When strident voices who call the first three chapters of Genesis nothing but myth are met by equally strident voices declaring that the Bible, the gospel and the church will thereby collapse from the inside, we are tempted to take a side and start cheering. Then come the voices of reason that seek an opportunity to calm down the strident voices that often refuse to listen. John Walton is a voice of reason and he has shown time and time again that we must learn to read the Bible as God gave it, not the way we'd like it to be. Here we are treated to more 'propositions' about Adam and Eve that will anchor our faith in the ancient world in such a way that the fresh Spirit of God can blow on those chapters to illuminate all who will listen. Thank God for The Lost World of Adam and Eve.
Mark Walton is one of a handful of OT scholars who publish books for the laymen like myself. In The Lost World of Adam and Eve, the author addresses the approach of Genesis 2-3 through a sequence of 21 "propositions." (In fact, this book itself seems to be proposition #2 to his previous work, The Lost World of Genesis One, another brilliant piece of literature!) Walton looks to recapture the worldview of the Ancient Hebrew author(s) in order to understand what the original audience would have read/hear when going through Genesis 2-3. His views are incredibly insightful and his writing, while scholarly and well laid out, is given in a very readable manner. This is important: what Walton does not do is begin with a modern doctrine of Adam and Eve and treat that doctrine itself! Instead, he scraps all modern arguments on the this issue and begins from the Ancient Hebrew perspective. God established order and function to the cosmos, the Creation account builds to a climax on day 7 (as a temple text), and so Adam and Eve had a priestly function before the other populations of humans. This book will blow your mind and have you asking "why didn't I see that before?" The answers are hidden in plain sight, just obscured by the filters of our doctrines.
About the Author
John H. Walton (PhD, Hebrew Union College) is professor of Old Testament at Wheaton College and Graduate School. Previously he was professor of Old Testament at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago for twenty years. Some of Walton's books include The Lost World of Adam and Eve, The Lost World of Scripture, The Lost World of Genesis One, Ancient Near Eastern Thought and the Old Testament, The Essential Bible Companion, The NIV Application Commentary: Genesis and The IVP Bible Background Commentary: Old Testament (with Victor Matthews and Mark Chavalas). Walton's ministry experience includes church classes for all age groups, high school Bible studies and adult Sunday school classes, as well as serving as a teacher for "The Bible in 90 Days." John and his wife, Kim, live in Wheaton, Illinois, and have three adult children.
No comments:
Post a Comment