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Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate
A careful and unbiased analysis of how thinkers from church history interpreted the creation narrative in Genesis
How literally are we meant to take the creation week of Genesis 1? In this polarizing debate, contemporary interpreters invoke great theologians from history to support their own side, whether that be a young Earth or theistic evolution.
The problem lies in trying to force ancient authors into contemporary boxes, as Andrew J. Brown shows in this thought-provoking volume. Covering Philo, Basil, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and more, Brown carefully interprets great thinkers’ readings of Genesis 1 in their intellectual contexts. He then assesses how these authors have been subject to cherry-picking and misappropriation in the trenches of the modern creation debate.
By studying the intellectual history of the church in this way—to revisit rather than recruit the ancients—we can enrich our own biblical interpretation. Irenic and magisterial, Brown’s guide will interest both scholars of historical theology and anyone invested in the creation debate.
How literally are we meant to take the creation week of Genesis 1? In this polarizing debate, contemporary interpreters invoke great theologians from history to support their own side, whether that be a young Earth or theistic evolution.
The problem lies in trying to force ancient authors into contemporary boxes, as Andrew J. Brown shows in this thought-provoking volume. Covering Philo, Basil, Augustine, Thomas Aquinas, Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley, and more, Brown carefully interprets great thinkers’ readings of Genesis 1 in their intellectual contexts. He then assesses how these authors have been subject to cherry-picking and misappropriation in the trenches of the modern creation debate.
By studying the intellectual history of the church in this way—to revisit rather than recruit the ancients—we can enrich our own biblical interpretation. Irenic and magisterial, Brown’s guide will interest both scholars of historical theology and anyone invested in the creation debate.
366 pages, Hardcover
Published October 5, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
November 5, 2024
Interested parties in the creation debates would profit from this book. Brown describes a wide variety of different view points among Christians over time. He also does a good job of talking about how to read ancient authors. Simply appropriating statements that seem to support one's already held position is inappropriate in the extreme. His discussion along the way and summarized in the last chapter is a good description of how to read not only Christian authors over time, but the biblical texts themselves.
Brown notes that many highly valued Christians believed, get ready for a shock, that Genesis 1:1-2 is when God created the whole universe and all that is in it. The six days were an accommodation to our limited ability to understand God's work! So much for literal reading! In addition, he notes that many Christians reasoned from the six days that the world would last 6,000 years. Both of these conclusions seem very strange to those who are determined to make Genesis 1-2:4 an historical and scientific account.
Much more is included in this helpful work. Brown wishes to save ancient authors from being high-jacked in modern debates. Reading the ancients should be done with great care or their texts are forced to serve modern needs for confirmation bias.
Brown notes that many highly valued Christians believed, get ready for a shock, that Genesis 1:1-2 is when God created the whole universe and all that is in it. The six days were an accommodation to our limited ability to understand God's work! So much for literal reading! In addition, he notes that many Christians reasoned from the six days that the world would last 6,000 years. Both of these conclusions seem very strange to those who are determined to make Genesis 1-2:4 an historical and scientific account.
Much more is included in this helpful work. Brown wishes to save ancient authors from being high-jacked in modern debates. Reading the ancients should be done with great care or their texts are forced to serve modern needs for confirmation bias.
August 4, 2024
Brown does a marvelous job in this book in helping us understand interpretations of Genesis 1 by important persons in the history of the Christian church. He also gives us a great example of reading ancient writers better and not simplistically recruiting them for our own exegetical positions. This is a great corrective of my own shortcomings in this area.
Many contemporary Christian writers have a tendency to make broad, sweeping statement about how the church has historically interpreted the creation narrative. Brown demonstrates it is not that easy and shows how the interpretations were often more nuanced, complex, and operated within their own intellectual environment. And how many of us tend to misappropriate their positions to look for precedent in our own times.
Recommended for those curious about how the creation narrative in Genesis 1 has been viewed throughout church history by some of its most famous stalwarts.
Many contemporary Christian writers have a tendency to make broad, sweeping statement about how the church has historically interpreted the creation narrative. Brown demonstrates it is not that easy and shows how the interpretations were often more nuanced, complex, and operated within their own intellectual environment. And how many of us tend to misappropriate their positions to look for precedent in our own times.
Recommended for those curious about how the creation narrative in Genesis 1 has been viewed throughout church history by some of its most famous stalwarts.
December 12, 2023
The interpretation of the Creation narrative is one of the most contentious and divisive subjects within Christianity. Fundamentalist Young Earth Creationists (YEC) stand on one extreme of the platform, attempting to interpret every element of Genesis 1-2 literally and historically. The earth is 6,000 years old. God created in six literal days. And not believing in that means an eternity in hell. On the other extreme stands modern atheists and secularists who dismiss the creation narrative entirely. Between the two lie a myriad of interpretive options, seeking to reconcile the Creation narrative with scientific inquiry and interpret Scripture in a way that is faithful to God’s supernatural and natural revelation.
Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate is a not a book meant to come to any conclusion on this matter. Rather, it is a history of how the Creation narrative has been interpreted throughout the ages and how selective interpretations of historical writings have been misappropriated—or as the Brown graciously terms it, recruited—into the Creation debate. Author Andrew Brown (OT lecturer at Melbourne School of Theology) organizes his work in mostly chronological fashion, beginning with an early Alexandrian interpretation of Genesis 1 and continuing on through the Westminster Confession and John Wesley.
Brown attempts to objectively understand how prominent theologians throughout the ages have understood Genesis 1 and detail how their understandings have been used and misused within the contemporary debates between young Earth creationists and proponents of theistic evolution. This careful analysis helps to clarify the original intentions and understandings of these ancient authors, moving away from the practice of recruiting them to support modern viewpoints and instead revisiting their works to enrich our own understanding of biblical interpretation.
This is what turns out to be Brown’s major criticism of current Creation debates: the ancients are used as appeals to authority without much care for an understanding or contextualization of their words. Just as Scripture can be misunderstood and misinterpreted, so too Scripture’s exegetes can be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate makes the case that, all too often, modern exegetes utilize the words of ancient thinkers in improper ways. The goal is to recruit them to a side rather than view their thinking objectively and perhaps even independently of our own modern concepts.
Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate is well-researched, thoughtful, and nuanced. Brown does a great job remaining neutral and academic, deflecting from his own personal views and instead point toward the need to accurately interpret and understand the ancient writers. It’s a unique book that not only contributes to the literature and scholarship on the creation narrative, but serves as a reminder for how academic study and research should be done.
Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate is a not a book meant to come to any conclusion on this matter. Rather, it is a history of how the Creation narrative has been interpreted throughout the ages and how selective interpretations of historical writings have been misappropriated—or as the Brown graciously terms it, recruited—into the Creation debate. Author Andrew Brown (OT lecturer at Melbourne School of Theology) organizes his work in mostly chronological fashion, beginning with an early Alexandrian interpretation of Genesis 1 and continuing on through the Westminster Confession and John Wesley.
Brown attempts to objectively understand how prominent theologians throughout the ages have understood Genesis 1 and detail how their understandings have been used and misused within the contemporary debates between young Earth creationists and proponents of theistic evolution. This careful analysis helps to clarify the original intentions and understandings of these ancient authors, moving away from the practice of recruiting them to support modern viewpoints and instead revisiting their works to enrich our own understanding of biblical interpretation.
This is what turns out to be Brown’s major criticism of current Creation debates: the ancients are used as appeals to authority without much care for an understanding or contextualization of their words. Just as Scripture can be misunderstood and misinterpreted, so too Scripture’s exegetes can be misunderstood and misinterpreted. Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate makes the case that, all too often, modern exegetes utilize the words of ancient thinkers in improper ways. The goal is to recruit them to a side rather than view their thinking objectively and perhaps even independently of our own modern concepts.
Recruiting the Ancients for the Creation Debate is well-researched, thoughtful, and nuanced. Brown does a great job remaining neutral and academic, deflecting from his own personal views and instead point toward the need to accurately interpret and understand the ancient writers. It’s a unique book that not only contributes to the literature and scholarship on the creation narrative, but serves as a reminder for how academic study and research should be done.
January 1, 2025
The church fathers placed more importance on comprehending the profound ontology of the cosmos or the centrality of Christ in that ontology than they did on the origin of the physical world. Beyond its immediate historical context, a biblical passage was supposed to allude to other significant realities, such as character traits or the pursuit of a spiritual ascension to God. Allegorical interpretation is the process of reading to discover these other meanings.
The hallowed rest occurs at the end of time when Christ demonstrates his whole power and crushes every opposition, particularly that of the "lawless one" (Barn. 15:5). It is evident that Hebrews 4:1–11 had an impact. The saints rule alongside Christ in the actual millennium described in Revelation 20:1–6. God has made the city available to receive the Christians upon their spiritual resurrection. (Heb 12:22)
Augustine's perspective was inspired by two distinct concepts that had already been presented: the typological similarity between the six days of creation and the six-thousand-year current age, on the one hand, and the belief in a physical and temporal millennial kingdom, on the other.
The term "age of gold" refers to both the original Adamic period and the upcoming millennium, reflecting classical influences like Hesiod and Ovid. According to the early reasoning (e.g., Justin and Irenaeus), Adam does die on the day he is disobedient to God. God’s days are different from man’s.
The hallowed rest occurs at the end of time when Christ demonstrates his whole power and crushes every opposition, particularly that of the "lawless one" (Barn. 15:5). It is evident that Hebrews 4:1–11 had an impact. The saints rule alongside Christ in the actual millennium described in Revelation 20:1–6. God has made the city available to receive the Christians upon their spiritual resurrection. (Heb 12:22)
Augustine's perspective was inspired by two distinct concepts that had already been presented: the typological similarity between the six days of creation and the six-thousand-year current age, on the one hand, and the belief in a physical and temporal millennial kingdom, on the other.
The term "age of gold" refers to both the original Adamic period and the upcoming millennium, reflecting classical influences like Hesiod and Ovid. According to the early reasoning (e.g., Justin and Irenaeus), Adam does die on the day he is disobedient to God. God’s days are different from man’s.
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