The “Phenomenal Language” of Genesis 1 | The BioLogos Forum

Faith & Science Conversation
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This three-part series is drawn from an article entitled “The Narrative Form of Genesis 1: Cosmogonic, Yes; Scientific, No”, originally published in 1984 in the Journal of the American Scientific Affiliation (now Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith). It is reprinted with permission. The ideas in this essay are drawn by Hyers’ excellent book The Meaning of Creation: Genesis and Modern Science.

This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://biologos.org/blog/the-phenomenal-language-of-genesis-1
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This author is deceased, but we welcome your comments and thoughts about this post, or any of the ideas in his series.

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The idea that the Bible is not a book of science, but a book of theology is a good one.

However this dualistic view is incomplete. The Bible also reflects a worldview, a philosophical world view which is not theological, and not scientific, but is the basis for our science and theology.

Without the understanding the Biblical worldview science and theology will always confused as they are today.

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@Relates I’ve enjoyed your contributions to other discussions even if I sometimes find myself in over my head. :slight_smile: What do you mean when you say:

In short, I’m curious how you differentiate between the philosophical worldview of the Bible and the theological one?

I’m going to take a stab here. If the theological message of the Bible is one of redemption and reconciliation through Christ Jesus, then is the philosophical worldview one of acceptance and relationship? Thanks for your time!

Jim

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Jim,

Thank you very much for the comment and question.

Truth is that I have not thought of this in that way. When I make comparisons, it is best to look at all three at the same time, the theological, the philosophical, and the scientific.

They are all three relational, so that plays an basic role, but they are different types of relationships, spiritual, mental or theoretical, and natural.

I would have to say that the philosophical world view of the Bible is unity in complexity based on the One and the Many. The scientific world view found in the Bible is harmony in diversity, based on the concept of Cosmos. The theological world view found in the Bible is the Kingdom of God based on justice, freedom, and equality based on Love, that is, redemption, and reconciliation through the Trinity.

Thank you for your question. You are definitely on the right track.

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