VideoSimon Smart talks to John Walton, Professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College and author of The Lost World of Genesis One, about the importance of reading the first chapter of Genesis in its original context to help us see what it is, and isn’t, teaching us.
This is a short segment from a longer interview. To watch the full interview, click here.
Transcript
SIMON SMART: What does Genesis 1 tell the modern reader? Because there’s some massive worldview questions being explained there, aren’t there? What are some of them?
JOHN WALTON: The key issue is God’s the one in charge. But, interestingly enough, in the ancient near-eastern materials, the gods were making a world for themselves and it was to function for them and their needs. The Bible says no, God made it for us. He made it to function for people, not for himself. So it gives us an idea of God’s rule, which is something that Christians take very seriously. It also gives us an idea that the world’s been set up for us, so we have responsibilities. So a lot of practical things come out of that which we need to take stock of.