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  1. oldmanchubb
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    A Valuable Voice in the Discussion of Genesis
    February 16, 2013
    oldmanchubb
    Age: 25-34
    Gender: male
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    The idea of understanding the Bible literally is often a rallying cry of Evangelicals. However, problems arise when we try to mesh scientific data with Biblical truth — especially when it comes to Genesis 1 and 2. Science says the universe is billions of years old, whereas a "literal" reading of Genesis would say it's only a few thousand. Numerous answers to this problem abound and Walton adds a fresh perspective to the mix. He points out that when most people say "I read the Bible literally", what they are actually saying is "this is what the Bible really means".

    Walton believes in the literal truth of Genesis 1 and 2 and his book is a wonderful explanation of what this really means. Rather than impose modern ideas of the cosmos into Genesis, instead we should be asking "How would have the ancient Israelites understood this?" After all, Genesis was written originally for them. His main point is that Genesis isn't so much concerned about questions of age and how humans came to be, so much as God giving the various aspects to his creation a function. Walton works through the six days, explaining the functional aspect to them, as well as explaining how day seven fits in with the ancient idea of Temple and rest.

    The latter half of the book deals with related issues to his proposal — critiquing some of the other main Creation theories, some of his thoughts on Intelligent Design, what science tries to achieve, teaching science in school and how his understanding strengthens our theology of Genesis 1.

    Overall, this is a fantastic read. It's only 170 pages but don't let the brevity fool you — this is deep and very theological/philosophical stuff here. I would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in how to understand Genesis 1-2 and I hope that this alleviates many faithful who try to reconcile the Bible with modern science. I'm sure this book will cause controversy with some, but I think Walton presents some fairly solid evidence with his 18 propositions.
  2. Hebrew Professor
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Ground breaking, paradigm correcting
    August 4, 2011
    Hebrew Professor
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    This book finally provides Christians who take a high view of scripture with a grounded, sensible, respectful way to take Genesis 1 as inspired and truth while also accepting that evolution may be correct.

    It is a must read for anyone interested in the creationism-versus-evolution debate, which has stolen entirely too much energy away from the Church's more important tasks.
  3. Tim McNinch
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    November 17, 2009
    Tim McNinch
    With this concise study, John Walton (professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College) has delivered a significant contribution to the ongoing conversation at the intersection of faith and science. Drawing upon the insights offered by ancient Near Eastern cultural and literary studies, he proposes that the creation account found in Genesis 1 is not a depiction of material origins at all. If his thesis is correct, John Walton has highlighted an important missing link in the often stalemated debate over origins.Walton attempts to demonstrate that the literary and cultural context of Genesis 1 reveals it to be concerned with how the world functions, rather than where and when stuff of the world came to be; that is, Genesis 1 is presents a "functional ontology" over against a "material ontology". Walton attributes the common misreading of Genesis 1 as material ontology to simple anachronism. We in the modern West have difficulty reading it as anything other than an account of material origins because we live in an ontologically materialistic era. So we unintentionally read our own ontology into the text. The author and audience of Genesis 1 had an entirely different view of the world, a world that Walton exposes to the popular reader.The Lost World of Genesis One is published under InterVarsity's Academic imprint, and I am anxious to see how John Waltons propositions are received by the academic community. At the same time, this volume is absolutely accessible to any thoughtful reader. Walton speaks to the popular reader, defining new vocabulary and using helpful analogies to clarify complex points. His introduction alone, explaining the necessity of contextualizing our exegesis of Scripture, is worth the price of the book for the student or teacher of the Bible. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wrestles with the Creation/Evolution controversy, and label it a "must read" for any Christian student of the natural sciences.
  4. Mr C
    NJ
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    Compelling
    October 5, 2011
    Mr C
    NJ
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: male
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    We Protestants hold to the historical-grammatical method of interpretation. Walton uses his knowledge of how the ancients looked at the world to uncover the meaning of Genesis 1. Very compelling!
  5. LuLu
    Raleigh, NC
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    5 Stars Out Of 5
    September 23, 2011
    LuLu
    Raleigh, NC
    Age: 55-65
    Gender: female
    Quality: 5
    Value: 5
    Meets Expectations: 5
    I always have had an emotional turmoil because I want to believe. This helped me very much.
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