Hierarchal Design within Creation. An Exploration of Bruce Birch’s Essay “In God’s Image”. Matthew Schumacher IDCR 151: Honors Created & Called for Community. Dr. David Pettegrew March 7, 2024 In his essay, “In the Image of God”, Bruce Birch explores the biblical concept of humanity being created in the image of God, heavily drawing from the two creation accounts included in Genesis one and two. Divided into two theoretical sections, he conveys two big purposes through his writing: to reconcile ideas that are problematically separated from each other and the critique of creational hierarchy as not in keeping with God’s purposes, nor in keeping with Christian ideals. As he elaborates upon these two overarching constructs in the …show more content…
It is not until the fall of man in Genesis 3, eventually manifesting itself into full blown chaos in Genesis 4 with Cain and Abel, that we see this “shalom-breaking” world. This is why when Birch boldly describes a hierarchal view of creation as the “foundation for entire superstructures of racism, sexism, and anti-Semitism" (The CCC Core Reader ), it is not a perspective I can agree with. Yes, these awful exploitations have occurred because of mankind's continual evilness, but the idea of comparing a hierarchal view of creation, post fall of man compared to before fall of man, is completely illogical and borderline hypocritical to Birch’s earlier points throughout the essay. The original hierarchal view of creation saw the Genesis 2 view of creation, with its harmony and peace as mankind ruled the earth in a way that honored other creations, as well as the creator himself. But similar to everything else God has created, it has become perverted and twisted as a result of mankind’s choice in the garden in Genesis 3. For example, as we examine the character of Adam throughout this process of intended creation (Genesis 1-2) and non-intended creation (Genesis 3), we can see a shift from a godly hierarchal obligation to a worldly, self-serving hierarchal dictatorship. Initially, Adam is tasked to take care of Eve and hold her close as …show more content…
He does this by providing information while reflecting on its meaning to our own lives as believers, using many scriptural references in the process. But I believe his perspective that the interrelatedness and interconnectedness of creation proves that no hierarchical structure of creation is completely non-biblical. Throughout both creation accounts, God makes it clear in both literary and conceptual clues that mankind is to be distinct from all other forms of creation. It is our rule and responsibility to rule over creation, even before the “shalom-breaking” nature of the fall of man in Genesis three. Because of the many misrepresentations of hierarchal societies and leaders in our world’s history, many have completely disassociated the term from God himself, Birch included. But we must realize that God’s original design did not call for the order of God’s creation to be broken. As a result of all this discussion provided, I think that a hierarchal view of creation is in full alignment with the not only God’s character, but his intent as
Have you ever wonder how the universe was created? Some people believe in the Earth creation by the Supreme Being, some believe in the scientific explanation of Big Bang explosion theory. Every civilization in the world has its own story of how things are created. Each story reflects how people see and think the world at their time. In this essay, I am going to compare two myths of how man was created – the creation tale of Mohawk Tribe and the Hebrew Bible creation story. There are a lot of similarities as well as differences between these legends. While some differences between the two tales are the development of the stories and the meaning behind the stories, the similarities between them is the concept of creationism.
In The Battle for the Beginning, MacArthur directs believers to recognize the scriptural claim that first three chapters of Genesis concerning creation are the record of a literal and historical event. MacArthur senses a growing shift amongst modern evangelical believers who seek to revise or interpret the events of creation in a non-literal or naturalistic way. Macarthur reasons that a non-literal or naturalistic interpretation discounts what the scriptures says, and ultimately undermines Christian theology. For MacArthur the Bibl...
Moreover, Stern’s explains how God is the creator of all things he is the uncreated [author’s italicization]. Furthermore, he gives in details God’s unfailing love for his creation by showing creation right from wrong. “According to the New Testament, he is love. His love is expressed, in part, in providing law
In this essay I will take an interpretive look at Genesis chapters 5-9. The main focuses will be: the relationship between God, Noah, and Noah’s generation of mankind; the barriers and boundaries for humankind that were present and created by God in these chapters, the characteristics of God throughout the text and the overall importance and message of this passage in the Bible.
All in all the book of Genesis shows the deceitfulness of God. While God does create the earth, it is filled with imbalance and disorganization as a result of his own actions. Because God's creations themselves are flawed, eventually the sinfulness will overcrowd the good. Despite God's best attempts at instilling order, all efforts are ultimately too little and too late. In spite of God's prophets trying to promote the goodness that was envisioned, they themselves are full of hypocrisy and morale failures. In fact God creating ties with certain men served to do little but alienate the general populace and create a sense of inequality about the human race. God as presented in Genesis is ultimately not a just and moral being, instead it is his own terrible deposition which creates and condones a disparate world.
“26 Then God said, ‘Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness...27 So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.’” Genesis 1:26a, 1:27
Where Genesis I describes a more ordered creation - the manifestation of a more primitive cultural influence than was responsible for the multi-layered creation in Genesis II - the second creation story focuses less on an etiological justification for the physical world and examines the ramifications of humankind's existence and relationship with God. Instead of Genesis I's simple and repetitive refrains of "and God saw that it was good" (Gen 1:12, 18, 21, 25), Genesis II features a more stylistically advanced look at "the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens" (Gen 2:4). While both stories represent different versions of the same Biblical event, Genesis II is significantly more complex than its predecessor and serves both to quantify the relationship between God and his creations and lay the foundation for the evolving story of humankind as well.
Throughout history man has searched for an explanation of our origins and why we are here. Many creation myths are attempts of our ancestors to do just that. I have found in reading many of these creation myths, that there is also an attempt to explain why human existence is imperfect. The following essay will compare and contrast four creation myths and their explanation of how mans imperfection came to be.
John Skinner, A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Genesis (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1910), p. 267.
First, let us analyze the particulars of the Christian Genesis story as to begin formulating the basis of comparison and contrast. We shall look at the two parts of Genesis, the first discussing the formulation of earth and its inner particulars, in concert with the first few verses associated with the second part of Genesis, which touches on the creation of the first man and woman:
When the modern person ponders the formation of human beings, our mind automatically goes to Adam and Eve, whom were the first man and woman created by God according to the Book of Genesis. Before there was Adam and Eve, diverse cultures came up with myths about the construction of humans. These myths included: “The Song of Creation” from the Rig Veda, An African Creation Tale, From the Popol Vuh, and A Native American Creation Tale “How Man Was Created” Each one of these legends gives a diverse perspective on the creation of human beings.
As the first book of the Old Testament convey, Genesis, and its Greek meaning “in the beginning,” life originated with God in the Garden of Eden. Accor...
Most importantly, Genesis offers teachings on the natural world, human identity, human relationships, and civilization. Natural World In regards to the natural world, Genesis 1-3 tells of how God created the world, the creation of man, and the fall of man. The Earth was dark and without form, then God spoke everything into existence. Relationships play a major role in humans’ lives on a day-to-day basis.
The book of Genesis 1-11 gives us a teaching and lays a foundation for the truth that is expressed later in the bible as it makes an assumption that God is the creator of the universe and all it holds. The scriptures in this books gives an expression of God as being just, love, wrath, holy and grace. This scripture enables us to understand how we should view the world and God’s part in the creation and the recreation of the whole universe.
In the first book of the Old Testament, Genesis, we read of the fall of man. As we study the Bible and recognize it’s importance in our lives today we must realize the role these stories play in our time. The Bible is not simply a history book or a book of stories of morality, but it is a book that speaks to us today of how we should live and interact with God. We are confronted with this fact in Genesis “through a graphic and dramatic representation it gives a