Creation Rediscovered: Finding New Meaning in an Ancient Story
Digital Logos Edition
Overview
Creation Rediscovered, by Jeffery M. Leonard, guides readers through a contextual reading of the Bible’s creation stories. Over the last two centuries, few subjects have generated as much controversy for Christians as has creation. The whethers, whens, and hows of creation have often become a battlefield in which the pitched forces of competing sides—Darwinists and creationists, young-earthers and old, figurativists and literalists— have struggled for the upper hand. Like most battles, this fight has tended to inflict a fair amount of collateral damage along the way. This is especially true for those put in the terrible position of feeling they have had to choose between the Bible they have fallen in love with and the science they have studied.
In this book, Jeffery Leonard writes to fellow travelers in the faith who want to take the biblical text seriously, while at the same time appreciate science’s exploration of what we consider to be God’s creation. It is his contention that setting the Bible’s creation texts back within their ancient context allows us to do both of these things. Indeed, Leonard believes that when we reread what the Bible has to say about creation in its original setting, we find meaning in the text far more profound than what we have previously imagined.
- Provides a unique, timely, and fresh interpretation
- Helps readers see the Bible’s creation stories as vessels of healing and hope in God’s larger plan for humanity
- Encourages Christians to read the ancient creation stories within the context in which they were written
- Introduction
- The Copernican Moment
- An Undiscovered Country
- Odd Creation Traditions
- Creation’s Backstory
- Why These Traditions?
- Genesis 1
- Your Gods Are Too Small
- Darkness and the Sea
- Tiqqun and Tiqvah
- Tiqqun and Tiqvah and the Life of Jesus
Since the rediscovery of the ancient Near East, students and scholars of the biblical world have noted copious connections between the texts preserved in scripture and those from surrounding cultures. In a clear and conversational tone, Leonard demonstrates that the latter do not merely inform our understanding of the Old Testament, they provide the literary backstory necessary for fully appreciating the profound nature of the biblical creation story. Creation Rediscovered not only acquaints readers with the fascinating thought world behind Genesis, it also informs and models a faithful approach to reading the Old Testament. As such, this volume makes for an ideal supplementary textbook for introductory courses on the Hebrew Bible or hermeneutics.
—Kyle R. Greenwood, author of Scripture and Cosmology: Reading the Bible between the Ancient World and Modern Science and editor of Since the Beginning: Interpreting Genesis 1–2 through the Ages
I enthusiastically recommend Jeffery Leonard’s Creation Rediscovered to scholars, clergy, and thoughtful laypeople. This beautifully written and profound reflection on the creation stories of the Bible takes us to their important backstory and to Jesus, with important implications for our lives today
—Tremper Longman III, Distinguished Scholar and Professor Emeritus of Biblical Studies, Westmont College
Another book on the Bible, creation, and science? Yes, and a very good one—and one that covers much more besides. On every page, Jeffery Leonard displays deep learning and a deft pen, thorough control of the biblical and ancient Near Eastern material (not to mention pop culture), and pedagogical genius as he covers a veritable A-to-Z on creation in Genesis 1 and beyond (and behind and before): from Arcturus and astrophysics to Baal and Baruch, Copernicus and Calvin, on through to Galileo and genre, Marduk and Michelangelo along with the New Testament and Paul, Toy Story and tiqqun, Ugarit and Mr. Zuss, to name a few. The result is no mean feat: with Leonard as our guide we really do find new meaning in an ancient story. Rediscovered indeed!
—Brent A. Strawn, Professor of Old Testament and Professor of Law, Duke University
- Title: Creation Rediscovered: Finding New Meaning in an Ancient Story
- Author: Jeffery M. Leonard
- Publisher: Hendrickson
- Print Publication Date: 2020
- Pages: 275
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Resource ID: LLS:CRTNRDSCVRDSTRY
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2020-09-03T15:54:32Z