How do I Homeschool from an Evolutionary Creation Perspective?


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://biologos.org/blogs/archive/how-do-i-homeschool-from-an-evolutionary-creation-perspective
1 Like

Thanks for this helpful post! I’ve enjoyed checking out the Well-Trained Mind forum because they have such good suggestions.

I’m about 95% sure that we’ll be switching to Real Science Odyssey (Pandia Press) for 2nd grade, though I still really appreciate Sonlight’s book selections.

You’ll have to write up a detailed review. I’ve heard lots of people like it.

1 Like

This an excellent article Christy! Thanks for writing it!

1 Like

I believe Genesis One is about a local restoration billions of years after the original creation, found in John 1:1-3, where the Six Days are not mentioned. Before God begins working by speaking in Genesis 1:3, the heavens and the Earth are already there with Earth covered with water (those who believe the sun, moon and stars were created on Day Four, must propose that Moses did not think the heavens in 1:1 included them). Genesis 1:1 is a summary of what happened during the Six Days, followed by a description of a local area that had recently been judged (1:2), not having a Noah the entire civilization perished.
On Day One The Trinity said, “‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” It does not say that They created light. The light came from the sun, the darkness of judgment being removed, light shone through the overcast. Light and darkness (day and night) were now separated. This points to a local perspective. If it spoke of the entire Earth, it would always be both day and night. This also shows that the Earth is spinning on its axis–part of the time in daylight and part in the darkness of night.

On Day Two The Trinity said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place and let the dry land appear.” On Day One They removed the darkness and on Day Two They moved the water. So nothing was “created” during the first two days.

On Day Three The Trinity said, “Let the Earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, fruit trees on the Earth after their kind…” Even here it does not say They “created” plants or trees; but rather “Let the Earth sprout…” These may well have been plants and seeds from a previous creation.

On Day Four The Trinity said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens…” According to 1:20, “the expanse of the heavens” is where birds fly. On Day Four They removed the overcast so the sun, moon and stars, which were already there, could be seen.
On Day Five The Trinity created the animals, supposedly from the dust of the Earth. In no way does this contradict a local restoration.

On Day Six, The Trinity made man “in Our image.” Certainly within the realm of a possible local restoration of a destroyed previous local civilization.

If Genesis One is about the original creation, why are Earth, water and the sun, moon and stars not shown to be created?

It is an ANE origin story and tells things in a way that would have addressed their genre expectations and theological concerns. It’s not an eyewitness account of history, written according to modern conventions for reporting facts. There are plenty of articles about various interpretations of Genesis that are sensitive to its original cultural context on the BioLogos website. John Walton’s ideas about the distinction between functional and material creation would get into why the Earth, sun, moon, and stars are not materially created in the narrative.

2 Likes

This topic was automatically closed 6 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.