“If I do not know the
meaning of the language… the speaker [shall be] a foreigner to me.” (1 Corinthians 14:11)
I encourage you to read my essay, “The Biblical Demand to Take Another Look at Genesis 1,” which you
can download from my website at www.christianityontheoffense.com. It is in that article that I share insights,
bibliographical materials, and web addresses to assist you in your own journey
to understand the relevant questions about that text. The bottom line is that, because the Book of
Genesis was first written in Hebrew, English readers must not uncritically rely
solely on English translations for
taking dogmatic positions on the creation days of Genesis 1. People have expressed concerns directly to me
that it is too difficult for the lay person to check the facts for themselves. To those who may be weary, I assure you that my
research can be easily checked against the original text for accuracy. What this means for you is that you can
investigate for yourselves the claims I make in my writings (with tools I
mention above). I am an open book with
nothing to hide in these matters. So I
invite you to delve into the evidence for yourself. The bottom line in all of this is that, for
the person who is interested in these questions, hard work simply cannot be
avoided.
On this issue it is highly significant how far afield
popular English translations can deviate from the original Hebrew manuscript in
both vocabulary and grammar. To be
specific I quote in endnote 5 of my own work, “The Biblical Demand to Take Another Look,” in order to lay out ten
specific examples, almost all of which have a direct bearing on the correct
interpretation of the creation days of Genesis:
To be continued
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