It’s 2 am. I just finished my thesis, and will turn it in tomorrow around 10 am (barring any printing problems).

Topic: Honor and Shame Before the Judgment Seat of Christ
Pages: 60
Words: 16,936
Footnotes: 183

My bottom line conclusion: We haven’t scratched the surface of beginning to understand the New Testament. (Isn’t that encouraging?) It’s probably not that bad…but it’s 2 am, and I’m a bit sick of my thesis.

I’ve been mulling over the Parables of the Four Soils for nearly three years now. When I left my church in Fortine, MT to come to Dallas, TX for seminary, I was preaching through Luke, and had stopped at Luke 8:3. I did preach a sermon on Luke 8:9-10, but I never did preach on Luke 8:4-15, the Parable of the Four Soils. I was a bit relieved, because I had no idea what this parable meant. And the scary thing, Jesus says that this parable is the key to understanding all the rest (Luke 8:10).

But as I have thought more and more about it, the meaning has slowly emerged. I now agree with my friend Ken Wilson that this parable has nothing to do with determining who is a Christian and who is not. That’s the way most people read this parable, and it’s all because of the word “saved” in 8:12. Some people think that only the fourth, fruitful soil is a Christian, while others think that the final three soils represent Christians because they at least have life. And while “saved” can refer to receiving eternal life, it most often does not. Instead, it most often (nearly always) refers in Scripture to being delivered from some sort of temporal problem or calamity.

That’s what this Parable is about. When people hear what the Bible has to say about how to be delivered from whatever problem is in their life, there are four basic responses to the Word (8:11).

The following context makes this abundantly clear. Jesus doesn’t just want hearing; He wants obeying (8:16-21), just as He gets from the wind and the waves (8:22-25), demons (8:26-39), and a Jewish leader and a sick woman (8:40-56). Jesus then sends out the twelve to see how they will do at hearing and obeying, and also to give them some experience at seeing how others respond to the Word (9:1-6).

The bottom line is this: Whenever the Word of God is proclaimed, to whomever it is proclaimed, there will be four basic responses. How do you typically respond?

On Monday, I will share with you something surprising about the fourth soil, the good soil, and how to find it.

I read about 70 blogs a day. It takes me about 20 minutes. I do read pretty fast, but the real key is to use a Blog Reader.

I hear Google has a reader, but I use Bloglines. It helps me keep track of which blogs I like, and by only going to one website (http://www.bloglines.com/myblogs) I can read all 70 blogs. If I want to comment on one, I just click on the blog, and go comment.

If you still read the blogs you like by individually going to each one, save yourself some time and sign up for a Bloglines account. It’s simple, easy, and free. To sign up now, just click on the “Bloglines” button in the left column. You can thank me later.

Of course, if you really wanted to thank me…books say it best. Ha ha. But seriously, below the Bloglines button on the left is my Amazon Wish List…

I picked up the April-June 2008 issue of Bibliotheca Sacra today, the theological journal of Dallas Theological Seminary. In it is an article by Dr. Gordon Johnston about the connections between Genesis 1 and Ancient Egyptian Creation Myths. This immediately caught my attention because of some recent events that have occurred in my life in relation to a former employer of mine…which is all I’ll say about that.  

I had Dr. Johnston for a class last semester in which he introduced this information about Genesis 1, as well as several other ideas that challenged some of my traditional theology. Anyway, when it comes to Genesis 1, Johnston argues that Moses borrowed heavily from some Egyptian Creation Myths.

Dr. Johnston concludes his article with this statement: “This suggests that Genesis 1 was originally composed, not as a scientific treatise, but as a theological polemic against the ancient Egyptian models of creation which competed against Yahwism for the loyalty of the ancient Israelites.”

I agree with Dr. Johnston. But notice what he is not saying. He is not saying that creation did not occur in six 24-hour periods. He very well may believe that it did. But it seems that there are only two possible ways to believe that Genesis 1 teaches that creation occurred in six 24-hour days while knowing what we now know about the many parallels with Egyptian Creation Myths.

First, it could be argued that creation happened, and the account was passed down by oral tradition through the centuries, being slowly changed over time, until the Egyptians recorded their version. When Moses came on the scene, God revealed to him what really happened, and this is what Moses wrote down. This would partially account for other similarities in other pagan creation myths found around the world.

But even under this understanding, Moses was not writing to disprove evolution. No ancient person ever imagined that everything simply came about by chance. Everybody believed that a God or gods created all that was. So to read Genesis 1 as a scientific treatise defending creationism against evolution is nothing short of reading modern issues back into ancient texts (aka eisegesis). If Dr. Johnston is correct, people who use Genesis 1 to argue against evolution should start admitting that they are using this passage in a way neither Moses nor the original audience would have understood. Only then are we being honest with the text.

Which brings us to the second possible way Genesis 1 could be read in light of the parallels with Egyptian Creation Myths. It is possible, I suppose, that God, as the divine author, could have intended more than Moses, the human author, and the Israelites, the original human audience understood. It is possible that God, peering down the corridors of time, foresaw that Charles Darwin would invent his theory of evolution and God wanted to show this for the error that it is. And so He had Moses write a “creation account” that kept the Israelites 3500 years ago keep from worshipping Egyptian deities, and keeps Christians today from believing in evolution. It’s possible. But again, if that is how you want to view Genesis 1, you need to admit it.

Personally, I think the strongest way to teach Genesis 1 is to teach it with the message Moses originally intended. And what is that message? Here are a few things: Our God is more powerful, loving, kind, personal, immanent, and transcendent than any other god there is. He made humanity the center of His creation. That’s how much He cares for us and wants to relate to us. We are not here by accident, but He made us and put us here for a reason. You have purpose. You matter to God. This world was made for you to enjoy, and God wants to enjoy it with you. Out of the chaos of your life, God creates order, light, and beauty. God fills the voids with meaning and significance.

To me, that is a much greater message than “God created the world in six days and evolution is evil.”

But in my opinion, no matter how you view Genesis 1, it’s nothing to get fired up over.