God versus a Monster (Hint: Not the Flying Spaghetti Kind)
Lately, my reading has consisted of several books on biblical interpretation. This is, in part, due to my career, but it is also because I am entirely interested in the real world behind the text, by which I don’t mean some sermonization of the biblical text so as to make it sound like it was written in today’s world. Understanding the religious mindset of ancient peoples is difficult, which is probably why some ignore it entirely. When that happens, watch out. Peter Enns is great at getting to these points in a very accessible way, and so I like to highlight his posts at Biologos when I can. His most recent, “Yahweh, Creation, and the Cosmic Battle,” is a great and brief look into one of my favorite biblical motifs. In it he writes:
One of the ways the Old Testament describes creation is through a conflict between Yahweh and the sea (or “waters” or one of the sea monsters, Leviathan or Rahab). Sea is a symbol of chaos, and so Yahweh’s victory in the conflict establishes order. He is the creator, the supreme power. Israel’s proper response is awe and praise.
One may argue that there is no single account of biblical creation. Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis are at least two accounts and the many references to God versus the sea monster are considered other ways of representing creation. Even the book of Revelation is not without its many allusions to the sea monster, where the sea is the home of all that is evil (for a good narrative critical look at Revelation see this book). Then there is John 1, where allusions to both the Old Testament and Greek philosophy play together, helping to form another lens through which one could describe creation, but this one featuring the logos. Seeing and accepting all of this for what it is helps create informed readers, as I tell my students. So I’m done pontificating, but I would heartily recommend reading Peter Enns’ post in its entirety. If you are interested in more, see also my recent review of John H. Walton’s book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate.
Book Review: The Lost World of Genesis One
The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate
by John H. Walton
InterVarsity Press, 2009
192 pages (paperback)
Thales of Miletus, a mid-6th century pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, said the world was created from water. Fast-forwarding several centuries, the writer of the New Testament’s Second Epistle of Peter reminded his readers that God formed the Earth “out of water” (2 Pet. 3:5). Undoubtedly, Second Peter is referencing cosmic waters of Genesis 1, rather than Thales, but many scholars have wondered about the ancient cosmology that starts with water. John H. Walton’s thin, but important book, The Lost World of Genesis One: Ancient Cosmology and the Origins Debate helps bring questions like these into focus. (more…)
Book Review: The Great Code
The Great Code: The Bible and Literature
by Northrop Frye
Harvest Books, 2002 (original printing, 1981)
288 pages (hardcover)
Available at:
Powell’s Books
Amazon.com
Studying the genius of Northrop Frye’s work is its own industry. The now deceased professor (1912-1991) from Victoria College has influenced generations of scholars and The Great Code: The Bible and Literature demonstrates why this giant figure commands so much attention. If humans are pattern seeking beings, as cognitive science tells us, Frye’s mind is definitely a prime specimen. (more…)
Book Review: A Short History of Myth
A Short History of Myth
by Karen Armstrong
Canongate, 2005
159 pages (paperback)
C. S. Lewis once claimed that myths were lies “breathed through silver.” In asking my students how they define myth, I often get a similar response. In A Short History of Myth, Karen Armstrong reminds the reader that the myth-making enterprise is a proud human tradition and has evolved into particular new forms of which we may not be aware. (more…)
Book Review: The Discarded Image
The Discarded Image: An Introduction to Medieval and Renaissance Literature
by C.S. Lewis
Cambridge University Press, 1964
232 pages (paperback)
The Discarded Image is both the title of this blog and of the highly-regarded, but lesser-known and final book of C.S Lewis. Lewis’s work, which is more than its title lets on, examines medieval cosmology or what he calls a “model.” The medieval system served its purpose, but like many models, it met its end. Lewis’s work is an attempt to remind us of why it existed in the first place; why did it serve as a muse for poets and as a key to the universe for awestruck theologians? (more…)
