{"id":10371,"date":"2026-04-17T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10371"},"modified":"2025-10-25T09:46:42","modified_gmt":"2025-10-25T09:46:42","slug":"looking-at-john-h-waltons-book-2025-new-explorations-in-the-lost-world-of-genesis-part-12-of-20","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raziemah.com\/blog\/?p=10371","title":{"rendered":"Looking at John H. Walton’s Book (2025) “New Explorations in the Lost World of Genesis”\u00a0\u00a0(Part 12 of 20)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

0118 Now, to close this examination of Walton’s chapter two, on methodology, I present the general sign that takes shape within the confounding of the Lost World Project<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

0119 This will serve as a model<\/em> for the results section of Walton’s book<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0120 Walton’s book is structured like a scientific presentation.  There are five sections: introduction (chapter 1), methods (2), results (3-8), discussion (9) and conclusion (10).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So far, this examination has looked at the introduction and methods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These are crucial to the Lost World of Genesis Project<\/em>.  The book is about new explorations within this project.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0121 Chapter three presents the first result.  The Creation Story (Genesis 1-2.3) concerns function and order, instead of physical and material things.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The claim<\/em> stands under the label of “functional ontology”<\/em>.  Of course, “function” is a modern term that covers final causes1<\/sub>, that is, intentions1<\/sub>.  “Ontology” is the logos (“the word”) of being (“ontos”).  Being is relational.  Matter is material.  When it comes to mediation3<\/sub>, being and material both belong with matter1<\/sub>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further explorations<\/em> add the idea of order<\/em>.  “Order” describes the formal design1<\/sub> of God’s creative activity<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0122 Here is a picture of Walton’s view of the Creation Story as a sequence of mediations<\/em>.  Four terms stand out, the rest fall into the background.  Well, the rest are precisely what Walton regards as given<\/em> for his Lost World approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Note how all the elements in secondness<\/em> are emphasized in the Lost World approach<\/em>.  The efficient cause2<\/sub><\/em> includes the cultural river of the ANE2<\/sub><\/em>.  The formal requirement2<\/sub><\/em> is that a human author2<\/sub> composes the script as an instrument of God<\/em>.  The form2<\/sub><\/em> is the text for each Genesis day<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lost World goal<\/em> is to lock down<\/em> mediation3<\/sub>, matter1<\/sub>, formal design1<\/sub> and final causes1<\/sub>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0123 From Walton’s point of view, the mediation3<\/sub> is the author3<\/sub><\/em> writing<\/em> the Genesis script3<\/sub> or envisioning the narrative3<\/sub> or witnessing a vision3<\/sub>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

0124 What is this author-visionary witnessing for the Creation Story?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For each day, the author witnesses something that is not formed or functional<\/em> (matter) transforming into something that is<\/em> (form).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The efficient cause2<\/sub> for narrating the vision<\/em> includes the cultural river2<\/sub> of the ANE<\/em> and the formal requirement2<\/sub><\/em> is that the author <\/em>is a human2<\/sub> working as an instrument of God<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the efficient causes2<\/sub>, formal requirements2<\/sub> and form2<\/sub>, the mediation3<\/sub> must be a visionary narrating3<\/sub> what he has witnessed (matter1<\/sub>)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Matter1<\/sub> is the contents of the vision<\/em>.  Matter1<\/sub> is mediated into the current text for each Genesis day<\/em> (form2<\/sub>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a picture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

0125 Walton’s inquiries into the Biblical text and the literature of the ANE<\/em> demonstrate that the formal design1<\/sub> of the Creation Story operates to formalize the origins of order in the minds of the audience1<\/sub><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The audience is the Israelites, returning from Babylonian exile.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

0126 Also, the final cause for this story is to impress the lesson that God creates order<\/em>.  Order and function go together.  Walton calls it the “order spectrum”.  A thing that is properly ordered is completely functional.  A thing that is not properly ordered can range from sort of functional to dysfunctional to broken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Needless to say, Judah being carried off to captivity<\/em> goes into the bin labeled, “broken”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0127 What does the author’s mediation imply?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lost World approach seems to impose its own language of meaning, presence and message<\/em> onto the Genesis 1 text<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How so?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It regards the author’s mediation3<\/sub><\/em> as authoritative<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On one hand, the above mediation<\/em> does not consider “matter” as the modern scientific equivalent to “physical”<\/em>.  So, straightforward or direct concordist approaches are… well… not “authoritative”.  Only fools need apply.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

0128 On the other hand, the sign in the entangled Lost World approach<\/em> cannot avoid the significance of what the visionary appears to be seeing, <\/em>which ends up as a description of some type of process where matter that is not form<\/em>ends up as the day’s form<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is a picture of the substantiation<\/em> and the entanglement<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

How confounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Each Genesis day (SV) depicts the creation of a form (SO) that entangles a natural-sign relation (SI), where the form (SVSI<\/sub>) stands for matter (SVSI<\/sub>) in regards to a corresponding epoch in the Earth’s evolutionary record (SISI<\/sub>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does this imply?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are concordists back in business?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

0118 Now, to close this examination of Walton’s chapter two, on methodology, I present the general sign that takes shape within the confounding of the Lost World Project. 0119 This will serve as a model for the results section of Walton’s book. 0120 Walton’s book is structured like a scientific presentation.  There are five sections: introduction (chapter 1), methods […]<\/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-10371","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-book-review"],"yoast_head":"\nLooking at John H. 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