Terence E. Fretheim - God and World in the Old Testament: A Relational Theology of Creation

Fretheim presents here the Old Testament view of the Creator God or un-originated portion of reality; the created world or portion, and the role of co-creators in creation. Beginning with The Beginning, he demonstrates that creation is open-ended (i.e., the co-creators can make the creator to fail) and connected. Then, from every part of the Old Testament, Fretheim explores the fullness and richness of Israels thought regarding creation: from the dynamic created order to human sin, from judgment and environmental devastation to salvation, redemption, and a new creation.------The importance of creation has often been underestimated by church and academy. Indeed, we can speak of the marginalization of creation in biblical and theological study over the course of much of the twentieth century (and before).1 Only in the last generation or so have significant efforts been made to recover a proper role for creation in biblical-theological reflection. The purpose of this volume is to contribute to this emerging conversation from an Old Testament theological perspective. The causes of the marginalization of creation are many and complex. Certainly and most basically, an anthropocentrism has been at work in pervasive ways. Also, often cited are various cultural-social-political realities. Such an influence can be observed in the 1936 seminal article on creation by Gerhard von Rad, which at least in part reflects those theological efforts concerned to respond to natural emphases of national socialism in Germany. But the factors contributing to the neglect of creation among biblical scholars have been much more wide-ranging than the key factors that grounded von Rads concern. One could cite the following trajectories of reflection that have diminished the place of creation:(1) a focus on history, particularly salvation history, at the expense of nature; indeed, creation has been seen as being in the service of Israels history;3 (2) the association of creation with the cosmologies of Canaanite and other ancient Near Eastern religions, often negatively perceived to be syncretistic nature religions and hence at odds with Israels most basic theological commitments;(3) a relinquishment of the study of nature to the scientists, not least in view of the controversies generated by creationists; (4) various theological perspectives (from deism to radical transcendence to absolute sovereignty) that remove God from too close a brush with the continuing life of the created order, raising questions as to whether God was actually engaged with life in the real world;4(5) an existentialism that tends to see all of reality from the perspective of human existence;(6) a political theology centered on the liberation of the human to the neglect of the nonhuman;(7) a theology of the word where preaching and the administration of the sacraments are so sharply focused on the human and the salvation of the human;(8) an emphasis on the spiritual and otherworldly dimensions of religious life to the neglect of the bodily and earthly dimensions of spirituality;(9) various end-of-the-world scenarios, wherein God is soon going to blow everything up anyway, so why bother to care for creation;(10) the diminishment of the importance of the Old Testament in the teaching and preaching of the church;(11) an evident patriarchalism in biblical interpretation that occasioned a stress on interventionist, virile modes of understanding Gods mighty acts, to the neglect of the more feminine themes of creation and blessing.When these wide-ranging factors are so enumerated, it is evident that the forces arrayed against a careful attention to matters of creation have been considerable. From another perspective, our time has also seen the (re)emergence of romantic views of the nonhuman world, wherein a valuing and respect for the natural order has morphed into a deep protectiveness that suggests that nature is unable to care for itself; indeed, nature may even be approached as victim. In such cases, the proper human approach has too often become a virtual worship of the natural order, too commonly accompanied by a point of view that gives human beings no special place among Gods creatures. In view of these differing perspectives, Northrop Frye has charted the task well: to steer some sort of middle course between the Gnostic contempt for nature and the pagan adoration of it.6That a concern for creational matters has intensified over recent years cannot be credited to the church or to the theological disciplines to any great extent. Chiefly responsible for this salutary development has probably been the emergence of an ecological consciousness, deeply set within increasing numbers of individual psyches, with an expanding societal concern. Though such a focus has too often been motivated solely or primarily by a concern for the future of the human race, the environmental benefits should not be downplayed. Other factors are certainly important, such as a greater appreciation of the value of ancient Near Eastern creation thought; an openness to a greater range of texts that have to do with creation (not just originating creation), especially Wisdom literature; the welcome expansion of the conversation between science and religion; an increased awareness of the global scale of environmental issues; and an intensified sense of the deep relatedness and interdependence of all creatures.7 Yet, even with this broader cultural commitment, the importance of creation theology in theological reflection has been slow to take hold, not least in the biblical disciplines. Yet, God is the God of the entire cosmos; God has to do with every creature, and every creature has to do with God, whether they recognize it or not. Gods work in the world must be viewed in and through a universal frame of reference. That the Bible begins with Genesis, not Exodus, with creation, not redemption, is of immeasurable importance for understanding all that followed.