I received this question the other day, and I think it needs to be shared. I will withhold personal info for obvious reasons…
Good morning!
I am a member at [congregation]. I am writing because I have recently heard of a man named John Walton and learned of his thoughts on the creation account in Genesis 1. He is from Wheaton College and has studied this specific topic for many years. He authored a book called The Lost World of Genesis One and his thoughts on the subject are quite controversial. His views, as I understand them, do not align with my understanding of scripture but I also recognize that I have never studied ancient Biblical Hebrew and I wonder if I am wrongfully discrediting him. There are some in my congregation who believe the views he is espousing, which is concerning to me. I fear that people trust him because of his credentials. I wanted to seek input from other people I know to be solid students and teachers of God’s word who have studied the Hebrew language and culture and may be able to provide additional insight.
Thank you!
[name]
My response to her was as follows:
Hi [name], thanks for reaching out. I’m sorry to say I haven’t heard of this John Walton gentleman, but I did some digging and reading online and have now read a summary of his views on the Genesis 1 account. His is not a unique take on the subject. There are others promoting similar ideas, but they fail in two key areas.
First, they presume the non-inspiration of the Bible. By that I mean, they regard Moses (the writer of Genesis) as a mere man, living in his time, influenced by culture and philosophy around him. They reduce Moses (and, by extension, all other Bible writers) to people who were just contemporaries of other men writing religious and philosophical books. This, I don’t need to tell you, is false doctrine. Moses was inspired by the Holy Spirit. Moses, and all the other Bible writers, were inspired, not by the world around them, but by the God above them. Moses is not just another writer of his day. He was a man moved by the Spirit. God’s words were on his tongue and in his pen (2 Samuel 23:2).
The second problem is it ignores the rest of the Bible. Take this excerpt for example: “The Hebrew word, “barah” (“create”) does not describe a creation of the material world out of nothing (ex nihilo), but the assigning of function to God’s creation.” That’s Walton’s take, but it fails to appreciate that Moses isn’t the only one in the Bible who talks about the creation, nor is Genesis 1 the only place where creation is talked about by Moses himself. Moses would later say “in six days God made the Heavens, Earth, and all that is in them” (Exodus 20:11). In that verse, Moses uses the word “asah” (which means “to make”). In Gen 1, Moses uses the word “barah,” which could be used to mean “assign a function” like Walton says, but the problem is, Moses later uses another word to describe the same event and that word CAN’T be used to mean “assign a function.” As always, the Bible is its own best commentary. Later, Jesus Himself will tell us that “in the beginning God made [humanity] male and female” (Mark 10:6). People like Walton are trying to say that the universe is billions and billions of years old, and that the “creation” account isn’t a literal creation, but is just something God did recently. They say this in order to avoid being made fun of by people who say the universe is billions of years old and that we’re a product of evolution, etc. Jesus says man was made “in the beginning.” We were made in the first week of everything. In the beginning. The beginning!
I suppose my biggest problem with men like this, and with doctrines like this, is they have such irreverence for the Bible. They talk about God as if He’s the product of human imagination. They talk about the writing of the Bible as if it’s on par with the writing of so many other religious and philosophical texts. It isn’t. It is very unique, in that all other religious texts are written by men, and are about man trying to have a relationship with his god. The Bible, on the other hand, is written by God, and is about what God did in order to have a relationship with man.
I’m troubled to hear that some are promoting his teaching where you worship. I’m sure it’s out of ignorance. People are easily swept up in fanciful talk and “academic” summaries. The Bible is timeless, however. It is not a product of people “inspired by the ‘Near East’ culture around them, etc.” The Bible transcends culture. Granted, yes, of course, there are aspects of the Bible that reflect the world in which it was written, but it was also written over the course of thousands of years, in many different cultures and languages, and yet maintains a harmony of thought due to it coming from the inspiration of God.
I had a similar experience with a gentleman named Michael Heiser. When I first listened to him, I was intrigued by his ideas, and some of them were sound, but the more he talked the more I realized what he was saying was un-Biblical and even, at times, blasphemous. Many brethren continued to be swayed by his teachings, however, just as many of your friends are listening too much to Walton.
To be clear, I think it’s undeniable that Moses and the other Bible writers were influenced to a degree by the world around them. If they weren’t, the Bible wouldn’t read the way it does. The Bible is written by 40 different authors, who lived in different times and in different places. The words of Paul are not the same as the words of Moses or the words of Jeremiah, because they all lived different lives and had different “voices.”
Where some go wrong is they assume those differences mean the writers weren’t inspired, but were “only” influenced by the world around them. No no. They were influenced and shaped by culture, as we all are, but the Holy Spirit used their different styles to craft the message He wanted.
The dirty secret about “religious academia” is this: Most so-called “scholars” are atheists. They wouldn’t call themselves that, but that’s what they are. They deny the supernatural. They deny inspiration. They regard the Bible as a philosophical text more than a Divine text.
The people who read and listen to them usually aren’t deniers, but if we’re not careful, they will lead us right down that path without us even knowing it.
Trust God (Proverbs 14:12, Proverbs 3:5).
Thanks for writing.
Let me know if you have any questions!