{"id":10334,"date":"2026-04-27T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-27T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10334"},"modified":"2025-10-25T09:28:50","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T09:28:50","slug":"looking-at-john-h-waltons-book-2025-new-explorations-in-the-lost-world-of-genesis-part-4-of-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10334","title":{"rendered":"Looking at John H. Walton’s Book (2025) “New Explorations in the Lost World of Genesis”\u00a0\u00a0(Part 4 of 20)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

0027 I know what you are thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What about John H. Walton’s book?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is it about literalism?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0028 If so, from the introduction, I gather that matter<\/em> has something to do with what makes Genesis 1-11 present<\/em>.  Or maybe, what<\/em> does Genesis 1-11<\/em> make present?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I label Genesis 1-2.3, “the Creation Story”.  I label Genesis 2.4-11, “the Primeval History”.  Some authors differ on this nomenclature.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0029 Okay, Walton wants to narrow these explorations to Genesis 1-4, the Creation Story and the Story of the Fall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0030 The form<\/em> is the scriptural text itself<\/em>.  In particular, the form is written in Hebrew, using particular words.  The form is substantiated by the cultural circumstances of authors living in ancient Near East civilizations<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, the canonized form<\/em> reflects the circumstances of redactors living some time after the return to Jerusalem after the exile to Babylon<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0031 Here, I am getting ahead of myself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Literalism<\/em> presumes that what the Bible says<\/em> is as reliable as the person writing the text<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Walton asserts that what Genesis 1-4 says<\/em> is as reliable as the redactors who composed the text<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0032 In order to understand this, we must look at the Creation Story<\/em> and the Story of the Fall<\/em> as a thing2<\/sub> that enters a category-based nested form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Plus, this nested form corresponds to a redaction3<\/sub><\/em> as the mediation3<\/sub>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0033 Here is the general picture<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

This figure expresses a mediation as if it is a category-based nested form.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mediation3<\/sub> becomes the normal context3<\/sub>.  The formal design1<\/sub> and final attributes1<\/sub> go into potential1<\/sub>.  Matter1(?)<\/sub>substantiates form2<\/sub>.  The substance contains efficient causes2<\/sub> and formal requirements2<\/sub>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0034 Now, the redactor3<\/sub> operates in the name of Moses<\/em>.  So, it is my understanding that the mediation3<\/sub><\/em> involves divine inspiration3<\/sub><\/em> and the formal design1<\/sub><\/em> concerns what the redactors are constructing1<\/sub><\/em> (with God’s permission) and um… their intentions1<\/sub><\/em> (again, with God in the picture1<\/sub>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The normal context3<\/sub> and potential1<\/sub> are on display in the introduction in a section titled, “Synopsis of the Message of Genesis 1-3”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0035 A mediator3<\/sub> compiles Genesis.  That mediator is the redactor3<\/sub>.  The redactor3<\/sub> operates on a design1<\/sub> and with intentions1<\/sub>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

0036 In the Creation Story,<\/em> one intention is to show that God’s acts of creation bring order,<\/em> where order grounds a stable and properly working world<\/em>.  God’s design is for humans (His image bearers) to work alongside God as partners for bringing order.  God is sovereign, and His royal presence in His cosmion… er, temple… establishes a patronage relation with humans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0037 In the Story of the Fall,<\/em> the intention is to describe people’s inability to create meaning<\/em>.  Genesis 2.4-4 portrays several attempts to establish order, like naming the animals, obtaining a side-splitting helper, going naked and not being ashamed, as well as obeying the command not to eat from that poisonous tree.  I don’t know whether these activities are designed to establish order.  To me, they sound like things to do <\/em>in the royal gardens of a deity who will let one get away with anything but one thing<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0038 After doing that one thing,<\/em> the humans get evicted from the royal gardens and have to figure out how to achieve order on their own.  Civilization follows.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, in Genesis 4-11 civilization does not offer an improvement.  A reader can argue that the revelation<\/em> (matter) is designed to show how the usual ways for seeking order<\/em> do not work.  Only a covenant with God<\/em> will save the people of Israel<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0039 I hope that I report the author’s text correctly, because I know that literalism<\/em> presumes that what my text says<\/em> is as reliable as the person writing the text<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I call this, “authorial authority”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0040 If I look at the above figure, I conclude that my own authorial authority may be questionable when it comes to laying out the mediation3<\/sub> (by the “redactor” or “compiler”), the formal design1<\/sub> (to orient the people returning after the exile) and the final causes1<\/sub> or intentions (to communicate about the nature of order in the ancient Near East cultural milieu… er… river).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

0027 I know what you are thinking. What about John H. Walton’s book? Is it about literalism? 0028 If so, from the introduction, I gather that matter has something to do with what makes Genesis 1-11 present.  Or maybe, what does Genesis 1-11 make present? I label Genesis 1-2.3, “the Creation Story”.  I label Genesis 2.4-11, “the Primeval History”.  Some authors differ on this nomenclature. 0029 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[417],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking at John H. 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