Below is my Fusion Commentary on Genesis Chapter 1 (My notes are in bold italics):
Gen 1:1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.No date is given for the creation of the sky/universe or the earth. The Bible simply and beautifully says, "In the beginning..."
I accept what science says: The universe is 13+ billion years old, and the earth is 4.54 billion years old. This does not in any way conflict with the Bible.
This is one of the main things science still cannot answer, and perhaps, never will be able to answer -- where did our universe come from?
Gen 1:2 Now the earth was without shape and empty, and darkness was over the surface of the watery deep, but the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the water.
The "darkness" here is a very dense, thick fog, which is blocking the sun and moon and stars from being seen clearly in the sky, and made it so dark that shapes of things could not be seen. (The Hebrew word rendered here as "darkness" was often used for fog, and it fits the context)
Gen 1:3 God said, "Let there be light." And there was light!
Now God begins to thin out the fog, so that more light can reach the surface.
Gen 1:4 God saw that the light was good, so God separated the light from the darkness.
God thinned the fog enough that the difference between day and night could be observed.
Gen 1:5 God called the light "day" and the darkness "night." There was evening, and there was morning, marking the first day.
The word "day" can mean "time period" (Keep in mind that Genesis 2:4 uses "day" to refer to "time period" or "era"). In other places in the Bible, it says God views 1,000 human years as one "day" to Him. In Hebrews chapter 4, it claims that "Day 7" of this creation account was STILL ongoing thousands of years later, which would mean each "Day" could be thousands or millions of years long.
I accept what science says: The earth is 4.54 billion years old, and life on earth is 3.5 billion years old.
Gen 1:6 God said, "Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters and let it separate water from water.
Gen 1:7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. It was so.
Gen 1:8 God called the expanse "sky." There was evening, and there was morning, a second day.
This "expanse" was named "Sky," so there is really no reason to believe that the Bible writer thought this "sky" was a hard, solid dome, as some skeptics, critics, and atheists assume. Even if the writer of Genesis did have the ancient idea of a solid dome sky, this doesn't really cause any theological issues or problems.
The "waters above" may simply refer to clouds, but it is possible it is referring to a "Cloud Canopy" that existed back then, which God later bursts open to flood the earth with.
Gen 1:9 God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place and let dry ground appear." It was so.
Gen 1:10 God called the dry ground "land" and the gathered waters he called "seas." God saw that it was good.
Finally, God causes the dry ground to appear. Prior to this, the earth was covered entirely with water.
Gen 1:11 God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds." It was so.
Gen 1:12 The land produced vegetation — plants yielding seeds according to their kinds, and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:13 There was evening, and there was morning, a third day.
Gen 1:14 God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them be signs to indicate seasons and days and years,
Gen 1:15 and let them serve as lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." It was so.
Gen 1:16 God made two great lights — the greater light to rule over the day and the lesser light to rule over the night. He made the stars also.
Gen 1:17 God placed the lights in the expanse of the sky to shine on the earth,
Gen 1:18 to preside over the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:19 There was evening, and there was morning, a fourth day.
God is NOT creating the sun, moon, and stars here. He ALREADY created them back in Genesis 1:1. It very clearly says here that God is placing them in the sky where they can be visible from the earth. What God is doing is thinning out the dense fog even more, to where the sun, moon, and stars are now clearly visible in the sky from the earth.
Gen 1:20 God said, "Let the water swarm with swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky."
Gen 1:21 God created the great sea creatures and every living and moving thing with which the water swarmed, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. God saw that it was good.
Gen 1:22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds multiply on the earth."
Gen 1:23 There was evening, and there was morning, a fifth day.
Genesis agrees with science that sea creatures lived first, prior to any other life on earth.
Gen 1:24 God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: cattle, creeping things, and wild animals, each according to its kind." It was so.
Gen 1:25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the cattle according to their kinds, and all the creatures that creep along the ground according to their kinds. God saw that it was good.
Skeptics have long claimed there is a discrepancy with science here, with birds being created BEFORE reptiles, however I have discovered now that the Hebrew word (tan-neen') used in Genesis 1:21, BEFORE birds are mentioned, can indeed mean "snake/reptile." Thus yet another skeptic/atheist argument is shown to be false.
(As a side-note, I do NOT believe in Biblical inerrancy, where every word must be perfect, or else the entire Bible is false. I don't subscribe to that belief.)
Many Christians completely interpret Genesis 1 through 4 or 1 through 6 as an allegory or parable, not intended to teach literal historical events. I can understand the reasoning behind doing so, and it is possible that is the correct way of interpreting Genesis. But I find my "Fusion" interpretation more appealing and accurate in line with how the rest of the Bible quotes Genesis.
If you ever do find a true discrepancy between Genesis and current scientific thought, it is possible that Genesis OR science is simply incorrect on a particular point. I'll let you decide on that. (Keep in mind that science is absolutely NOT infallible, especially on historical sciences. Scientists are revising and correcting themselves every single day.)
Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."
Gen 1:27 God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
Right from the very beginning of the Bible, God proclaims the equality of men and women -- they are both equally created in God's image, reflecting God's qualities, emotions, logic, and morality.
Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground."
Gen 1:29 Then God said, "I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
Gen 1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground — everything that has the breath of life in it — I give every green plant for food." It was so.
Gen 1:31 God saw all that he had made — and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.
I believe that this is referring to a special instantaneous creation that God performed when He was ready to plant His special Perfect Garden (see Genesis Chapter 2). God let the earth, animals, and humans evolve naturally up to a certain point. Then He stepped in and performed a special instantaneous creation of animals to fill this Garden, and of two perfect human beings to live there in the Garden. Meanwhile, outside the Garden, everything (including evolved humans) continued naturally the way it always had.
The people and animals which God instantaneously created for His Garden, were to live as vegetarians, and there was no death of animals or humans at all inside this Garden (until Adam's sin). But outside the Garden natural death was taking place like it always had.
If you ever do find a true discrepancy between Genesis and current scientific thought, it is possible that Genesis OR science is simply incorrect on a particular point. I'll let you decide on that. (Keep in mind that science is absolutely NOT infallible, especially on historical sciences. Scientists are revising and correcting themselves every single day.)
Gen 1:26 Then God said, "Let us make humankind in our image, after our likeness, so they may rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move on the earth."
Gen 1:27 God created humankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them, male and female he created them.
Right from the very beginning of the Bible, God proclaims the equality of men and women -- they are both equally created in God's image, reflecting God's qualities, emotions, logic, and morality.
Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply! Fill the earth and subdue it! Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and every creature that moves on the ground."
Gen 1:29 Then God said, "I now give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the entire earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food.
Gen 1:30 And to all the animals of the earth, and to every bird of the air, and to all the creatures that move on the ground — everything that has the breath of life in it — I give every green plant for food." It was so.
Gen 1:31 God saw all that he had made — and it was very good! There was evening, and there was morning, the sixth day.
I believe that this is referring to a special instantaneous creation that God performed when He was ready to plant His special Perfect Garden (see Genesis Chapter 2). God let the earth, animals, and humans evolve naturally up to a certain point. Then He stepped in and performed a special instantaneous creation of animals to fill this Garden, and of two perfect human beings to live there in the Garden. Meanwhile, outside the Garden, everything (including evolved humans) continued naturally the way it always had.
The people and animals which God instantaneously created for His Garden, were to live as vegetarians, and there was no death of animals or humans at all inside this Garden (until Adam's sin). But outside the Garden natural death was taking place like it always had.
(I am only throwing this out there as an open-minded possibility to ponder: The Hebrew word for "heavens" can mean the "sky" or atmosphere, instead of outer space or God's spiritual realm. If this is the case here, it is *possible* that "Elohim" could be a race of extraterrestrial beings ("aliens") who terraformed earth, seeded life, and initiated evolution, then visited us again thousands of years later.)
(All Scripture references are from the NET Bible)
(All Scripture references are from the NET Bible)
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