Gen 1:1 In the Beginning God created the heavens and the earth?

Question

So is the first chapter and the first verse of Genesis Day 1 or it's a gap theory?

Answer 1

No, I would say that those verses 'In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters' (Gen. 1:1-2) were the status before time.

I believe time starts in the next verse: 'And God said, "Let there be light"...' Once we have light and it is separated from darkness, the former called 'day', and the latter, 'night', the cycle of time starts. And the evening and the morning were the first day, etc.

Answer 2

Hi. Ya, it could be a summary or an introduction. Surely it’s not a reference to the 'first day'.

By the way, what is a 'gap theory'?!

There are countless interpretations - and of course - controversies surrounding Genesis (and the Bible in general). Although many hardliners might disagree with me, I have poured over Genesis countless times and I doubt the author/s meant for the creation story to be taken literally at all. There are messages, both obvious and less obvious, found in Genesis and every reader would find something that can speak to him/ her uniquely. It might also be helpful to check out other creation myths of the world, such as the Egyptian, Babylonian, Assyrian; Hindu etc., which would shed further light upon the universal topic that has captivated Mankind for millennia - creation.

Myths might be myths, but every myth contains a seed of truth, or at least points to an earlier source of truth.

Answer 3

That apparent contradiction has often been noted. Since a "day" is determined by the time it takes the Earth to rotate, how could there be a "day" before the Earth existed?

The function of religious mythology is to define the indefinable---to put the absolute in terms humans can understand. So it was necessary to use a familiar time format.

Remember, when the Bible was written and popularized, few people had any kind of education. Most of them were illiterate; they heard and memorized these kinds of things in church. Life was so hard, and people were so desperate, they were willing to believe even these far-fetched promises of salvation. (God making deals with people? Givest thou me a break, eh?) They wouldn't subject the details to any kind of logical scrutiny, even if they were capable of it.

What cracks me up is how modern-day folks swear up and down that everything in the Bible is true, when all they're "proving" is how afraid they are to die. I guess it's human nature---but it's amazing how transparently emotion can bypass the intellect (which God decided to give us anyway, for some reason).

Answer 4

The bible was not meant to be taken word for word, it is a series of lessons of how god wants us to act, although there is a lot of historical truth in the Bible most of it should be taken as a teaching of god. The bible was written over thousands of years by many different people, even the chapters of john,mark and Luke are different from one another even though they were all present when the events took place.

Answer 5

He god is the alpha and the Omega the beginning and the end
Rev 21:6
the beginning and the end the Alpha and the Omega time itself is enveloped by God

Answer 6

You have to consult the Arcana Coelestia. The creation story is about how a man is reformed and regenerated. That is what the Lord cares about not the natural ground under your feet.

Answer 7

Its an overview, as if said by a narrator. It does not necessarily involve being part of a day. It's a summary of what happened in the first few days. Dont doubt the Bible. It's true.

Answer 8

It is day one. If you read on to (Gen 2:1-2) it say on the seventh day God ended his work.

Answer 9

God created the Heavens and the earth, but not 'time.'

Answer 10

its the start of that fairy tail for the christiansBORG who have never grown up and are trying to control a planet with the bigest con in history