Craig D. Allert - Early Christian Readings of Genesis One: Patristic Exegesis and Literal Interpretation

T here is a reason some things are said often. In the case of publishing a book, it is often stated that it could not have become a reality without the help, support, and patience of others. This book is no different. Foundationally, it was made possible through the support of a grant from the BioLogos Foundations Evolution and Christian Faith program, which allowed me to lighten a heavy teaching and administrative load so that I could better concentrate on this project. For this I am very grateful.

There are several people at Trinity Western University to whom I owe much thanks. I thank Provost Dr. Bob Wood and my former dean, Dr. Bob Burkinshaw, for their support of the project and for working to make course and administrative relief possible. My new (but now former) dean, Dr. Myron Penner, continued that support. Thanks also go to Eve Stringham and Sue Funk in the Office of Research for administering the details of the grant so I could focus on the research. Sue provided attentive and very helpful advice and guidance in these matters, for which I am very grateful. To my colleagues in the Religious Studies DepartmentI am so thankful for all of you. It is a blessing to teach and research in such a vibrant, committed, and collegial department.

InterVarsity Presss Dan Reid offered some very timely and helpful suggestions after he read a draft of the manuscript. The suggestions both saved me some embarrassment and have made the book much better.

I thank many close friends who have consistently taken an interest in this project. Their questions about the progress and the general topic grew out of an excitement they had for it and served as a source of encouragement during times when I wondered if the book would ever see the light of day.

My wife, Corinne, and our sons, Ty and Zach, deserve a huge thank you. There were times when this project took me away from certain family necessities. In particular, Corinne often recognized the need for extended periods of time of devotion to the book and gave me the freedom to spend those hours confident in her support.

As I write these words, the Religious Studies Department at Trinity Western University is at the one-year anniversary of the sudden death of our esteemed colleague Dr. Peter Flint, who passed away on November 3, 2016. Although Peter and I were in different academic areas, he was always a strong source of encouragement to me personally and academically. He seldom let a passing hello or longer conversation go by without saying an encouraging word about my research or the job I was doing in my administrative duties for the department. Peter will be greatly missed, and it is to him that I dedicate this book.

A nyone who has had the misfortune of being misunderstood or having their words used in unintended ways will know the helplessness and frustration that can result. As a professor of theology at an evangelical Christian liberal arts university in Canada, I know firsthand what this is like. Of the many times I have experienced this feeling, one example following the publication of my book A High View of Scripture? stands out. Even though I received encouraging words and reviews from many of my evangelical brothers and sisters, the book also generated a fair amount of dissatisfaction and angst over some of my conclusions.

One negative reaction came from an American pastor in the form of an unpublished book review. Of the several complaints he had with the book, one stood out because of its misleading nature. Near the end of his review he accused me of caring more about academic respectability than the good of the church. In his words:

One of the driving forces behind how he [Allert] sees the task of theology and scholarship is respectability in the larger academic community. Speaking of conservative views of scripture he comments: If one unreservedly throws in ones lot with the right, severe criticisms would center on that individual concerning the claims of biblical scholarship