The Second Day of Creation, Genesis Chapter 1

[Richca]

Some scripture verses possibly interpreting Gen. 1:6-8 and the waters above the firmament or expanse.

Proverbs 8:22-31 (from the Revised Standard Version).

22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
23Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.

The RSV in verse 28 translates the Hebrew word šĕḥāqîm as ‘skies’ here, but a number of Bibles translate ‘sehaqim’ as clouds. The Hebrew word ‘sehaqim’ is sometimes translated skies or clouds in the Old Testament depending on the context of the verse or verses and the translators of the Bibles. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible translates the first half of verse 28 “when he thickened the clouds above.” The New International Version and the New King James Version translate it as “when he established the clouds above.” The LXX (greek Septuagint) “when he made strong the clouds above.” The New American Bible “when he made firm the skies above” (same as RSV). The Latin Vulgate reads “
quando æthera firmabat sursum”
which the Douay-Rheims / Challoner Version translates as “when he established the sky above.”

If the Hebrew word ‘sehaqim’ used in verse 28 is understood to mean ‘clouds’ as quite a number of bible translations take it, then possibly the inspired writer here in Proverbs 8: 22-31 is interpreting the waters above the firmament or expanse of Gen. 1:6-8 as simply being water in the clouds which drop from the clouds as rain, snow, or hail. Concerning the creation, the inspired writer in Proverbs 8: 22-31 is chiefly concerned with the heavens, the earth, and the deep which is another name for the waters. This roughly corresponds with Genesis 1: 1-11. At any rate, if ‘sehaqim’ is understood to mean clouds, then the inspired writer here it seems is saying that God made the clouds in the beginnings of the creation to water the earth as indeed this is what the waters in the clouds do. Without water from the rains, the mountains, hills, valleys, and plains of the earth are going to be without vegetation and plants for the most part.

 

[Richca]

(continued)

In Proverbs 3: 19-20, it is written:
19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;
20 by his knowledge the deeps broke forth, and the clouds drop down the dew. (RSV).

The ‘dew’ at the end of verse 20 probably means life-giving rain as it appears in other verses of scripture such as the blessing Isaac gave to Jacob in Gen. 27:28 “May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.” The Israelites in the promised land, the land of Canaan, depended on the God given rain for their crops unlike the ancient Egyptians or Babylonians in Mesopotamia who irrigated their crops through canal systems from rivers.

Here is a very interesting link to Proverbs 8:28 and its interpretation:
hebrewcosmology.com/when-he-made-firm-the-skies-above-proverbs-8-28/#more-5181

The author of this article considers that the proper interpretation of Proverbs 8:28 should be along the lines of “when he strengthened the clouds above, when the springs [or fountains] of the deep grew strong.” The meaning here is by strengthening the clouds above and when the fountains of the deep grew strong, God supplied these sources of water with an abundance of water in the beginning of the creation.

Another scripture verse concerning clouds from the beginnings of the creation is in Job 38:8-11 when the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb;
9 when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be loaded with water already falling to the earth as rain or about too. The waters in the clouds stayed’? (RSV).

Here it is stated that when God created the waters in the seas on the earth, he also made clouds its garment. The thick darkness of the clouds probably refers to clouds heavy and loaded with water and either are dropping down rain or about too. The water in the clouds are definitely separated from the waters in the seas on the surface of the earth and they are separated by a transparent body which we call the sky, atmosphere, space, expanse, or a part of heaven. In this sense, the waters in the clouds appears to fit God’s work on the second day of creation in Genesis 1. If there was no heaven or expanse between the waters in the seas and the waters in the clouds, we might not be able to breath the air and it may be like drowning under water. We would have to have gills like fish to survive.

 

[Richca]

(continued)

On the third day of creation in Genesis 1, God divided the earth into seas and dry land. “And God said, ‘Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.’ And it was so.” God probably formed the mountains, hills, valleys, and plains of the dry land and the ocean floors of the earth here as Gen. 1:2 says after God created the heavens and the earth in verse 1 “The earth was without form [shapeless] and void” (RSV). Some ancient manuscripts or versions translate ‘without shape [or shapeless] and invisible.’ Invisible because the earth was covered with water and void because there were no plants, animals, or humans on it. Interestingly, if the earth were a smooth sphere, the water in the oceans would cover the entire planet to a depth of 1 ½ to 2 miles (source, www.explanet). Such was the condition of the earth it appears in Gen. 1:2. The formlessness of the earth ends on day 3 (Aquinas, Summa Theologica).

On the third day of creation after separating the dry land from the seas, God said ‘Let the earth put forth vegetation, plants yielding seed…’ Now, in the natural order of things, dry land is not going to put forth vegetation without water. Gen. 2:5 makes a point of this:
“In the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens,
when no plant of the field was yet in the earth and no herb of the field had yet sprung up–for the LORD God had not caused it to rain upon the earth…”

Of course, God could miraculously make vegetation sprout from the earth with or without water. But as St Augustine says, in the first instituting of the world which is the concern of Genesis 1, God is bringing about and establishing the natural order of things in the creation which is his work. So, on the third day, God made the earth put forth vegetation, plants, and trees of all kinds. But prior to the third day, on the second day of creation, God made the firmament, expanse, or heaven to separate the waters from above and below the firmament. If the waters above the firmament are understood to refer to clouds and rain, then we can reason that God made the earth put forth its vegetation, plants, and trees with water from rainfall and probably springs too.

 

[Richca]

(continued)

In Proverbs 3: 19-20, it is written:
19 The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens;
20 by his knowledge the deeps broke forth, and the clouds drop down the dew. (RSV).

The ‘dew’ at the end of verse 20 probably means life-giving rain as it appears in other verses of scripture such as the blessing Isaac gave to Jacob in Gen. 27:28 “May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine.” The Israelites in the promised land, the land of Canaan, depended on the God given rain for their crops unlike the ancient Egyptians or Babylonians in Mesopotamia who irrigated their crops through canal systems from rivers.

Here is a very interesting link to Proverbs 8:28 and its interpretation:
hebrewcosmology.com/when-he-made-firm-the-skies-above-proverbs-8-28/#more-5181

The author of this article considers that the proper interpretation of Proverbs 8:28 should be along the lines of “when he strengthened the clouds above, when the springs [or fountains] of the deep grew strong.” The meaning here is by strengthening the clouds above and when the fountains of the deep grew strong, God supplied these sources of water with an abundance of water in the beginning of the creation.

Another scripture verse concerning clouds from the beginnings of the creation is in Job 38:8-11 when the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind:
8 "Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb;
9 when I made clouds its garment, and thick darkness its swaddling band,
10 and prescribed bounds for it, and set bars and doors,
11 and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be loaded with water already falling to the earth as rain or about too. The waters in the clouds stayed’? (RSV).

Here it is stated that when God created the waters in the seas on the earth, he also made clouds its garment. The thick darkness of the clouds probably refers to clouds heavy and loaded with water and either are dropping down rain or about too. The water in the clouds are definitely separated from the waters in the seas on the surface of the earth and they are separated by a transparent body which we call the sky, atmosphere, space, expanse, or a part of heaven. In this sense, the waters in the clouds appears to fit God’s work on the second day of creation in Genesis 1. If there was no heaven or expanse between the waters in the seas and the waters in the clouds, we might not be able to breath the air and it may be like drowning under water. We would have to have gills like fish to survive.

Correction to verse 11 above in Job 38:
and said, ‘Thus far shall you come, and no farther, and here shall your proud waves be stayed’?

 

[Richca]

Some scripture verses possibly interpreting Gen. 1:6-8 and the waters above the firmament or expanse.

Proverbs 8:22-31 (from the Revised Standard Version).

22 The LORD created me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old.
23Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth.
24 When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water.
25 Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth;
26 before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world.
27 When he established the heavens, I was there, when he drew a circle on the face of the deep,
28 when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep,
29 when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
30 then I was beside him, like a master workman; and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always,
31 rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the sons of men.

The RSV in verse 28 translates the Hebrew word šĕḥāqîm as ‘skies’ here, but a number of Bibles translate ‘sehaqim’ as clouds. The Hebrew word ‘sehaqim’ is sometimes translated skies or clouds in the Old Testament depending on the context of the verse or verses and the translators of the Bibles. For example, the New Jerusalem Bible translates the first half of verse 28 “when he thickened the clouds above.” The New International Version and the New King James Version translate it as “when he established the clouds above.” The LXX (greek Septuagint) “when he made strong the clouds above.” The New American Bible “when he made firm the skies above” (same as RSV). The Latin Vulgate reads “
quando æthera firmabat sursum”
which the Douay-Rheims / Challoner Version translates as “when he established the sky above.”

If the Hebrew word ‘sehaqim’ used in verse 28 is understood to mean ‘clouds’ as quite a number of bible translations take it, then possibly the inspired writer here in Proverbs 8: 22-31 is interpreting the waters above the firmament or expanse of Gen. 1:6-8 as simply being water in the clouds which drop from the clouds as rain, snow, or hail. Concerning the creation, the inspired writer in Proverbs 8: 22-31 is chiefly concerned with the heavens, the earth, and the deep which is another name for the waters. This roughly corresponds with Genesis 1: 1-11. At any rate, if ‘sehaqim’ is understood to mean clouds, then the inspired writer here it seems is saying that God made the clouds in the beginnings of the creation to water the earth as indeed this is what the waters in the clouds do. Without water from the rains, the mountains, hills, valleys, and plains of the earth are going to be without vegetation and plants for the most part.

In the Nova Vulgata (New Vulgate, official Bible of the Catholic Church, Vatican website), Proverbs 8:28 reads:
“quando nubes firmabat sursum,
et praevaluerunt fontes abyssi,”

Nubes is latin for clouds. I am in no way an expert in latin translation to english, but using the latinlexicon.org word study tool, the translation of verse 28 from the Nova Vulgata I think is something as the following:
“When he strenghtened (firmabat) the clouds above, when he made strong (praevaluerunt) the fountains of the deep.” The meaning here seems to be when God ‘supplied’ the clouds above and the fountains of the deep with abundant waters (cf. verse 24).

This wording is quite similar to the LXX translation and to the translation of verse 28 the author of the article “When he made firm the skies above? Proverbs 8:28” (See link in post #42) gives in his extensive study of this verse in Proverbs 8. Now, the author of the article just mentioned remarks near the beginning of his article that Proverbs 8:28 actually has nothing at all to do with a firmament. However, I think he is taking or understanding ‘firmament’ here in the sense of ‘firm skies’ and of a solid dome or vault holding back waters above it as some Bible translations appear to view the idea of the firmament or ‘raqia’ mentioned in Genesis 1: 6-8. Firmamentum is the latin word St Jerome used to translate the hebrew ‘raqia.’ St Jerome may have been influenced by the LXX (Septuagint) translation of ‘raqia’ which they translated in greek as stereoma. From a quick look into the meaning of this greek word, stereoma appears to connote (at least one of its meanings) something solid or hard.

I believe Proverbs 8:28 may have something to do with the firmament or expanse that God made on the second day of creation. The clouds above and the fountains of the deep (the waters in the seas or oceans) appear to me to be referring to the waters above and below the firmament, expanse, heaven, or sky (I think it could at least be interpreted in this way). God called the firmament heaven (Gen. 1:8). So the firmament simply refers to the heaven, heavens, or sky above the earth. And the waters in the clouds are separated from the waters in the seas by a heaven, expanse, or sky; not the whole visible heavens of course, but a part or region of the heavens immediately above the earth and below the moon, sun, and stars which we also call the earth’s atmosphere (the clouds are located in the earth’s atmosphere). Since it is actually the air that suspends and holds up the clouds and the waters in the clouds in the sky, if one wants to understand by ‘firmament’ something firm, then this term firm could be applied to the air.

Eventually, I hope to post a word study of the hebrew ‘raqia’ (noun) which is variously translated as firmament, expanse, dome, vault, etc., by various bible translations in Genesis 1. I hope to also look at the hebrew ‘raqa’ , the cognate verb form of ‘raqia’, and its usages and translations in the Holy Scriptures.

 

[joseie]

The whole problem is that even while there is a simple,direct and commonly understood (understood by the people for whom it was originally written ) meaning for a word or verse in the scripture requiring no further interpretation, we try to put different meanings and explanations when we find that there could be problem otherwise.But in that process we land in more problems and confusion.
First of all we should understant that there is no need to run for cover and to invent excuses or explations whenever it is found that there is some apparent inconsistency say , in the creation chapters when examined in the light of some irrefutable scientific facts discovered subsequently. For ex.we are now certain that the creations mentioned could not have been done in 6 days.Then some excuse is invented saying that the ‘days’ mentioned there is not the days as humans normally understood! But it is interesting to note that in respect of the days mentioned in other places in the bible ,it is taken as the actual days.
In the present case the explanation is simple.That time the obvious understanding was that earth was flat ,the sky with the stars,cloud etc are above earth as a layer (the’ firmament’ mentioned ) and heaven was inside this sky.Rain water was understood as coming ,not from sky (since its 'storage, above could not be seen when looking up towards the sky) but from just above the sky.That is ,the whole water required for raining was thought as stored above earth and the layer(firmament) of sky was thought as the barrier between earth and the water above.
Do the verses appear to be meaningful now?

 

[Richca]

The whole problem is that even while there is a simple,direct and commonly understood (understood by the people for whom it was originally written ) meaning for a word or verse in the scripture requiring no further interpretation, we try to put different meanings and explanations when we find that there could be problem otherwise.But in that process we land in more problems and confusion.
First of all we should understant that there is no need to run for cover and to invent excuses or explations whenever it is found that there is some apparent inconsistency say , in the creation chapters when examined in the light of some irrefutable scientific facts discovered subsequently. For ex.we are now certain that the creations mentioned could not have been done in 6 days.Then some excuse is invented saying that the ‘days’ mentioned there is not the days as humans normally understood! But it is interesting to note that in respect of the days mentioned in other places in the bible ,it is taken as the actual days.
In the present case the explanation is simple.That time the obvious understanding was that earth was flat ,the sky with the stars,cloud etc are above earth as a layer (the’ firmament’ mentioned ) and heaven was inside this sky.Rain water was understood as coming ,not from sky (since its 'storage, above could not be seen when looking up towards the sky) but from just above the sky.That is ,the whole water required for raining was thought as stored above earth and the layer(firmament) of sky was thought as the barrier between earth and the water above.
Do the verses appear to be meaningful now?

Well, if you have read the posts I made in this thread from the very beginning and links to various articles, in the present case the explanation doesn’t appear to be that simple. From the fathers of the Church, through the middle ages, down to the present day, various interpretations for God’s work of the second day in Genesis 1 are given. These interpretations are for the most part divided into two camps: (1) those who understand the ‘raqia’ (the hebrew word variously translated as firmament, expanse, dome, vault, etc.) God made on the second day as the whole visible heavens with a water tank above it. (2) those who understand the ‘raqia’ God made on the second day as that part of the heavens or sky under the clouds from which it is obvious water falls to the earth as rain, snow, or hail. This region of the heavens we call a part of the earth’s atmosphere. I am inclined to favor the second interpretation and this interpretation fits with the majority of St Thomas Aquinas’ exegesis (in the Summa Theologica) of the work of the six days of creation in Genesis 1. St Thomas does not flat out rule out the interpretation of option 1, however, he definitely did not hold given this interpretation that the waters above the starry heavens whatever their precise nature was the source of the rain waters that fall to the earth.

The interpretation you present here falls into the camp of option 1 above. If you had read the posts I made on this thread and even other people’s posts, I think you would understand that I’m aware of this particular interpretation. In my opinion, from the text of Genesis 1, there are difficulties with this interpretation which I have presented in previous posts. I certainly have not covered all the difficulties with this interpretation by any means, but ones I find to be more obvious.

In my reading of Genesis 1, God created the heavens in verse 1 as it is said “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” Verse 2 describes the primordial condition of the heavens and the earth in the beginning of creation “The earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God was moving over the face of the waters.”

Jeremiah 4:23 appears to allude to Gen. 1: 2 “I looked on the earth, and behold, it was formless and void; And to the heavens, and they had no light.” The hebrew words translated here as ‘formless and void’ are ‘tohu wabohu’. These two hebrew words appear together only here in Jeremiah 4:23 and in Gen. 1:2 (translated above as ‘without form and void’) in the hebrew Old Testament (This is according to Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance which doesn’t include the deuterocanonical books of the Catholic Bible. I have not made a study of the occurrance if any of ‘tohu wabohu’ in the deuterocanonical books of the Old Testament). Anyway, Jeremiah 4:23 appears to be alluding to Gen. 1:2 although he is not writing specifically about creation but about the destruction of Israel from foreign invaders and the devastation that war causes. The second half of Jer. 4:23 says “And to the heavens, and they had no light.” In Gen. 1: 2 we have “and darkness was upon [or over] the face of the deep.” God doesn’t create light until Gen. 1: 3. Accordingly, the whole of Jer. 4:23 is a possible allusion to Gen. 1: 2 wherein we have the primordial condition of the heavens and the earth in the beginning of creation.

Now, in Gen. 1: 3-5, God creates light and separates the light from the darkness. “God called the light day, and the darkness he called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day.” From what darkness did God separate the light from? Obviously, the darkness that was over the face of the deep (Gen. 1: 2). The darkness it appears to me of the heavens. The primordial condition of the heavens in Gen. 1: 2 was that there was just darkness; no light, sun, moon, or stars. The light and darkness, day and night of Gen. 1: 3-5 appears to me to be referencing the heavens that God created in verse 1. God’s work on the fourth day, verses 14-19, appears to substantiate this. In these verses, we again have the separation of light and darkness, day and night, as well as the making of the sun, moon, and stars in the ‘raqia’ of the heavens.

 

[Richca]

(continued)

In Gen. 1: 6-8, God says "“Let there be a firmament [raqia] in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” The waters here are those covering the earth and possibly low lying clouds as we read in Job 38: 8-9:
“Or who shut in the sea with doors, when it burst forth from the womb;
when I made clouds its garment,
and thick darkness its swaddling band.”
Above these waters, the face of the deep in Gen. 1:2, are the heavens God created in verse 1 and the light and darkness, day and night of verses 2-5.
God places the ‘raqia’ (firmament or expanse) in the midst of the waters, apparently creating an ‘air space’ between the waters. God calls the raqia heaven which is apparently below the heaven or heavens he created in the beginning, in verse 1 which God fills with light on day one and separates the light from the darkness and day from night.

Consequently, the difficulty or difficulties I see in the interpretation you espouse in your post here is that if God did not make the whole visible heavens until the second day, for it is on this day that God made the ‘raqia’ to separate the waters from the waters, then what are we to make of Gen. 1: 1-5? Specifically, where are the heavens or heaven God created in verse 1? Where is the darkness that was over the face of the deep in verse 2? And where is the light God created and the day and night and light and darkness of verses 3-5? In fact, where [in the world] is the first day if heaven or the heavens didn’t exist until the second day? And what are we to make of Jer. 4:23 which appears to be an allusion to Gen. 1:2 in which he says " I looked…And to the heavens, and they had no light."? I think we may have some serious problems here!

A quick note on the hebrew word ‘shamayim’ (noun). This hebrew word is usually translated heaven or heavens in the Old Testament such as in Gen. 1:1. It is the same word used in verse 8 where God called the firmament [raqia] heaven. Some translators of various bibles will translate shamayim in verse 8 as sky. Anyway, shamayim is in the dual or plural form. There is no singular word form of shamayim in the hebrew Old Testament, it doesn’t exist.
It is debated among scholars whether shamayim is either the dual or plural form or whether even though it is dual or plural it represents the singular. Now, a whole post or thread could be discussed about this; presently I’m keeping this short. If shamayim was understood as dual by the ancient hebrews, this I understand would mean that the hebrews thought of the heavens as being a pair, i.e, two or twin heavens. Interestingly, this idea fits with what I have written in this post, namely, that in Gen. 1:1 God created heaven and on day two he made another heaven. Scripture also uses the phrase ’ [the] heaven, [the] heaven of heavens’ or something similar a few times. For example,

Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. (Deut. 10:14).

“Thou art the Lord, thou alone; thou hast made heaven, the heaven of heavens, with all their host," (Nehemiah 9:6).

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! (1 Kings 8: 27).

According to the above verses, an argument can maybe be made that the ancient hebrews thought of shamayim as indeed dual. St Paul, a Hebrew of the Hebrews and a student taught by the Rabbi Gamaliel, says in 2 Cor. 12: 2 that he was caught up to the third heaven. St Paul may very well have been giving the beatific vision here, the third heaven. Being that St Paul says he was caught up to the third heaven (the beatific vision?), this implies that there is a first and second heaven. Are the heaven and the heaven of heavens such as in the verses above and the heavens of Genesis 1 the first and second heavens? Possibly!

 

[joseie]

The explanations given above(posts 47 and48) quoting church fathers,scriptures from later books etc.only confirms the position mentioned in my post no.46 that even if there is a simple and direct meaning ,different meanings and interpretations are sought to be imported, when the simple and direct meaning is found ‘uncomfortable’ at a later point of time. Now we know that earth is only a small planet in the solar system with the star sun at its centre. Sun is only one of about 100 billion stars in the Milky way Galaxy and so far about 200 billion such Galaxies are estimated as existing.Against this compare the presumably known position to humans for whom the bible was written.Earth the centre of universe, flat with one portion water and the other land .Sky ,sun,moon ,stars and heaven above.Rain water comes from still above. A big star more shining appears during day and another less shining during night . No idea that the day and night occurs due to sun . To them how to write about the origin and creation ?The story of billion stars ,billion galaxies etc.was out of question for them. The chronology and development mentioned in the initial part of chapter 1 was fully convincing and understandable to them. It is as simple as that .It is time to reconcile the position and stop beating around the bush under the wrong impression that we should fight tooth and nail against such apparent inconsistencies .

 

[Richca]

The explanations given above(posts 47 and48) quoting church fathers,scriptures from later books etc.only confirms the position mentioned in my post no.46 that even if there is a simple and direct meaning ,different meanings and interpretations are sought to be imported, when the simple and direct meaning is found ‘uncomfortable’ at a later point of time. Now we know that earth is only a small planet in the solar system with the star sun at its centre. Sun is only one of about 100 billion stars in the Milky way Galaxy and so far about 200 billion such Galaxies are estimated as existing.Against this compare the presumably known position to humans for whom the bible was written.Earth the centre of universe, flat with one portion water and the other land .Sky ,sun,moon ,stars and heaven above.Rain water comes from still above. A big star more shining appears during day and another less shining during night . No idea that the day and night occurs due to sun . To them how to write about the origin and creation ?The story of billion stars ,billion galaxies etc.was out of question for them. The chronology and development mentioned in the initial part of chapter 1 was fully convincing and understandable to them. It is as simple as that .It is time to reconcile the position and stop beating around the bush under the wrong impression that we should fight tooth and nail against such apparent inconsistencies .

You have elements here of eisegesis (commonly referred to as reading into the text) rather than of exegesis. For example, the ‘presumably’ known position that interprets the earth as flat in Genesis 1 is not in Genesis 1 or the whole Bible for that matter. Moses or the inspired sacred writer does not give us the detail of the shape of the earth in Genesis 1. Today, we know with certainty that the earth is spherical and Genesis 1:1 states that God created it “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.”

 

[kdbueno]

God’s creation is by reason a mystical understanding of the present understanding of truth. This however, does not erase the historical evidence but rather in a sense approves that we can understand its collegial evidence by reason of the blessed Trinity’s desire, thus preserving apostolic truth while not disclarifying the actual truth of what’s really happened.