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it does not settle the problem of the origin of the narrative. How did the original, whether
written or oral, come into existence? Some regard it simply as the natural product of man’s
reflection on the origin of things. But this explanation is extremely unlikely in view of the
following facts: (a) the idea of creation is incomprehensible; (b) science and philosophy both
equally oppose the doctrine of creation out of nothing; and (c) it is only by faith that we
understand that the worlds have been framed by the word of God, Heb. 11:3. We therefore
come to the conclusion that the story of creation was revealed to Moses or to one of the earlier
patriarchs. If this revelation was pre-Mosaic, it passed in tradition (oral or written) from one
generation to another, probably lost something of its original purity, and was finally
incorporated in a pure form, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, in the first book of the Bible.
3. THE INTERPRETATION OF GEN. 1:1,2.
Some regard Gen. 1:1 as the superscription or title of
the whole narrative of creation. But this is objectionable for three reasons: (a) because the
following narrative is connected with the first verse by the Hebrew conjunction waw (and),
which would not be the case if the first verse were a title; (b) because, on that supposition,
there would be no account whatsoever of the original and immediate creation; and (c) since the
following verses contain no account of the creation of heaven at all. The more generally
accepted interpretation is that Gen. 1:1 records the original and immediate creation of the
universe, Hebraistically called “heaven and earth.” In this expression the word “heaven” refers
to that invisible order of things in which the glory of God reveals itself in the most perfect
manner. It cannot be regarded as a designation of the cosmical heavens, whether of the clouds
or of the stars, for these were created on the second and on the fourth day of the creative
week. Then in the second verse the author describes the original condition of the earth (comp.
Ps. 104:5,6). It is a debatable question, whether the original creation of matter formed a part of
the work of the first day, or was separated from this by a shorter or longer period of time. Of
those who would interpose a long period between the two, some hold that the world was
originally a dwelling place of angels, was destroyed as the result of a fall in the angelic world,
and was then reclaimed and turned into a fit habitation for men. We shall refer to this
restitution theory in another connection.
B. The Hexaemeron, or the Work of the Separate Days.
After the creation of the universe out of nothing in a moment of time, the existing chaos was
gradually changed into a cosmos, a habitable world, in six successive days. Before the work of
the separate days is indicated, the. question as to the length of the days of creation calls for a
brief discussion.
1. CONSIDERATION OF THE THEORY THAT THEY WERE LONG PERIODS OF TIME.
Some scholars
assume that the days of Gen. 1 were long periods of time, in order to make them harmonize