The Lost World of Genesis One - Dr. John Walton - Lecture 2 - Hayward 2016

The 2016 Hayward Lectures are entitled "Engaging Genesis Today: New Light on Biblical Origins" by Dr. John H. Walton.
This second lecture is entitled "The Lost World of Genesis One".
The Hayward lectures, an annual lectureship in theology and related subjects at Acadia Divinity College. The lecture series was endowed by the late Mrs. C.C. Hayward of Wolfville, NS. In the 45 years since the lectureship began, Acadia has welcomed such distinguished guests as Leander Keck, Viktor Frankl, Elton Trueblood, Jaroslav Pelikan, Stephen Neil, John Bright, Martin Marty, Bernhard Anderson, Helmut Koester, James Sanders, Howard Marshall, James Dunn, John Stackhouse, John Collins, N. T. Wright, Christopher Seitz, Stanley Porter, John Webster, and many others.

[@acts413biblecollege8]

Man I wish those chapel services were on here!

[@yuniethethird1911]

Lecture starts at 3:28

[@stevnreed7763]

Thank-you

[@ThembaMaselane]

It is quite interesting that Dr Dr Walton goes to great lengths to protect the intent of the authorised writers of scripture he neglect to remember some of the resent discoveries like the anthropic principle which echoes his thesis on Genesis, on the order aspect and life benefiting particularly us people. Which takes us back to what inspired the need to understand the what and who of our world and the universe (scientific pursuit) The inspiration was the conviction that we world was ordered and rational that is we know who created it and why Scripture through those authorised addresses that.

[@stevnreed7763]

I was blown away when He said about the Earth was God's temple. This is just my observation ( Steve Ology ) but God never stopped dwelling with Man when Adam sinned. God's presence is so big that fills up all the universe. We in our sin and shame hid from God but God is still all around us. Jesus walked with sinners and had no shame and there lives were changed. Truly knowing the nature of God's character changes us when we realise despite our Sin He is for our good.

[@johnbrew2428]

Read Greg Beale on Temple imagery.

[@bible-daily]

Im thinking - would it be possible to get your permission for me to get this lecture translated into russian language, to make it available for more ppl? The lectures are amazing, and I want to spread them

[@ThembaMaselane]

Dr Walton spent the first lecture challenging our presuppositions that is the assumption we bring to the text which are shaped by the world we are part of and compels us to live the comfort of our paradigm and step into theirs that is the man whom God gave authority to speak for him having done that it seem all who challenge his 2nd and 3rd lecture neglect or bypass his 1st lecture sad.

[@philipbuckley759]

in the beginning God created the heavens, and the earth....so time, in the beginning, space, the heavens, and material things.....the earth....these three things came into existence at the same time....what is so strange, here...

[@KARMICHAEL11]

not sure that a single illustration proves a point, or that thousands of translators didn't consider these points in their prayerful interpretation and scribing of the ancient texts. compelling to be sure, but this opens up some glaring holes when it comes to the current theology of God's nature. and are we now to assume that a word has only one meaning throughout all authors? for all of the hebrew bible? I don't think Dr. Walton does justice to the implications of the application of these 'alternative' understandings. I can say that I admire him for seeking to adjust his understanding to the nearest context of the scriptures with as wide an intake of evidence as possible, regardless of how right or wrong modern interpretations are; I believe it's an evidence of a heart after the truth, and that's where we all should be.

[@michaele5075]

Is the appropriate "cultural river", the pagan world of the ANE in Moses' day? or was it the time of Adam?

[@johnmiller6591]

I believe it was Moses' day, since Moses wrote Genesis to the Israelites while they were wandering in the wilderness.

[@evanhadkins5532]

The time when the text (and its sources) were written.

[@chavak3497]

On the ages of people, what, pray tell, is "going on here" with the geneologies? He doesn't give any suggestions or ideas about which he may know.

[@daniellowry660]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/q6Czk42kh7NrrrM

[@NoahTang-cn4fq]

John Walton loves to pit one truth with another true, and make you drop one. Because the evolutionary duration, mechanism and sequence are so different from the genesis' account, he lets all creation be made BEFORE THE 6 DAYS, and reduces the 6 days to a mere assignment of function. A God-honouring Christian should honor what the Creator reveals. The following are quotes from his various books. LOST WORLD OF ADAM AND EVE. a) “the people in Genesis 1 may not be Adam and Eve, or at least not only Adam and Eve” (Pg. 64). b) “One can be born of a woman yet still be formed from dust; all of us are. That means that even though Adam is formed from dust, he could still have been born of a woman.” (Pg 76) c) Satan is not evil As a chaos creature the serpent would be more closely associated with non-order than with disorder. Non-order has a certain neutrality to it, whereas disorder is evil in nature and intent…..If the serpent truly is in the category of chaos creature, neither his contradiction of God’s statement nor his deception about the consequences are part of an evil agenda. They are simple the disruptive, ad hoc behavior that chaos creatures engage in. (Pg 136) d) “If, as proposed earlier, a legitimate option is that from the start people were mortal, and pain and suffering were already a part of a not yet fully ordered cosmos, we cannot think of death and suffering as having been foisted on us by Adam and Eve’s malfeasance.” (Pg 144) f) “I would then conclude that any contention that the Bible is making a claim that Adam is the first human being or that all humans are descended from him is debatable.” (Pg 188) OTHER WRONG TEACHINGS 1) God's laws are mere human wisdom. (Lost World of Canaanite Conquest) “We must not conflate the Bible’s status and function as Scripture with its status and function as literature. Providing us with moral knowledge is not its purpose as Scripture; consequently, any moral knowledge we can derive from it does not carry the authority of Scripture, but rather only the authority of human wisdom. If we want to use the Bible as a source of moral knowledge, then, it will have to be either as part of a broad sample of the accumulated wisdom of human culture……..but the point is that if we want to use the Bible as a source of moral knowledge, we cannot do so on the basis that it is Scripture, because providing us with moral knowledge is not what Scripture is for. ”(Pg 100) 2) Canaanites are not evil (Lost World of Canaanite Conquest) “Agents of non-order literally cannot sin and therefore cannot ever be said to be punished for sin; this is why the Canaanites, in accordance with their depiction as agents of non-order, are frequently accused of (badness) and (behavior outside the bounds of order), but never (sin): the twisting, bending, perverting, distorting, or corrupting of order. Only agents of order are capable of sin and therefore able to be punished for sin” (Pg 166).

[@philipbuckley759]

this guy is in his own world....just read the text, and take it, at face value...

[@ThembaMaselane]

I'm sorry that is simplistic and dangerous, we bring our presuppositions to the scripture and they mislead us in our conclusions the desire to be faithful to the authorised interpretation of the Bible should be above our comfort and the inclination to attack any perspective that challenges my holy cow position.

[@MrSoundofmusic]

Interesting take, but I don't agree with Dr Walton, I agree that they had a different "World View" than us. I would argue that his understanding on Genesis 1 is incorrect, Genesis 1 is historical and Genesis 2 is a focus on the creation of man from Day 6. If you are made in the image of God, I think He would focus on that more and not just give a quick overview.

[@evanhadkins5532]

They didn't have our idea of history - it was developed in Europe post-Renaissance.

[@Sir-Robalon]

the word good does not mean perfect... so we are to assume each single word as it is written was somehow spoke by God and this is known to be fact how... that renders this diatribe entertainment...

[@MrSoundofmusic]

He is getting a little too close to theistic evolution. It almost seems that he is expressing this as a cause of our creation.

[@hbug13_62]

Paul Kennedy I was wondering the same thing which is why I started reading comments. He certainly makes it sound like the earth is older than literal six day creationists think. Personally I think that's giving way too much credit to the accuracy of our cultural river. Considering the magnitude of lies scientists promote, I think this is a dangerous assumption. Modern "science" (which has abandoned the scientific process and pursuit of truth altogether), exists to disprove God and prove their world view. Should we float in this river or swim upstream? He's also perpetuating the belief that ancient people were dumber than us which seems supremely arrogant.

[@theisticlogos2539]

Well theistic evolution is true, so who cares?

[@crippledtalk]

Were you listening Paul? The biblical authors DIDN'T HAVE OR CARE how God created the world.. they just knew he did it

[@stevnreed7763]

I think the point He is making and if you read any of His stuff He is saying that it is neither hear nor there if you believe in a literal 7 days or not. That is not the point of what God is saying in the event of creation. It really is not important if you believe in 7 day's or not. I find it hard to think of the universe being only 7000 years old when you see how many Galaxies there are and and how distant they are and how long it has taken the light to get hear. My thinking is if everything was crammed in to 7000 years then we would have a major problem that there would be no night time because the light from all the Galaxies would fill up all the sky. Again that is not a major important thing, same with the Rapture whether you are post Trip mid Trip pre Trip, if you are a believer you are going up.

[@evanhadkins5532]

They didn't have a sense of evolution - as he points out they didn't think in our categories. As he stresses it is about the 'creation' of order, not material things or critters, or whatever.