Bible Cosmology (3)

Before Time Began
“Pre-beginnings”, as I have termed it, are the details that scripture may be giving us about the situation before creation. Scripture indicates that the world, as we know it, had a beginning. In fact, the whole age of the existence of the universe is called simply "time". The Apostle Paul looks back and talks about a wisdom “that God destined for our glory before time began.” 1 Cor.2:7. Later he talks about "a faith and knowledge resting on the hope of eternal life which God, who does not lie, promised before the beginning of time." Titus 1:2. Peter refers back to that era too, when he praises Christ, “a lamb without blemish or defect”, “chosen before the creation of the world.” 1 Pet.1:20. In this context, I always enjoy C.S.Lewis’ description of “Deeper Magic from before the Dawn of Time” in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Beginnings

The very first verse of the Bible tells us that, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” The next verse tells us that the earth was formless, empty and dark. In verse three, “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” This is completely inexplicable from a modern scientific point of view— light had to come first from the “Big Bang”, then stars should have coalesced, then planets. The only way the description presented in the Bible makes sense is in a so-called three-storey or “three-decker" universe, as J.I.Packer terms it. These three storeys would be first, heaven proper, where God dwells; second, the “flat” earth that we know, with a solid dome or vault over it and the ground beneath; third, everything beneath the earth, that is, the “underworld”.

Concordists have tried every variation imaginable to make the six days of creation match up with some form of scientific development. They’re barking up the wrong tree. The fact is that none of the Bible writers had any inkling of the astronomy that we know. The ideas of a spherical earth and a solar system with other planets and an immense sun were utterly unknown, as will be shown in later blogs. They didn’t know the science so they couldn’t say.

To help set the stage for later developments in this presentation, look at what happened on Day 2: “God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.” The word “expanse”, as used in the NIV is pretty vague. I would tend to go back to the KJV and use the word “firmament”—it seems to give a better idea of what the ancients had in mind—and even the King James translators. Something solid or, so-to-speak, “firm”. An apt quotation from the same era would be Shakespeare’s, “Sit, Jessica: look, how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold.” [The Merchant of Venice]