film explores human pain and suffering in the microcosm as it is set against the grand notions of the meaning of life and the creation of the world. This article traces the reception of Biblical creation themes and the movement of the Job narrative within the film, as it sets the stage for a complex coming-of-age story and a dramatic negotiation of masculinity construction. Malick sets up a grand canvas in order to engage with the beauty of human fragility and natural wonder. The article aims to explore alternative imaginings of what it means to be a man when the ‘ way of nature ’ is delicately juxtaposed ‘ with the way of grace ’ .

Structure Was Good

In the field of Religious Studies, old lenses applied to old texts open up the possibility for new interpretations. The school of Structuralism calls for two foundational methods of studying texts to find more meaning: syntagmatic and paradigmatic. Albeit, historically, scholars have employed these two approaches against each other, this article illustrates that using the tools of structuralism in the first biblical creation account provides new insight into the narrative.

Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives. By Peter C. Bouteneff. Pp. xv, 240, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008, pb, £12.99.

Beginnings: Ancient Christian Readings of the Biblical Creation Narratives. By Peter C. Bouteneff. Pp. xv, 240, Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2008, pb, £12.99.

Catholicism and Evolution: A History from Darwin to Pope Francis by Michael Chaberek, O.P.

Reviewed by: Catholicism and Evolution: A History from Darwin to Pope Francis by Michael Chaberek, O.P. John Baptist Ku O.P. Catholicism and Evolution: A History from Darwin to Pope Francis. By Michael Chaberek, O.P. Kettering, Ohio: Angelico, 2015. Pp. x + 354. $21.95 (paper). ISBN: 978-1-62138-137-2. In Catholicism and Evolution, Michael Chaberek mounts a case against the theory of evolution in ten chapters and an appendix. He believes that the Catholic Church unambiguously ruled out the evolution of man's body but has, more recently, allowed a plurality of views, even mutually exclusive ones (3). He rejects Darwin's theory for philosophical reasons, because it appears to imply that a species has no proper end of simply being itself. That is, according to evolution, "each being by nature strives to become something else" so that "over time, a bacterium is supposed to turn into a plant, a reptile into a bird, a monkey into a man" (4). He also rules out evolution on scientific grounds, maintaining that "it is impossible to transform from one nature to another by way of small accidental changes" (3). The (theological) solution, as he sees it, is offered by intelligent design theory, which provides an "adequate scientific background for further development of the doctrine of creation within Catholic theology" (5). [End Page 453] In chapter 1, Chaberek reports on the birth of the evolutionary paradigm in the mid-eighteenth century among Charles Darwin and his less-well-known precursors, and examines the core neo-Darwinian principles of mutation and natural selection that explain the evolution of new species. Quoting Étienne Gilson, Chaberek reasons that because the term "evolution" refers to an unfolding of something preexisting, "creative evolution" is contradictory and impossible (7). That is, either there is something there already, with its potencies in place to unfold, or else there is a creator creating something new. In addition to challenging the principles of evolution, Chaberek exposes evolution's theme of strife, over against a view of an harmonious world, and Darwin's aggressive agenda. Chapter 2, "From Biblical Creationism to Intelligent Design," outlines the principal positions on evolution: young-earth creationism, progressive creationism, theistic evolution, and atheistic evolution. Chaberek traces the trajectory from young-earth or scientific creationism to intelligent design theory before discussing the emergence of theistic evolution. Young-earth creationism seeks scientific proof of Genesis's account of a six-day creation and of biblical genealogies that would establish the earth's age at less than 10,000 years. Intelligent design scientists "believe that natural selection and random mutations cannot explain the entire complexity of the organic world" (42). Thus, the intelligent ordering of things in the universe would require an intelligent producer. In chapter 3, "Early Statements of the Magisterium on Evolution," Chaberek comments on the 1860 Synod of Cologne, Vatican I's Dei Filius (1870), and Leo XIII's Arcanum (1880). Chaberek interprets the Cologne Synod to rule out the evolution of the human body in its determination that it is against the faith to hold that "man as regards his body, emerged finally from the spontaneous continuous change of imperfect nature to the more perfect" (73). And Chaberek takes Dei Filius's assertion that "the world and all things which are contained in it … were produced, according to their whole substance," to be a challenge to the theory of evolution (79). Moreover, he understands Leo XIII's formulation that God "miraculously took [Eve] from the side of Adam" to preclude her evolution (82). Chapter 4, "The Rise of Catholic Evolutionism," presents six Catholic figures who published proevolution works: George Mivart (1871); Fr. Raffaello Caverni (1877); Fr. Dalmace Leroy, O.P. (1891); Fr. James Zahm, C.S.C. (1896); Bishop Geremia Bonomelli (1898); and Bishop John Hedley (1898). Caverni and Hedley stopped short of saying that the human body evolved. Caverni's, Leroy's, and Zahm's books ended up on the Index, and Bonomelli issued a retraction of sorts. In chapter 5, "The Pontifical Biblical Commission Decrees, 1905-1909," Chaberek determines that this Commission's decree of 1909 "claims that Genesis tells a true history of the creation of the world...

God of Heaven and Sheol: The "Unearthing" of Creation

In this contribution I argue that in Gen 1:1 must mean "the underworld." After surveying evidence for rendering as "underworld" elsewhere in the Hebrew Bible, and examining cognate evidence from Mesopotamia and Ugarit, I contend that, as a merism, reading and as "the heavens and the underworld" here makes better sense in terms of Israelite cosmology. I then illustrate how attention to the cosmological merism improves our understanding of the biblical creation and of several other passages beyond Genesis. Afterwards, I examine some historical factors that precluded later generations from understanding in Gen 1:1 as the "underworld." The article concludes with an excursus on Enuma Elish.

Vitamin N For the Soul

Vitamin N For the Soul