Re: nice topic :)
Submitted by Ray on April 09 2000 00:23:11
In reply to nice topic :) submitted by F.O.D. on April 08 2000 18:59:29
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F.O.D., You wrote: 1) matter (the universe) came first. ... 2) the universe is god. ... 3) God came first, and created the universe. ... I had written (from IDB): The notion of creation out of nothing was undoubtedly too abstract for the Hebraic mind Perhaps the notion of creation out of something is to "unspiritual" for the Western Christian mind -- not worth considering for anyone else! If neither God nor matter came first, 1 & 3 above are eliminated. Since God and the universe are two separate things, 2 is eliminated! So, I try again. The translation of Gen. 1:1-2 which best presents my thoughts -- which is indicated only as options in the footnotes of the NRSV, but which I've heard some commentary on previously -- is this: When God began to create the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a mighty wind swept over the face of the waters. At the beginning of creation, God and Universe are! Except the universe isn't as we know it now, that's the result of creation! My understanding isn't an endless timeline which is God and a point on the line when God brings the universe into being, i.e., creates matter and energy, etc. from nothing. My understanding is a timeline with a point at which God began to create. At that point on the timeline chaos/universe and God are. The story continues from there: Let there be light, etc.! Before that point God and the chaos exist, but no story! We want to reply, "There has to be story before then! So it can't be!" But it's the way I understand creation to be! A small part of the whole of understanding God and the world we live in! Ray |
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