Required reading
Systematic Theology Volume 1 by Charles Hodge (Available from Amazon or free here) - Conclude Chapter 10 (Creation).
My summary
Firstly this week Hodge answers some common objections to the doctrine of creation ex nihilo.
Then Hodge examines the reason for creation: the glory of God.
To finish the chapter, Hodge teaches us about the Mosaic account of the creation and answers objections, particularly from the geological record.
What grabbed me
Once again I was disappointed in Hodge.
He suggested that 'days' in Genesis 1 could mean long periods of time: 'Second, the word day as used throughout the chapter is understood of geological periods of indefinite duration. In favour of this latter view it is urged that the word day is used in Scripture in many different senses ; sometimes for the time the sun is above the horizon ; sometimes for a period of twenty-four hours ; sometimes for a year, as in Lev. xxv. 29, Judges xvii. 10, and often elsewhere ; sometimes for an indefinite period, as in the phrases, "the day of your calamity," " the day of salvation," "the day of the Lord," "the day of judgment." And in this account of the creation it is used for the period of light in antithesis to night ; for the separate periods in the progress of creation ; and then, ch. ii. 4, for the whole period : " In the day that the Lord God made the earth and the heavens." '
But in Exodus 20:8-11, for the fourth commandment, the same word 'day' is used in verse 9 for the working day and then in verse 12 for a creation day. Are we expected to believe that the word 'day' changes meaning within the space of four verses?
Next week's reading
Commence Chapter 11 (Providence) by reading up to the heading '3. Different theories of the divine government'.
Now it's your turn
Please post your own notes and thoughts in the comments section below.
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