Knowing Creation: Perspectives from Theology, Philosophy, and Science, reviewed by Stephen Vantassel
Section 4 Scientific Perspectives
For the last article, I chose Mark Harris’ piece on Isaiah 55:12, mentioned above, because it engages an important issue on the interpretation of scripture, our understanding of metaphors. Harris takes up the question of how scriptural teaching about creation’s worship of God is to be understood. He begins by showing that a purely personification interpretation of the passages fails to account for all the evidence. He argued that to treat nature naturalistically without doing the same for humans is inconsistent. Interestingly, he does not jettison the personification theory entirely. Rather it should be considered alongside of Fretheim’s relational view, Horrell’s eschatological view and Bauckham’s being themselves view.
I found the paper intriguing. However, I wonder if he considered how recognizing the ontological distinction between humans and the rest of creation impacts his view. It seems to me that his very approach assumes a flattening of the distinction between humans and the rest of creation. In addition, he did not address Christ’s statement that the rocks would cry out if the people did not (Luke 19:40). Does this mean that the rocks were not praising God at that moment or that they would do so audibly for all to hear? I found it strange that Harris’ more literal reading flies in the face of other writers who contend that Genesis 1-2 should not be read literally or more accurately, plainly.
Summary
Readers should understand that there is no unifying vision for the doctrine creation in this book. Nevertheless, for those interested in looking at some of the key debates in different ways, this book should be engaged.
Reviewed by Stephen M. Vantassel
Publisher’s page: https://www.zondervan.com/9780310536130/knowing-creation/
Preview Knowing Creation, Vol. 1: https://books.google.com/books?id=0YEoDwAAQBAJ
Category: In Depth, Summer 2019
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