Pisteuomen - πιστευομεν - T. Michael W. Halcomb

A new blog started by my former pastor called "Evolutionary Theology" has been up and running for a few weeks now. I'm not an evolutionist and I haven't had a chance to read a lot of this blog but Tim's a smart guy (he majored in religion & physics & is now a pastor), so, I'm sure he has some insightful things to say. Check out the site by clicking the image-link below:

Check out this quote by Rabbi Brad Hirschfield (from an NPR Interview); it is quite profound! "Most creationists relate to evolutionists as if they have no soul, and most evolutionists relate to the creationists as if they have no brain. Since according to Jewish tradition we all possess both, this is where our discussion should begin—no small feat in a culture in which the absolute obliteration of the other side’s views is often the only basis for thinking that one’s own position is correct."

I should admit, from the start of this post that I am neither a Darwinian or Evolutionary advocate . I should also admit that, while I do not subscribe to everything that Creationists teach, I do believe that God created the earth in six, 24-hour days. That said, my view of Genesis, particularly chapters 1 and 2, is that is not simply a scientific treatise, a geological thesis or merely a theological document. I do think that Genesis 1 contains elements of both poetry and narrative, which are rooted in what the ancient Hebrews considered historical events. At this point in time, however, my view of Genesis 1 and 2 is that it is (and I honestly don’t know if this argument has ever been made!) a type of parasodic text. To put it differently, I think the creation narrative (I don’t subscribe to the documentary hypothesis or source critical theories either) was, to the ancient Hebrews, a sort of comical document, something like a parody. While I am aware that the argument that Genesis 1 an...

Well, that's what this hilarious video kind of points out:

The notion that Genesis 1 is poetry has been around for a while now. I must say, I'm not totally convinced that it is poetry but there may be a number of reasons to think that it is. Of course, this is much easier to discern in the Hebrew than in any other text; if it is poetry, English definitely does it injustice! Here are a few reasons to think it might be poetry (to listen to me pronounce these words/phrases, click on the button that follows them): 1. Alliteration - Gen. 1.1 begins with two "B" sounds: בראשית (sounds like: bey-ra-sheet) and ברא (sounds like: bah-rah). 2. Repetition - Gen. 1.1 repeats a number of sounds. For instance, it repeats the "ra" (and "b") sounds in the first two words (see above). Of course, the two definite-article markers sound exactly the same: את (sounds like: eight). Towards the end of 1.1 we find the conjunction ו (sounds like: vay), which shows up only a few spaces later at the beginning of verse 2. Then we have th...