What reviewers say...
"As Proverbs 25:2 tells us, "it is the glory of God to conceal a matter," and those who feel that Genesis is a simple, straightforward narrative would do well to remember this, along with Solomon's admonition in Ecclesiastes that "man will not find out the work which God has done from the beginning even to the end." Christ himself demonstrated repeatedly during his earthly ministry that God reveals truth whenever, and to whomever, he wills, and that interpreting his words in what might seem like their most literal form can often be a mistake (see Matthew 16:5-12 and John 6:26-66). Those who feel that they lack nothing in their understanding of Genesis may well receive nothing from the Lord with regard to any of its potentially deeper truths. What is most needed, and so often lacking, in this discussion is humility.
Other topics of interest in "Early Genesis" include:
- How the Genesis account was received and edited together.- The location of the Garden of Eden.- Whether scripture teaches that Adam was truly the first human being, or rather the first covenant human in the line leading up to Christ.- How the Genesis genealogies should be read and what they tell us about when Adam lived.- Whether the creation accounts in Genesis chapters one and two are different or simply differing versions of the same story.- The identity of the "Sons of God and the daughters of men."- The extent of the Great Flood and whether scripture actually teaches that it killed everything, and everyone, outside of the ark.
If Mark Moore is correct about the "Christ-centered model" of creation, then the church has wasted a lot of time, burned a lot of bridges, and looked unnecessarily foolish in the eyes of the world while arguing over how or whether modern scientific discoveries square with the scriptures. We may well have missed out on some amazing truths God sought to communicate long ago regarding his Son and the plan of redemption.
I highly recommend that anyone who is interested in the subject of creation-wherever your loyalties presently fall in the controversy-give thoughtful consideration to "Early Genesis: The Revealed Cosmology" and the case that it so painstakingly makes. Mark Moore's care in the use of scripture and his passion for the subject are both apparent from the first pages, and anyone who is willing to, in the words of Benjamin Franklin, "doubt a little of his own infallibility," will find much of value to ponder in this