Description:
Do the writings of the church fathers support a literalist interpretation of Genesis 1? Young earth creationists have maintained that they do. But are we correctly representing the Fathers and their concerns? This study from Craig Allert resets our understanding of early Christian interpretation and considers whether contemporary evangelicals may be more bound to modernity in our reading of Genesis 1 than we realize.
Brief description:
Craig D. Allert (PhD, University of Nottingham) is professor of religious studies at Trinity Western University in Langley, British Columbia. He is the author of A High View of Scripture: Biblical Authority and the Formation of the New Testament Canon and Revelation, Truth, Canon, and Interpretation.
Review Quotes:
"Early Christian Readings of Genesis One is a welcome and needed call for more careful, rigorous use of the church fathers' views on creation. . . . Early Christian Readings of Genesis One helpfully draws attention to the complexity of patristic exegesis of Genesis, and calls us out into deeper waters than most of us have yet waded."
--Gavin Ortlund, Themelios, April 2019