One of the features that also make it unique is the fact that it is an unapologetic statement for a particular world view. That view emanates from the first sentence of the book: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." This profound declaration sets the stakes:
- There was a moment that can be described as a beginning;
- God created the material for at least this earth and its heaven;
- God stands apart from this earth and its heaven - they are God's creation;
- The writer’s testimony is of a unique nature: this cannot be an eye-witness account from a human’s perspective (at least not until humans are organised);
- By virtue of the fact that the book begins with it, the origins question is apparently the most important topic in a record that makes a host of normative claims both for this life, and a promised future existence.
- Language permits human beings to consider this topic and appreciate its implications. It is not an impervious mystery.
And then it begs a great many more profound questions for deep reflection. These questions are greatly enhanced by our expanding understanding of the universe we live in, and our improving observations of it. These questions span all of human knowledge. There is unlikely to be any single person that can circumscribe every facet of it.
I never tire of returning to this topic; looking forward to the coming discussion.