Single Source Theory
In the beginning of God’s creating the heavens and the earth – when the earth was astonishingly empty, . . . Genesis 1:1 JPS Stone Tanakh
In the beginning – You’re probably a bit surprised by the JPS translation of the first verse of the Tanakh. While it contains some of our usual words, its syntax is a bit different. We have commented on the translation differences in the past, but now it’s worth noting the footnote explanation offered by this Stone edition.
“We begin the study of the Torah with the realization that the Torah is not a history book, but the charter of Man’s mission in the universe. Thus, Rashi explains, the Torah’s narrative of Creation establishes that God is the Sovereign of the universe. The Torah relates the story of the six days of Creation ex nihilo to refute the theories that claim that the universe came into being through some massive coincidence or accident. . . . The phrase [beresheet bara elohim] is commonly rendered In the beginning God created, which would indicate that the Torah is giving the sequence of Creation – that God created the heavens, the earth, darkness, water, light, and so on. However, Rashi and Ibn Ezer maintain that this verse cannot be chronological; our translation follows their view.”[1]
We could raise some theological questions here, but that isn’t the purpose of our inquiry. What we should notice is that the biblical account leaves no room whatsoever for any other source of the universe. God is the absolute and total Sovereign of all that exists. The immediate further implication of this claim is that all knowledge in whatever form it is manifested in the cosmos originates with God. And Torah is the thought repository of God, His purposes, His actions and His character. “The sum total of human knowledge derives from the Torah because the universe is a product of Torah which is the blueprint of the world.”[2] Essentially, the biblical claim is this: God reveals Himself and His purposes in this sacred literature. In order to understand who He is and who we are in relation to Him in all possible dimensions, we must turn to His revelation. We will not find the essential wisdom of the universe any other place because Torah (God’s revelation) is the vehicle He chose to use in the formation and manifestation of the world. To say, “In the beginning God created” is to say that there is no other source of true wisdom about the structure and purpose of the universe except in this revelation.
Think carefully about this claim. Does it make sense to you? Do you believe that God’s revelation is the one place to go to understand the real nature of the universe? Could you discover the structure and purpose of the universe anywhere else? If you agree with this claim, then it seems to imply the corollary: the Torah is absolutely essential to understanding God and His Creation. One cannot live without it. Agreed?
Topical Index: Torah, creation, Genesis 1:1, wisdom, purpose
Agreed!
Also agreed!
If you don’t “get” the start of the story,
how in the world could you possibly understand
the red line essence of the entire narrative?
From the spilling of the first lamb’s blood in Gen 3:21,
to the glorious outpooring of our Savior’s own,
God’s perfect Lamb.
From start to finish, it’s one supernaturally amazing read!!!
Does it make sense to you? Do you believe that God’s revelation is the one place to go to understand the real nature of the universe? One cannot live without it. Agreed?
No
I don’t necessarily believe any one of us knows the real nature of the universe based on a text
Some interpretations of texts are better than others
But there are typically conflicting interpretations and conflicting texts
In my neighborhood there are Sikhs, Buddhists, Muslims, and Hindus who are more devoted to God
Than I am
So who am I to say that I know more about the spiritual universe than they do?
Or that my text is better than their text?
I can safely say that the Hebrew path is my path, but relatively speaking
I don’t even know this one very well
My 2 cents
Very honest.
But for so long we have learned that Christianity is a religion of study more than action. And that our bad behaviors are understandable (because ‘the flesh’, arggghh!), and that our biggest virtue is a mental/emotional belief that God will turn a blind eye to our sin, because we have “faith”.
No wonder we don’t seem very devoted to God – especially, when most forms of devotion are considered legalistic.
we have learned that Christianity is a religion of study more than action.
Hi Gabe,
I’ve seen brilliant Protestant ministers with PhDs from Cambridge who believe in Christianity
They are smarter than I am and probably more devoted, but I don’t see
How they can interpret the text the way they do
For better or worse I don’t share their “faith”
What about Romans 1:18-22? This passage sounds as if people can be held accountable for knowing God just from the evidence He has placed in creation, the things He has made. Am I missing something here? The first part of Psalm 19 seems to indicate much the same thing.
Psalm 19:7 The Law of Yahweh is perfect….
Romans 1:18 … The anger of God is being revealed
Hi Thomas,
The author of Psalms and the author of Romans are Jews
Who know and believe in the Hebrew worldview
And they are speaking primarily to people who know and believe
In the Hebrew worldview
So they and their audience will be judged accordingly IMO
I would think that the general knowledge gleaned from creation, although considerable, doesn’t address some of the “deeper” issues of God and godliness.
It’s kinda like picking up a box of macaroni and cheese, thinking it’s food and then reading the back of the box. 🙂
If I recall correctly, the demons believe in God, at least in the sense that He exists, and I would suppose their knowledge is far greater in some degrees, yet it hasn’t done them a whole lot of good.
Thank you, Michael and Robert…good food for thought.
Think carefully about this claim. Does it make sense to you? Do you believe that God’s revelation is the one place to go to understand the real nature of the universe?
Yes and No. While Y-H is the sole creator of our universe and the origin of wisdom, not everyone has access or even knowledge of Torah. The emphasis on *one place* is suspect to me because of what I read here….
What is revealed is God’s anger from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people who in their wickedness keep suppressing the truth; because what is known about God is plain to them, since God has made it plain to them. For ever since the creation of the universe his invisible qualities–both his eternal power and his divine nature–have been clearly seen, because they can be understood from what he has made. Therefore, they have no excuse..Romans 1:18-20
Paul goes in in Romans to say this…
For it is not merely the hearers of Torah whom God considers righteous; rather, it is the doers of what Torah says who will be made righteous in God’s sight. For whenever Gentiles, who have no Torah, do naturally what the Torah requires, then these, even though they don’t have Torah for themselves are Torah! Romans 2:13-14
This is enough for me to disagree with the emphasis on *one place*.
We humans have both yetzer hara and yetzer tov built in. Doing right and being righteous is a struggle to control yetzer hara and use it to further yetzer tov. We can all choose what we do and some choose more wisely than others but we are without excuse. Only two masters and one cannot serve both.
All the checklists of religion give us fences to operatewithin and short circuit trust and faith in Y-H. We depend to much on man’s laws rather than doing what is right and trusting Y-H.
Having said that, there is no substitute for knowing Torah. It is a huge help in doing what is right and illuminating all of the extras that man has created. Interesting how adherence to Torah is viewed as legalistic and inferred to be a bad thing!
Willful ignorance is what I would call this but Y-H still has to call and to open eyes and ears for us to hear and see Him. We are left with the fact that we still must choose and act accordingly.
I like very much what you said Gabe “But for so long we have learned that Christianity is a religion of study more than action.” Our culture puts way to much importance in the degree’s a person might hold rather than the practicality of *doing* what Y-H teaches us to do.
This also circumvents the Hebrew origin of what faith is. I am slowly learning this and trying to climb out of my head and become a person of active faith.
It is a battle but the rewards are very good and the race will be one for a lifetime. (one will get lots of practice!)
Great teaching and what a good way to get the brain juices flowing! Thank you for the challenge Skip. Can’t wait to hear more from you on this subject.
Shalom
I have enjoyed all the comments and did some reading the Jewish New Testament commentary by David Stern. These are some of his comments on Romans 2:14-16 and I hope they might be helpful to the discussion:
14-16 To stress the priority of deeds over head-knowledge of the Torah or status as a Jew, Shaʾul pointedly speaks of Gentiles, who by definition don’t have Torah but nevertheless do naturally what the Torah requires, as being for themselves already Torah because their lives show that the conduct the Torah dictates is “written in their hearts.” The quotation from Jeremiah 31:32(33) speaks of the “new covenant” which Adonai is to make with Israel, when he says, “I will put my Torah in their inward parts and write it in their hearts” (see MJ 8:8-12).
That non-Jews have knowledge of the eternal moral law of God set forth in the Torah is further proved when they come to explicit and conscious faith in God—on a day when God passes judgment on people’s inmost secrets, which, according to the Good News as Shaʾul proclaims it and as Yeshua himself proclaimed it (Yn 5:22-29), he does… through the Messiah Yeshua. On the day people come to faith they at last admit that God was right and they were wrong. Some of their behavior may prove not blameworthy, so that their consciences… sometimes defend them; but some of their behavior they will then perceive is falling short of God’s standard, and their consciences will accuse them.
The above interpretation of these verses takes the “day” of v. 16 to be the day of an individual’s salvation, the day he truly puts his trust in God. But an equally plausible understanding is that the “day” is the Day of Judgment at the end of history.
Just below the surface of these verses is the question of whether it is possible for a person to be saved without explicitly having put his faith in God through the Messiah Yeshua. For vv. 14-15 speak of doing what the Torah requires and having the conduct the Torah dictates written in one’s heart; and it sounds very much as if such a person would in fact be trusting and loving God with all his heart and soul and strength (Deuteronomy 6:5, Mt 22:37). Skeptics sometimes ask, “How can God be so unfair as to condemn to hell some ‘primitive tribesman’ who hasn’t even heard of the Bible?” They often raise the issue not out of concern for the “pitiful lost heathen” but as a dodge to justify their own unbelief; the very form of the question assumes that God is unjust and not worthy of their trust, that the “primitive tribesman” is an innocent “noble savage” and God the guilty party.
Shaʾul carefully skirts answering conclusively. On the one hand, the New Testament explicitly states, “Whoever trusts and is immersed will be saved; whoever does not trust will be condemned” (Mk 16:16); this can be understood to mean that anyone who does not explicitly acknowledge Yeshua will be condemned and not saved, including all “primitive tribesmen.” Such a reading strengthens the motivation to evangelize.
On the other hand, the present verses suggest this line of reasoning: if non-Jews, without the Torah, live up to the light they have, obeying whatever of the Torah God has written in their hearts, then their consciences will sometimes defend them and sometimes accuse them. When their consciences accuse them, they will admit their sin, ask forgiveness from God and from the people sinned against, make restitution where possible, and throw themselves on God’s mercy. If they keep doing that, “Will not the Judge of all the earth do right?” (Genesis 18:25), even if these people have never heard of Yeshua? Yes, he will, although they will have no assurance of their salvation, since they will not know that Yeshua has made a final atonement for their sins.
Jewish New Testament Commentary.
>> the Torah is absolutely essential to understanding God and His Creation. One cannot live without it. Agreed? <<
But He (the Living Torah) answered and said, It is written, "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God "
~ It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life ~ (John 6.63)
~ Every word of God is pure: he is a shield unto them that put their trust in Him ~ (Proverbs 30.5)
~ Heaven and Earth shall pass away, but My words shall not pass away ~ (Matthew 24.35)
~ For as the heavens are higher than the earth, So are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts. For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return there without watering the earth and making it bear and sprout, and furnishing seed to the sower and bread to the eater; so will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; it will not return to Me empty, without accomplishing what I desire, and without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.… ~
(Isaiah 55.9-11)
~ Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says ~ (James 1.22)
~ Whatever He (the Living, Incarnate Word) says unto you, – do it.. ~ (John 2.5)
~ And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us .. ~ (John 1.14)
~ He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His Name is the Word of God ~ (Revelation 19.13)
Torah is way.
Bereisheet bara Elohim et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz
The first word is b’reishit, or Bereishit ( בְּרֵאשִׁית ).
– be- (“at / in”)
– reish / rosh- (ראש, “head”)
– -it ית, a grammatical marker implying “of”.
The second word is the Hebrew verb bara (ברא).
– used with God as its subject, meaning that only God can “bara”
– literally means fatten
– typically used in Gensis to differentiate/separate and to allocate roles
Elohim ( אלהים) is the generic word for God. Common usage was by both Israel and the goyim. YHWH, “God YHWH”, introduced in Genesis 2 is the covenant name for God and was exclusively used by Israel.
et hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz
– et ( אֵת ) is a participle used in front of the direct object of a verb
– the word ha preceding shamayim (heavens) and aretz (earth) is the definite article, equivalent to the English word “the”
– hashamayim ve’et ha’aretz is a well known reference to the heavens and the earth.
literally pounding out what is below and above
The lieral sense is that Elohim fattens what is pounded out below and (spread) above meaning to create. B’reishit has a nominative and accusative sense with in this grammatical structure. Because reish/rosh is a duel meaning (head or first born used in covenant reference) and a nomintive meaning (first in order, first in time) a grammatic duality is created if we assume the unity of thought in the first chapter has only been changed to high light its intended meaning. Then Toledot or Tol’doth (תּוֹלְדֹת) — Hebrew for “generations” or “descendants,” used in chapter 2 verse 4 grammatically connects the dative covenant meaning. The use of numbers for each day in the first story of creation then signifies the counting of each generation. This transition to the second story then becomes a hebrew chaism in which the first creation story is the counting of the seven generations of the creation of the cosmos – implying Elohim created the cosmos in a state of covenant. This typologically refers to the temple being an image of the cosmos. The use of YHWH as the covenant name for Hashem in the second creation story typologically refers to the Holy of Holies. Paul used this typology in Hebrews to develope his theology of Mashiach as the new Adam. Gensis 2:15 to cultivate and guard now references the priestly vestiture of Aaron using the same grammatical expression. Day 7 is the bias which both stories express in chaistic form. Most scholars reject the notion that the first and second story form a unified whole following a recent (last 200 years) school of thought that the Torah could not possibly contain such deliberate sophistication. Hebrews were to primitive to think intelligently and that any perceived in order in the arrangement of this work is merely accidental. In other words they treat the historical meaning of the text as secondary to the historical appearance of these the names used to describe Hashem (cf Bultman). In other words it is thought by these scholars that the covenant use of YHWH did not exist until it was inserted textually at a much later date. That argument summarizes the basis for the most common method of establishing the authorship date of various segments of the two creation stories. This approach infers that the stories are mere fabrication – fictional literature authored and arranged by purely human means at a much later date to appear as though written by a vastly superior intellect. The only thing worse than this in my opinion is the theory of dynamic equivalence it preceded. The rational behind modern biblical scholarship is to ignore the message in order to understand what it says, I equate this approach to reading with your eyes closed.